Tag Archives: Abraham

abram, abraham, our first steward

2 Feb
Abraham’s camels

the first steward


The first steward wasn’t Adam.


Adam was created by Elohim and was assigned by him to be God’s Steward over Eden, over creation.
Adam had no choice. Not in his creation ; not in his assignment.


Abraham was, is, God’s first steward. He and Yahweh had a walkthrough broken sacrifices; they had a walk outside the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah. The spoke together; bargained together; Abraham was to be a steward, God’s first steward,
And what was Abraham to manage, oversee? He was to hold and develop the first blessing: a fatherhood, a parenting, me.
Let’s look at the first utterance, the origin of fathers and mothers,
God’s blessing to Abraham is recorded in Genesis 12:1–3:

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.’”

Abram agrees. He accepts to be the Lord’s steward over this blessing, to ‘be a blessing’, when he hears, when he listens to Yahweh. So, he leaves Harran, the place of household idols ( Joshua 24 ) and goes…


‘By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.’ Hebrews 11: 8

So,

Abram ‘obeyed.’


He obeyed by leaving Harran.
He agreed by walking through broken sacrifices. ( Genesis 15: 1 – 21 )
He listened – while in great distress – to Sara and banished Ishmael and Hagar, ( Genesis 21: 14 )
Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son of the blessing promise, Issac. ( Genesis 22 )
And he trusted his unnamed steward to find a wife for his son Issac. ( Genesis 24 )

Abraham is the first steward because he grows; he is in process and accepts his path, though he knows not where it leads.

And where does Abraham’s journey end? It ends with, in, Jesus .
In Galatians 3 Paul speaks of faith’s journey, Abraham’s walk, his trust, our blessing,


‘He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.’ ( 14 )

As Abraham, we are all God’s, Elohim’s stewards. We steward his blessing, by faith, by being a Jesus’ blessing to others, to all.

Abraham is the first; the father of many nations; as vast as sand, as real as night stars. Blessing is stewardship.

And it comes through Abraham and Issac; through Jacob; and by Joseph. And , finally, through Jesus. And now, through us, by sharing spirit filled faith to another, to others.

We, as Jesus’ stewards, are to receive, hold and share the blessing. As Abraham and Issac held it for a time, so are we to. We do not own it. No one does. Why?

For the blessing, for Jesus, is love. One can own love, this blessing. One can only share it; steward love; give it to others.

One, by faith, can only be it: can only be love.

Be love’s blessing. Be his blessing.

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Genesis’ Abram, Phillip Pullman, author, Dust ( His Dark Materials ) and CS Lewis’ Narnia, part 2, listening

25 Nov

from part 1

‘Dust in Abram’s walk parallels his attentive look, his call by his God to see, the uncountable stars. ( Genesis 15 ) Each star, each particle, each seed is a new world. We just have ‘walk’ to see, walk to understand, to grow.

Consciousness in these texts come from dust, stars, and from seeing. And from these new worlds of consciousness come life.’

from Genesis 15,

5 “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Abram/Abraham is being built by the Lord. Slowly, ever so slowly, the Lord God develops his servant into an acute and active listener. What, how is Abram/Abraham growing in his abilities to hear? to see and to feel? to understand? Abram sees God as the Lord actively and totally listens to him. Abram moves to becoming Abraham, the complete and finished father of stars and dust, nations, by experiencing how God listens to him: to Abram’s thoughts, spoken and unspoken; to his fears and desires and his anxieties; and to Abraham’s faithful loving actions. And to Abram/Abraham’s failings.

In Genesis 17: 3 Abraham falls ‘face down’ ( his mouth and eyes touching, covering the dust that he had walked earlier ) as God explains how Abraham will father many nations.

And in Genesis 17: 17 – 20

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.”

God hears both the spoken and unspoken. As we grow in seeing how God listened to Fathers, Mothers and children of the past, we listen well.

By dust, Abram/Abraham grows. By dust and stars Abraham learns, sees and understand, how the Lord hears him. Verse 20 underscores this when after the Lord voices Abraham’s inner speech with complete answers, he says to Abraham, ‘And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; …’

Abraham heard because God first hears him. And we hear as He first heard us, hears our prayers, spoken and unspoken.

Walk this day with Him; see stars and dust. Be conscious of Narnia and Dark Materials. Hear, see, be with him.

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