Abraham | Friend of God

Curt Landry Ministries is a congregation made up of Gentile and Jewish Believers—most who hale from an Evangelical background. We are a group of individuals who enjoy studying the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, because we understand that the Creator of the Universe chose to tell His story through the Jewish people. But, who are these Hebrew children? Where do they come from?

It all began with a man named Abraham[1]…

Most people, churchgoers or not, have heard of the ancient patriarch Abraham in one facet or another. Abraham originally came from a city called Ur of the Chaldees. His family lived under the rule of the feared King of Babylon, Nimrod, who worshipped the sun god.

Terah, Abraham’s father, along with their family, were also idol worshippers. The family was a descendent of Shem, the father of all Semitic peoples, and one of Noah’s three sons.

Eventually Abraham and his family would leave Ur in search of a land named Canaan. Abraham had heard from the one true God—the God who did not exist within the confines of a wooden image. This God introduced Himself to Abraham throughout the course of his life—eventually describing His relationship with Abraham in just one incredible word… as “friend.”

“Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?”—2 Chronicles 20:7

“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.”—Isaiah 41:8

“And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.”—James 2:23

He is a covenant-keeping God…

Many years after Abraham began his journey in pursuit of this omnipresent God, Adonai, they established a covenant together.

A covenant is a legal pact between two parties. The parties come together and swear oaths to one another and go through a series of rituals, which bind the two entities together as one eternally. What the two once owned separately is now available to their sworn companion.

The consequence of breaking this arrangement is… death.

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.’

But Abram said, ‘Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ Then Abram said, ‘Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!’

“And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’ Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’

“And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

“Then He said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.’

And he said, ‘Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?’

“So He said to him, ‘Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

“Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.’

“And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying:

“‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.’”—Genesis 15

 Don’t miss this key moment…

While many church doctrines subscribe to replacement theology, a belief that replaces Israel with the New Testament Church, here is where we at Curt Landry Ministries have to disagree. God is not like man. He is incapable of lying. This means when He states something as specific as these land agreements above, that He must keep His Word.

Yes, but you say, “AH HA! We’ve caught a loophole here, as Abraham’s descendants did not keep their end of the agreement. They broke the covenant established by these two friends.”

But take a look here…

“And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.”­­—Genesis 15:17-18

In a standard covenant agreement the two parties would both pass through the meat pieces together, solidifying their responsibilities to uphold the agreement with one another. But do you notice above? Only one party passed through the two portions.

God Himself. He passed for Himself, but He also passed for His friend Abraham as well—making it impossible for their misdeeds to stop His perfect plan.

Eventually a Savior would come, One who would take the sin of those broken vows upon His own shoulders… expunging the guilt of the Hebrew children, and making a path for all humanity to know the God of Abraham.

[1] https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112063