Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: We dug into verse 13 of this passage yesterday; verse 14 is just as dense and full of hidden meaning as 13, so let’s investigate. Abraham lived before Moses; there was no law. (There were a few random laws and guidelines given orally by God. For example, prohibitions against murder and the drinking of animal blood and/or eating live animals. Gen. 9:1-7.) All Abraham had as a guideline for his conduct were several specific direct revelations on how he should behave in order that God would fulfill his covenant. First, to be circumcised and to have other males in his household circumcised (Gen. 17:1-14), and second, a very specific order that his son Isaac be given as a sacrifice by Abraham’s own hand; if for some reason you do not know the story of Abraham and Isaac, you need to read it (in Genesis 22) or you will have no idea of what Paul is talking about. (Genesis 22) Note that the idea of killing and burning an animal on an altar as a thanksgiving to God was a practice already known by the tribe who would become the Hebrews. The origins of this form of worship are not given to us. But the practice began very early; for example, Noah gave a burnt offering on an altar after the flood receded, and God was pleased. (Gen. 8:20-21.) The Bible does tell us that Abraham was “reckoned righteous” before God, as early as Genesis 15:6; in Christian terms, it seems that he was justified — he was “saved” and given the benefits of eternal life. Possibly there were other ancient figures deemed righteous by God, such as Enoch. (Gen. 5:24.) Abraham’s life with God after his death was so strongly believed, among the Jews, that they many of them thought the righteous would be taken into the “bosom of Abraham” after they died. (See Luke 16:19–31.) Elijah Elijah The details are sketchy about the relationship God created with these nearly prehistoric patriarchs. But for certain, it ended with the giving of the Law of Moses. The law effectively prevented people from going to heaven. Nobody could follow it. It was not a means of salvation; it was a means of showing mankind that we are incapable of behaving well enough to satisfy God. The only person who managed it, in the entire Bible, was Jesus. (There are some special cases that are hard to characterize, especially the mysterious Elijah, who was taken up in a whirlwind. Was Elijah righteous before God? Possibly, because the Bible does not tell us. But if he was, it was not by the Law, because Paul tells us that nobody was made righteous by the Law.) It was, therefore, a curse. It ended the period of righteousness through primitive faith. Of course, Abraham did what God told him to do. But Paul’s first point is that Abraham was reckoned righteous, not because he followed the few rules God had given him — and certainly not because he followed the Law, because the Law did not exist. Rather, it was Abraham’s utter faith in God that made God smile on him; and God promised that his seed would inherit the Kingdom of God. Abraham, by Joseph Schonmann, mosaic in Vienna Abraham So Abraham’s faith made him righteous before God. It is important to see that the relationship of humanity and God changes over time. God makes the covenants, and He changes them when the time has come for the next step. He made it impossible for the Hebrews to be righteous when He announced the covenant of Moses. That is why Paul calls it a “curse.” The Law created sin, in one very specific manner of speaking (although it did not create sin in the broader and more important sense of disobedience to God, which began with Adam and Eve). If this does not make sense to you, think about an ancient primitive civilization. Theft is punished only if the victim catches the thief and is strong enough to punish him. It is not a crime. But when a government is formed and passes a law forbidding theft, then and only then does it become a “crime.” Coveting a neighbor’s sheep was always displeasing to God. But it did not become a known “sin” until God announced it as a law. Once they knew it was wrong — when the Ten Commandments were given to Moses — people became fully responsible for their transgressions of the law against coveting.