Son of Abraham

First Week of Advent: the Incarnation, the Parousia, and the Covenants of Israel

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As the gospels open and the narrative of scripture resumes, we are met with this statement: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” ¹Matthew 1:1 To most, this somewhat dry introduction to Jesus is meant as a credential, proof that this man from Nazareth did have the proper royal ancestry to claim the throne of David and the title “Messiah of Israel.” But surely, to be a son of David implies that you are also a son of Abraham. Why does Abraham get a special mention?

Our first clues come in the prophetic songs of Mary and Zechariah, as recorded in Luke.

“He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”²Luke 1:54–55

”…to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear…”³Luke 1:72–74

The Lord remembered his covenant with Abraham at the first advent of his Messiah, the same covenant he remembered as he brought Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.⁴Exodus 2:24-25 Why would God’s mindfulness of this covenant precede God’s saving deeds? Why does this covenant uniquely motivate the Lord to act on behalf of his people?

Before tackling those questions, it would probably be fruitful to summarize the main contents of the divine promises made to Abraham and then confirmed to Isaac and Jacob. These promises, described by the law and the prophets as an “everlasting covenant,” consisted of three main themes. First, the calling of Abram out of the land of Ur was attached to the assurance that through Abram, “all the families of the earth would be blessed.” ⁵Genesis 12:3 Second, God promised that the offspring of Abraham would be reckoned though a son of promise and so numerous they would be essentially uncountable.⁶Genesis 15:4-5 And third, God gave land with specific boundaries to Abraham and his offspring in the covenant of pieces.⁷Genesis 15:18-20

With this framework in mind, let’s return to our previous question. Why does God remember his covenant with Abraham in the act of Incarnation?

Perhaps the first promise—that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham—would seem the most accessible to Gentile readers in connecting (or even reconciling) the “savior of the world” with the son of Abraham. Was it not this offspring of Abraham that commissioned his followers to make disciples of all nations?⁸Matthew 28:18-20 Was not the temporary and partial hardening of Abraham’s family to the mystery of the Incarnation that was a means to mass salvation of Gentiles, leading to the eventual redemption of all Israel and the resurrection of the dead? ⁹Romans 11:25

The history of Israel has many references to “mixed multitudes,” “resident aliens,” and Gentile “God-fearers” among the people of Israel. However, those non-Jewish people who joined themselves to Israel and her God were always the exception rather than the rule. Jesus was clear: his mission and ministry centered on the lost sheep of Israel.¹⁰Matthew 15:24 It is through the demonstration of God’s commitment to his chosen people and the confirmation of the promises given to Jesus’ father Abraham, that the nations can rightly worship the faithful and merciful God of Israel.¹¹Romans 15:8-9 

Though the genius of God works through election to open mercy for all, election has also sparked hatred towards Israel—a demonic rage against God’s promises to Abraham throughout the centuries. Indeed, if the promise to bless all the families of the earth through the family of Abraham has millennia of bloodshed in its wake, so does the promise that the offspring of Abraham would be like the number of stars in the heavens. From the first battle with the Amalekites on the outskirts of Egypt to the pogroms of Europe to the black sabbath of October 7, the family of Abraham has suffered massacre upon massacre. These attacks are not primarily in response to what Abraham’s children have done, but who they are: a nation marked by divine assurances that not only will they survive but they will one day thrive. 

Jesus affirmed the word of the covenant and the prophets by explaining that the children of Abraham would still exist as a distinct people group on the day of the Lord and the age-to-come. After describing the events preceding the end of the age and the coming of the Son of Man, he said, “Truly I say to you, this γενεά (generation, race, family) will not pass away until all these things take place.”¹²Matthew 24:34 To attack the people of God with the goal of genocide is nothing less than to attempt to void the eternal covenant, but God will not be made a liar.

The elect people, Abraham’s children, will live to bear witness to their Messiah at the final judgment, but they will not be the only nation to do so. There was a specific component of the Incarnation that allowed the election of Abraham’s family, a people that would survive against all odds, to open wide a door of salvation to diverse nations.

In his sermon to the Gentile Athenians in Acts 17:30-31, Paul stated it most clearly. “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but know he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” The times of ignorance are over because God sent a clarion call of repentance to the far corners of the earth. The Messiah, the ultimate Judge, was raised from the dead. Without the Incarnation, there is no Crucifixion, and without the Crucifixion, there is no Resurrection. And if there is no resurrection, then we are most to be pitied because we worship a God who cannot keep his promises.¹³See 1 Corinthians 12:15.

Abraham understood the vital role of resurrection in fulfilling God’s covenants. The writer of Hebrews, when reflecting on the righteousness of Abraham, wrote, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”¹⁴Hebrews 11:17-19 Abraham believed so entirely in the covenant promises that resurrection was a necessary component of his faith.

Abraham’s conviction of the literalness of the pledges made to him led him to believe not only in resurrection in general but also in his own resurrection. Abraham died without receiving the promises, but he “greeted them from afar.”¹⁵Hebrews 11:13 Without resurrection, this creates an irreconcilable difficulty, as the covenant is made not only with Abraham’s offspring but also with Abraham himself.¹⁶See Genesis 13:15; Galatians 3:16. 

Resurrection is not only a vital component of the blessing of the families of the earth and the numerous offspring elements of the Abrahamic covenant, but the land promise necessitates resurrection as well. How would Abraham also inherit the land that wouldn’t even partially come into his family’s possession until 400 years after God initially made the promise to him? Stephen, in his sermon before his death by stoning, highlights this point, “Yet he gave him [Abraham] no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.” ¹⁷Acts 7:5 When will Abraham and his offspring inherit the land from the Nile to the Euphrates?¹⁸See Genesis 15:18. In the second advent of the Messiah, at the resurrection of the righteous. ¹⁹See Jeremiah 3:18; Joel 3:20; Amos 9:15.²⁰Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about this issue of land inheritance, and he brought up Romans 4:13. He laid out what I now know to be the “expansionist” view, which differs from “replacement” views of the covenants. In the expansionist interpretation, the promises of Abraham are broadened to include Gentiles and the borders of the land promises are extended from the land of Canaan to the ends of the earth. Dr. Nelson S. Hsieh, in his article, “Abraham As ‘Heir Of The World’: Does Romans 4:13 Expand the Old Testament Abrahamic Land Promises?” lays out the various scholarly positions of this verse. He carefully examines the context of the passage, the senses of the Greek terms employed, and the context of Second Temple literature and concludes that this passage should not be used to support an expansionist interpretation of the land promises to Abraham but is rather a reaffirmation of Abraham being the father of many nations: “It is about the worldwide nature of Abraham’s descendants; it is not about the worldwide nature of Abraham’s land promise.” (p. 110) You can read more of his helpful explanation here. 

Because of Abraham’s hope of resurrection, Jesus was able to say to some Jewish leaders, “Abraham saw my day and rejoiced,”²¹John 8:56 and made an appeal to the centrality of resurrection from the covenant name of God, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”²²Matthew 22:31-32

So we see that—consistent with the messages of the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus himself—the suffering, death, and resurrection of Israel’s Messiah was an essential step in securing the promises made to Abraham, but those promises remain unrealized to this day. With our father Abraham, we patiently wait for the eternal covenant made to Abraham to be kept. We long for the fullness of the Gentiles to come to saving knowledge of Israel’s Messiah. We look to the day the Son of Abraham comes into his inheritance and rules with justice and peace from Zion. With all creation, we await the consolation of Israel, when she will dwell in safety in the land promised to her, and she will serve her God without fear. Like Abraham, we place all our hope in the covenant-keeping God, who demonstrated his love in confirming his promises of our future resurrection by himself resurrecting from the dead.

Thanks for reading this first week of “Advent: The Incarnation, the Parousia, and the Covenants of Israel.” If you missed the introduction to this series, you can catch up by reading, “Maranatha: Our Lord (Has) Come.” Please stay tuned for the next installment in the series for the first week of Advent: “Born Under the Law.”

Further Reading

Harrigan, John. Extending Mercy to the Gentiles: The Jewish Apocalyptic Trajectory of Pauline Discipleship.American Society of Missiology Monograph Series. 

Hsieh, Nelson S. Abraham As ‘Heir Of The World’: Does Romans 4:13 Expand the Old Testament Abrahamic Land Promises? Masters Seminary Journal, 26: 95–110.

Kelly, Reggie. The Constraining Nature of the Land Promises. Mystery of Israel.

Levine, Amy-Jill. The Jewish Origins of the Christmas Story. Torah.com.

Wyschogrod, Michael. A Jewish Perspective of Incarnation. Modern Theology, 12: 195–209. 

Footnotes

• 1
  Matthew 1:1
• 2
  Luke 1:54–55
• 3
  Luke 1:72–74
• 4
  Exodus 2:24-25
• 5
  Genesis 12:3
• 6
  Genesis 15:4-5
• 7
  Genesis 15:18-20
• 8
  Matthew 28:18-20
• 9
  Romans 11:25
• 10
  Matthew 15:24
• 11
  Romans 15:8-9
• 12
  Matthew 24:34
• 13
  See 1 Corinthians 12:15.
• 14
  Hebrews 11:17-19
• 15
  Hebrews 11:13
• 16
  See Genesis 13:15; Galatians 3:16.
• 17
  Acts 7:5
• 18
  See Genesis 15:18.
• 19
  See Jeremiah 3:18; Joel 3:20; Amos 9:15.
• 20
  Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about this issue of land inheritance, and he brought up Romans 4:13. He laid out what I now know to be the “expansionist” view, which differs from “replacement” views of the covenants. In the expansionist interpretation, the promises of Abraham are broadened to include Gentiles and the borders of the land promises are extended from the land of Canaan to the ends of the earth. Dr. Nelson S. Hsieh, in his article, “Abraham As ‘Heir Of The World’: Does Romans 4:13 Expand the Old Testament Abrahamic Land Promises?” lays out the various scholarly positions of this verse. He carefully examines the context of the passage, the senses of the Greek terms employed, and the context of Second Temple literature and concludes that this passage should not be used to support an expansionist interpretation of the land promises to Abraham but is rather a reaffirmation of Abraham being the father of many nations: “It is about the worldwide nature of Abraham’s descendants; it is not about the worldwide nature of Abraham’s land promise.” (p. 110) You can read more of his helpful explanation here.
• 21
  John 8:56
• 22
  Matthew 22:31-32