CHAPTER SEVEN

GOD’S HISTORY IN TIME 
(FROM THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE. 
TO THE FINAL JUDGMENT 
AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE— 
GENESIS 1:1—REVELATION 20:15)

(6)

WORKING ON HIS ELECT 
FROM ABRAHAM TO JOSEPH

(2)

THE GOD OF ABRAHAM 
SEEN IN HIS DEALINGS WITH ABRAHAM

Scripture Reading: Exo. 3:15; Acts 7:2; Gen. 12:7; 17:1; 18:1

OUTLINE

1. The God of Abraham (Exo. 3:15) seen in His dealings with Abraham as follows:
   1. The God of glory, in His first appearing with His first calling and His first speaking to Abraham, as the vast magnet and the great motivation to Abraham that moved him to come out of the country of satanic idolatry—Gen. 11:31; Acts 7:2-4a.
   2. The God of blessing, in His second calling with His second speaking to Abraham, promising him that He would make of him a great nation, make his name great, and make him a blessing to others and that all the families of the earth would be blessed in him; this attracted Abraham to go into the good land of the divine promise—Gen. 12:1-4.
   3. The God of the earth, in His second appearing with His third speaking, in promising Abraham that He would give the land of Canaan to his seed—vv. 6-7.
   4. The God of secret care for His elect, in saving Abraham from Pharaoh’s insulting of his wife—vv. 10-20.
   5. The God of comfort and encouragement, in His fourth speaking, after Lot left Abraham, in promising to give to Abraham and to his seed the land of Canaan as far as he could see in four directions, and to make his seed as numerous as the dust of the earth—13:14-17.
   6. God the Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, in His divine supply with His blessing to Abraham through His priest Melchizedek after Abraham fought the battle against the four kings—14:17-20.
   7. The God of shield and exceedingly great reward, in His fifth speaking (this time in a vision) to Abraham, when he was afraid of the four kings’ avenging, in pointing to Abraham that his heavenly seed in their divine nature would be as many as the stars in heaven who could never be touched by anyone on earth; Abraham believed in Jehovah, and Jehovah accounted it to him for righteousness—15:1-6.
   8. The God of faithfulness, in foretelling to Abraham, in His sixth speaking to him in his deep sleep, that his earthly seed in their human nature would be sojourners in Egypt, serve the Egyptians, be afflicted by them for four hundred years, and in their fourth generation return to Canaan; and in making a covenant with him that He would give to his seed the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates—vv. 12-21.
   9. The God of silence, due to the fact that Abraham listened to his wife Sarah and married Hagar to get a son by the exercise of his flesh when he was eighty-six years old (16:1-4, 15-16); then God became silent to Abraham for thirteen years, until he became ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to him again (17:1).
   10. The God of all-sufficiency, in His third appearing with His seventh speaking to Abraham, in being the God of circumcision to cut off His chosen people’s natural man in the flesh that they may become God’s new creation, signified by Isaac who was born by God’s grace, not by Ishmael who was born by Abraham’s flesh—vv. 1-21; Gal. 4:22-31.
   11. The God with His human friendship, in His coming (in His fourth appearing with His eighth speaking to Abraham) as a man, in the form of a man, to visit Abraham as His friend (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23) on the level of humanity, with whom Abraham walked and who conversed with Abraham as a human friend with a human friend, concerning His judgment of Sodom, where His friend’s nephew Lot and his family lived—Gen. 18—19.
   12. The God with friendship in humanity, in sending Abraham’s nephew and his two daughters out from the overthrow of Sodom, for the remembrance of Abraham as His intimate friend—vv. 29, 12-22.
   13. The almighty God with His friendly care, in saving His close friend Abraham, with His almighty power, from the loss of his wife to Abimelech, king of Gerar—ch. 20.
   14. The God of changelessness in keeping the principle of His grace, in recognizing Isaac, his son of Sarah, as his only son, in His ninth speaking to Abraham—21:1-12.
   15. The God with His trial, in proving Abraham, His intimate human friend, by asking him to present his only son, whom he loved, for a burnt offering to Him, in His tenth speaking to Abraham—22:1-10.
   16. The Triune God of provision, in providing a ram to replace Isaac for a burnt offering to Him (as the Angel of Jehovah—Christ), in His eleventh speaking to Abraham—vv. 11-14.
   17. The Triune God of blessing, in His twelfth (last) speaking to Abraham, promising him that He (as the Angel of Jehovah—Christ) would bless him and multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand on the seashore, and in his seed (Christ) would all the nations of the earth be blessed—vv. 15-18.
   18. The God of friendship on the human level, in leading the old servant of His friend Abraham to secure a wife for his son Isaac—ch. 24.
2. As a whole, the God of Abraham being the God of speaking in appearing, with calling, in a vision, and in the human friendship, to unveil to His intimate friend on the earth what He aspired for him to be and what He wanted him to do according to His heart’s desire for the accomplishment of the eternal economy for the Divine Trinity.