Abraham the Prophet

Some random thoughts on use of "the word of the Lord" in Genesis 15:1.

- If one compares Gen. 15:1,4 with Numbers 3:16, 36:5 and Deut. 5:5, 18:15,18, one will see that Moses is drawing a line from Abraham to himself (for the original hearers) within the prophetic tradition (this "line" continues through the rest of the OT/OC: 1. Sam. 15:10, Jer. 13:8, Isaiah 38:4, Ez. 1:3, etc). And in Gen. 20:7, Abraham is described as a prophet with priestly (intercessory) function, a function also exercised by Moses. With the Exodus and Sinai still "fresh" in their minds (in which the word of the Lord was active and authoritative), the authority and position invested in Abraham would have carried tremendous "weight" in their understanding of the Abrahamic Covenant, similar to the authority and position invested in Moses as leader, representative, and mediator of the people.

- This mention in Genesis 15 is huge in that it is the earliest that this prophetic formula is used. It represents a significant departure from the original intent of God's direct communication with man as was the case in the garden. From Abraham onward, divine communication will be mediated through the prophetic "office" and in Abraham's instance, it will be mediated through a covenant "head" (IMHO, the same could be said of Moses, David/Solomon). Christ places himself in this prophetic line by quoting Isaiah's "word from the Lord" in Isaiah 6:9,10. The apostles were well aware of their own place in the prophetic line: Acts 8:25, 11:16, 13:34, 16:32, 1 Thess. 1:8, 2 Thess. 3:1, 1 Pet. 1:25.

- Where one finds "word of the Lord" one finds prophets involved in the proclamation (kerygma) of the gospel, either in salvation or judgment (which becomes all the more significant in the apostles' understanding of their relationship to The Proclamation of the Christ-event). Use of the word "vision" is used in Genesis 15 to describe "revelation", an indication that the covenant with its blessings and cursings is the vehicle for revelation (and, IMHO, refers to all that follows in Gen. 15). The soteriological/eschatological content of this "word" is contained in the covenant that follows, both in word and in picture (15:12-17).

- Further, "Vision" w/ "word" probably indicates a Christophany, esp. when 15:12-17 is paralleled with God's recapitulation of the Abrahamic covenant with Jacob on the ladder at Bethel (a fascinating study is the correlation between "vision" and "night": 1 Sam. 3:15, 2 Sam. 7:4, 17, Judges 6:25, Micah 3:6, Zech. 1:8; not only was Abraham's vision at night, so to was Jacob's ladder and correlated wrestling with the Lord of the ladder). If the anthropomorphisms of the OT are inherently Christophanies (and I believe they are), then God acting in time and space through his word to accomplish his will (see Isaiah 6:9,10, 9:8, 55:11, Ps. 107:20, etc.) certainly anticipates John 1:1-3. Clowney notes of Van Til (in his WTJ article on Van Til and "the word of the Lord"): one cannot "isolate Christ from the scriptures because the scriptures *are* the Word of the Lord. The Word of the Lord and the Lord of the Word can never be separated, far less set against each other." The same divine breath that spoke the world into existence (Psalm 33:6 - divine breath of creation; it's interesting to note that the targums interpret Gen. 1:3 as "The Word of the Lord said, "Let there be light") is incarnate (John 1:1-3, 14) breathing life into the new creation (1 Pet. 1:25).

- Van Til's understanding of the relationship between "the Word" and "THE WORD" has many implications, among them being: the pre-incarnate Word is always present in "the Word". Since Christ is "THE mediator" between God and men, Christ mediates "the Word" in the OT. Since "The Word" flows from THE WORD, Christ is present. It does not necessarily mean they recognize the second person of the Godhead. One of the interesting characteristics of the Christophanies is that even the physical representations are nebulous "men" or "angel of the Lord". In Revelation, John has a nearly identical vision to Ezekiel, yet John is able to identify the "man" on the fiery throne as Christ himself. Jacob knew the "man" with whom he wrestled was divine (and thus knew he was with the one at the top of the ladder), but he had no specific identification. Christ is orchestrating redemptive history through event and word, even if the OT recipients were looking through a darkly glass.

- The incarnation of Christ as THE WORD is anticipated in the "word of the Lord"/vision of Genesis 15:12-17, where God's swearing by his own name is pictured in the torch and oven where God assumes both blessing and cursing of the covenant.

- The pattern of redemptive history as it is revealed in the text is this: God acts, God interprets, man responds to the act/interpretation. We have this in this passage. God brings Abraham out from Ur (Abraham's "Exodus"), God covenants with Abraham, God interprets that covenant (with a "word of the Lord"), Abraham responds in belief (15:6).

- In Genesis 15:1, God's covenant and the picture of the covenant make up the content of that "revelation" or "word". Moses repeats the phrase twice, a literary device that signifies EMPHASIS. So when Moses says "so shall your offspring be" and "to your offspring I give this land", God's will, intent and plan are being revealed through the covenant and the picture of the covenant to which these kinds of purpose statements are tied.

- It is highly unlikely that "word of the Lord" means the recipients merely heard God's voice speaking. For all of the reasons above, esp. the authority with which that "word" was carried (and penalty by death if it were false), it wasn't just that they heard him speak. These were "events" in which the divine intrudes into time and space. So significant are they to Abraham, when God (the Second person pre-incarnate incarnate) does make a physical appearance to Abraham "by the oaks of Mamre" he doesn't have to ask who it is... he "runs", he "bows", he says "O Lord". He knows who it is because there have been previous meetings ("the word of the Lord"). This "word" in Genesis 15 places Abraham squarely within the salvation event and his response in vs. 6 is appropriate to that event. It *is* verbal, but that verbal carries so much more meaning in terms of salvation history than merely relegating the "word" to a mere verbal exchange (interrelated to this isn't just the entire biblical theology of "proclamation" but also "the voice of God" which is inseparable from "proclamation"... that should give those who are entrusted with the proclamation reason to be sober).

- The "word of the Lord" in Genesis 15:1 anticipates John's use of "The Word" in John 1. With one word, Logos, John in one fell swoop captures the meaning behind the personification of Word, Torah, Wisdom, and Prophet in the OT for his original audience. What's interesting about this word to Abraham is that it is forward looking. God's language to Abraham is pointing him to something he cannot see: offspring (and Abraham would have understood that among his offspring somewhere the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 lies) and land. Did Abraham know about Christ specifically? No. But that doesn't make his understanding of this word/vision any less messianic. Abraham (and Moses the narrator) understood much more than we give them credit for. Hebrews 11 is testimony to that.