Abraham, my Friend 32

The Seed – Part 2

For me, Bible study often begins with an ‘idea, or hunch, or revelation’. (Choose whichever you think most appropriate.) I then ‘destruction test’ the idea by thinking through parallel passages or passages which have the same idea or words. I will then consult the commentaries or the systematic theology textbooks. I check the original texts, as I am able. If I find a fatal flaw I abandon the ‘revelation’. If I find no ‘fatal flaws’ I put it on a back-burner and return to it from time to time. If it still seems to hold up I regard it as a working hypothesis and at some time it will creep into the preaching. It is important not to treat the idea as a terrier treats a bone. I must not shake it until I get something out of it and I must be prepared to drop it if necessary; there is a fine line between passion and obsession. I sometimes bounce the ideas off my friends, so this is where you come in…

The Seed was the chief beneficiary of the Covenant that Abraham witnessed

I tried to make the point in the last devotional that Abraham was not the prime beneficiary of the events that took place in Genesis 15. In the ‘cutting of the covenant’, he took no active part; in our language, his signature was not on the document, but the scripture records: 

And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates… (Gen 15:17-18 ASV) 

The covenant was ‘with Abraham’ but the beneficiary was Abraham’s Seed; this word seed can be both singular and plural so it could equally be applicable to the Christ-Seed or to Abraham’s progeny.

God takes hold of the Seed

Here is the idea, and it comes from Hebrews: 

   Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Heb 2:14–17 NKJV)

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on (him the nature of) angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (Heb 2:14-17 KJV) 

The few words in parentheses are supplied by the translator but are not in the original. The key phrase reads ‘he is not taking hold of angels but he is taking hold of the seed of Abraham’.

Let’s look closer at ‘taking hold’. The Greek is epilambanomai, which Strong’s defines as ‘middle voice from 1909 and 2983; to seize (for help, injury, attainment, or any other purpose; literally or figuratively): — catch, lay hold (up-)on, take (by, hold of, on)’.

Most modern versions opt for the ‘help’ sense of ‘taking hold’, but this sense of the word is not necessarily the only option. Tracing the word through the New Testament reveals that it is most frequently used simply to mean ‘take hold’ and sometimes quite violently. Let’s pursue that line of enquiry.

The passage is speaking of the incarnation and its necessity in providing the human qualification for Christ’s priesthood. As the New American Standard Bible has it: 

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Heb 2:17 NASB)

The writer to the Hebrews has previously stated that Christ is greater than the angels, and that He is identified with ‘man’ and was for a little while made lower than the angels (Heb 2:7). In the present verses, he states that: 

For truly He did not take the nature of angels, but He took hold of the seed of Abraham. (Heb 2:16 MKJV – Modern KJV).

This was the verse that caught my attention. In following the line of the argument I would have expected it to say ‘he took hold of the seed of Adam’ in contrast to ‘he did not take hold of angels’, but he didn’t; he suddenly introduces Abraham. Adam’s seed (or Eve’s) would have meant the whole human race, but Abraham’s Seed is a well-established idea in the New Testament. It could refer to God’s apprehending of the descendants, physical and spiritual, of Abraham, but the next verse shows we are still talking about the incarnation. So why speak of ‘Abraham’s Seed’ rather than Adam’s?

Three ‘deep sleeps’

Let’s return to our source: 

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.  (Gen 15:12 ASV)

I cannot read this without thinking about Adam’s deep sleep:

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. (Gen 2:21 NKJV)

Without Adam’s aid or consent, God took one of his ribs and ‘built’ it into a woman. The rib was Adam’s; God took it, held it, transformed it, and gave it back to Adam as his wife.

Was it during Abraham’s deep sleep that God ‘took hold of Abraham’s Seed’? I am not thinking of the mechanics of reproduction here, but of a mystery captured in the event of a moment in time. As Abraham slept God put his indelible mark upon Abraham’s Seed. In an eternal moment, He took hold of the essence of Abraham which would have to pass down the generations before becoming manifest in Christ. 

In his sleep-vision Abraham saw two phenomena — the smoking furnace and the flaming torch. Did Abraham recognise what he saw? Did he know he was watching God, the Consuming Fire and the Eternal Flame who would become his own Seed? Did he understand the ‘horror of darkness’ that eclipsed his senses as the Two walked alone in the avenue of death? Did he know that heaven’s covenant was being restated on earth in Abraham’s presence? Did he know that heaven touched earth, and eternity had broken into time? 

I have no definitive answer, except to say that Abraham saw Christ’s day and rejoiced in it. According to Matthew, this is the starting point: 

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham… (Matt 1:1 NKJV)

Adam’s and Abraham’s ‘deep sleeps’ as prophetic parables

Both Adam’s sleep and Abraham’s are parables of the cross. As Christ entered His own deep sleep of death His side was pierced, in fulfilment of Adam’s prophetic event. From this death-sleep there came a bride for the Second Man. And the imagery is consistent; Adam’s rib is ‘built’ into a woman:

  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her… (Eph 5:25 NKJV)

 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Eph 5:30–31 NKJV)

His promise is to ‘build’ this church that came from His opened side.

In Abraham too, we have our parable of the cross. It is in the place of the valley of death that the Seed is made sure, as the prophet Isaiah confirms:. 

Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. (Isa 53:10 ASV)

Tracing the Seed

On the cross, he saw his seed. The covenant of Calvary guaranteed it. The precision of this Isaiah verse is wonderful; ‘when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed’. When the Father made the Son’s soul an offering for sin, the Son ‘saw’ his seed. Do I sound too fanciful? The story is found in Psalm 22 which is David’s prophecy of this.

The first half of Psalm 22 is a ‘horror of darkness’ too. The mood is dark and brooding, relentless in its pain and abandonment. But halfway through verse 21 the mood changes dramatically: 

Save me from the lion’s mouth; Yea, from the horns of the wild-oxen thou hast answered me. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: In the midst of the assembly [church] will I praise thee. (Psa 22:21-22 ASV) 

And from this point in the psalm, the focus is not the pain but the seed: 

Ye that fear Jehovah, praise him; All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; And stand in awe of him, all ye the seed of Israel. (Psa 22:23 ASV)

For the joy set before him

This was the purpose of it all: 

…Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame… (Heb 12:2 NKJV)

Isaiah also captures the same wonderful truth: 

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied… (Isa 53:11 ASV)

He travailed and brought forth sons. He ‘saw’ and He was ‘satisfied’. All the strands are knitting together here — substitution, atonement, justification, just as they all come together on the day that Abraham believed and was reckoned righteous, slept and witnessed the ratifying of an eternal covenant: 

And to Abraham and to his Seed the promises were spoken. It does not say, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, “And to your Seed,” which is Christ. (Gal 3:16 Modern KJV)

This was the Seed, the single seed. 

   But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. (John 12:23–24 NKJV)

So the Seed must step into the avenue of death, or abide alone. But if it passes through death and burial it will bring forth much fruit. 

 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal 3:27–29 NKJV)

And finally some sublime poetry of Charles Wesley…

See there the quickening Cause of all 
Who live the life of grace beneath!
God caused on Him the sleep to fall,
And lo, His eyes are closed in death.

He sleeps and from His open side
The mingled blood and water flow;
They both give being to his bride
And wash His church as white as snow.

True principles of life Divine,
Issues from these the second Eve,
Mother of all the faithful line,
Of all that by His passion live.

O what a miracle of love
Hath He, our heavenly Adam showed!
Jesus forsook His throne above
That we might all be born of God.

‘Twas not a useless rib He lost,
His heart’s last drop of blood he gave;
His life, His precious life it cost
Our dearly ransomed souls to save.

And will He not His purchase take,
Who died to make us all His own?
One spirit with Himself to make,
Flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone?

He will, our hearts reply He will:
He hath even here a token given,
And bids us meet Him on the hill,
And keep the marriage feast in heaven.

Charles Wesley