Since creating the man, God have done many things, such as choosing Noah, Abraham, and establishing the Israel, and until now, fulfilling a certain number of the righteous saints to destroy Satan:
In the days of Noah, God lamented over all the earth covered with the sin, ending up destroying it with the Deluge (Genesis 6:12~13):
12. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Since then, through the righteous family of Noah, God had made human beings prosperous newly in the earth (Genesis 9:1~2):
1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and replenish the earth.
2. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
2. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
After a long time passed, God called Abraham, from Ur of the Chaldees, looking good to God (Genesis 12:1):
1. Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee:
God gave him the enormous and honorable blessing, “I will make of you a great nation, bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” As a result, Abraham was destined to bear Isaac, giving birth to Jacob, who produced twelve sons to become each patriarch of twelve tribes of the Israel. finally, from them, the Israel, a great nation was established (Genesis 12:2):
2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
One day, Abraham learned of a very fearful notice from God, “Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed, because their sin is very grievous.” Then, he pleaded with God, saying “will you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” In this imploring, God accepted the condition for sparing them, suggested by Abraham, the fifty righteous in there. Unfortunately, there were no such a large number of the righteous. Finally, because of Abraham’s dearest pleading, it decreased up to ten (Genesis 18:20~24, 32~33):
20. And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
32. And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
33. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
21. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
32. And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
33. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
But, sensing there were not even ten righteous, he gave up pleading with God. This must be a very astonishing scene, clearly showing how precious even one righteous is to God.
Later on, God called Abraham again, testing his belief. He ordered Abraham to kill Isaac for a burnt offering to himself (Genesis 22:1~2):
1. And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
2. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Seeing that Abraham truly intended to kill Isaac, God could not but admit his amazing belief and bless him hugely, because it was a great glory and consolation to God, intending to send down his own son for the rite of blood on the Cross (Genesis 22:16~18):
16. And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Here, it is easily understood that Noah and Abraham had an important common virtue, Both of them were the very righteous to God.
To make a long story short, it is the very goal of choosing Abraham that, through the righteous him, God intended to establish the Israel to send his son for the Cross. It was just the step stone to produce many righteous with the blood of Jesus (Isaiah 11:10):
10. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
It is a common sense that the Old Testament is regarded as the mirror of the New Testament: Abraham tends to be compared to God, Isaac to Jesus. If so, who could be compared to Jacob? It will be answered naturally in the following chapters.
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