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| God fully aware He'll bring both Jews and Gentiles together into one fold someday to become one new man...preached the two dispensations to Abraham... |
I believe strongly that Abraham
our father in faith was an allegory of two dispensations. This is not my conjecture.
Paul described Sarah and Hagar the wives of Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac, his
sons as an allegory of two eras in the book of Galatians:
“For it is written, that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid (Hagar), the other by a freewoman. [23] But
he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman
(Sarah) was by promise. [24] Which things are an allegory: FOR THESE ARE THE
TWO COVENANTS; the one from the mount Sinai (where the Law was given), which gendereth to bondage, which is
Agar. [25] For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem
which now is, and is in bondage with her children. [26] But Jerusalem (where Jesus was crucified and atonement made)
which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
Therefore we must view Abraham's
life experiences in the book of Genesis not only of faith; we should also identify
the handwritings of the law in his journey. If we only see Abraham in the
light of faith alone it will not be an accurate belief based on the Scripture. I’ll
highlight five (5) ordinances of the Law which was practiced by Abraham.
- ERECTING ALTARS
Abraham the father of faith
erected altars unto the Lord at least thrice.
And Abram passed through the land
unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then
in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I
give this land: and THERE (plain of Moreh) BUILDED HE AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD,
who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east
of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the
east: and THERE (east of Bethel) BUILDED HE AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD, and called
upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 12:6-8 KJV
Then Abram removed his tent, and
came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an
altar unto the Lord . Genesis 13:18 KJV
Under the dispensation of the Law God gave Israel
commandments of erecting altars.
“Thou shalt build the altar of
the Lord thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon
unto the Lord thy God.” Deuteronomy 27:6
- OFFERING OF SACRIFICES
Altars are not erected as
monuments but for the purpose of sacrifices and offerings. When Abraham built
altars we know it was for the purpose of sacrificial offerings.
“And he (God) said unto him
(Abraham), Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years
old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Genesis 15:9 KJV
Under the dispensation of the Law
God gave Israel the instruction of sacrificing upon altars.
“An altar of earth thou shalt
make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace
offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I
will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” Ex 20:24 KJV
- ANIMALS FOR OFFERING
And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of
three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years
old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Gen 15:9 KJV
The heifer, she goat and ram God
requested as offerings from Abraham became sacrificial animals continually
under the dispensation of the Law.
“This is the ordinance of the law
which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that
they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon
which never came yoke.” Num 19:2 KJV
“And if any soul sin through
ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.”
Num 15:27 KJV
“And he shall bring a ram without
blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto
the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his
ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.” Lev
5:18 KJV
- · TEMPLATE FOR OFFERING BIRDS
“And he (God) said unto him
(Abraham), Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years
old, and a ram of three years old, and a TURTLEDOVE, and a young PIGEON. And he
took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one
against another: BUT THE BIRDS DIVIDED HE NOT.” Genesis 15:9-10 KJV
The pigeon and turtledove God
asked Abraham to offer as sacrifice and how they were offered was consistent
with the Lord's instruction under the Law.
“And if the burnt sacrifice for
his offering to the Lord BE OF FOWLS (birds), then he shall bring his offering
of TURTLEDOVES, or of young PIGEONS. And the priest shall bring it unto the
altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof
shall be wrung out at the side of the altar: And he shall pluck away his crop
with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place
of the ashes: And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, BUT SHALL NOT
DIVIDE IT (Birds) ASUNDER: and the priest shall burn it upon the Altar, upon
the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by
fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.” Leviticus 1:14-17
- CIRCUMCISION
“This is my covenant, which ye
shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among
you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin;
and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is
eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your
generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any
stranger, which is not of thy seed.” Genesis 17:10-12 KJV
God instructed Abraham and all
the males in his household to be circumcised. Newly born males were to be circumcised
on the eighth day of their birth. Circumcision and the day of circumcision
became a statute under the Law as well.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived
seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to
the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the
eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” Leviticus 12:1-3
KJV
Based on these practices we can
evidently conclude that Abraham didn't leave humanity footprints of faith alone
but he left the Jews patterns of ordinances observed under the Law. I strongly
believe it was God's intention to allow Abraham go through the process of Law
and faith, because He is the father of all. Abraham was called by grace as a Gentile
(Acts 7:4) as we are. He also became
a Hebrew (Jew), the first Hebrew (Genesis
14:13).God fully aware He'll bring both Jews and Gentiles together into one
fold someday to become one new man (Eph
2:14-15) preached the two dispensations to Abraham. First he was a father
to only those under the Law (John 8:53)
but now God has also made Abraham father of all (nations) by faith in God
through Jesus Christ His Son.
“For I say unto you (Jews), that
God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Luke 3:8 KJV
Now I believe we can move on to
discuss Abraham's tithing. Many saints believe because Abraham tithed, and as a
father of faith, all believers ought to follow in his steps. Though this
argument is advocated not legalistically but of voluntary commitment (since we
are not under the Law). This line of thought would have been okay and
reasonable except we now see traces of both the Law and faith in the
experiences of Abraham. The question we must now try answering is, which dispensation
was Abraham operating on when he gave a tithe of the spoil? Is it of faith or the
Law?
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