Good Morning Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Abraham is known as the spiritual father of the Jews and Gentiles, who are the Body of Christ. This means us as Believers. Jesus and Paul refer to Abraham frequently as the spiritual father of the Jewish Nation, Israel, and of the Body of Christ. Abraham is called the “father of faith.” If Jesus and Paul esteem Abraham so much and speak of Abraham throughout the New Testament or New Covenant, perhaps we need to study Abraham and learn more about him to help us in our walk as Believers. As the seed of Abraham, we have the material and physical blessings of Abraham (Galatians 3:14) and the Spiritual blessings of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
Galatians 3:6-8
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Galatians 3:13-14, 29
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The “promise” spoken of in Galatians 3:29 is found in Romans 4:13 where it says, “Abraham is heir of this world.” The world, this material world, belongs to Abraham and his seed. This “seed” is us, the Believers.
Romans 4:13
For the promise, that he [Abraham] should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
This and the next couple of messages will speak to Abraham and what we can learn from him as the spiritual father of our faith. The focus will be on Genesis 12 – 18.
To start, let’s first deal with the names of Abraham and Sarah. When we originally meet them in Genesis 11, they are named Abram and Sarai. In Genesis 17, a name change takes place from Abram to Abraham and from Sarai to Sarah. Why? I’ll explain it without going into great depth. It is up to you to study it further to show yourself approved unto God (II Timothy 2:15).
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE NAME CHANGES?
Not understanding the name changes creates confusion among casual readers of God’s Word. Why did they start out with one name and later it changes. The spiritual significance of this cannot be understated.
Abram, in Hebrew, means, “Exalted Father.”
Sarai, in Hebrew, means, “Chief, Governor, or Leader.” Sarai is the masculine form of the name Sarah. The spiritual significance of Sarai’s name being in the masculine form means she cannot bear children because a male cannot bear children (contrary to the fools of today saying they can).
God changed Abram’s and Sarai’s name in Genesis 17. When God addresses Abram in Genesis 17:1, He introduces Himself as “The Almighty God.” There is Spiritual significance to the name changes:
1.) “LORD,” spelled in all uppercase letters is the Hebrew Word, “YHVH Elohim”
2.) “YHVH” are the letters Y, H, V, and H. YHVH stands for “Hand Behold Nail Behold”
3.) “Elohim” is the plural name of God: “God The Father, God The Son, God the Holy Spirit”
4.) The “Heh” in YHVH is the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Hebrew letters also have a numeric value; therefore the “H” or “Heh” is the 5th letter. What is the significance of the 5th letter “Heh?”
a. GRACE! It represents “GRACE.” GRACE is the primary attribute of REDEMPTION.
b. Also represents “YHVH Elohim.”
c. Standing alone, “Heh,” is also the word, “BEHOLD”
5.) The “LORD” changed Abram’s and Sarai’s names during His 5th visit with Abram. This 5th visit has great significance. It is during this visit that God inserted the letter “Heh” into their names:
a. “Heh” was inserted in the middle of Abram’s name forever imprinting the quality of God’s grace on Abraham and his Seed, Jesus Christ, through which we, as Believers, receive the same “grace.”
b. “Heh” was added to the end of Sarai’s name which illustrates the feminine idea of gentleness, loving affection, and devotion. This adding of “Heh” to the end of her name opened her womb and Isaac was born. Her name changed made her the matriarch of the entire redeemed world.
6.) It was less than one year from the time God changed Abram’s and Sarai’s names to Abraham and Sarah that Isaac was born. The power of the spoken word in faith.
God’s name change resulted in Abraham and Sarah “calling things that be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17). Now when Abraham or Sarah introduces themselves or someone calls them by their changed names, they are speaking the new Truth spelled out in their changed names, below. They are calling things that be not as though they were.
a. Abraham = “Father of Many Nations”
b. Sarah = “Princess”
GOD INSERTED HIMSELF, “GRACE,” INTO THEIR NAMES.
In Genesis 15 and 17, we see God put the Abrahamic Covenant into effect. Part of this covenant is Abram’s and Sarai’s name change. As part of the covenant, God inserted the power of Himself into their names. When Abraham and Sarah, or others, spoke Abraham and Sarah’s new names, the speaker knowingly or unknowingly were prophetically calling into the earth, from the Spiritual realm, God’s finished work.
When we accepted and made Jesus Christ the Lord of our life, our name, Spiritually, was changed. The name that before had “death and curses” in it was changed to one with “life and blessings” in it. We are now sons and daughters, children, of the Lord God Almighty, Abba, and heirs of this world. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, our elder Brother, the Firstborn, the First Fruits, our King, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Intercessor, our Advocate, the Propitiation, our Great High Priest, our Prince of Peace, our Lion of Judah, our Lamb of God, The Word, The Surety. The name change for us, as Believers, means everything The Father has is ours through Jesus Christ (John 16:14-15).
Now that we understand the former and present names of Abraham and Sarah, we’ll learn more about where they came from and why God chose them to be our spiritual father and mother in future messages.
Blessings in Jesus Christ,
Larry