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In Genesis 26, God reiterates His promise made long ago to Abraham. Being a descendant, Isaac was still under this covenant relationship of God. Let’s look at exactly how God describes His relationship with Abraham when speaking to Isaac…
I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, 5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.”
Genesis 26:4-5 HCSB
It is interesting to me that God paints Abraham in a positive light despite the shortcomings we have read about in previous chapters. There are several points to consider.
First, Abraham’s entire life was not documented in Scripture. In fact, in Genesis 21, Abraham is 100 years old and in Genesis 25 he dies at a ripe age of 175. That’s basically the average lifespan of a man today compressed into 5 chapters. Furthermore, those chapters only give us a few snapshots of his life. It’s clear that only the highlights (and lowlights) were documented, leading us to an incomplete picture of what the day-to-day life of Abraham really looked like.
We can summarize from God’s words in Genesis 26 that Abraham was faithful to God. Yes, he had some major blunders (just like all of us), but the big picture of his life was summarized as obedient by God Himself. This would indicate that during the mundane, ordinary times of life, Abraham was living in relationship with God. On one hand, we can empathize with Abraham’s struggles because we all go through times of struggle and growth. But on the other hand, Abraham was considered righteous by God which was credited to Him by faith.
When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him, he did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because he believed and was accepted as righteous by God.
Romans 4:13 GNB
How did this tangibly play out in Abraham’s life?
Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became “the father of many nations.” Just as the scripture says, “Your descendants will be as many as the stars.” 19 He was then almost one hundred years old; but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children. 20 His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God’s promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God. 21 He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why Abraham, through faith, “was accepted as righteous by God.”
Romans 4:18-22 GNB
These are incredible thoughts. Righteousness is produced in our lives when we believe by faith that God will fulfill His promise. Consider, we aren’t the ones to deliver on the promises of God. He simply asks that we trust Him. Abraham believed when there was no reason to believe. His faith was not weakened by the facts. When we trust in Jesus, we also become righteous. It is not by our own doing, but by the work He did on the cross. Abraham’s life is a beautiful picture of how holiness is produced in our lives simply by trusting in God