Here is a prophecy about the Lord and Savior, the
Son of God Jesus Christ. Also about eternal salvation in Him. Regarding
the knowledge of God by nations and about the connection with the Son of
God, the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, there is a good essay at the
link:
https://sites.google.com/view/rozdumy23/home/isnuvanna-piznaemo-virou
It must also be said that we understand many things, but also many
things we do not understand to the end what concerns God and creation.
Much of what can be understood is in another good piece at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html
One of the most significant readings about faith in general in Scripture. Has a lot of comments, many interpretations.
Personally, I remember the story of the conversion of Serene Kierkegaard, the outstanding Danish philosopher and founder of existentialism. This story inspired him to change his life. Based on it, he concluded that people can be guided by aesthetic values in life (beauty and pleasantness, seek pleasures, as Kierkegaard did before the time of awareness), ethical (correctness, logic, sense and to seek good) and faith (like Abraham in this history, which is higher than ethical and aesthetic approaches, because it leads to God). In general, a kind of philosophical construction, not necessarily correct (although there is a lot of common sense in it), but it had a huge impact on Kierkegaard himself.
Returning to the reading, I will dwell only on several points that are important for the Christian understanding.
As I already wrote in the work at the link:
24032023.html
Abraham
believed God, trusted Him and entrusted himself and others to Him, and
thus became the father of all the faithful (believers),
as Paul calls
him.
As Abraham understood that God was addressing him, he thought about it in the link above.
I will say that the Scriptures in the text itself write about the Angel who stopped Abraham, and then blessed Him, and Paul writes in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews VI), that was God. This is not the only place in Scripture where we have a similar situation (Angel = God), and many researchers believe that in this case as angel here really should be seen God Himself, and more precisely, the Son of God, the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, Whom the Father sent into the world. It is also an immediate proof that the Son of God is God.
Next, I want to highlight, based on the words of the Scriptures and Abraham’s actions, what he really believed in.
That God can raise from the dead
(Hebrews XI, 17-19, Romans IV,
16-25) and that He would indeed raise up Isaac to fulfill His
promise.
That God will fulfill the promises and Isaac will be Abraham’s offspring (that is, after all, Isaac must be alive).
That Isaac would understand him, although Abraham had to fulfill God’s will to actually commit the murder of Isaac by ordinary human reasoning.
That God completely decides what is good and what is evil. And that God is good.
As we can see, to act like this, Abraham needed to be absolutely sure that it had been God who talked to him and it had been God who previously had given him the promises.
Why is Abraham called the father of all the faithful
? After all,
religious people almost never do nothing comparable to what Abraham did
here.
But is there really never anything like this? Absolutely nothing and nowhere? (Edited grammar at 2023-04-01 EEST 03:03)
But no, they do. For example, when God says to preserve purity, and a girlfriend or a boyfriend says that it is not scary not to keep it, or even threaten to leave a person because of keeping purity.
If a believer, for the sake of faith and purity itself, for the sake of God in the end, chooses to remain faithful, then risks (and realistically) to lose that person who may be very dear to this believing person. But if agrees with a girlfriend or a boyfriend, then he / she does not have that previous belief strength in the person himself / herself, or better to say, the person refuses from the power of that faith.
This is already compared to the act of Abraham.
But also in less dramatic situations, when a person sacrifices for the sake of faith something, it is a manifestation of this faith itself.
And here it is important that if a person wants to change his / her life, to change himself / herself, then he / she needs to exercise faith. In this paragraph, not necessarily the Christian faith, but the faith that lies in the value of repentance, the faith that the change is worth making even in the face of difficulties. Such faith sincerely and directly reminds me of the words of the apostle James: Show me your faith, and I will show mine by my deeds!
(slightly paraphrasing, but here it is contextually apt). And then such, generally speaking, non-religious faith in the Lord can be counted at the Last Judgment as trust in God. And without such faith, a person will not have real changes. True repentance, therefore, is always associated with faith (paragraph amended 2023-04-01 EEST 13:54).
Someone will say: Well, does a believer look like someone who has
something to lose?
.
But it is better to say, he / she believes that God will give even more.
Just as Abraham believed that God would raise up Isaac to fulfill the promises, Isaac will take this as an example of faith and learn for himself.
Christ’s faith always expects that God will give – and even give more.
The Greek and Hebrew texts differ markedly, but are generally similar.
In the verses of Proverbs XVII, 17-18, we see the differences between helping friends (comrades, brothers) and responsibility for them. It is worth helping if possible, and if it is good, but unlikely is to take responsibility for them – one need with great care, and better is to avoid it. This distinction is very important in all such relationships.
In general, the Lord teaches friendship in reading, the ability to speak and remain silent, restraint and prudence, wisdom, joy (cheerfulness), against bribes, also teaches righteousness, moderation, motivates towards learning and knowledge, honesty and appreciation of goodness. Warns against opposite sins and vices.
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!