A Glimpse Ahead

Abraham was given something most of us never see.  God gave him a glimpse of the future.  This part of the narrative begins in the middle of the 15th chapter with Abraham falling into a deep sleep.  As the darkness overcomes him, the Lord speaks, "Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and they shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation they serve, and afterwards they shall come out with great possessions."   What God described to Abraham was many generations away, but as surely as the sun in the morning, it was coming. 

 

Of course, there are some who discount this kind of Word in the Bible as something that was surely added after the Exodus was history.  Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Abraham to have such knowledge.  Such folks who wear the hat of Biblical scholar think it impossible that such would be revealed with such accuracy so long before it actually happened.  For them, later makes more sense.  One of the problems with such a conclusion is that God is not required to make sense according to our definition of making sense.  God is not bound by common sense activities.  He is only bound by His own plan. 

To read the Scriptures without the primary lens being the lens of faith puts the reader in a prone-to-error place.  It is not necessary to read without using our brain, but the Word is a Word from God which seeks a faith response not an intellectual one.  To say that God cannot reveal to some what He has not yet done, but plans to do is to declare self in a greater and more knowing position than the One who brought the inspired Word into being.  To say that one must read with faith may be seen as a cop out by the Biblical critic, but over and over it seems to speak of the response God desires from those who seek to live in obedience.