Thursday's in the Truth: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - Translating the Trinity

 

 

 

It has always intrigued me to dig deeper into the meaning behind many scripture references to “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” What are the writers trying to convey to us? Why would God use this initial trinity as a reference to Himself? Throughout scriptures, we are exposed to many different types of literary motifs. I believe this is one of them. Everything has significance, and were inscribed for a reason. I asked myself, what is so special about this particular trinity? Is God allowing us a glimpse of insight long before Christ would ever walk on Earth? As we will come to know later  in the New Testament, this wouldn’t be the only trinity we would grow accustomed to studying.

As I prayed about this, I found myself meditating on two particular scriptures. First, I thought about the words written to us describing the encounter Moses had with God via the burning bush. In Exodus 3:6, God identifies Himself to Moses by the following; Then he said, “ I am the God of your ancestors-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he hid his face in his hands because he was afraid to look at God.

 I couldn’t help but to wonder why wouldn’t God place the emphasis solely on Abraham? After all, Isaac and Jacob would have ceased to exist if it wasn’t for this patriarchal figure. God promised Abraham he would become a father of a great nation in Genesis 12:1-3. So why the repeated correlation to all three men?

It wasn’t revealed to me until I came across a passage written by Luke in Acts 12:13. Peter is preaching at Solomon’s temple in Israel and goes on to say to the people before him “ For it is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of all our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. The same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.” Understand, these two scriptures were written over 1,500 years apart from each other. That’s not by chance. The more I researched, the more I prayed, I started to unravel a possible meaning behind this message.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were three distinct leaders of The Old Testament, yet, they possessed very different personalities and life experiences. Abraham was considered righteous by God and his faith was remarkable. Talk about a pioneer, he was the poster child! Isaac was called to be faithful and content in his circumstances as they were passed down to him. In doing so, God honored the covenant He had with his father Abraham. Jacob on the other hand, experienced more heart ache than the other two combined and struggled with continuous conflict in his life.  

You see, God works in our lives uniquely. He didn’t just give us one style of leadership to model, He gave us many. The scriptures are full of triumph through diversity. People that God chose to complete His work. Sure, they had their up’s and down’s, their doubts, their fears etc; but they knew despite these things God was going to be glorified through them.
 
I pray that each of you finds the encouragement you seek through the lives of those recorded in scripture who have gone before you. Your Christian pilgrimage is important to God. Rest assured that nothing you face is a first time for God. After all, if the Bible was filled only with the accounts of His "perfect" children, where would that leave us? I want to challenge you to make the commitment to be in the Word each and every day. He won’t let you down! And just wait, you may be surprised as to who it is you most identify with. What are you waiting for?

~Stef