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The text we have before us today is deceptively difficult.

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I say deceptively difficult because it seems on the surface

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to be quite clear only to become more challenging the closer that

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we look at it.

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So with your indulgence, I want to focus our attention today on

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just one part of this passage, the second half of verse 1

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through verse 2.

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This is where God states his main point to Abram, and it's

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also where the difficulty in the passage arises.

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The ESV renders the text as follows,

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I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless that I may

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make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you

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greatly.

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So, what's the problem?

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As rendered by the ESV, the text appears to say that Abram's

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relationship to God depends upon his ability to walk before God

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blamelessly, meaning without fault or perfectly.

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But this is not, in fact, what God was intending to say to

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Abram.

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I tell you this based on two observations, one grammatical,

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the other a matter of word choice.

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The grammatical issue arises from how we're to understand the

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construction of the phrase rendered by the ESV as walk

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before me and be blameless.

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The underlying Hebrew construction consists of two

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imperatives, two commands joined by the conjunction and.

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Now, without becoming overly technical, we need to know that

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in biblical Hebrew, this construction, two imperatives

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joined by the word and, is used in two distinct ways.

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The first and most obvious use of this construction is to

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tell the hearer to do two things.

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And this is how the translators of the ESV have taken it.

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And taking it that way would mean that God requires Abraham

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to do two things in order to qualify for the relationship

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that God is offering him.

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He must walk before God and he must be blameless.

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The word rendered, be blameless here, is used to suggest

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something that is whole, something that is complete or

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without fault, or to put it more simply, something perfect.

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When joined to the first command in this way, it would imply the

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idea that Abraham is to walk before God perfectly, that is,

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to walk before God in such a way that he is without fault

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of any kind.

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The effect of this is to suggest that Abraham's relationship to

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God depends entirely on his ability to live a perfect life.

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This, as I said, is the first use of this construction.

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But it's not the only use of this construction.

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A second use, widely recognized and well documented by Hebrew

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grammarians, is to communicate the idea that the second word in

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the form of a command is actually to be understood as the

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expected or intended result of the first command.

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Understanding the construction in this way would mean that

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Abraham becomes whole, that he is regarded as God by being

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perfect or without fault simply because he walks before God.

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In other words, taking the text in this way would mean that

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being perfect is not a condition that Abraham must fulfill in

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order to be in the relationship with God.

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It's a result, a consequence of being in that relationship with

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God.

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Well, that's a pretty big difference in how we might

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understand this text.

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And if both of these understandings are grammatically

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possible, how do we know which one is right?

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This is where we come to the second thing that I mentioned,

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the choice by the author to use certain words.

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The ESV renders the beginning of verse 2 as,

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that I may make a covenant between me and you.

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Now, I want to call your attention to this phrase,

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make my covenant.

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There are a couple of different Hebrew idioms for making

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a covenant.

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The most frequent involves the verb often translated cut,

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as in cut a covenant.

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This idiom is used more than 60 times in the Old Testament.

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The next most frequent idiom involves the verb commonly

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translated establish, as in establish a covenant.

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This idiom occurs 12 times in the Old Testament,

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but we don't have either of those here.

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Here Moses uses the word commonly translated give.

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The phrase give a covenant, the phrase that we have here,

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occurs in this form only two times in the entire

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Old Testament.

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So, the word choice is quite distinctive,

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and the choice to use this word here is very important to what

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God is saying to Abraham.

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The phrase cut a covenant and establish a covenant emphasize

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the fact that a covenant has been made.

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The phrase give a covenant emphasizes the way that the

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covenant is made.

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The point is this.

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The relationship between God and Abraham represented by the

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covenant is a gift.

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It is something that God gives at His own initiative and not

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something that Abraham earns.

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So, the use of the word give here helps us to understand how

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to read that be perfect grammatical construction at the

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end of verse 1.

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We should read it in a way that affirms the fact that God gives

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this relationship to Abraham and consequently that God's

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regarding Abraham as whole reflects Abraham's receiving by

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faith the relationship that God gives.

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And it's not a condition for being in that relationship.

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One last thing.

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Reading the text in this way is also consistent with what is

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said about Abraham's walking before God in the other major

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covenant promise text just a couple of chapters earlier in

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Genesis 15.

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There, when God promises Abraham many descendants, we read that

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Abraham believed the Lord and he, that is God, counted to him

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as righteousness.

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There it was Abraham's faith reflected in his trust as God's

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as yet unfulfilled promise that led to his being regarded as

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righteous.

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In our text today, it is Abraham's faith reflected in the

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way that he walked before God that leads to his being regarded

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as blameless.

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In each case, it is Abraham's faith in God's word that is the

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key thing.

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So, what does all this discussion of grammar and words

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mean for you?

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Just this.

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If you believe the promise of God given to Abraham and

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fulfilled in Jesus Christ, then you are Abraham's heir.

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For Abraham's descendants are not those who come from his

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body.

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They are those who, like Abraham, have received the gift

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of a relationship with God by faith.

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Like Abraham, God regards you who walk before Him in faith as

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blameless and whole.

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Your faults, just like the faults of Abraham, are

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forgiven.

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So, when your conscience damns you for all your failings and

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you're tempted to think that you can never be good enough to earn

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God's love, you can say with Abraham your father,

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get thee behind me, Satan.

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I have received God's gift and nothing that you can say or do

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can take that away from me.

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And when you're tempted to doubt God's promises, just as Abraham

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was tempted to doubt God's promises at times, you can say

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with Abraham your father, get thee behind me, Satan.

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I have received God's gift and I have a hope made certain by His

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love that begins now and lasts forever.

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And when the cares of this world begin to mount to the point

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where they threaten to choke the life out of you and leave you

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fretting about what tomorrow may bring, you can say with Abraham

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your father, get thee behind me, Satan.

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I have received God's gift and nothing, nothing, nothing that

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you can do in hell or on this earth will keep me from walking

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in faith before Him, serving Him with joy and sharing His love

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even with those who would make themselves God's enemies in this

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world.

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This is God's gift to Abraham and God's gift to you.

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In the name of Jesus, the fulfillment of God's promise to

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Abraham and the hope, our hope now and forever.

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Amen.