adonai- the story of abram

In Genesis 12:2, God told Abram, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Fast forward to Genesis 15 where Abram begins to doubt this promise. He and his wife were getting older, and so far the only heir he had was Eliezer, his servant. But what’s so amazing about this story is that in the midst of his doubt, Abram called out to God as his Adonai. 

“And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” 

Genesis 15:5-6 

*Note: Lord= Adonai

In response, Adonai revealed both the expansiveness of His creative power & His covenant-keeping faithfulness. Genesis 15:5 shows just that. To have Abram go out and tell him the number of stars in the sky, was the number of offspring he’d have, but to also have him face his eyes on the Lord. How amazing!! He used the expansiveness of the universe, that he created, to confirm the promise he gave Abram. 

Abram’s trust that God was Adonai, owner of all, meant trusting that God was in control of his future, even when he had not received the promise. Seesh! I don’t know about you but there have been plenty of times where I’ve tried to take the promise that God has given me into my own hands. Spoiler: it doesn’t work out very well that way. 

In fact, Sarah, his wife, attempted to take the promise God had given them into their own hands. Sarah had a servant named Hagar and gave her to Abram. Together they had a son named Ishmael, who would live a hard life. Abram was 86 when he was born. At 100 years old, Abraham (Genesis 17:5, God tells Abram that his name will now be Abraham) and Sarah had a son named, Issac. 

Later in Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to offer Issac as a burnt offering. The son Abraham waited years and years for. But because Abraham had God as the Adonai over his life, he trusted him and was obedient to God. Because Abraham was obedient to God, Isaac was spared. 

In Genesis 15, Abram’s unyielding trust in Adonai is identified as faith. Abram did begin to doubt because logically it didn’t make sense that he would be able to have kids anymore, but he knew that he had to cede ownership of not only his present but also his future to Adonai. Faith means knowing the power and covenant faithfulness of our God and trusting that our future is always safer when we place it in the hands of Adonai.

Our fear of ceding ownership to Adonai is often rooted in fear of the unknown future & a sense that we will not be in control of how that future will evolve.

To have God as the Adonai over your life means trusting Him with your future.