Abraham Is Afraid
Abraham had been a man of peace, so far as possible shunning strife. With horror he recalled the carnage he had witnessed. The nations whose forces he had defeated would doubtless renew the invasion and make him the special object of their vengeance. Furthermore, he had not entered upon the possession of Canaan, nor could he now hope for an heir, to whom the promise might be fulfilled.EP 82.3
In a vision of the night the divine voice was again heard. “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” But how was the covenant promise to be realized while the gift of a son was withheld? “What wilt Thou give me,” he said, “seeing I go childless? ... Lo, one born in my house is mine heir.” He proposed to make his trusty servant Eliezer his son by adoption. But he was assured that a child of his own was to be his heir. Then he was told to look up to the unnumbered stars glittering in the heavens, and the words were spoken, “So shall thy seed be.” “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3.EP 82.4
The Lord condescended to enter into a covenant with His servant. And the voice of God was heard, bidding him not to expect immediate possession of the Promised Land, and pointing forward to the sufferings of his posterity before their establishment in Canaan. The plan of redemption was opened to him in the death of Christ, the great sacrifice, and His coming in glory. Abraham saw also the earth restored to Eden beauty, given for an everlasting possession as the final and complete fulfillment of the promise.EP 83.1
When Abraham had been nearly twenty-five years in Canaan, the Lord appeared unto him and said, “Behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.” In token of the fulfillment of this covenant, his name Abram was changed to Abraham, “father of a great multitude.” Sarai's name became Sarah—“princess,” for “she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”EP 83.2
At this time circumcision was given to Abraham, to be observed by the patriarch and his descendants as a token that they were separated from idolaters and that God accepted them as His peculiar treasure. They were not to contract marriages with heathen, for by so doing they would be tempted to engage in the sinful practices of other nations and be seduced into idolatry.EP 83.3