Obedience and the Patriarchs

Whenever I've studied Genesis in evangelical churches and small groups, I've noticed a lot of emphasis on the characters' flaws. Evangelicals are quick to point out that the godly characters of Genesis do a lot of stupid or immoral things. Noah gets drunk, Abraham lies to protect himself, Jacob steals his brothers' blessing, Joseph is a spoiled brat, and Joseph's brothers sell their own flesh and blood into slavery. The evangelicals' point is that God is gracious and can use people who are not perfect. Evangelicals also affirm that God does not accept people on the basis of their merit, since the "heroes" of the Bible were far from meritorious. Rather, God accepted the biblical characters because of his grace, which they received through faith.

I live by this message. I know that I need a lot of grace each and every day because, well, I sin each and every day. But I wonder if there is more to the story.

For my Sabbath quiet time on Thursday, I studied Deuteronomy 30. I was just about to finish my study when vv 9b-10 leaped off the page:

"For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (NRSV).

A lot of times, evangelicals read the Pauline-Lutheran view into all of Scripture. They argue that God gave the Israelites a law they could not keep to show them that salvation cannot come through law but through Christ. And, sure enough, the Israelites did fail to keep the law, to the point that Jeremiah 31:31-34 presents an altogether new covenant.

But the entire history of God's people is not God's anger at them for failing to keep an impossible law, nor is it God's tolerance of sinners. That's a big part of it, yes, but not the whole story. Deuteronomy 30:9b-10 says that God was actually happy with the patriarchs. And it states that God will be similarly happy with the Israelites if they obey his commandments. So why was God happy with the patriarchs? Could one reason be that they obeyed God?

You know, evangelicals focus on the bad things that the patriarchs did, but they should also acknowledge the good things. Abraham left everything behind for a land he did not know. He was willing to sacrifice his beloved son. God summed up Abraham's life by saying that he "obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" (Genesis 26:5). Isaac heeded God's warning not to enter Egypt, even though famine was eating up the Promised Land. Jacob worked diligently for the corrupt Laban. He also put idolatry out of his camp when he was about to meet God. And he was willing to return to the Promised Land, despite the possibility that Esau might kill him. Sure, these characters needed grace, but there was something about them that pleased God, something that later generations of Israelites lacked: faith that expressed itself in obedience and good works.

I cannot be thoroughly critical of the evangelicals I have known. They were not antinomians. They almost always pointed out that, even though the characters of Genesis were not perfect, they grew and matured in faith and righteousness. For example, the Abraham of the akedah had more faith than the Abraham who lied to protect himself, or the Abraham who took Hagar to help God out with the promise. Maybe God was delighted in the patriarchs because they were at least willing to grow. And they came to love God's standard of righteousness, which is a significant part of obedience. The subsequent generations of Israelites, however, were not willing to grow. God showed them sign after sign, and yet they did not trust and obey. God had to knock some sense into them through the exile for them to get on the right path.

My conclusion: Christianity is about God's grace to sinners, but it is also about loving God and his righteous ways.