Previous Chapter: My Witness is True
In the previous chapter, we saw that our Savior Jesus Christ is not one of the persons in the Trinity God [Father, Word, and the Holy Spirit], but rather He is the Son of the Word, and within Him resided both the Son of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit, thus making Jesus Christ Himself the Trinity God, the perfect image of Trinity God. In this chapter, we will see how the Lord revealed His Trinity to Abraham.
When Abraham was known as Abram, he built three altars, the first altar he built at the oak of Moreh, which represents the First person of the Trinity God - Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him - Gen 12:6-7
the second altar he built at east of Bethel, which represents the Second person of the Trinity God - From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord - Gen 12:8
the third altar he built at oaks of Mamre, which represents the Third person of the Trinity God - So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron and there he built an altar to the Lord - Gen 13:18
but it is not mentioned anywhere that he offered sacrifices on those altars, but when offering time comes, God asked Abraham to bring (מְשֻׁלָּ֑שׁ) shaw-lash of three animals - 9.So He said to him, Bring Me a מְשֻׁלֶּ֔שֶׁת[shaw-lash] of heifer, a מְשֻׁלֶּ֔שֶׁת[shaw-lash] of female goat, מְשֻׁלָּ֑שׁ[shaw-lash] of ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. 10.And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half - Genesis 15:9-10
Shaw-lash means one third portion, the same word shaw-lash has been used for dividing the land into three pieces - You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts (shaw-lash) the territory of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there - Deuteronomy 19:3
So, Abraham brought three sacrificial animals[heifer, female goat, and ram], he did not offer one of those three animals, but he took one third of the portions from all three sacrificial animals, For example, if a sacrificial animal weighs 30 Kg, the 'Shaw-lash' portion would be 10 Kg. When this 'Shaw-lash' portion is taken from each sacrificial animal, the total weight of these portions would be equivalent to the weight of one whole sacrificial animal, that is, 30 Kg, wouldn't it? That is what God commanded to be offered as a burnt offering.
Like that our Lord Jesus Christ, the one crucified for our salvation is from the God of the Father, God of the Word, and God of the Holy Spirit, that was the reason Apostle Paul compared Christ with the three sacrificial animals - 13.For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14.how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God - Hebrews 9:13-14
But God is one, and He cannot be separated; therefore, when the Son suffers, the God of heaven also suffered for our salvation, to illustrate this, God commanded Abraham to bring dove and a young pigeon, and apostle Paul described like this - Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist - 1 Corinthians 8:6
The three types of visions that God gave to Abraham
Furthermore, The Bible says that God appeared to Abraham three times, to explain His Trinity and the uniqueness of every person in the Trinity, in the first appearance, He displayed the character of Father, the first person of the Trinity God, and revealed all the plans in a single statement - 6.Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7.Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him - Genesis 12:6-7
In the second appearance, He displayed the character of Word, the second person of the Trinity God, and raveled the incarnation of Word - 1.After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2.But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3.And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4.And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5.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.” 6.And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness - Genesis 15:1-6
For the third time, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, appeared, transforming the one who was Abram into Abraham, and taught us the profound mystery that He is the one who would transforms us into children of God, and also by speaking from inside of the Abraham, He revealed another mystery that He is the one who would dwells within us, and then He went up from Abraham - 1.When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2.that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3.Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4.“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5.No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations - Genesis 17:1-5 & 22.When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham - Genesis 17:22
Next Chapter: Isaac's Explanation