The Advantage of Faith in the works of the Old Testament
In the Genesis myth, God created everything. The Heaven, the Earth, the universe. He
created it from good. He created man and woman from good, too. Though God could have
kept man subordinate to His every whim, He allowed man, Adam, to help name the animals.
From this action, a relationship was established with God. God had created man out of good,
gave him the opportunity to name the animals on Earth and, by effect, gave man free will now
that God didn’t puppeteer His children, as supposed gods of previous religions did, He instilled
a certain amount of faith in His children that they would live to make the world a better place.
By abiding by God’s law, though not nearly as established in Genesis as it would later prove to
be, man could live to fulfill God’s wished. By giving man free will and having man live in
relationship with God, man maintained faith in God. God was good to create a world for man
from good so faith in God would be meant for living a good, pure life in relationship with God
which is exactly what God wanted. The corruption of this relationship is also seen in the
Genesis myth. When given the opportunity from the snake, Satan, to be as God, and no longer
just in relationship to him, Adam and Eve took it. They ate the forbidden fruit and felt shame.
In that moment that they lost faith in God, they were no longer acting to make the world a
better place but were acting of their own volition, or free will. God gave Adam and Eve this free
will but did not retract it when they committed original sin. Instead, He allowed them to
continue to live with free will and forgave them after a few stipulations. Here, God’s mercy is
shown. Even when humans betray God and lose faith in Him, He still maintains faith in them.
Humans still have the capacity to make the world a better place. They still can have a
relationship with God.
The advantage of faith is a major theme in the Old Testament. The numerous occasions
in which central humans followed God’s plan and maintained faith that His commandments
would lead them to a good life stand out in the Old Testament. Among these early humans
include Abraham and Joseph. However, just as Adam and Eve were tempted from their faith in
God so too were others. Saul, who was anointed King of Israel by Samuel, followed God’s
command. God had faith in Saul that Saul could be kind but Saul didn’t have faith in the Lord
when most needed Him. Saul’s predecessor, David, also had his faith in God waver. Though
David wasn’t stripped of his throne and God’s blessing, he was stripped of a possible male heir
who was to build a temple to the Lord of Jerusalem.
As mentioned, among those who maintained faith to be discussed is Abraham. In a
theophany, God came to Abraham and announced himself along with the promise of a land to
call his won, a great nation and to make of Abraham and his people a blessing to all nations. All
three of these blessings balanced on the fact that Abraham be borne a son. It is only when
Abraham had a son, Isaac, that God tests his faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. With this
sacrifice would come the sacrifice of all three blessings and yet Abraham was not wavered in his
faith and God saved Isaac from sacrifice and maintained his covenant with Abraham. Joseph’s
eventual entrance into Egypt led to the inhabitance of Egypt by the Hebrew people. Joseph was
blessed by God with the gift of interpreting dreams. Each dream interpreted was like a small
miracle as it helped Joseph gain power in Egypt and he fulfilled God’s will to shape religious
history for centuries after. In these ways, those who kept continuous faith in God were
rewarded with good lives and those who betrayed God’s faith and wavered in their own
suffered but were forgiven.
“Abraham believed the Lord, who credited it to him as righteousness” Genesis 15:6 (The
Holy Bible, New International Version). The excerpt from Genesis describes Abraham’s faith in
God. It also is an insight into God’s relationship with Abraham. Abraham believes and trusts in
God and God sees him as good and has faith in Abraham. This mutual faith leads Abraham to
make a covenant with God in a theophany. In this powerful audible, visual and tactile
experience of God, Abraham is blessed and is Promised Land, people of Abraham and that his
people would be a blessing to all nations. Abraham’s faith in God leads him to follow His
command and seek out the land of Canaan. Without knowing of or visiting Canaan prior,
Abraham’s immediate movement signifies his faith. Canaan was to be the land promised to
Abraham in the covenant and God had not asked anything of Abraham, as of yet. Abraham
arrived at Canaan and settled in. Having the land that God promised, Abraham still needed a
