theophiliacs

He brought him outside and said, ‘Look towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:5-6 NRSV

Night Sky at Petra, Jordan

Adapting a prominent cliché, Orson Wells famously said, “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.” While impressively stoic, the faith community behind Genesis 15 would likely find Wells’ statement absurd.

In Abraham’s world—a less individualistic, less literal place—such a sentiment would be unthinkable. It could be argued that the very goal of life was to insure one did not die alone, and that those for whom one was responsible were not born alone. These relationships could never be illusions, for they were the very means by which one survived in a harsh world especially cruel to loners. Communities did not exist to create a bubble of happiness. They existed to make existence possible. Thus, the irony of ancestor and descendant was one of origin and legacy: A son found his identity in his father. The father lived forever through his son.

This ancient vision of community should give readers in our radically individualistic culture pause when considering the nature of God’s promises in the Abraham cycle. The guarantee of an heir was an offer of eternal significance and the prospect of land was an offer of elected provision. The significance of showing Abraham stars is not merely to showcase their number, but their permanence. The intimacy of 15:6 should not be missed. What is happening between God and Abraham is not something that can be described in a series of steps or in dialogue as in the first five verses, but only observed from a theological distance. It would seem Abraham’s faith and subsequent righteousness is neither the result of an obedient act nor a pious prayer but a feat accomplished while stargazing.

From his son, Abraham would discover his place within community. From the stars he would discover his place in creation. New Testament communities would later locate his place within salvation history. Christians today are called to discern no less. By faith we explore these three relationships—God, community and creation. They are not illusions, nor the byproduct of our selfish ambitions. They are the reality that we’re never alone.