Abram’s Prophetic Call

Abraham is the first man in the Bible who is called a “prophet” (Genesis 20:7). A prophet, Abraham Heschel pointed out, is a member of Yahweh’s council, an officer of the court who listens in on the proceedings and has the privilege of the floor. Fittingly, Abraham is called “prophet” when the Lord tells Abimelech that Abraham will intercede for him; a few chapters earlier, Abraham engaged in a dialogue with Yahweh about the fate of Sodom, displaying his prophetic credentials.

Most prophets in the Old Testament are called and installed at some point. Is that true of Abraham? I have argued that Abraham’s life moves from priest to king to prophet, but where does that last phase begin? It apparently begins before chapter 18, because Yahweh already considers Abraham a “friend” to whom He discloses secrets (18:16-19). 

The answer appears to be Genesis 15, which has a number of features that mark it as a prophetic call scene:

1) This is the first time Abram engages in dialogue with Yahweh. Yahweh has spoken to Abram before (12:1-3, 7), but Abram never talked back. In chapters 12-14, Abram acts as priest, building altars when the Lord appears (12:7) and calling on the Lord’s name (13:4). But he has no conversations with Yahweh until chapter 15.

2) Chapter 15 is the first time that Yahweh specifies the future of Abram’s seed: “one who shall come forth from your own inner parts, he shall be your heir” (v. 4). That is, Yahweh discloses a previously undisclosed secret to Abram at this juncture. (It’s worth observing the progression of God’s unveiling of Abram’s future: First he promises a seed but without specifying whether those children will be flesh descendants of Abram or not; then he tells Abram that the seed will come directly from Abram’s flesh; finally, when He institutes the covenant of circumcision, He specifies that the seed will be born through Sarah [17:15-16], at the same time Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sarah. We know the whole story – Isaac born as a miracle son from Abraham Sarah – but that outcome is revealed in bits and pieces.)

3) Abram is also told about the Egyptian sojourn and exodus, that is, a more distant future for his descendants (15:13-16).

4) Yahweh appears to Abram in a vision (15:1) and later puts him in a deep sleep as he cuts covenant with him (15:12-17). It’s the first vision in the Bible, and visions later become associated with prophets – Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel see visions. (Priests consult oracles; Kings have dreams; Prophets see visions.)

5) From this chapter on, Abram is in dialogue with Yahweh, especially in chapter 18.

All this indicates that Abram becomes a prophetic after he defeats the kings in battle and when the Lord reveals both the identity of his seed and the future of his people. 

That is an important conclusion: Yahweh cuts a prophetic covenant with Abraham; perhaps covenants always have prophetic features. But equally important is the use that Paul makes of Genesis 15: It is the classic text on justification by faith, and it is set in the context of a prophetic call. There is much to extrapolate from that, but we can say at least this much: To be justified is to be counted as a partner in a covenant-dialogue. To be justified is to be inducted into prophetic status.