Intent

Genesis 17:1 (NASB)

Walk before Me and be blameless.

Per criminal jurisprudence, the first thing that needs to be established is the intent or motive. Every prosecutor or judge strives to uncover a crime's underlying intent or motive. Why was the crime committed? What is its purpose? What precisely prompted the suspect/criminal to commit that crime? Any prosecution would be superficial without uncovering the intent first. God Almighty always zeroes in on the heart and the underlying purpose. In this verse, the Lord commands Abraham to walk before Him and be blameless. Notice the emphasis on the word blameless and not faultless. Abraham did many stupid things, such as going to Egypt after a famine instead of staying in Canaan (Genesis 12:10-20). Abraham made the first mistake by not trusting God to provide and instead took the easy way out by going to Canaan. His second mistake was much worse when he lied that his wife Sarai was his sister (Genesis 12:11-13). His third mistake was probably the worst when he listened to his wife Sarah and procreated with his maid Hagar (Genesis 16:3). Abraham should have waited upon God to fulfill His promise instead of listening to his wife's advice. That costly mistake produced two warring races of people still in conflict after 5000 years. However, despite all these mistakes, God did not chastise Abraham and protected him. Why? Because Abraham's intentions were pure. This is in stark contrast to the Pharisees who lived flawless lives but whose hearts were dark as hell.

First, Abraham went down to Egypt instead of trusting God to provide. This was possibly because he had to feed his wife, servants, and the flock that he had with him. It's natural to seek better opportunities, but they had to be done in God's will and timing. His second mistake of lying about his wife Sarai can be construed as a half-truth or white lie. Sarai was his cousin. It was customary in those pagan cultures to inbreed with their close relatives, such as marrying cousins, a practice we now call sin after the Mosaic law. His third mistake could be due to his old age. It was customary in those cultures to treat concubines as property. So, according to their culture, Abraham and Sarai would've been correct to procreate with their maids. However, although God Almighty did not punish Abraham by calling it sin, there were consequences to his actions. He was rebuked by the Pharoah of Egypt (Genesis 12:18). He produced warring religions today, Judaism and Islam (Genesis 16:12). But despite these apparent humiliations, the reason Abraham is called a friend of God is because he had pure intent and believed God (James 2:23).