Ephesians 2:9: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
There is a certain Hebrew word used in the Torah that compliments the beauty of this verse from Ephesians. Who knows––it may have come to Paul’s mind when the verse was written. The word in Hebrew is chashab.
It connotes the idea of being esteemed in some way. The first place it is found is in Genesis 15:6, which says, “And Abram believed in the LORD, and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.” The word translated as “reckoned” is the word chashab.
Now the events leading up to Genesis 15:6 cannot be overlooked. Before this, God had asked Abram to depart from his homeland on the promise that he would be blessed. Abram obediently did so. God had then asked Abram to walk the length and breadth of the land on the promise that it would be given to him. Again, Abram obediently did so. Chapter 15 begins and God tells Abram to “look toward heaven and number the stars, if you can number them, for so shall your offspring be.” Abram believes the LORD, and it is here that God reckons it to him as righteousness. Why here, and not earlier?
Although Abram had certainly acted in faith before this moment, his acts of faith had always involved a component of obedience, a component of works. But here, looking up at the stars and pondering God’s promise to him, Abram is confronted with a premise that is all faith and no obedience. His faith must now transcend any deed he could possibly do. ...That his offspring would number as many as the stars?! There is nothing Abram, by his own doing, can do to make this a reality. He’s reached the cliff’s edge of obedience, so to speak, and yet God invites his faith to keep going. When Abram believes the LORD––when he accepts in total faith this gift of absolute grace––God marvels and reckons it to him as righteousness.
This returns us to the word chashab. Knowing the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself, where else is chashab found in Scripture? And what insight can it give us into Genesis 15:6?
It is found again in Genesis 38:15, in story of Judah and Tamar. This is among my favorite stories in the Bible, in part because of its oddity. Tamar is Judah’s daughter-in-law, but her husband (Judah’s oldest son) is killed by God for his wickedness. She is given to Judah’s second son, but he is also put to death by God. Judah is afraid that his third son will also die, so his third son is not given to Tamar in marriage. Thus, Tamar is left childless in Judah’s house. That is, until she dresses up as a prostitute and waits by the roadside for Judah to approach her. Genesis 38:15 says, “When Judah approached her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.” Long story short, Judah gets Tamar pregnant, and Tamar eventually gives birth to twins. The word translated as “thought” in Genesis 38:15 is the word chashab! It’s when Judah reckoned Tamar to be a prostitute.
We find the word another time in 1 Samuel 1:13. Here we encounter Hannah, a woman who is childless and being harassed by the other wife of her husband. Greatly distressed, she prays to God year after year for a child. One day in Shiloh, she is praying silently, speaking in her heart. Now in those days (and even today in Jewish culture), a person is supposed to pray aloud. So when Eli the priest sees her lips moving but hears no voice, it catches his attention. 1 Samuel 1:13-15 says, “...Eli thought she was drunk. Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.” But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD...” The word translated as “thought” in 1 Samuel 1:13 is again the word chashab! It’s when Eli the priest reckoned Hannah to be drunk.
Looking at how the word is used in Genesis 38:15 and 1 Samuel 1:13, we glean an insight into Genesis 15:6. Note: Tamar wasn’t really a prostitute, but Judah treated her as such. Hannah wasn’t really drunk, but Eli treated her as such. Now we apply the pattern to Genesis 15:6: was Abram really righteous? No. But God treated him as such!
Here’s the key difference: Judah was fooled, and Eli was fooled, but God cannot be fooled. God knows the truth full well. Even so, He reckoned it to Abram as righteousness! This speaks volumes of His grace! Despite all of Abram's failings, God still treated Abram as a righteous man. Connect this with Genesis 50:20; when Joseph is speaking to his brothers, he says to them, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God reckoned it for good, to bring to pass the saving of many lives.” The word here is chashab! You see, what the brothers did to Joseph by selling him into slavery was an evil deed, but because God reckoned it for good, He treated the event as if it was good. He used their evil deed as a passageway for good. In the same way, God used Abram as a passageway for righteousness because He reckoned it to him as such.
What this means is that righteousness comes by God's reckoning on account of our total belief in Him. Our righteousness is a gift of grace, not the result of our own doing! In fact, it is a gift that comes when God sees a quality of faith that leaps beyond the realm of works. It is then that God credits it to a person. At some level, this is what is being taught by the word chashab, and being echoed by Paul in Ephesians 2:9.
In short, it is God’s gracious reckoning that makes a person righteous, and brings to pass the saving of many lives.
