Presented at
2025 Abraham and His Family Conference
Saturday, May 3 and Saturday, May 10, 2025
Sponsored by The Interpreter Foundation, Brigham Young University Religious Education,
Scripture Central, and FAIR Latter-day Saints
In this paper I will review the connections and articulate the additional depth provided by including an understanding of the Lord’s ḥesed, or covenant love. We’re all heard of the covenant of Abraham and the blessings of Abraham, but just what is the redemption of Abraham and why does it matter? How does it connect with covenant and the Lord’s ḥesed, or covenant love? The connection of Abraham and redemption is made by Isaiah when he refers to the God of Israel as “the Lord who redeemed Abraham” (Isaiah 29:22). This oblique reference to the redemption of Abraham has generated little notice among the scholarly world that begins its recognition of biblical redemption with Moses and the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. I believe the redemption of Abraham is one of the many “plain and precious truths” not fleshed out in the Bible. Understanding the redemption of Abraham gives us a new appreciation for the covenant and blessings of Abraham. We will see that redemption has both physical and spiritual dimensions. To clarify the redemption of Abraham I will examine both a cultural context for redemption in the ancient near East and also spiritual insights into redemption from the bondage of sin. The connection between covenant and redemption is made even richer and deeper by including the covenant love of ḥesed that leads to the act of redemption.
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Jennifer C. Lane
Jennifer C. Lane is a professor emerita of Religious Education at BYU–Hawaii where she taught for close to twenty years and served as Dean and also Associate Academic Vice President for Curriculum. She received her PhD in Religion from Claremont Graduate University with an emphasis in History of Christianity and her MA and BA from BYU in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and History, respectively. After moving to Provo, Utah in 2021 she held a three-year position as Neal A. Maxwell Research Associate at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Her scholarship focuses on covenants, temples, and living a life of holiness as well as additional studies in Franciscan history and piety. She is the author of Let’s Talk about Temples and Ritual and Finding Christ in the Covenant Path: Ancient Insights for Modern Life.
