Avraham's emunah that his loss was for the good

בפסוק מה תתן לי כו' ובן משק ביתי כו' יורש אותי כו' והאמין בה' ויחשבה לו צדקה.

On the pasuk "What will You give me," etc., "and the steward of my house," etc., "shall inherit me," etc., "and he had emunah in Hashem, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness."

The Sefas Emes raises the difficulty in the passage where Avraham complains that his servant Eliezer will inherit him, and the Torah then praises his emunah (faith) as righteousness.

ואין מובן ונראה לפרש כי בודאי האמין גם מקודם אאע"ה בהבטחות השי"ת לזרעך אתן כו'.

And it is not understood, and it appears to explain that surely Avraham Avinu had already believed beforehand in Hashem's promises, "to your offspring I will give," etc.

The question is why his faith here counts as something new, since Avraham had certainly already trusted Hashem's earlier promise that his descendants would inherit the land.

אך כל הטענה הי' על מה שהלך כל ימיו ערירי.

But his entire complaint was about the fact that he had gone all his days childless.

Avraham's grievance was not doubt in Hashem but distress that he had remained childless his whole life.

ועובד ה' כמותו והלך בכל עת ממדריגה למדריגה וכל העבדות למד ממנו אליעזר כמאמר חז"ל דולה ומשקה מתורת רבו כו'.

And one who served Hashem as he did, and who constantly ascended from level to level — and Eliezer had learned all of this avodah from him, as Chazal said, "drawing and giving to drink from his master's Torah," etc.

Avraham, who continually rose from madreigah to madreigah in avodas Hashem, had taught all of it to Eliezer, who absorbed his master's Torah like one who draws water and gives others to drink.

וע"ז התרעם אאע"ה מה שמניח כל תורתו לבן ביתו.

And about this Avraham Avinu lamented — that he was leaving all his Torah to the member of his household.

His real pain was that all his hard-won spiritual achievement and Torah would pass to a servant, Eliezer, rather than to a son of his own.

אכן הקב"ה וב"ש גלוי וידוע לפניו כי ישתנה אאע"ה אחר המילה לברי' חדשה ונתחדש לו אח"כ דרך האמת והוא דרך התורה שאין לכל החכמות שייכות כלל לזה הדרך ולכן לטובתו המתין הקב"ה ליתן לו את יצחק ללמוד אליו רק תורת אמת וז"ש לא יירשך זה כו'.

However, before the Holy One, blessed be He, it was revealed and known that Avraham Avinu would change after the milah into a new creation, and a new path of truth would then be renewed for him — which is the path of Torah, to which all other forms of wisdom have no relevance at all. Therefore, for his own benefit, Hashem waited to give him Yitzchak, to teach him only the Torah of truth. And this is the meaning of "This one shall not inherit you," etc.

Hashem foresaw that after the bris milah Avraham would become a "new creation" with a wholly new path of truth — the path of Torah, utterly distinct from the natural wisdom Eliezer had learned. So for Avraham's own good, Hashem waited to grant him Yitzchak, who would receive only this true Torah, and told him "Eliezer shall not inherit you."

ואברהם אע"ה האמין ויחשבה לצדקה מה שמניח כל תורתו לבן ביתו וודאי לטובה הוא הגם כי לא ידע איך יוכל להיות.

And Avraham Avinu had emunah, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness — that his leaving all his Torah to the member of his household was certainly for the good, even though he did not know how this could be.

The new act of faith was Avraham's trust that even his apparent loss — Eliezer inheriting his Torah — was for the good, though he could not yet understand how that could be.

האמין באמרו ית' אשר יצא ממך הוא יירשך:

He believed in His saying, may He be blessed, "the one who will come forth from you, he shall inherit you."

And he trusted Hashem's promise that his own son — Yitzchak — and not the servant, would be his true heir.

Summary: Avraham's distress was that all his spiritual attainment and Torah would pass to his servant Eliezer rather than to a son. Hashem, foreseeing that the bris milah would make Avraham a new creation with the wholly new path of Torah, waited to give him Yitzchak to receive that truth. Avraham's praised emunah was his trust that even this apparent loss was for the good, though he could not yet see how.