“And
in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
because you have obeyed my voice. I will multiply your offspring as
the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands.
And in your offspring, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments,
and statutes, and my laws.” -Genesis 22:18; 16:4 (ESV).
When
God promised to bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham’s
offspring, the context was extremely impressive. Abraham had
undergone a great test of his faith. He heard God’s command to him
to offer as a sacrifice his son Isaac. He went to the mountain with
his son to perform the act of sacrifice. God intervened and stayed
Abraham’s hand from killing Isaac. The writer of Hebrews in later
centuries noted: “He (Abraham) considered that God was able even to
raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did
receive him back” (Hebrews 11:19). The commendation from God was
that Abraham had obeyed His command. He had carried through on the
intent to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Was this act on the part of
Abraham—offering his son—not a foretaste of same type of
sacrifice God Himself made in offering His only begotten Son as a
propitiation for sin? The Messiah was in the ancestral lineage of
Abraham. Through the Messiah all the nations of the earth have been
blessed, are still being blessed, and will continue to be blessed.
In
Genesis 26:4, the word of promise is to Isaac, Abraham’s son. The
covenant was continuing. At that time, a great famine was in Israel.
Isaac went to Gerar to King Abimelech of the Philistines no doubt to
seek help with food due to the severe famine. God appeared to Isaac,
telling him not go into Egypt (as Abraham had done at the time of a
previous famine [see Genesis 12:10]). Then God renewed basically the
same covenant as He had made with Abraham, Isaac’s father. He
promised Isaac his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of the
heavens because Abraham, his father, had obeyed God’s voice, kept
his charges, his commandment, his statutes, and his laws (see Genesis
26:5). An amazing truth about this promise made to Isaac is that he
was a person with flaws of character—not perfect by any means. But
through people, as imperfect as they are, God accomplishes His
purposes. Did this promise made to Isaac come true? Here is the
response from Paul the Apostle: Now the promises were made to
Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘and to offsprings,
referring to many, but referring to one. ‘And to your offspring,’
who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). In Hebrews 6:13 we read: “For
when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by
whom to swear, He swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless
you and multiply you.” God’s promises are guaranteed by God’s
own perfect and trustworthy character. There is no one greater than
God who can assure the promises He Himself makes. God’s oath for
blessing all the nations of the earth through “the offspring”—the
Messiah—was made upon God’s own character. From the days of
Abraham until the seed of Abraham came to Bethlehem to enter earth in
human form as a tiny Baby, God was working out the pledge He had made
to Abraham and to Isaac. Wrapped up in that tiny Baby in a manager
was the means of blessing all the nations of the earth. And “the
gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations,” (Mark 13:10) which
is a sign of the close of the age. Until then, we basically have the
same work as assigned to Abraham: “to obey God’s voice, to keep
His charge, His commandments, His statutes and His laws.”
Prayer:
Lord, it is amazing to think that we now are the recipients of the
promise made to Abraham and to Isaac. Thank You for working Your
purposes out through ordinary people with extraordinary assignments
until finally Jesus came a baby who was Emmanuel, God with us, to
save God’s people from their sins. And, Lord, that same Emmanuel
will come again to reign in Glory. Thanks be to God. We rejoice!
Amen! - Ethelene Dyer Jones 12.11.2016
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