Genesis 12:1-9
There are few things worse than unfulfilled promises. Everyone’s felt that before – like the kid who is promised a Disney vacation that never came to be. Abraham had to trust in a promise and move away from home before receiving that promise – in fact, he would not receive it while alive. It was a promise to be fulfilled at a later date – the question is, has it been fulfilled yet and how does that help us see the blessings to him? Is the promise to Abraham fulfilled? Was it to a specific seed of his or to the whole nation of Israel? What is this blessing all about? Let’s look to scripture and see.
In this passage, we see the blessings to Abraham came in three pieces – the blessing to build him into a nation (people), the blessing of the land (a home for his people), and the passing along a blessing. God told Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Why was Abraham given so much and what exactly was or is that blessing? A brief reading of current events tells us that the nation of Israel is not exactly being a blessing to the whole world today. How are we to properly understand this promise from God and what impact does that hold in our lives? Let’s consider a few things.
The Seed of Abraham Should be Understood Singularly
US foreign policy was undoubtedly shaped by this promise. No one was going to stand against Israel after WW2 and God’s promise to Abraham was a part of that. The reason for seeing it like this is the understanding that the blessing given to Abraham was a blessing to the collective nation – all Israelites and the people group as a whole. Thus, many understand this as the nation of Israel being a blessing to the world, hence the US foreign policy standard. I’m not sure the theology is sound of that, though. Looking forward in the Torah (Gen 27 and Num 24) we see multiple connection points to this blessing. The imagery and situations in those passages point not to a collective group, but to a specific individual. In Gen 27, Isaac specifically blesses Jacob over his brothers (who would have all been children of Abraham) and in Num 24 Balaam makes a very specific reference to Gen 49, which refers to the lion king from the tribe of Judah. Not only this, but we also see the author give a very negative narration regarding the sons of Abraham overall, further showing that the blessing didn’t point to a collective people, but to a specific individual in the nation. We know this individual to be Jesus – his gift of grace is the blessing we all need.
The Land Was Claimed in Triplicate for A Future Purpose
The journey of Abraham parallels the journey of Jacob in Gen 33-35 and the conquest of Canaan in Joshua almost to the letter. They started in the North and worked their way south, putting up altars and monuments to God in almost exactly the same spots. God was claiming the territory to this land and showing it by the way in which different people, at different times, and different places did ultimately the same thing. This style would be repeated with God declaring the location where salvation would take place, which we will talk about in more detail later: the hill Abraham would take to sacrifice Isaac is the same hill that held Araunah the Jebusite’s threshing floor which David made a sacrifice to stop the punishment for his census, which is the same hill we refer to as Golgotha, Calvary. One hill, three sacrifices, highlighting the sacrifice Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. This connects Jesus’ gift to actual history and actual locations. We trust God because He plans that well.
The Blessing to the World was Always Jesus
God took a man who couldn’t have children (last week on faith and looking weird) and crafted an entire nation through him so that one person could be born that would carry the blessings to Abraham through to the entire world. This is why Paul says in Gal. 3:7 that all who trust in Christ are children of Abraham, because Abraham’s (who had faith to follow God and go to a land not his own) real lineage is a faith lineage. The genetic lineage served a purpose, but the key is lost by many. Throughout the entire OT, the lineage is on the verge of being snuffed out. Think—how many times did the nation almost get destroyed or even the specific lineage through Judah almost die? God protected that genetic line to get to Jesus, but once it got to Jesus, that line and the genetic protection of that line immediately stopped. Jesus bared no children and the tracking of the lineage of the line of Judah, which was once so heavily tracked, is no more. Not even Jewish scholars can trace the line of David like they could in the past. Our faith lineage traces directly to Christ, making us the carriers of the blessing today.
Next Steps
Jesus followers carry the blessing of Christ by making disciples who make disciples, who make disciples. This means living out our faith in public and sharing the truth with all who ask. Are you carrying the blessing? Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you trusting in Jesus’ blessing or the world’s?
- What can you do this week to step out in faith, trusting God’s plan?
- When was the last time you shared Jesus’ blessing tangibly?
The nation was never the blessing, Jesus is and he tells us to share that blessing every chance we get. Will you?
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