Promise for a Great Nation

In Genesis 12:1-3, God calls Abraham to leave his homeland and go to a land that He would show him. God promises to make Abraham into a great nation, bless him, and make his name great. He also promises to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who treat him with contempt. Finally, God promises that all the peoples on earth will be blessed through Abraham. Genesis 12:3, God promises Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” This promise of blessing through Abraham’s descendants is seen as a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus, who would bring salvation to all people. In Genesis 22:18, God tells Abraham, “Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Again, this promise of blessing through Abraham’s descendants is seen as a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus, who would bring salvation to all people.

This promise is significant because it establishes Abraham as the father of the Jewish people and the patriarch of the nation of Israel. Through Abraham’s line, God would bring forth the Messiah, who would be the blessing to all nations that was promised to Abraham. Jesus Christ, as a descendant of Abraham, fulfills this promise by bringing salvation to all people.

God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled through the nation of Israel and ultimately through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is filled with prophecies and foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, pointing to Jesus as the center of history and the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation for all people.

Promise of Royalty

In Genesis 17:5, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and promises to make him the father of many nations. God further promises to bless Abraham and his descendants, and through his line, to bring forth a great nation and kings. This promise ultimately points to the coming of the Messiah, who would be a descendant of Abraham and would reign as King over all nations.

Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, as He is a descendant of Abraham and the rightful King who would bring salvation to all people. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus accomplished what no one else could: the redemption of all humanity and the establishment of His kingdom on earth.

Promise of Blessing

This promise is first given to Abraham when God tells him, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). Later, the prophet Isaiah speaks of God’s plan to use Israel to bring salvation to all nations, saying, “I will make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

Throughout Israel’s history, God uses them to accomplish His global purpose. For example, He works through Israel to preserve the knowledge of the one true God in a world that had fallen into idolatry. He also sends prophets to Israel to call them back to faithfulness and to announce the coming of the Messiah, who would bring salvation not just to Israel but to all people.

Promise of Prosperous Land

In the Old Testament, God promises to give Israel a land as their inheritance. This land, known as Canaan, was promised to Abraham and his descendants as an eternal possession (Genesis 17:8). God’s promise to give Israel a land as their inheritance is significant because it shows God’s faithfulness to His covenant with Israel and His desire to bless them with a tangible and physical inheritance on earth.

However, Israel’s possession of the land was conditional upon their obedience to God and their adherence to His covenant. When Israel turned away from God and fell into idolatry, they faced discipline and even exile from the land. Ultimately, through Jesus Christ, God offers a new promised inheritance to all who believe in Him – an eternal inheritance in heaven. This inheritance is not tied to a physical land but is instead a spiritual inheritance that offers salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Promise of Covenant:

In the Old Testament, God forms a covenant people through His chosen nation, Israel. God promises to make Israel into a great nation and to bless them with land, prosperity, and protection, as long as they remain faithful to Him and His covenant. The prophet Isaiah speaks of a future servant of the Lord who would bring salvation to all people. In Isaiah 42:6, God says of this servant, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” In the New Testament, Jesus is identified as the fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah (Matthew 12:18-21).

This promise is first given to Abraham, who is considered the father of the Jewish people and the patriarch of the nation of Israel. God promises to make Abraham into a great nation and to bless him and his descendants. Through Abraham’s line, God would bring forth the Messiah, who would be the blessing to all nations that was promised to Abraham.

Fulfilment in Jesus Christ – Son of Abraham

Genesis 49:10 is a Messianic prophecy in which Jacob, on his deathbed, blesses his sons and foretells their futures. Regarding Judah, he prophesies that a ruler will come from Judah’s line and that the scepter, which represents the right to rule, will not depart from Judah until this ruler comes. This prophecy ultimately points to the coming of the Messiah, who would be a descendant of Judah and would rule over all nations.

In the Old Testament, God chose Israel as His special people and promised to use them to accomplish a global purpose. This purpose was to bring salvation and blessing to all nations through Israel. Ultimately, through Jesus Christ, God fulfills His promise to use Israel to accomplish a global purpose. Jesus, who was a Jew and the promised Messiah, brings salvation to all people through His death and resurrection. The message of salvation begins in Jerusalem and quickly spreads throughout the world, fulfilling God’s plan to bless all nations through Israel.

Jesus is referred to as a “Offspring of Abraham.” This phrase is used in both the Gospels and in the Epistles to describe Jesus’ connection to the Jewish people and their history. In John 8:56, Jesus himself declares, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” This statement shows that Jesus not only acknowledges his connection to Abraham, but that Abraham was also looking forward to his coming.

Conclusion

“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) . “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:29).

In Acts 3:13, Peter is preaching to a crowd of people and declares, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his Son Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.” Peter is affirming that the same God who made a covenant with Abraham, and who was worshiped by his descendants, is the God who sent Jesus his son to fulfill his plan of salvation for all people. Peter’s reference to the God of Abraham emphasizes the continuity between the promises made to Abraham and their fulfillment in Jesus, and highlights the importance of Abraham in the history of God’s plan for humanity.

The Apostle Paul also refers to Jesus as a “son of Abraham” in his writings. In his letter to the Galatians, he emphasizes the importance of Jesus’ lineage and how it relates to the promise of salvation. In Galatians 3:7-9, Paul writes, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

Furthermore, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the “seed” of Abraham, through whom all nations would be blessed. This is affirmed in Galatians 3:16, which says, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” In this way, Jesus is not only a descendant of Abraham, but also the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all nations through him.