Abraham’s Seed to Bless the Gentiles – A Messianic Prophecy

“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, my statutes, and my laws.”  -Genesis 22:18; 26:4 (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 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 the same sacrifice God Himself made in offering His only begotten Son as a propitiation for sin?  The Messiah was in the ancestral lineage of Abraham, as we noted in the December 1 devotional.  And 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.  A great famine hit Israel and Isaac went to Gerar to King Abimelech of the Philistines, no doubt to seek help with food due to the famine.  God appeared to Isaac, telling him not to 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 Isaac’s father Abraham, telling him that He would make his offspring as numerous as the stars of the heavens and bless them in all the nations of earth.  This would be possible to and through Isaac because Abraham, his father, had“obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Gen. 26:5).  The amazing truth about this promise made to Isaac is that it was to a person with flaws of character—not perfect by any means.  But through people God accomplishes His purposes.  Did this promise come true?  Here is what New Testament writers penned about the fulfillment of this Messianic prophecy:  “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 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 God makes; therefore, His oath for blessing all the nations of the earth through “the offspring”—the Messiah—was made on His own character.  And 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 manger 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:  It is amazing, Lord, 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, Emmanuel, God with us.  Amen.

“Yahweh Shammah”—The Lord Is There

“The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits.  And the name of the city from that time on shall be, ‘The Lord Is There’”-Ezekiel 48:35.  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name ‘Immanuel’”(God with us)-Matthew 1:23. “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” –Matthew 18:20b.  “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” –Hebrews 13:5b.  “They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads” –Revelation 22:4 (ESV).

How many of us have said to a family member or friend, “I’m here for you”?  These words of reassurance indicate that we want to share in sorrow, the down times, the good times and be an encouragement to others.  One of the great “I Am” statements of Almighty God is “Yahweh Shammah,” Hebrew for “The Lord Is There.”  And God is always there, ready to hear our prayers, ready to lift and succor us, ready to be “”a very present help in trouble” and our light and guide along life’s way.  The verse from Ezekiel may need some clarification.  Ezekiel prophesied at a time of great confusion for the nation.  In 597 B. C., Judah’s king, Jehoiachin had been exiled to Babylon along with several thousand, among whom was the prophet Ezekiel. His message is one of judgment and condemnation but also of hope.  In chapters 40 through 48 he sees a vision of the restoration of the nation, a division of the land among the twelve tribes, the rebuilding of the temple, and the city of Jerusalem, the wall of which will stretch 18,000 cubits around the restored city.  But when it is rebuilt, it will have a new name:  “Yahweh (Jehovah) Shammah”—“God is there,” or God is with us.” When Mary was told she would bear the Messiah, the angel gave a name for him:  “Immanuel”(also spelled Emmanuel)—God with us.  As “God with us,” Jesus came to save the people from their sins.  When Jesus had finished His work for which He came to earth and was ready to ascend to the Father, He gave the disciples their working orders:  “Go and make disciples…teach, preach, baptize, teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  But then He gave a great promise:  “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (or the end of the age).  In our work for the Lord, He is there.  The writer of Hebrews reconfirmed the promise of Immanuel, God with us”  “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  And in telling about the New Jerusalem with the Bridegroom (Jesus) coming down from Heaven to receive His bride (the redeemed) unto Himself, John declared that we will see the face of the Lord and our names will be on His forehead.  He will be there; He will know us individually.

Almost, this characteristic of the Great I Am is beyond our finite comprehension.  Now we can see it as through a glass, darkly.  But in our hearts we know God made the provision for; He will never leave us desolate and alone.  “God is there!”  Bless His holy name!  Let’s review the nine “I Am” principles that help us to know and better understand how to relate to God our Creator and Redeemer:  (1)  “Yahweh Jireh”—the Lord will provide (Gen. 22:14); (2)  “Yahweh Rophe”—the Lord heals (Exodus 15:26); (3)  “Yahweh Nissi” –the Lord is our banner (Exodus 17:15); (4) “Yahweh M’Kaddesh” –the Lord sanctifies (Lev. 20:8); (5)  “Yahweh Shalom” –the Lord is our peace (Judges 6:24); (6)  “Yahweh Rohi” –the Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23:1); (7)  “Yahweh Sabaoth—the Lord of hosts (Psalm 46:7); (8)  “Yahweh Tsidkenu”—the Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6); and (9) “Yahweh Shammah” –the Lord is there (Ezekiel 48:35).  We probably won’t remember the Hebrew terms for the Great I Am. But their English interpretations can be a constant reminder to us of how great our God is and how in His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience He surrounds, loves, saves, leads, protects and sustains us! To God be the glory!

“Yahweh-Jireh” –The Lord Will Provide

“So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The Lord will provide,’ as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’” –Genesis 22:14 (ESV)

Yesterday’s devotional examined the call of Moses and God’s proclamation to him as to whom Moses should say sent him to be the deliverer of the Israelites in Egypt.  Moses was to say, “I Am sent you.”  God, the One Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the One who is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent—all knowing, ever-present, all powerful. 

In other places in the Old Testament, God filled out or completed the name “I Am” to give his people a greater understanding of His name “I Am.”  Today we will look at the Hebrew words “Yahweh-Jireh” which mean “I Am the Lord who provides.”  The occasion was Abraham being called upon to offer Isaac, his son whom he loved more than life itself, given to him and Sarah in their old age by “the Lord who fulfills His promise and provides.”  But now Abraham had been commanded to offer his beloved son as a sacrifice.  It is very hard for us to understand this concept.  Why would God, who gave Isaac to Abraham ask him to offer him as a sacrifice?  Was it a test of Abraham’s faith?  When the young son questioned his father, saying “Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  Isaac was old enough to realize an important element of their worship was missing—the lamb for sacrifice.  Can you not imagine the fear and sadness Abraham felt when he calmed his son by saying, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8).  But we know the story.  God did provide. God’s voice stayed the hand of Abraham before he slaughtered Isaac who was already strapped to the altar.  We can only imagine the tenseness of that time on the mountain and the relief of both Abraham and Isaac as the ram, caught in the thicket, replaced Isaac on the altar.  Then came the reinstatement of God’s blessing on Abraham:  “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.  And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:16b-18). 

Many scholars see in the account of Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac a foreshadowing of God’s offering His only begotten son on Calvary.  But in that sacrifice  on Calvary there was no substitutionary  ram caught in the brambles.  Instead, the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus, His only Begotten Son, became the sacrifice for all.  “Yahweh-Jireh”—the Lord provides.  And in and through Jesus, God is providing all we need.  Salvation is the greatest gift of all.  And beyond that, life abundant while we dwell upon this earth, for He promises us:  “”Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about our body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 7:25).  “And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Today and every day thank Yahweh Jireh, our Lord Who provides.