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.

Strength in Adversity

“And what more shall I say?  For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  Women received back their dead by resurrection.  Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.  They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.  And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” –Hebrews 11:32-40 (ESV) [Read Hebrews 11]

Hebrews 11 has oftentimes been referred to as “The Roll Call of Faith” chapter.  The writer began the chapter with a definition of faith that many of us perhaps have memorized in order to hold its meaning close in our minds:  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 1:1).  Faith is the persistent hope in the promises of God.  He will perform what He has promised.  With such a strong statement on faith, we are assured that it is not a blind trust, meaningless and vague, but such a faith is confident trust that God will perform His purposes, even though His followers may have to endure hardships and adversity. Then comes the listing of those heroes of the faith from the Old Testament, all of whom the readers of Hebrews would have studied about and been familiar with:  Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel—to list those named.  Then came those who are not personally named but who likewise endured great adversity:  prophets, those who stopped lions (Daniel, David, Samson), the many who were recipients of God’s promises, those who worked to strengthen the kingdom of Israel and escaped the edge of the sword, those who were made strong in times of weakness, the widow of Zarephath whose son was raised from the dead by the prophet Elisha.  Those who were mocked, flogged, imprisoned and beaten could have referred to both Old Testament saints and New Testament era Christians who were and would be persecuted for their faith.  What we learn from these verses is that those who trust in the Lord do not escape adversity and hardships but are granted strength to endure.  Those from the Old Testament era did not live to see the coming of the Messiah as had those early Christians to whom the letter of Hebrews was written.  Yet they died anticipating that future hope.  And the “something better for us” is the new covenant with the coming of the Son of God, and living with the knowledge that this promise of God was indeed fulfilled.  Assuredly, the saints of the Old Testament in this glorious roll-call of faith will partake of the same end-times perfection as those who have experienced the coming of God’s Son as the propitiation of our sins, as has been aptly stated:  “sinless selves in deathless resurrection bodies.” 

Then comes this very strong admonition which we should live by:  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Prayer:  Lord, You have not promised us that all will be easy on the Christian journey.  But you have promised Your Presence and Your Help.  May Americans of faith renew their vows before You and depend, as did the heroes of the faith, on Your strength in adversity. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Faith as a Mustard Seed

“The Apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’  And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’”-John 17:5-6 (ESV).

Who among us has not desired an increase in our faith?  In Matthew’s account of the statement about faith as a grain of mustard seed, it was preceded by the story of Jesus’ healing the boy who was an epileptic, described by his father as falling into the fire or water when one of his attacks came upon him.  The boy had first been brought to the disciples for healing, but they could not do it.  Jesus said to them:  “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to bear with you?”(Mt. 17:17).  When.the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast the demon out of the boy, Jesus told them, “Because of your little faith.”  Then he gave the statement about having faith as a grain of mustard seed.  Is there a meaning behind this statement that we sometimes do not understand fully?

Mustard was a large annual plant in the Holy Land which grew rapidly.  Its seeds were thought to be the smallest of those in the plant world.  Jesus used the mustard seed to symbolize the rapid growth of the kingdom of God as seen in Matthew 13:31-32:  “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”  As in our focus verses for today, Jesus used the mustard seed to teach a lesson about faith.  When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, they were talking as if they expected Him to imbue them with faith.  The truth is that faith must begin within the believer.  And if it is present (as the simile of the small mustard seed shows how small an amount is needed to begin), when present and active,  can flourish and grow.  The small mustard seed brought forth a plant eight to twelve feet tall.  Jesus used y practical and well-known illustrations to drive home His truths.  Just like the little mustard seed produces annually a plant big enough for birds to build nests in, so a little bit of faith can develop and grow in the believer and bear remarkable results.

As I read this passage from both Luke and Matthew, I recalled a time in my life when my faith had to develop from the small seed I had.  I finished my bachelor of arts degree in education from Mercer University in December of 1952, and applied for and received a job teaching fifth grade at Cynthia Weir School in Macon.  In an interview with the principal, I learned that the class had already had five teachers in the short period from the time school had opened in the fall.  She advised me the job would be hard and that I would have to be a strict disciplinarian in order to manage the class together and teach them.  She asked me if I thought I was up to the task.  Needing a job badly, and really wanting to try my skills as a teacher, I told her that I thought I could meet the challenge.  The children in the class were from “the peach orchard section” of Bibb County and were somewhat underprivileged and behind for grade level.  I sensed a bit of belligerence and questioning on my first morning with the class.  I thought it best to talk to them gently, with a few funny stories mixed with my teacherly advice.  We talked about goals and what they would like to accomplish in the half-year of school remaining.  We were well into the first class when suddenly there was a serious interruption.  I realized that one of my students (and the principal had told me one had a serious ailment) was having an epileptic seizure.  Since I had been warned, I had some sterile tongue depressors in my desk, so I quickly went to Peggy Kitchens and began to apply what I knew to do for a child with the affliction, although I had never in my life had an experience of working with one.  I asked one student to go quickly for the principal, who immediately came.  As it happened, with her mother going early to work, Peggy had to get herself ready for school and catch the bus.  She had not taken the medication—or else she was out of it.  With that and the excitement of a new teacher, she had gone into a seizure.  I remembered the incident from Matthew’s gospel and applied it immediately to my situation as a new teacher in a challenging environment.  My principal and I were able to have a conference with Peggy’s mother, and with the nurse who visited several schools within the district.  With proper medication for Peggy, patience on my part, and cooperation from a class room of students who were hungry for a little tender, loving care, that half-year of teaching became a very memorable way to start a thirty-plus year career in education.  You can be assured that I did much praying, even while Peggy was having that epileptic attack on my first day as her teacher.  I am thankful to God that my seed of faith grew stronger just like the small mustard seed grew into a large plant. The issue is not the size of our faith but the presence of it in our heart.  Another metaphor is moving the tree from where it is planted to the sea.  Like us, the Jews had many sayings about accomplishing things that seemed impossible.  We have to apply our faith to the challenges we face in order to move through them and work in them..”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:1).