Ep. 7. Genesis 12-13 | Abram and Blessing

EPISODE 7

ABRAM AND BLESSING

The importance of Abram (henceforth Abraham) can't be overstated. He is the father of all who put faith in God as the provider of salvation. My temptation in this section is to be long-winded, but I know there will be future opportunities for conversations regarding salvation, righteousness, and faith, so I'll do my best to be succinct.

Abraham, when called by God, was a pagan idol worshipper. But God selected Abraham to be the patriarch of the nation of Israel and the spiritual father to all people of faith. Genesis 12:2-3 says, "I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. In you, all the families of the earth will be blessed." Western Christianity has long taken this blessing to be one of practical and tangible things. The general line of thought has been, "If we are allies to Israel, then God will bless us; If we are enemies to Israel, then God will curse us." The problem with such a view is that it regards the earthly blessing as a more significant thing than the spiritual blessing. The last phrase of verse three, "and in you, all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed," is a commentary on salvation and not on physical earthly blessings. Paul clarifies the meaning of this statement for us in Galatians, where he says, "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 of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." We see then that these words in Genesis 12:3, and therefore the words dealing with blessings and curses, have more to do with the spiritual truth of faith than the national perspective of wealth and wellbeing. As students of the Bible, we are often guilty of casting aside the profound spiritual truth in favor of the more tangible cultural implications. We see the promise of "a great nation" has less to do with the nation of Israel and more to do with the nation of faith, those people who have put their confidence in God as the source of salvation so that "in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles."

It is important to know that Israelites who have traced their lineage to Abraham are not automatically included in God's blessing, for "it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham." In John 8, Jesus lets the Pharisees know that though their family tree may begin with Abraham, they are not, in fact, "children of Abraham." Instead, having rejected Jesus and faith in him, they are found to be sons of the Devil. Only if one belongs to Christ Jesus can they be Abraham's offspring. We will cover this more in the coming days and months but don't miss the significance of this blessing and promise by God to Abraham. (The promise God makes here he continues with Isaac and Jacob in subsequent texts.)

Thanks be to God that from the moment God called Abraham out as a father of faith, the Gentiles were included in the promise and blessing.

ADDITIONAL READING: Joshua 24: 1-3; Romans 2; Romans 11:1-7; Galatians 3; Genesis 28:13-21; Genesis 35:11-12; John 8