1-8 The Promise to Abraham
There’s a connection between the
promise in Eden and the promises to Abraham. Abraham was promised the
very things which were lost in Eden. A land flowing with milk and honey
(cp. the garden of Eden); a nation without number (cp. “be fruitful and
multiply”), and kingship (cp. “subdue it and rule…”, Gen. 1:28). We can
see here the golden thread of God’s purpose developing a link further-
His intention, revealed through the promises, was to enable His people
to have again what had been lost in Eden.
The
Gospel taught by Jesus and the apostles was not fundamentally different
from that understood by Abraham. God, through the Scriptures, “preached
before the gospel unto Abraham” (Gal. 3:8). So crucial are these
promises that Peter started and ended his public proclamation of the
Gospel with reference to them (Acts 3:13,25). If we can understand what
was taught to Abraham, we will then have a very basic picture of the
Christian Gospel. There are other indications that “the gospel” is not
something which just began at the time of Jesus.
- “We
declare unto you glad tidings (the Gospel), how that the promise which
was made unto the (Jewish) fathers, God has fulfilled” (Acts 13:32,33).
- “The
gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets
(e.g. Abraham, Gen. 20:7) in the holy scriptures” (Rom. 1:1,2).
- “For
this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead” (1 Pet.
4:6) - i.e. believers who had lived and died before the first century.
- “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them” (Heb. 4:2) - i.e. Israel in the wilderness.
The promises to Abraham have two basic themes.
(1) things about Abraham’s special descendant and
(2) things about the land which was promised to Abraham.
These
promises are commented on in the New Testament, and, in keeping with
our policy of letting the Bible explain itself, we will combine the
teachings of both Testaments to give us a complete picture of the
covenant made with Abraham.
Abraham
originally lived in Ur, a prosperous city in what is now Iraq. Modern
archaeology reveals the high level of civilisation that had been
reached by the time of Abraham. There was a banking system, civil
service and related infrastructure. Somehow Abraham was aware of the
Lord and of His Word, but he was the only faithful one in Ur (Is. 51:2;
Nehemiah. 9:8). Then the extraordinary call of God came to him - to
leave that sophisticated life and embark on a journey to a promised
land. Exactly where and exactly what was not made completely clear. All
told, it turned out to be a 1,500 mile journey. The land was Canaan -
modern Israel.
Occasionally
during his life, God appeared to Abraham and repeated and expanded His
promises to him. Those promises are the basis of Christ’s Gospel, so as
true Christians that same call comes to us as it did to Abraham, to
leave the transient things of this life, and go forward in a life of
faith, taking God’s promises at face value, living by His Word. We can
well imagine how Abraham would have mulled over the promises on his
journeys. “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out (from Ur)
into a place (Canaan) which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Heb. 11:8).
As
we consider God’s promises for the first time, we, too, can feel that
we do not know exactly what the promised land of God’s Kingdom will be
like. But our faith in God’s Word should be such that we also eagerly
obey.
Abraham
was no wandering nomad with nothing better to do than take a chance on
these promises. He was from a background which, in fundamental terms,
has much similarity with our own. The difficult decisions he faced were
similar to those we may also have to face as we consider whether to
accept and act on God’s promises - the strange looks from business
colleagues, the sly look in the eye from the neighbours (“He’s got
religion!”) ...Abraham would have known these things. The motivation
which Abraham needed to go through with it all must have been
tremendous. The only thing that provided that motivation throughout his
long travelling years was the word of promise. He must have memorised
those words and daily meditated upon what they really meant to him.
By
showing a similar faith and acting upon it, we can have the same honour
as Abraham - to be called the friends of God (Is. 41:8), to find the
knowledge of God (Gen. 18:17) and to have the sure hope of eternal life
in the Kingdom. Again we emphasise that the Gospel of Christ is based
on these promises to Abraham. To believe truly in the Christian
message, we too must believe firmly the things promised to Abraham.
Without them our faith is not faith. With eager eyes we should
therefore read and re-read the dialogue between God and Abraham.
The Land
1. “Get out of your country...unto a land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1).
2.
Abraham “went on his journeys...to Bethel (in Central Israel). And the
Lord said unto Abram...Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place
where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for
all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your
descendant for ever...walk through the land...for I will give it unto
you” (Gen. 13:3,14-17).
3. “The
Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto your descendant
[singular- i.e. one special descendant] have I given this land, from
the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Gen.
15:18).
4. “I
will give unto you, and to your descendant [singular- i.e. one special
descendant] after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the
land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” (Gen. 17:8).
5. “The promise that he (Abraham) should be the heir of the world” (Rom. 4:13).
We see here a progressive revelation to Abraham.
1. ‘There is a land which I would like you to go to’.
2. ‘You
have now arrived in the area. You and your children will live here
forever’. Note how this promise of eternal life is recorded without
glamour or emphasis; a human author would no doubt have jazzed it up.
3. The area of the promised land was more specifically defined.
4. Abraham
was not to expect to receive the promise in this life - he was to be a
“stranger” in the land, although he would later live there forever. The
implication of this is that he would die and then later be resurrected
to enable him to receive this promise.
5. Paul, under inspiration, evidently saw the promises to Abraham as meaning his inheritance of the whole earth.
Scripture
goes out of its way to remind us that Abraham did not receive the
fulfilment of the promises in his lifetime.
“By
faith he sojourned (implying a temporary way of life) in the land of
promise, as in a strange country, living in tents” (Heb. 11:9).
He
lived as a foreigner in the land, perhaps with the same furtive sense
of insecurity and mismatch which a refugee feels. He was hardly living
with his descendant in his own land. Along with his descendants, Isaac
and Jacob, (to whom the promises were repeated), he “died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and (they)
were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). Notice the four
stages.
- Knowing the promises - as we are doing through this study.
- Being “persuaded of them” - if it took a process of persuasion with Abraham, how much more so with us?
- Embracing them - by being baptised into Christ (Gal. 3:27‑29).
- Confessing
to the world by our way of life that this world is not our real home,
but we are living in hope of that future age to come upon the earth.
Abraham
becomes our great hero and example if we appreciate these things. The
ultimate recognition that the fulfilment of the promises lay in the
future came for the tired old man when his wife died; he actually had
to buy part of the promised land in which to bury her (Acts 7:16).
Truly God “gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set
his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a
possession” (Acts 7:5). The present spiritual children / descendants of
Abraham may feel the same incongruity as they buy or rent property - on
an earth which has been promised to them for their personal, eternal
inheritance!
But
God keeps His promises. There must come a day when Abraham and all who
have those promises made to them will be rewarded. Heb. 11:13,39,40
drives home the point.
“These
all died in faith, not having received the promises; God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect”.
All
true believers will therefore be rewarded at the same point in time,
i.e. at the judgment seat at the last day (2 Tim. 4:1,8; Mt. 25:31-34;
1 Pet. 5:4). It follows that to be in existence in order to be judged,
Abraham and others who knew those promises must be resurrected just
before the judgment. If they have not now received the promises and
will only do so after their resurrection and judgment at Christ’s
return, there is no alternative but to accept that the likes of Abraham
are now unconscious, awaiting the coming of Christ. Yet stained glass
mosaics in churches throughout the world have been known to depict
Abraham as now in heaven, experiencing the promised reward for a life
of faith. Thousands of people for hundreds of years have filed past
those pictures, religiously accepting such ideas. Will you have the
Bible-based courage to step out of line?
The Descendant
As
explained earlier, the promise of a descendant applies primarily to
Jesus and, secondarily, to those who are “in Christ” and therefore are
also counted as the descendant of Abraham..
1. “I
will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you...and in you
shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:2,3).
2. “I
will make your descendant as the dust of the earth: so that if a man
can number the dust of the earth, then shall your descendant also be
numbered...all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to
your descendant for ever” (Gen. 13:15,16).
3. “Look
now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you be able to number
them...So shall your descendant be...Unto your descendant have I given
this land” (Gen. 15:5,18).
4. “I
will give unto...your descendant[s] after you...the land of Canaan, for
an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Gen. 17:8).
5. “I
will multiply your descendant as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore; and your descendant shall possess the
gate of his enemies; and in your descendant shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:17,18).
Again, Abraham’s understanding of the “descendant” was progressively extended.
1.
Firstly he was just told that somehow he would have an extraordinary
number of descendants, and that through his “descendant” the whole
earth would be blessed.
2.
He was later told that he would have a descendant who would come to
include many people. These people would spend eternal life, along with
himself, in the land at which he had arrived, i.e. Canaan.
3.
He was told that his descendant would become as many as the stars in
the sky. This may have suggested to him that he would have many
spiritual descendants (stars in heaven) as well as many natural ones
(as “the dust of the earth”).
4.
The previous promises were underlined with the additional assurance
that the many people who would become part of the descendant could have
a personal relationship with God.
5. The descendant would have victory against his enemies.
Notice
that the descendant was to bring “blessings” to be available to people
from all over the earth. In the Bible the idea of blessing is often
connected with forgiveness of sins. After all, this is the greatest
blessing a lover of God could ever want. So we read things like:
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven” (Ps. 32:1); “The cup of
blessing” (1 Cor. 10:16), describing the cup of wine which represents
Christ’s blood, through which forgiveness is possible.
The
only descendant of Abraham who has brought forgiveness of sins to the
world is, of course, Jesus, and the New Testament commentary on the
promises to Abraham provides solid support.
“He
(God) doesn’t say, ‘And to descendants’, in the plural, but in the
singular, ‘And to your descendant’, which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).
“...the
covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in
your descendant shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed. Unto you
first God, having raised up his Son Jesus (i.e. the descendant), sent
him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities”
(Acts 3:25,26).
Notice here how Peter quotes and interprets Gen. 22:18.
The descendant = Jesus
The blessing = forgiveness of sins.
The
promise that Jesus, the descendant, would have victory over his enemies
now slots more neatly into place if this is read with reference to his
victory over sin - the greatest enemy of God’s people, and therefore of
Jesus, too.
BECOMING PART OF THE DESCENDANT
By
now it should be clear that Abraham understood the basic elements of
the Christian Gospel. But these vital promises were to Abraham and his
descendant, Jesus. What about anyone else? Even physical descent from
Abraham would not automatically make someone part of that one specific
descendant (Jn. 8:39; Rom. 9:7). Somehow we have to become intimately
part of Jesus, so that the promises to the descendant are shared with
us as well. This is by baptism into Jesus (Rom. 6:3-5); frequently we
read of baptism into his name (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5). Gal. 3:27-29 could not make the point any clearer.
“As
many of you (i.e. only as many!) as have been baptised into Christ have
put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is
neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female: for you
are all one (through being) in Christ Jesus (by baptism). And if you be
Christ’s (by baptism into him), then are you Abraham’s descendants, and
heirs according to the promise”.
The
promise is of eternal life on earth, through receiving the “blessing”
of forgiveness through Jesus. It is by being baptised into Christ, the
descendant, that we share the promises made to him; and so Rom. 8:17
calls us “joint heirs with Christ”. People from all nations “bless
themselves” by becoming part of that descendant through baptism into
Him- they thus appropriate to themselves the promised blessings (Gen.
22:18 RVmg.).
Remember
that the blessing was to come on people from all parts of the earth,
through the descendant; and the descendant was to become a worldwide
group of people, like the sand of the shores and the stars of the sky.
It follows that this is due to their first receiving the blessing so
that they can become the descendant. Thus the (singular) descendant
“shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation” (i.e. many people;
Ps. 22:30).
We can summarise the two strands of the promises given to Abraham.
1. The Land
Abraham
and his descendant, Jesus, and those in him would inherit the land of
Canaan and by extension the whole earth, and live there forever. In
this life they would not receive it, but would do so at the last day,
when Jesus returns.
2. The Descendant
This
was primarily Jesus. Through Him the sins (“enemies”) of mankind would
be overcome, so that the blessings of forgiveness would be made
available world-wide.
By baptism into the name of Jesus we become part of the descendant promised to Abraham.
These
same two threads occur in New Testament preaching, and, not
surprisingly, it is often recorded that when people heard them taught,
they were then baptised. This was, and is, the way through which these
promises can be made to us. We can now understand why, as an old man
faced with death, Paul could define his hope as “the hope of Israel”
(Acts 28:20): the true Christian hope is the original Jewish hope.
Christ’s comment that “salvation is of the Jews” (Jn. 4:22) must also
refer to the need to become spiritual Jews, so that we can benefit from
the promises of salvation through Christ which were made to the Jewish
fathers.
We read that the early Christians preached:-
1. “The things concerning the Kingdom of God
and
2. the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12).
These were the very two things explained to Abraham under slightly different headings.
1. Promises about the land
and
2. Promises about the descendant.
Note
in passing that “the things” (plural) about the Kingdom and Jesus are
summarised as “preaching Christ” (Acts 8:5 cf. v. 12). At times, this
has taken to mean “Jesus loves you! Just say you believe he died for
you and you’re a saved man!”. All of which is valid in some sense. But
the phrase “Christ” clearly summarises the teaching of a number of
things about him and his coming Kingdom. The good news about this
Kingdom which was preached to Abraham played a big part in the early
preaching of the Gospel.
In
Ephesus, Paul was “three months, disputing and persuading the things
concerning the Kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8; 20:25); and his swan-song in
Rome was the same, “He expounded and testified the Kingdom of God,
persuading them concerning Jesus...out of the law...and out of the
prophets” (Acts 28:23,31). That there was so much to talk about shows
that the basic Gospel message about the Kingdom and Jesus was not
simply and only a matter of saying “Believe on Jesus”. God’s revelation
to Abraham was more detailed than that, and the things promised to him
are the basis of the true Christian Gospel.
We
have shown that baptism into Jesus makes us part of the promised
descendant and therefore able to inherit the promises (Gal. 3:27-29),
but baptism alone is not enough to gain us the salvation promised. We
must remain in the descendant, in Christ, if we are to receive the
promises made to the descendant. Baptism is therefore just a beginning;
we have entered a race which we then need to run. Don’t forget that
just physically being Abraham’s descendant does not mean that we are
acceptable to God. The Israelis are Abraham’s descendants but this does
not mean that they will be saved without being baptised and conforming
their lives to Christ and the example of Abraham (Rom. 9:7,8; 4:13,14).
Jesus told the Jews: “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; but
you seek to kill me...If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the
works of Abraham” (Jn. 8:37,39), which was to live a life of faith in
God and Christ, the promised descendant (Jn. 6:29).
The
descendant or “seed” must have the characteristics of its ancestor. If
we are to be the true descendant of Abraham we must therefore not only
be baptised but also have a very real faith in God’s promises, just as
he had. He is therefore called “the father of all them that
believe...who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father
Abraham, which he had” (Rom. 4:11,12). “Know therefore (i.e. really
take it to heart!) that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7). Paul is alluding here to the practice
of Gentile converts to Judaism [“proselytes”] taking the name ben Avraham,
son of Abraham. The real conversion to the hope of Israel, Paul is
saying, is not through joining Judiasm but through faith and baptism
(Gal. 3:27-29).
Real
faith must show itself in some sort of action, otherwise, in God’s
eyes, it isn’t faith (James 2:17). We demonstrate our belief in these
promises that we have studied by first being baptised, so that they
come to apply to us personally (Gal. 3:27-29). This is even an Old
Testament idea- for David says that the true believer will share the
promise to Abraham that “his descendant shall inherit the land”, and
thus God will make us know personally His covenant with us (Ps.
25:13,14 RVmg.). So do you really believe God’s promises? This is a
question we must continually ask ourselves all our lives long.
The Old And New Covenant
It
should be evident by now that the promises to Abraham summarise the
Gospel of Christ. The other major set of promises which God made were
with the Jews in the context of the law of Moses. These stated that if
the Jews were obedient to this law, then they would be physically
blessed in this life (Dt. 28). There was no direct promise of eternal
life in this series of promises, or “covenant”. So we see that there
have been two “covenants” made.
1.
To Abraham and his descendant, promising forgiveness and eternal life
in God’s Kingdom when Christ returns. This promise was also made in
Eden and to David. This is the “new covenant”. When this “new covenant”
is made with Israel when Christ returns, it will include the promise to
Abraham that “I will be their God” (Jer. 31:33 cf. Gen. 17:8).
2.
To the Jewish people at the time of Moses, promising them peace and
happiness in this present life if they obeyed the law which God gave to
Moses.
God
promised Abraham forgiveness and eternal life in the Kingdom, but this
was only possible through the sacrifice of Jesus. For this reason we
read that Christ’s death on the cross confirmed the promises to Abraham
(Gal. 3:17; Rom. 15:8; Dan. 9:27; 2 Cor. 1:20), therefore his blood is
called the “blood of the new testament” (covenant, Mt. 26:28). It is to
remember this that Jesus told us to regularly take the cup of wine,
symbolising his blood, to remind us of these things (see 1 Cor. 11:25):
“This cup is the new testament (covenant) in my blood” (Lk. 22:20).
There is no point in “breaking bread” in memory of Jesus and his work
unless we understand these things.
The
sacrifice of Jesus made forgiveness and eternal life in God’s Kingdom
possible; he therefore made the promises to Abraham sure; he was “a
surety of a better testament” (Heb. 7:22). Heb. 10:9 speaks of Jesus
taking “away the first (covenant), that he may establish the second”.
This shows that when Jesus confirmed the promises to Abraham, he did
away with another covenant, that was the covenant given through Moses.
The verses already quoted about Jesus confirming a new covenant by his
death, imply that there was an old covenant which he did away with
(Heb. 8:13).
This
means that although the covenant concerning Christ was made first, it
did not come into operation until his death, therefore it is called the
“new” covenant. The purpose of the “old” covenant made through Moses
was to point forward to the work of Jesus, and to highlight the
importance of faith in the promises concerning Christ (Gal. 3:19,21).
Conversely, faith in Christ confirms the truth of the law given to
Moses (Rom. 3:31). Paul sums it up: “The law was our schoolmaster to
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24).
It is for this purpose that the law through Moses has been preserved,
and is still beneficial for us to study.
These things are not easy to understand at first reading; we can summarise as follows.
§ Promises concerning Christ made to Abraham - New Covenant.
§ Promises to Israel associated with the law given to Moses - Old Covenant.
§ Death of Christ - Old Covenant ended (Col. 2:14-17); New Covenant came into operation.
For
this reason things like tithing, Sabbath-keeping etc., which were part
of the Old Covenant, are not now necessary - see Study 9.4. The New
Covenant will be made with natural Israel when they repent and accept
Christ (Jer. 31:31,32; Rom. 9:26,27; Ez. 16:62; 37:26). Of course any
Jew who does that now and is baptised into Jesus, can immediately enter
the New Covenant (in which there is no Jew/Gentile distinction - Gal.
3:27-29).
Truly
appreciating these things makes us realise the certainty of God’s
promises. Sceptics unfairly accused the early Christian preachers of
not giving a positive message. Paul replied by saying that because of
God’s confirmation of His promises on account of the death of Christ,
the hope they spoke of was not a touch-and-go affair, but a totally
certain offer: “As God is true, our word (of preaching) toward you was
not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached
among you by us...was not yes and no, but in him was yes. For all the
promises of God in him are yes, and in him, Amen” (2 Cor. 1:17-20).
Surely this torpedoes the attitude of, ‘Well, I suppose there might be some truth in all that...’?
“I will be with you”
There
are two other things promised to Abraham and his descendants: “I will
be their God…I will be with you” (Gen. 17:8; 26:3; 28:15 cf. Ex. 6:7).
The Lord Jesus Christ is ‘God with us’ (Emmanuel, Is. 7:14). For those
of us who have part in these promises concerning Jesus Christ and the
Kingdom of God, God will be with us and guide us to that happy end.
Time and again God’s people in their times of desperation have come
back to these promises to Abraham, in their realisation that truly God is
with us (e.g. 2 Chron. 32:7,8). Covenant relationship with God means
that He will give us foretastes of His future salvation by being our
God now and going with us in salvation now (Ps.
111:9). And we will respond to this, and fulfil the truth of 2 Cor.
1:20, which says that the sure outworking of God’s promises to us
results in us glorifying Him.
