seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”(b)
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”(b)
a. Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
b. Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
Yes I skipped the bloodline. I've linked it here so that I can go back and look at it if I need to. It all goes back to Shem, who was the son of Noah. A lot was riding on the faith of Abram.
Here's what the studylight.org site says about these 3 verses.
We know from Acts 7:2-4 that this promise was made to Abram before he left Ur of the Chaldeans. Now that his father was dead and he was compelled to a more complete obedience, God repeated the promise.
Abrams partial obedience did not take Gods promise away. Instead, it meant the promise was on hold until Abram was ready to do what the Lord said.
Abram would certainly become a giant of faith, even being the father of the believing (Galatians 3:7); yet he did not start there. We see Abram as an example of growing in faith and obedience.
After stating He wanted Abram to leave his country and his relatives, God promised Abram a land. Specifically, God promised the land of greater Israel.
These are Gods promises; notice how often God says I will in these verses. Genesis chapter 11 is all about the plans of man. Genesis chapter 12 is all about the plans of God.
God promised to make a nation from Abram. He will have enough children and grandchildren and further descendants to populate a nation.
God promised to bless Abram and to make [his] name great. There is probably no more honored name in history than the name of Abram, who is honored by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
God also promised He would bless those who bless you and to curse him who curses you. This remains true today and is a root reason for the decline and death of many empires.
Not only was Abram promised blessing, but God also promised to make him a blessing, even to the point where all the families of the earth would be blessed in Abram.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:8-9)
And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9). The work of Jesus will touch every people group on the earth.
Abrams partial obedience did not take Gods promise away. Instead, it meant the promise was on hold until Abram was ready to do what the Lord said.
Abram would certainly become a giant of faith, even being the father of the believing (Galatians 3:7); yet he did not start there. We see Abram as an example of growing in faith and obedience.
After stating He wanted Abram to leave his country and his relatives, God promised Abram a land. Specifically, God promised the land of greater Israel.
These are Gods promises; notice how often God says I will in these verses. Genesis chapter 11 is all about the plans of man. Genesis chapter 12 is all about the plans of God.
God promised to make a nation from Abram. He will have enough children and grandchildren and further descendants to populate a nation.
God promised to bless Abram and to make [his] name great. There is probably no more honored name in history than the name of Abram, who is honored by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
God also promised He would bless those who bless you and to curse him who curses you. This remains true today and is a root reason for the decline and death of many empires.
When the Greeks overran Palestine and desecrated the altar in the Jewish temple, they were soon conquered by Rome. When Rome killed Paul and many others, and destroyed Jerusalem under Titus, Rome soon fell. Spain was reduced to a fifth-rate nation after the Inquisition against the Jews; Poland fell after the pogroms; Hitlers Germany went down after its orgies of anti-Semitism; Britain lost her empire when she broke her faith with Israel. (Barnhouse)
This is also one reason why the United States has been so blessed. The United States was one of the first modern nations to grant full citizenship and protection to Jewish people.
This promise has also affected the church. The times when the church took upon itself the persecution of the Jewish people were dark times not only for the Jews, but also for the church.
This is also one reason why the United States has been so blessed. The United States was one of the first modern nations to grant full citizenship and protection to Jewish people.
This promise has also affected the church. The times when the church took upon itself the persecution of the Jewish people were dark times not only for the Jews, but also for the church.
Not only was Abram promised blessing, but God also promised to make him a blessing, even to the point where all the families of the earth would be blessed in Abram.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:8-9)
And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9). The work of Jesus will touch every people group on the earth.
The easy English commentary reminds us that only God can make someone great.
The Hebrew word here for ‘nation’ is the one that the Jews used for the Gentile nations. (That is, all the nations that were not Jews.) So, the word meant a large group of people that had a government and a country. It was not just a ‘tribe’ that spoke the same language.
God chose Abram. And God called Abram to leave his home. Abram did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:9). But he still trusted God.
Only God can make someone’s name great. The men at Babel tried to make themselves great, but they failed. The Hebrew words here are words that could describe a king. Later, Abram was called a prince. And Sarai was called ‘the mother of kings’. Abram was not really a king or a prince. But he became an important man. And kings would be among his descendants.
Abram could only give a blessing to other people if he left Haran. God blessed him so that he (Abram) could bless other people.
God’s blessing is for all. It is not just for the Israelites. Later, Laban said to Jacob, ‘God has blessed me because of you’ (Genesis 30:27). God blessed the household of Potiphar the Egyptian because of Joseph (Genesis 39:5). The people in Egypt got food during the famine because of Joseph. It was not only Jacob and his family that got food.
This promise was not just for Abram. It was also for his descendants, called the Israelites. Balaam repeated this promise when he was speaking about the Israelites in Numbers 24:9. But especially, this promise was about Abram’s greatest descendant (Galatians 3:16). The Bible has already spoken about this descendant in Genesis 3:15. This descendant would destroy the power of sin and of the devil. This descendant is Jesus (Matthew 1:1). And, by his death, Jesus frees people so that they become the sons of God (Galatians 4:4-7). And this blessing, that we receive by means of Jesus, is for people from all nations (Ephesians 2:11-13).
God chose Abram. And God called Abram to leave his home. Abram did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:9). But he still trusted God.
Only God can make someone’s name great. The men at Babel tried to make themselves great, but they failed. The Hebrew words here are words that could describe a king. Later, Abram was called a prince. And Sarai was called ‘the mother of kings’. Abram was not really a king or a prince. But he became an important man. And kings would be among his descendants.
Abram could only give a blessing to other people if he left Haran. God blessed him so that he (Abram) could bless other people.
God’s blessing is for all. It is not just for the Israelites. Later, Laban said to Jacob, ‘God has blessed me because of you’ (Genesis 30:27). God blessed the household of Potiphar the Egyptian because of Joseph (Genesis 39:5). The people in Egypt got food during the famine because of Joseph. It was not only Jacob and his family that got food.
This promise was not just for Abram. It was also for his descendants, called the Israelites. Balaam repeated this promise when he was speaking about the Israelites in Numbers 24:9. But especially, this promise was about Abram’s greatest descendant (Galatians 3:16). The Bible has already spoken about this descendant in Genesis 3:15. This descendant would destroy the power of sin and of the devil. This descendant is Jesus (Matthew 1:1). And, by his death, Jesus frees people so that they become the sons of God (Galatians 4:4-7). And this blessing, that we receive by means of Jesus, is for people from all nations (Ephesians 2:11-13).
So God promised Adam and Eve that He would send His Son. Then God promised Abram, through his bloodline, the Savior.
