“Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said; “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son-blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed My voice.”
Genesis 22:15-18
God instructed and Abraham obeyed. As we continue to learn from the lives of the Word we see that obedience is one of the most valuable keys to our relationships with the Lord. For in obeying God we will find that faith will grow, hope will become clear, and love will blossom to maturity.
In Abraham’s obedience all the generations to follow would be blessed as a great nation. Today the testimony of that blessing is apparent as the Jewish race is the only ancient civilization to have survived the test of time. It’s a common fact that after any ancient civilization lost rule of their land that civilization would soon fall and become overcome and eventually wiped out. The Mayans, Incas, Assyrians, and Babylonians are a few among many of these fallen empires. The Hebrew nation, commonly known today as the Jews or Israeli’s is the only people group, culture, and nation that have survived with its identity completely intact. As it were, that would be enough; however we see that upon this particular blessing God has been abundantly clear in His faithfulness to the Jews throughout the years.
Let me explain:
Jesus, or the Angel of the Lord, speaks this promise to Abraham… “Blessing I will bless you” which is also abiding with the blessing and promise earlier spoken by God Himself unto Abraham:
“I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:3
Any nation that has attacked or cursed the Israelites has soon after been overcome as a nation. The Jews have been persecuted and attacked for centuries; their enemies have included Assyrian’s, Babylon, Midian, Moab, Philistia, Agag, and even more contemporary nations like Nazi Germany. It isn’t coincidence that soon after these nations sought to wipe out the Jews they themselves were the ones being overcome. So too we see that through Abraham’s seed, God not only blessed the Jewish race, but the whole world, because millennia later the Messiah would arrive and bring freedom and salvation to all mankind; every race, gender, and culture; multiplying the number of those who would enter into heaven as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
You see, in the eyes of the Lord we as mankind had a common enemy. It wasn’t an opposing race, nation, or culture…it was a hereditary condition called sin.
In the same way God was faithful to defend the Jewish race, God has also carried His faithfulness through Abraham to the entire Human race. Blessing us and not cursing us, saving us from destruction and delivering us unto abundant life.
As I was sharing this with a friend more recently I was asked, “How is it that you as a Christian can be so exclusive about salvation and entrance into heaven?”
I responded by saying, “Christianity isn’t exclusive, it’s actually quite open. Because of the finished work that Jesus carried out on the cross, all can freely receive salvation!”
The question that follows is, “Will you receive it?”
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