Genesis (Part 17)
Bible Study Time 10-5-08
(From James Roberts 11-24-96)
Bible Study Time 10-5-08
(From James Roberts 11-24-96)
If you have an opportunity to do so, we would like to encourage you to get your Bible and turn with us to the book of Genesis, Chapter 12. Last week, in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw something of the description of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. They and their descendants forsook the Lord and rushed head long into gross idolatry.
God had revealed Himself to them as the creator, and the creation, itself, was enough to reveal His every attribute. Even the invisible attributes of God were revealed in and through the creation.
However, the descendants of Noah did not want to retain any knowledge of God. Therefore, they begin to worship and serve the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. The book of Romans tells us that God withdrew the restraining power of His revelation of Himself so that He gave up the nations to go in their own way, to live in an unrestrained way, to fill up the lusts of their flesh. They simply tried to crowd out of their minds any knowledge of God.
But before God gave up the nations to go in their own way, He called out one man from the family of Shem whose name was Abram. God gave Abram certain instructions along with a great promise. Notice what God said in verse one of Genesis, Chapter 12:
Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 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."
In verse 1 we read that God had told Abram to leave his country, his family and his father’s house, but according to Genesis, Chapter 11, Abraham actually left his country with his father, Terah, and all of his father’s family.
As we study further, we will see that God did not reveal the full extent of His promise to Abram until after Abram finally separated himself from Lot, the last of his father’s family. It was not until that point that God promised all of the land of Palestine to Abram. At that point, God showed Abram all the land of Palestine and said, this is the land I’m going to give to you and to your seed. This promise is called by many the Palestinian Covenant.
Now notice God’s promise in Genesis, Chapter 12, and verse 2:
Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 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."
As we look at this first aspect of the promise, we see that God said, I will make you a great nation. In one sense, that has already been fulfilled. Abraham’s family went down into Egypt in the days of Joseph, and they lived there for 430 years. At the end of that time, God brought them out of Egypt, not as a family, but as a nation. As Israel traveled from Egypt to the land of Canaan, God gave them the Law at Mt. Sinai, and it was at Mt. Sinai that God first started dealing with Israel as a nation.
It was God’s plan to make of Israel a great nation. After He gave them the Law, He said, I’m going to take you into the land of Canaan where you are to be a light to the nations round about you. Indeed, this was God’s great plan and purpose for the nation of Israel.
There was a time during the days of David and Solomon that Israel showed great promise as a nation. It was in those days that the kingdom of Israel reached its zenith in power, glory and riches. It was a wonderful kingdom at that time, but soon it began to decline. Ultimately, it was taken captive by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and it has been in decline ever since.
However, some day this promise that God made to Abraham is going to be fulfilled completely. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth and takes the reins of government by His mighty power, His name shall be great. He shall be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
At that time the Lord Jesus Christ will establish the nation of Israel as the greatest nation on the face of the earth. At that time Israel will become a new nation because they will be born again. They will be given a new heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. This will be during the millennial kingdom when Jesus Christ rules and reigns over all the earth for a thousand years.
The glorious days of David and Solomon were just a faint picture of the glory and the power that will belong to the nation of Israel during the millennium. While Israel was under the Law, her constant desire was to be like the rest of the nations. She had no desire to show forth the glory of God.
But one day Israel will show forth the glory of God. As the head of all the nations, she will serve the Lord and minister to the nations. Yes, she will be the greatest, but she will also be the servant. As the Lord Jesus said, the one who is the greatest will be the servant of them all.
At that time the nation of Israel will be a royal priesthood and a holy nation. As the priests of the kingdom, the Jews will go throughout the world teaching the nations how to love, serve and worship the Lord who will be ruling and reigning in Jerusalem at that time. Oh yes, this great promise to Abraham awaits its final fulfillment when God will make of Abraham a great nation.
God told Abraham that He would bless Abraham and make Abraham’s name great. That too has already been partially fulfilled. Abraham’s name is revered among Christians and Jews and even among Islamic people. It is common among all of these different groups for children to be named Abraham because all three have ties to Abraham.
Keep in mind that Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. It was through Ishmael that the Arab nations came into being. However, Isaac was the son of promise. It was through Isaac that the promise of the great nation and the great name would be fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ came through Isaac as the promised Seed of Abraham, and His name is above every name. One day, when the descendants of Isaac put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will become the greatest nation on the fact of the earth.
Now notice God’s promise in verse 3:
Genesis 12:3 NKJV
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you . . .
One day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to take the church of this present dispensation home to be with Himself in the glory of heaven. After that, God is going to bring a time of great tribulation upon this earth. During that time of tribulation, God will separate the sheep from the goats on the basis of their relationship to Israel. Those nations that protect the believing Jewish people will be the sheep and they will be blessed, but those who persecute the nation of Israel will be the goats and they will perish; they will be cursed.
At the close of the tribulation period, before the Lord Jesus Christ establishes His kingdom upon the earth, God will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep will enter into the blessing of the kingdom while the goats will be cast off into darkness where they will be separated from God and from His blessings.
The final words of God’s blessing upon Abram read:
Genesis 12:3 NKJV
3 . . . in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
This blessing of God upon the nation of Israel will not be a self serving type of glory, but it will result in great blessings for all the families of the earth. In the kingdom, Israel will be the ministers of the Lord Jesus as they serve the nations of the world.
Today, God has suspended this promise that He made to Israel through Abraham, but why did God suspend this promise? We see in the gospel accounts that when the Lord Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel, they rejected Him. There was a small remnant of believers among the Jews who did believe in the Lord Jesus, but for the most part the Jews rejected Him. They said, away with Him, we have no king but Caesar.
After the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, God continued to offer the kingdom to the nation of Israel through the preaching of the Apostles. This offer was open to the nation of Israel throughout the period of time covered by the book of Acts, but throughout that time, the nation of Israel steadfastly refused to accept Jesus Christ as her promised Messiah and King.
At the close of the time period covered by the book of Acts, God temporarily set aside His offer of the kingdom. God did not do away with the promise, and He did not change the promise so as to give the kingdom to others. God simply suspended the promise, while He started calling out the Church of our present age.
Now may I say this to you? In one sense, our spiritual blessings today come to us through the Promised Seed of Abraham, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. It was He who went to the cross where He died for our sins that we might become the children of God. The very moment we trust Him as Savior, God makes us children of God, and Ephesians, Chapter 1, says:
Ephesians 1:3 NKJV
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Our blessings today are not the blessings of the earthly kingdom which were promised to Abraham. Our blessings are spiritual blessings which are found in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Do you know him today as the one who died for you, and who is officiating today as the Head of the Church which is the Body of Christ? I trust that you do, and that you have this immeasurable blessing because you know Him as Savior.
Well, the Lord willing, we will take up on our Journey Through the Scripture again next week. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
God had revealed Himself to them as the creator, and the creation, itself, was enough to reveal His every attribute. Even the invisible attributes of God were revealed in and through the creation.
However, the descendants of Noah did not want to retain any knowledge of God. Therefore, they begin to worship and serve the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. The book of Romans tells us that God withdrew the restraining power of His revelation of Himself so that He gave up the nations to go in their own way, to live in an unrestrained way, to fill up the lusts of their flesh. They simply tried to crowd out of their minds any knowledge of God.
But before God gave up the nations to go in their own way, He called out one man from the family of Shem whose name was Abram. God gave Abram certain instructions along with a great promise. Notice what God said in verse one of Genesis, Chapter 12:
Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 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."
In verse 1 we read that God had told Abram to leave his country, his family and his father’s house, but according to Genesis, Chapter 11, Abraham actually left his country with his father, Terah, and all of his father’s family.
As we study further, we will see that God did not reveal the full extent of His promise to Abram until after Abram finally separated himself from Lot, the last of his father’s family. It was not until that point that God promised all of the land of Palestine to Abram. At that point, God showed Abram all the land of Palestine and said, this is the land I’m going to give to you and to your seed. This promise is called by many the Palestinian Covenant.
Now notice God’s promise in Genesis, Chapter 12, and verse 2:
Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 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."
As we look at this first aspect of the promise, we see that God said, I will make you a great nation. In one sense, that has already been fulfilled. Abraham’s family went down into Egypt in the days of Joseph, and they lived there for 430 years. At the end of that time, God brought them out of Egypt, not as a family, but as a nation. As Israel traveled from Egypt to the land of Canaan, God gave them the Law at Mt. Sinai, and it was at Mt. Sinai that God first started dealing with Israel as a nation.
It was God’s plan to make of Israel a great nation. After He gave them the Law, He said, I’m going to take you into the land of Canaan where you are to be a light to the nations round about you. Indeed, this was God’s great plan and purpose for the nation of Israel.
There was a time during the days of David and Solomon that Israel showed great promise as a nation. It was in those days that the kingdom of Israel reached its zenith in power, glory and riches. It was a wonderful kingdom at that time, but soon it began to decline. Ultimately, it was taken captive by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and it has been in decline ever since.
However, some day this promise that God made to Abraham is going to be fulfilled completely. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth and takes the reins of government by His mighty power, His name shall be great. He shall be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
At that time the Lord Jesus Christ will establish the nation of Israel as the greatest nation on the face of the earth. At that time Israel will become a new nation because they will be born again. They will be given a new heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. This will be during the millennial kingdom when Jesus Christ rules and reigns over all the earth for a thousand years.
The glorious days of David and Solomon were just a faint picture of the glory and the power that will belong to the nation of Israel during the millennium. While Israel was under the Law, her constant desire was to be like the rest of the nations. She had no desire to show forth the glory of God.
But one day Israel will show forth the glory of God. As the head of all the nations, she will serve the Lord and minister to the nations. Yes, she will be the greatest, but she will also be the servant. As the Lord Jesus said, the one who is the greatest will be the servant of them all.
At that time the nation of Israel will be a royal priesthood and a holy nation. As the priests of the kingdom, the Jews will go throughout the world teaching the nations how to love, serve and worship the Lord who will be ruling and reigning in Jerusalem at that time. Oh yes, this great promise to Abraham awaits its final fulfillment when God will make of Abraham a great nation.
God told Abraham that He would bless Abraham and make Abraham’s name great. That too has already been partially fulfilled. Abraham’s name is revered among Christians and Jews and even among Islamic people. It is common among all of these different groups for children to be named Abraham because all three have ties to Abraham.
Keep in mind that Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. It was through Ishmael that the Arab nations came into being. However, Isaac was the son of promise. It was through Isaac that the promise of the great nation and the great name would be fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ came through Isaac as the promised Seed of Abraham, and His name is above every name. One day, when the descendants of Isaac put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will become the greatest nation on the fact of the earth.
Now notice God’s promise in verse 3:
Genesis 12:3 NKJV
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you . . .
One day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to take the church of this present dispensation home to be with Himself in the glory of heaven. After that, God is going to bring a time of great tribulation upon this earth. During that time of tribulation, God will separate the sheep from the goats on the basis of their relationship to Israel. Those nations that protect the believing Jewish people will be the sheep and they will be blessed, but those who persecute the nation of Israel will be the goats and they will perish; they will be cursed.
At the close of the tribulation period, before the Lord Jesus Christ establishes His kingdom upon the earth, God will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep will enter into the blessing of the kingdom while the goats will be cast off into darkness where they will be separated from God and from His blessings.
The final words of God’s blessing upon Abram read:
Genesis 12:3 NKJV
3 . . . in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
This blessing of God upon the nation of Israel will not be a self serving type of glory, but it will result in great blessings for all the families of the earth. In the kingdom, Israel will be the ministers of the Lord Jesus as they serve the nations of the world.
Today, God has suspended this promise that He made to Israel through Abraham, but why did God suspend this promise? We see in the gospel accounts that when the Lord Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel, they rejected Him. There was a small remnant of believers among the Jews who did believe in the Lord Jesus, but for the most part the Jews rejected Him. They said, away with Him, we have no king but Caesar.
After the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, God continued to offer the kingdom to the nation of Israel through the preaching of the Apostles. This offer was open to the nation of Israel throughout the period of time covered by the book of Acts, but throughout that time, the nation of Israel steadfastly refused to accept Jesus Christ as her promised Messiah and King.
At the close of the time period covered by the book of Acts, God temporarily set aside His offer of the kingdom. God did not do away with the promise, and He did not change the promise so as to give the kingdom to others. God simply suspended the promise, while He started calling out the Church of our present age.
Now may I say this to you? In one sense, our spiritual blessings today come to us through the Promised Seed of Abraham, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. It was He who went to the cross where He died for our sins that we might become the children of God. The very moment we trust Him as Savior, God makes us children of God, and Ephesians, Chapter 1, says:
Ephesians 1:3 NKJV
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Our blessings today are not the blessings of the earthly kingdom which were promised to Abraham. Our blessings are spiritual blessings which are found in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Do you know him today as the one who died for you, and who is officiating today as the Head of the Church which is the Body of Christ? I trust that you do, and that you have this immeasurable blessing because you know Him as Savior.
Well, the Lord willing, we will take up on our Journey Through the Scripture again next week. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
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