The blessing in Abraham of Genesis 12:3
Feb 1, 2014 10:10:13 GMT
Post by Colossians on Feb 1, 2014 10:10:13 GMT
This material is for the teaching of the Body of Christ, however the author reserves copyright over it.
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THE BLESSING IN ABRAHAM OF GENESIS 12:3
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” Gen 12:3.
The above promises which God gave to Abraham, are almost invariably taken by the church at large to mean that because of Abraham and his descendants – in particular, because of the Jews – (various) people all over the world would be blessed.
And in particular, that they would be blessed by blessing the Jews.
We must needs therefore deal with two issues:
1. The interconnectedness of the promise and the promise.
2. What it means to be “in” Abraham.
We shall deal with item (2) first.
What it means to be “in” Abraham
Staring us right in the face, is the fact that families (lineages) not related to Abraham’s lineage, are to be blessed if they are in Abraham. We need go no further then than this one fact in order to understand that God could not possibly be speaking of the physical seed of Abraham, for one can’t be of Abraham’s lineage if one is in fact not of Abraham’s lineage (i.e. if one is not “in” Abraham).
Attesting, we do not read:
“in thee shall all of the families of the earth be blessed”,
which would relate the contradiction that all (instances of) families which will ever exist shall be blessed because they are (impossibly) part of Abraham’s lineage,
but
“in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”
which is simply to say that anyone who is in Abraham shall be blessed regardless of his/her own lineage.
And so we shall understand this promise to be rather and in fact referring to all who are in Abraham spiritually.
What it means to be in Abraham spiritually
At Romans 4:16 Paul tells us that Abraham is “the father of us all”.
And yet Christ commands us:
“call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven” Mt 23:9.
And so Paul more particularly declares Abraham to be:
“our father, as pertaining to the flesh” Rom 4:1
which is to say that, as a human being, Abraham typified God the Father.
For just as God the Father was pleased to bruise His Son, was not Abraham also pleased to bruise his own son Isaac (at the behest of the Lord)? (Cf. Is 53:10, Gen 22:1-12.)
And so we hear from Paul:
“if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” Gal 3:29.
: to be in Abraham simply means to be in Christ.
What it means to be blessed by being in Abraham
Paul asks us:
“Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness” Rom 4:9,
which he prefaces with:
“David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” Rom 4:6-8.
Is not the blessing of Abraham then one and the same blessing as the righteousness which is ours by faith?
But lest we focus on the benefit at the expense of the Benefactor, do we not also read at 2 Cor 5:21 that we are in fact made the righteousness of God “in [Christ]”?
Commensurately, does not eternal life consist of knowing Christ?
Indeed:
“this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” John 17:3.
And does not David declare our very blessing to consist of eternal life?
Indeed:
“for [upon the mountains of Zion] the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” Ps 133:3.
If then our blessing is eternal life, and if that eternal life is Christ Himself, shall we not declare the blessing of which all in Abraham partake, to in fact be Christ Himself?
Indeed. For our Lord declared concerning the Levites who ministered to Him according to outward form and who therefore typified the saints of God who minister to Him in the Spirit:
“I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession” Ez 44:28.
Peter seems to concur:
“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious” 1 Pe 2:7.
The interconnectedness of the promise and the promise.
Here is our two-in-one head prophecy again:
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” Gen 12:3.
In light then of what we have pointed out above, shall we not overlay such prophecy with:
“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward” Mk 9:41 ?
thereby declaring those who bless them who are in Christ, to be of necessity and regardless of their understanding at the time, ultimately in Christ themselves?
For was not the stranger in the camp of Israel, partaker of the blessings of Israel?
Indeed:
“Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed” Ex 23:12.
And was not this Sabbath refreshment of which both the Jew and the stranger partook in the camp of Israel, a type for our rest in Christ Himself?
Indeed:
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” Acts 3:19.
Amen.
(See also our work: “Abraham’s bosom”.)
________________________________________
THE BLESSING IN ABRAHAM OF GENESIS 12:3
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” Gen 12:3.
The above promises which God gave to Abraham, are almost invariably taken by the church at large to mean that because of Abraham and his descendants – in particular, because of the Jews – (various) people all over the world would be blessed.
And in particular, that they would be blessed by blessing the Jews.
We must needs therefore deal with two issues:
1. The interconnectedness of the promise and the promise.
2. What it means to be “in” Abraham.
We shall deal with item (2) first.
What it means to be “in” Abraham
Staring us right in the face, is the fact that families (lineages) not related to Abraham’s lineage, are to be blessed if they are in Abraham. We need go no further then than this one fact in order to understand that God could not possibly be speaking of the physical seed of Abraham, for one can’t be of Abraham’s lineage if one is in fact not of Abraham’s lineage (i.e. if one is not “in” Abraham).
Attesting, we do not read:
“in thee shall all of the families of the earth be blessed”,
which would relate the contradiction that all (instances of) families which will ever exist shall be blessed because they are (impossibly) part of Abraham’s lineage,
but
“in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”
which is simply to say that anyone who is in Abraham shall be blessed regardless of his/her own lineage.
And so we shall understand this promise to be rather and in fact referring to all who are in Abraham spiritually.
What it means to be in Abraham spiritually
At Romans 4:16 Paul tells us that Abraham is “the father of us all”.
And yet Christ commands us:
“call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven” Mt 23:9.
And so Paul more particularly declares Abraham to be:
“our father, as pertaining to the flesh” Rom 4:1
which is to say that, as a human being, Abraham typified God the Father.
For just as God the Father was pleased to bruise His Son, was not Abraham also pleased to bruise his own son Isaac (at the behest of the Lord)? (Cf. Is 53:10, Gen 22:1-12.)
And so we hear from Paul:
“if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” Gal 3:29.
: to be in Abraham simply means to be in Christ.
What it means to be blessed by being in Abraham
Paul asks us:
“Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness” Rom 4:9,
which he prefaces with:
“David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” Rom 4:6-8.
Is not the blessing of Abraham then one and the same blessing as the righteousness which is ours by faith?
But lest we focus on the benefit at the expense of the Benefactor, do we not also read at 2 Cor 5:21 that we are in fact made the righteousness of God “in [Christ]”?
Commensurately, does not eternal life consist of knowing Christ?
Indeed:
“this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” John 17:3.
And does not David declare our very blessing to consist of eternal life?
Indeed:
“for [upon the mountains of Zion] the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” Ps 133:3.
If then our blessing is eternal life, and if that eternal life is Christ Himself, shall we not declare the blessing of which all in Abraham partake, to in fact be Christ Himself?
Indeed. For our Lord declared concerning the Levites who ministered to Him according to outward form and who therefore typified the saints of God who minister to Him in the Spirit:
“I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession” Ez 44:28.
Peter seems to concur:
“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious” 1 Pe 2:7.
The interconnectedness of the promise and the promise.
Here is our two-in-one head prophecy again:
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” Gen 12:3.
In light then of what we have pointed out above, shall we not overlay such prophecy with:
“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward” Mk 9:41 ?
thereby declaring those who bless them who are in Christ, to be of necessity and regardless of their understanding at the time, ultimately in Christ themselves?
For was not the stranger in the camp of Israel, partaker of the blessings of Israel?
Indeed:
“Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed” Ex 23:12.
And was not this Sabbath refreshment of which both the Jew and the stranger partook in the camp of Israel, a type for our rest in Christ Himself?
Indeed:
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” Acts 3:19.
Amen.
(See also our work: “Abraham’s bosom”.)