Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Genesis 12:1–3
“And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3b).
In the course of time, God revealed Himself to a pagan idolater in the land of Ur and called him to set out for a land that He would identify later. This call to Abraham was accompanied by promises of great and wonderful things, including:
The land where he was going. The promise, implicit in Abraham’s call, was made explicit when he arrived (Gen. 12:7).
A great posterity. He and his barren wife would have children and other descendants, and they would be numerous and powerful.
Blessing. God’s favor would rest upon him.
A great name. Abraham would be honored and his deeds would be renowned in the world and through history.
Friendship and protection. ‘ “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you,’ ” God said.
But there was another promise, too, a more perplexing promise. God told Abraham, “ ‘You shall be a blessing.… And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ”
All these promises were given as part of the covenant God made with Abraham, as Genesis 15 reveals. The stipulation was obedience, best summed up by God’s command in Genesis 17:1b: “ ‘Walk before Me and be blameless.’ ” Of course, Abraham could not be blameless; he was a sinful man. But he walked before God with great integrity, particularly in taking God at His word (Rom. 4). And because he did, God graciously granted all the promises to him and his descendants.
But what of the last promise? In what sense were “ ‘all the families of the earth’ ” to be blessed in Abraham? What did God mean when He made this strange promise and affirmed it again and again (Gen. 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14)?
Simply put, this was another promise of a Redeemer for fallen mankind. And God was getting specific: He was saying that the Redeemer would come from Abraham’s bloodline. But His work would be of benefit to more than Abraham’s descendants alone. This son of Abraham would provide redemption for people all over the earth. In other words, Abraham’s faith and obedience would have ramifications throughout time and space. In tomorrow’s study, we will see how this promise was fulfilled.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Abraham was given great promises in great abundance. But believers in Jesus Christ have received an even richer heritage of promises. Read today through the passages below, which record some of the most significant promises to Christians. Then think about other promises that are precious to you. Praise God for His good gifts to us.
For Further Study
- Jeremiah 29:13
- Matthew 28:20
- John 6:47
- Romans 8:38–39
- 2 Corinthians 5:17