A Journey Through the Bible, Part Six

Old Testament

Genesis 12 and 13

Genesis 12:1-3—“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. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 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." This is one of the most important passages of Scripture in the entire Bible, for from this great promise of God to Abram (Abraham) flow two covenants (Old and New) and two peoples, national Israel and spiritual Israel. There are basically three promises to Abraham here: 1. “I will bless you and make your name great.” Well, I’m writing about Abraham right now, 4,000 years later, so obviously that promise has been fulfilled. 2. “I will make you a great nation.” The physical children of Abraham, the Jews, the Israelites, who occupied the land of Canaan and were given the Law of Moses, which “was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after (the) faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:24-25). The Law of Moses is no longer needed, nor are we any longer obligated to it, because Christ came bringing His law. And actually, non-Israelites were never under the Law of Moses anyway; it was only given to the Jews. 3. “In you all the families of the earth be blessed.” Notice, all the families—Jew and Gentile—would be blessed through Abraham. In Galatians 3:8, Paul wrote, “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.’” This promise, of course, was fulfilled in Christ. Abraham is the next “step,” if you will, on the road to the Messiah—Adam (Genesis 3:15), Seth (whom I didn’t discuss, Genesis 4:25), Shem (Genesis 9:26), and now Abraham. We’re getting more and more focused on where to look for the coming of that Savior whom the Lord promised in Genesis 3:15. It will be narrowed down even farther, as we shall see as we proceed through this study.

Genesis 13:14-15—“And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.’” From the loins of Abraham, as promised in Genesis 12:2, a great “nation” would come—Israel. They would need land, since this was a physical promise, and God now shows Abraham what that land would be. The promise to “spiritual” Israel—the church—includes no such land promise for it is a spiritual, not a physical promise. The word “forever” needs a bit of explanation. It actually means an indefinite period of time, to be determined by the purpose involved. Nothing on this earth can be “forever,” since this physical planet is not eternal. Thus, God promised the land to Israel for as long as it suited His purposes. Since God intends for everyone, Jew and non-Jew, to become a Christian, the Jewish religion actually should not even exist today—every “Jew” should be a Christian, thus ending Judaism as a religion. And thereby also ending this land promise. It’s extremely important to remember that the entire theme of the Old Testament was established in Genesis 3:15—“Christ is coming to bring fallen man back into fellowship with God.” The Jews had a part to play in that, being given the Law of Moses, and being the people through whom the Christ would come. Beyond that, they really have no further purpose in God’s scheme of redemption.

New Testament

Matthew 8

Matthew 8:27—“And the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” Jesus had just calmed a possibly deadly storm. At a word from Him, the frightening wind ceased to blow and the terrifying waves became tranquil. Envision yourself in that boat and picture in your mind what happened. You, too, would have marveled. Indeed, “what manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” Well, He was more than man, and that’s why nature obeyed Him. He created the winds and seas in the first place, so He can control them any time He wishes.