God Promises a Nation

Genesis 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
 
WE continue God’s promises that point to Jesus. When the LORD promises, he usually requires us to wait, even through trials. And he certainly wants us to be faithful to his Word. This was true for Abraham. He was 75 years old. Sarah, his wife, was 65 years old and barren when God promised a great nation would come from them. How could that be?
   Abraham and Sarah thought they had a good idea. Sarah offered her servant Hagar to Abraham to father a child. The result was Ishmael. But this son was born outside of God’s promise. Ishmael is the father of those who would form the Islam religion and other nations that have historically opposed Israel. Receiving God’s promises requires believing his Word. Your faith must empower you to wait for his promises to come true.
   Ultimately, God delayed his promise to Abraham and Sarah for 25 years! And about 16 years after their son Isaac was born, God told Abraham to take Isaac to a mountain to sacrifice him! But the LORD withheld Abraham’s hand. God provided a substitute ram for Isaac (Genesis 22). This is a clear illustration of Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross for your sin. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21-22)
    Eleven times in Genesis, God spoke his promise of a great nation to Abraham, Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob. Abraham had one son in the promise. Isaac had two. Then Jacob had 12 sons through marriage to his cousins Leah and Rachel and their maidservants Zilpah and Bilhah. (See Genesis 29 for this complex story.) From these sons born amid trial and division came Israel’s 12 tribes.
   But again God waited. There was great strife in this family. It would take more than a generation for these men to begin raising families who would eventually become the great nation Israel even under trial in Egypt: Exodus 1:7 the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Eventually God would go to Egypt through Moses to free them, so they could become a great nation obedient to the LORD.
   Israel’s promise is your promise. In Christ, you receive God’s blessing to become great in God’s sight. 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
   In faith, you must know God’s promises are sure and eternal. You must be persistent, patient and open-eyed to see his promises become your way of life.