One of God's most remarkable claims is found in Isaiah 46:9-10: "For
I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like
Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times
things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand
...'" (emphasis added throughout).
Here God not only says that He can reveal the future; He also
claims the power to bring it to pass!
Nowhere is this more evident than in the remarkable prophecies
of what would happen to Abraham's descendants through Jacob's
offspring, the 12 tribes of Israel.
God's promises to Abraham, while astounding in their magnitude,
nevertheless started small-with the promise of a son, Isaac,
to be born to him and Sarah (Genesis 17:19-21; 21:1-3). Isaac, in
turn, had two sons, Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:19-26). Jacob had
12 sons, from whom the 12 tribes of Israel are descended.
Prophesied birth of a nation
But long before this, before Abraham even had a son at all, God
revealed to Abraham the fact that his descendants would go through
one of the most remarkable "birth processes" a people
could go through-they would be enslaved in a foreign land
before emerging as a nation.
But long before this, before Abraham even had a son at all, God
revealed to Abraham the fact that his descendants would go through
one of the most remarkable "birth processes" a people
could go through-they would be enslaved in a foreign land
before emerging as a nation.