Information Related to "God's Commitment to Abraham and His Descendants"
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Chapter 1 : |
To
understand some of the Bible's most amazing and inspiring prophecies, we must embark
on a study that begins 4,000 years ago-when God began working with a man called Abraham.
Abraham lived in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, in the city of Ur, one
of the most ancient cities whose remains archaeologists have discovered.
Abraham was a remarkable figure. God made astounding promises to him that continue
to affect not only his descendants but the whole world. The story of his offspring
is remarkable too.
It covers much of what we know as the Old Testament. This is a story filled with
great themes-the rise and fall not only of great men and women but of kingdoms and
empires.
The story of Abraham's descendants has its share of twists and turns and ups and
downs and more than a few mysteries.
The books of the Old Testament describe Abraham's offspring growing into a mighty
nation-the Israelite kingdom-and entering into a special covenant relationship with
God. Comprised of 12 tribes, or family groups, the nation gained prominence for a
time.
Yet before long the Israelites divided into two competing kingdoms. When the larger
of the two, which retained the name Israel (comprised of 10 of the 12 tribes), rejected
its partnership with God, it set in motion one of history's greatest mysteries when
its people were forcibly exiled from their ancient homeland.
The smaller, southern kingdom of Judah-comprised of the two remaining tribes and
remnants of another-failed to learn the lesson of its northern kinsmen. Its citizens
likewise rejected God and were taken into captivity. For the most part, however,
they retained their identity and have remained visible through history as a small
and often persecuted race, the Jewish people.
But what happened to the 10 tribes of Israel whose enemies forcibly removed them
from their land? The Assyrian Empire captured and exiled them from their Middle Eastern
homeland in the eighth century B.C. But standard history books make no mention of
them today. The world remembers them only as the lost 10 tribes of Israel.
God, however, had entered into a covenant-a divine commitment-with all 12 of the
tribes. He had promised they would always be His people and He would always be their
God. Can we count on Him to keep His word? How is that possible if the lost 10 tribes
died out, as many assume?
To add to the puzzle, Bible prophecy repeatedly tells us that these supposedly lost
Israelites are destined to reappear on the world scene in a prominent role immediately
after Jesus' return-after their rescue from a "time of trouble" that could
dwarf their previous suffering. The prophets of old even speak of their restoration
after that time of trouble to their original homeland under the rule of the Messiah.
Notice this promise Jesus made to His apostles: "I tell you the truth, at the
renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have
followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel"
(Matthew 19:28, New International Version, emphasis added throughout).
Did Jesus mean what He said? If these descendants of Israel are destined to play
a future role that God has prophesied for the world, where are they now? How can
we identify them among the peoples of the world today? And why is this knowledge
so important to us?
As we proceed with this eye-opening study, you will learn just how much God is involved
in shaping crucial aspects of our world. You cannot afford to be ignorant of this
incredible knowledge.If this information about the lost tribes were simply of historical
and archaeological value, then it might indeed be of interest only to those who are
fascinated with history. But it is far more important than that.
It is a master key for understanding all biblical prophecy. It explains why so many
prophecies speak of a coming restoration of all of the tribes of Israel as one reunited
kingdom and why those prophecies are so prominent in the pages of the Holy Scriptures.
By understanding this incredible story, you can learn a lot about what God expects
of all who would serve Him. May God grant you the spiritual insight to understand
this amazing story and heed the lessons you are about to discover.
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A story of relationships
and agreements
Our story begins with a series of remarkable promises God gave to a man named Abram
thousands of years ago.
"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land
I will show you," God told Abram. "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. I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples
on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:1-3, NIV).
As we will learn in this book, God is always faithful in His promises. Preparation
for His relationship with ancient Israel began centuries before its people became
a nation. He initiated His plans for Israel as a group of tribes-or extended families-when
He established a relationship with Abram. Later He changed the name of Abram, meaning
"exalted father," to Abraham, meaning "father of a multitude"
(Genesis 17:5).
Notice again God's promise to him:
"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" (Genesis 12:3).
What a fantastic commitment! With these promises God set in motion an awesome design
destined to benefit "all the families of the earth" when they are fulfilled.
The history and prophecies of this nation, springing from Abraham, are important
not only for its own people but for the people of all nations.
God later passed these promises on to Abraham's son Isaac, his grandson Jacob and
then to Jacob's 12 sons-from whom came the 12 tribes of Israel. God provided succeeding
generations more details about His purpose for Israel and how He intended to fulfill
His grand design for them.
This commitment by mankind's Creator is the thread that links the various parts of
the Scriptures together. It enhances the meaning and gives structure to the Bible.
Even the mission of Christ is a continuation of this promise.
Almost 800 years after Israel disappeared as a nation, the apostle Paul described
gentiles (non-Israelites) who are "without Christ" as "aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).
That's strong language, but it underscores the importance of God's commitment to
Abraham and that Paul recognized that Israel, including the lost 10 tribes, continued
to exist. If Paul had been talking only about the Jews, the tribes comprising the
southern kingdom, he would have spoken of Judah, not Israel (see "Are All Israelites
Jews?," page 25).
Paul then clarifies His meaning. "In former generations this mystery was not
made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same
body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:5-6, New Revised Standard Version).
How can all peoples share in the promises God made to Abraham through Jesus? Paul
explains, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).
This means that God must graft all who become His servants into the family of Abraham,
and God has bound Himself by a series of covenants to accomplish this (Romans 11:13-27).
(See "What Is a Biblical Covenant?," page 4).
God's promise to Abraham was not limited to a small and ancient people in the Middle
East. It extends far into the future, and it is not limited by national boundaries.
From the beginning, God designed this promise to bring blessings to all nations.
That is His purpose.
That is what He will accomplish.
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Why God selected Abraham
Why did God choose Abraham to be His servant and, through him, bring ancient Israel
into existence as a nation? What did God have in mind, and why did He call Abraham
into His service at that particular time in history?
After the Flood in the days of Noah, the earth's inhabitants once again began to
turn their back on God. By Abraham's time all peoples had again grown corrupt.
God then set in motion a major aspect of His plan to offer salvation to mankind.
Selecting Abraham was a crucial step in God's long-term plan to turn all nations
back to Him. The remainder of the Bible is woven around His plan to reconcile all
humanity to Himself.
You may remember that shortly before the Flood "God saw how corrupt the earth
had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to
Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence
because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth'" (Genesis 6:12-13, NIV). God spared only Noah and his wife and their three sons and their sons'
wives.
Then, shortly after the Flood, when humanity again began to oppose the ways of God,
the Tower of Babel became the symbol of their rebellion (Genesis 11:1-9). In the
context of this rebellion, and the founding of the city-state system of human governance
accompanying it, God initiated a new phase in His plan to lead all nations to worship
Him. He decided to select one faithful man and develop his descendants into a group
of influential nations chosen for the explicit purpose of teaching and illustrating
His values and way of life.
A part of that plan involves God's desire that all nations recognize the stark difference
between these two conflicting ways of life. He wants every person to learn that His
ways alone can consistently bring true and lasting blessings to all people.
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Chosen for service
God created all peoples on earth "from one blood" (Acts 17:26). The story
of the Israelites is the story of a single family the Creator God chose for His service
out of all the earth's peoples.
Although the Israelites were a chosen people, in no way were they to be considered
a superior people-either in antiquity or now. The apostle Peter later explained that
"in every nation anyone who fears (God) and does what is right is acceptable
to him" (Acts 10:34-35, New Revised Standard Version). This has always been
true.
Some may assume God chose to work with Abraham and his descendants because they were
in some way greater or innately better than other people. That simply wasn't the
case. God deliberately chose to work with a small group of people who had no international
prominence.
Notice what God said to ancient Israel: "The LORD did not set His love on you
nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were
the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep
the oath which He swore to your fathers ... Therefore know that the LORD your God,
He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations
with those who love Him and keep His commandments" (Deuteronomy 7:7-9; compare
1Corinthians 1:26-29).
God chose Abraham for a particular job. But He also tested Abraham to see if he would
be faithful to Him. Abraham passed those tests. God then began using him because
he believed and trusted his Creator. "For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness'" (Romans 4:3; compare
Genesis 15:6).
God forged ancient Israel, under His careful guidance, from 12 related tribes, or
extended families, whose ancestors were Abraham, his son Isaac and Isaac's son Jacob.
Abraham's extended family grew into an even greater multitude, the descendants of
the 12 sons of Jacob. God made them a nation and entered into a covenant relationship
with them. Collectively they became known as "Israel," "the sons of
Israel" or "the children of Israel."
Israel was another name for Jacob. When God began to work directly with Jacob He
named him Israel, meaning "one who prevails with God" or "a prince
with God" (Genesis 32:24-30).
Israel's descendants were also to be known as "the seed of Abraham," "the
House of Isaac," "the House of Jacob" or simply "Jacob"-and
by their individual tribal names of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar,
Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Benjamin and Joseph.
The patriarch Jacob later adopted Ephraim and Manasseh, his grandsons through his
son Joseph, as his own sons in regard to his inheritance. As a result
the nation of Israel has historically been said to consist of either 12 or 13 tribes,
depending on whether the descendants of Joseph are counted as one tribe (Joseph)
or as two (Ephraim and Manasseh).
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Promises of historic
importance
As God worked with Abraham He expanded the series of covenant commitments between
them. These commitments were based on the most important and far-reaching series
of promises and prophecies ever delivered by God to a human being. The later prophets
of Israel, Jesus' apostles and Jesus Himself all regarded these promises as the foundation
of their work (Acts 3:13,25).
Again notice what God told the patriarch Abraham: "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" (Genesis 12:2-3; also note
Genesis 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14).
The most important blessing ever to be made available to all nations through Abraham's
"seed," we later learn from the apostles, is the blessing of eternal life
through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:25-26; Galatians 3:7-8,16,29). Through His mother,
Mary, Jesus was born a Jew, of the tribe of Judah, a descendant of Abraham (Hebrews 7:14). His sacrifice opens the door to the people of all nations to enjoy a relationship
with the God of Abraham.
When people of any race or background enter into a covenant relationship with Christ,
they, too, become Abraham's seed. As Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28-29: "There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you
are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Thus, from the beginning of God's interaction with Abraham, it becomes increasingly
clear that God's objective is to make salvation available to all. The remainder of
the Bible reveals many more details of how God will fully implement this plan. But
we find its foundation in the book of Genesis in the promises God gave Abraham.
The Bible reveals many aspects of God's master plan for the salvation of mankind.
The spiritual dimension of His promise to Abraham is only one part of the story.
As physical beings we function in a physical world. Therefore God often achieves
His spiritual goals through physical means such as giving or taking away physical
blessings-using the principle of rewards for good behavior and punishment for sin.
For example, we need to consider why God promised to make of Abraham a "great
nation" (Genesis 12:2). Many modern students of the Bible fail to understand
the importance of this great physical promise. Critics of the Bible simply scoff
at it altogether because they think the people of Israel never amounted to more than
a pair of insignificant kingdoms at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. But
they are wrong. God doesn't lie (Titus 1:2). He keeps His promises. We will soon
see why and how God has fulfilled this particular promise of national greatness to
Abraham.
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Promises of great national
and material blessings
From Genesis 12 through 22, seven passages describe the promises God gave and reconfirmed
to Abraham. In the initial account (Genesis 12:1-3) God told Abraham to leave his
homeland and family. This was the first condition Abraham had to meet before he could
receive the promise.
When Abraham willingly obeyed, God then promised to bless him and make his name great.
His progeny would also become great. (As we will see, the results of this promise
would rank among the world's greatest historical developments.)
A few verses later God appeared to Abraham and promised his descendants the land
of Canaan (verse 7). God's promises unequivocally included material aspects-physical
land and possessions.
Genesis 13 provides more details about the promises. After the account of Abraham's
willingness to give the fertile plain adjoining the Jordan River to his nephew Lot
(verses 5-13), God, in turn, promised all of the land of Canaan to Abraham forever
(verses 14-17), indicating that the temporal and eternal aspects of His promise were
closely related.
Although Abraham was still childless, God also promised that his descendants would
be counted "as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust
of the earth, then (Abraham's) descendants also could be numbered" (verse 16).
The immense scope of this promise-the almost limitless expansion of Abraham's descendants-should
not be taken lightly. As we will see, it has enormous implications.
About a decade later God again appeared to Abraham in a vision. Notwithstanding that
he still had no offspring, God again promised him an heir-and this heir, said God,
would come "from your own body" (Genesis 15:4).
An incredible multitude of people would develop from that heir, Isaac. "Then
(God) brought (Abraham) outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the
stars if you are able to number them ... So shall your descendants be'" (verse 5). How did Abraham respond? "And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted
it to him for righteousness" (verse 6).
Abraham's confidence that he could trust God to keep His word-even far into the future-was
one of the reasons God loved Abraham. God chose him to be not only the father of
several mighty nations but "the father of all those who believe" (Romans 4:11). God was working out a dual role for faithful Abraham.
A few verses later God promised him not only innumerable descendants but all the
territory stretching "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River
Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18). This swath of territory covered much more land than
the land God included in His original promise of the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:6-7;
17:8; 24:7).
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God expands His promises
As Abraham further demonstrated his faithfulness, God expanded the scope of His promises
to him. Ultimately they involved far more than He had originally revealed. The most
detailed accounting of God's astounding promises to Abraham appears in Genesis 17.
"When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to
him, 'I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant
between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly ... As for Me, behold, My covenant
is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
"'No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham;
for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful;
and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish
My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations,
for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also
I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger,
all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God'"
(verses 1-8).
As with earlier statements of this promise, God's blessing was still conditional
and based on Abraham's obedience and commitment to maturing spiritually. Here God
again reminds him of this by saying, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and
be blameless" (verse 1; compare Matthew 5:48).
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A "great nation"
is expanded to "many nations"
Remember that an important part of God's promise was to greatly multiply Abraham's
descendants. Here God emphasized this yet-to-be reality by renaming the patriarch.
Up to this point he had been known as Abram. God now told him: "No longer shall
your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a
father of many nations" (Genesis 17:5). As mentioned earlier, Abram means "exalted
father," but Abraham means "father of a multitude."
God elaborated on this aspect of His promise: "I will make you exceedingly fruitful;
and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you" (verse 6; see
also verses 15-16).
God continued: "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in
which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and
I will be their God ... You shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after
you throughout their generations" (verses 8-9). The account in Genesis 17 establishes
God's commitment to Abraham as an "everlasting covenant" (verses 7,13,19), a binding agreement obligating God to give the patriarch's descendants the land
of Canaan in perpetuity (verse 8).
God's commitment to Abraham was major and far-reaching.
The sixth account of God's promise to Abraham appears in Genesis 18 in a setting
immediately before the destruction of the sin-infested cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham's angelic guests-messengers with news about the divine punishment to come
on the two cities-reconfirmed the soon-coming birth of a son to the 99-year-old Abraham
and his wife, Sarah, 10 years his junior (verses 10-14).
With God promising that He would not "hide" His intentions from Abraham
(Genesis 18:17; see also Amos 3:7), the angels then visiting the aged patriarch affirmed
earlier promises that Abraham would "surely become a great and mighty nation"-a
physical, material and national commitment of immense scope. They also reconfirmed
the messianic promise that "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in
him" (Genesis 18:18).
Dramatically fulfilling the promise, about a year after this encounter Sarah gave
birth to Isaac (Genesis 21:1-3). First Abraham had proven himself faithful to God.
Now, miraculously, God proved His faithfulness to His commitment
to Abraham.
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Abraham's supreme test
The climax of these seven accounts of God's promises appears in Genesis 22. Here
we find one of the most significant events in the Bible. This is God's final elaboration
to Abraham of His promise.
In this account Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac foreshadows the foundational
event of God's plan to offer salvation to all-God's willingness to offer His only
Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice (John 3:16-17).
Earlier we noted that God's promises were dependent on Abraham's continued obedience
(Genesis 12:1; 17:9).
But after the events of Genesis 22 God transformed His covenant with Abraham by elevating
it to a new level-and with good cause.
 Faithful Abraham obeyed God, leaving his homeland and traveling to a land God promised would belong to him and his descendants forever. |
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United Church of God, an International Association
Related Information on Our Site:
Sidebar: What Is a Biblical Covenant ?
Sidebar: How God Shaped Israel's Future
Sidebar: How Jacob Became Abraham's Heir
Sidebar: Does God Keep His Word?
Table of Contents that includes "God's Commitment to Abraham and His Descendants"
Abraham: