The Promises made to Abraham - The entirety of the Christian hope

In the last post on Hebrews 11, we talked about the fact that the men and women of faith mentioned therein waited for but had not received "the promises". 

It seems to me, then, that we need to talk about these promises and define what they are. Only by understanding what they are can we truly say we understand the basis of salvation offered through Christ and also why the Jews cling so dearly to their possession of the land of Israel.   

Not the Law of Moses 

The first thing we need to realise is that what we are referring to predates Moses and the Law that Israel held themselves up as the keeper of at the time of Christ. The law of Moses contained no promises of life. It contained no message of salvation. Paul said that the Law could not give life. It only promised punishment for sin.   

The promises to Abraham 

The promises which contained life were given earlier to Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham and promises to him and to his seed or descendants which are the entire basis of our salvation and our hope.   

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.And if yebeChrist's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3 v 26-29)  

The Jews of Jesus' day- Abraham's seed 

The Jews of Jesus' day thought of themselves as Abraham's seed and heirs to the promises made to him (John 8 v 33). The problem was that they did not recognise Christ at his first advent as the person in whom the promises would eventually be fulfilled.   

There were exceptions to this rule. Two notable ones are contained early the Gospel records.  

Zacharias  

The first chronologically is the sayings of Zacharias the priest, father of John Baptist.   “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets ... To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham” (Luke 1:68-73)   

Simeon 

Simeon is recorded as an old man who was led of the Spirit into the temple. There he happened upon Jesus and his parents when they came to present him according to the custom of the Law. Simeon had been told by God that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ.   

Then took he him (Jesus) up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. (Luke 2 v 28-32)  

Israel are Abraham's seed. 

Even in error, the Jewish leaders understood the uniquely Jewish heritage that came with the promises that were made to Abraham. Those like Simeon and Zacharias were able to discern that Jesus was to be the means by which the promise would be fulfilled.   

The promises made to Abraham

Let's look at the promises made to Abraham. There are five separate sets of promises made recorded in Genesis. 

Promise 1 - Genesis 12 v 1-3 

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.  

Here are the two key parts of this promise  

1. God would make of Abraham a great nation 
2. In him, all families of the earth would be blessed 

Paul defines the second part of this promise as "the Gospel".  

“The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen (i.e. the nations) through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” (Galatians 3:8)  

Promise 2 - Genesis 12 v 7 

And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land (i.e. the land of Canaan): and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.  

Abraham here is promised (with his seed or descendants) the land of Israel. So, he was to be a great nation, to be the way in which all families of the earth were to be blessed and his seed was to inherit the land in which he was presently dwelling, that is, the land of Canaan as it was then known.   

Promise 3 - Genesis 13 v 14-17 

Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 

Here God is more expansive about Abraham's eventual inheritance. he was told to look and walk through all the land in any direction. Everything in the length and breadth of it was would be his in addition to Promise 2 which was to his seed.   

Promise 4 - Genesis 17 v 8 

I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. 

The entire land was to be given to Abraham and to his seed in perpetuity. It was a repetition of the third promise.   

Promise 5 - Genesis 22 v 16-18 

Promise 5 was given a little after the others. It was made to Abraham after he was stopped from sacrificing Isaac his son.   

By myself have I sworn ... For because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore: and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

The same themes exist in these promises as in the previous ones, namely:  

1. That Abraham's seed would be multitudinous 
2. In his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed 

In addition, there was a promise that Abraham's seed was to possess the gate of his enemies. Possessing the gate of one's enemies conveyed the meaning of having authority and rulership. 

So, Abraham's seed would rule and have authority over all enemies.   

Paul notes in Galatians 3 that the promises referred to a seed singular as well as seed plural. Galatians 3 v 16,17 below makes this clear   

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.  

Note here that the promises/ covenant with Abraham is referred to as being confirmed of God in Christ. That is, the covenant was only ratified upon the death and resurrection of Christ. The way of salvation was not confirmed until this point. It did not exist previously even though it had been foretold from as early as the angel's words to Eve and the serpent in Eden.   

Christ had to come in his first advent and be offered as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. Only once this was accomplished and Christ raised from the dead was the way of salvation confirmed. Paul recognises this in 1 Corinthians 15 when discussing the topic of the resurrection from the dead.   

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  

Summary 

The promises to Abraham form the basis of the Christian hope. Abraham was promised:   

• Eternal possession in the land of Israel 
• That his seed (plural) would become a great nation/ multitude of peoples 
• That his seed would also possess the land of Israel 
• That his seed (singular) would have rule and authority over all his enemies 
• In Abraham and his seed would all the families (nations) of the earth be blessed 

Any statement of Christian faith must recognise these items and discard anything in terms of doctrine that conflicts with them.   

You must let go of any notion of Abraham's inheritance in heaven and ours alongside him. You must also let go of any delusion that a different hope awaits Israel of old prior to Christ as compared to us. One hope applies to us all. 

The law did not bring salvation. Only through Christ ratifying the covenant God made with Abraham was there a way to salvation. Before this, it was simply a promise of something to come but it was not in effect.  

You must also recognise that, Abraham still has yet to receive the rewards encapsulated in the promises. He sleeps in the dust of the earth awaiting the resurrection from the dead at the return of Christ. At this point, he will receive the promises of God from Christ, his seed (singular).   

It is worth reading Galatians 3 from start to finish if you have not already done so. We've quoted extensively from it in the last few posts because it demonstrates as clearly as any other passages how integral, how fundamental are the promises made to Abraham to the Christian hope.   

Let's finish this post with the same quote from Galatians 3 with which we started to hammer this home.   

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3 v 26-29) 

To be a Christian worthy of the name, you must acknowledge yourself as aspiring to be heirs to the promises made to Abraham.