GNITN - Special Edition

Israel In Prophecy

Part 1

Promises Of A Great Nation

A Special People

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great nation. I will bring good to you. I will make your name great, so you will be honored. (Gen 12:1-2, NLV)

Prophecy can be broken down in two ways. God can reveal something that is going to happen because He makes it happen and God also makes what are called conditional prophecies. These prophecies basically say if you do this, God will do this. In those prophetic words our free will is involved. In the other instances, God wills things to happen and He lets us know in advance so we can prepare for them. If we don’t distinguish between the two a lot of confusion and bad teaching will ensue. While I could elaborate on this, for my purposes in this series I’m only concentrating on one nation and its people and that is Israel and the Jews. You see, in God’s providence He would use one man, Abram to bless the world through him even though it was highly improbable that it would happen. In Genesis 12 God simply told him and a whole bunch of people to get up and travel to land foreign to them at the time. But note the little prophecy in that command: And I will make you a great nation… I’m certain Abram heard it and probably wondered how it could happen. Maybe he would gather people in those areas who would become that nation. Regardless, God would build on that promise.

Abram’s Children

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had left him, “Raise your eyes and look from where you are to the north and south and east and west. 15 For I will give all the land that you see to you and to your children and to your children’s children forever. 16 I will make your family after you like the dust of the earth. So if anyone could number the dust of the earth, then he could number your children’s children. (Genesis 13:14, NLV)

So God promised him not only land but a family. It’s important to note how old Abram and his wife was when that promise was given to him. Also note that it wasn’t conditional. God said it would happen, period. Anyway, he was 75 years old which would make his wife, Sarai 65. This couple of promise were no spring chickens. As the story goes they knew God was going to make them parents which made even them laugh. And they even tried to “help” God out by having Abraham get Sarah’s servant pregnant since they figured with Sarah being 90 that promise needed some help. That disobedience is causing the world trouble to this day in the form of the Arab/Israeli conflicts playing out as we speak. Still, the elderly couple did have a son and the promise was fulfilled. But God promised Abraham’s seed much more than land a children.

Innumerable Descendants

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be given what is yours. But he who will come from your own body will be given what is yours.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Now look up into the heavens and add up the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then He said to him, “Your children and your children’s children will be as many as the stars… God said to Abram, “Know for sure that your children and those born after them will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. There they will be servants and suffer for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation they will serve. And later they will come out with many riches. 15 You will live many years, die in peace and be buried. 16 Then your great great-grandchildren will return here. For the sins of the Amorite are not yet finished.” (Gen 15:4-6, 13-16, NLV)

Abraham again questioned God’s promise and when he agreed with God, He gave him more of what He planned for this new nation. He told him that they would become that great nation by living and being slaves in what we know was Egypt. Then God told him that He would bring that strange nation to its knees, release Abraham’s descendants and let them come back to where they conversed and be used to judge the people that would be there as part of taking the land back. But God would reveal even more about his children.

Kings And Rulers

But your name will be Abraham. For I will make you the father of many nations. 6 Many will come from you. I will make nations of you. Kings will come from you. 7 I will make My agreement between Me and you and your children after you through their whole lives for all time. I will be God to you and to your children’s children after you. 8 I will give to you and your children after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan for yourselves forever. And I will be their God… And I will bring good to her. I will give you a son by her. I will bring good to her. And she will be the mother of nations. Kings of many people will come from her.” (Gen 17:5-8, 16, NLV)

So now we see the promise was made to both of them. Sarah would be mother of nations and the promise to their children would extend for all time, both the land and nation. When these verses mention all time and forever those aren’t exaggerations or metaphors. The Hebrew word means an unlimited and unending promise that isn’t conditional as some think. A Hebrew then and a Hebrew living right now has these promise regardless of if they are serving God faithfully or not. There are no conditions to them. Keep that in mind.

Blessing And Cursing

3 I will bring good to those who are good to you. And I will curse those who curse you. Good will come to all the families of the earth because of you.” (Gen 12:3, NLV)

Again, this is not a conditional promise or prophecy in the sense that it no longer applies even to today. There is no expiration date on it as some suppose. There is no transfer provision. If people or nations bless Abraham’s descendants and nation they will be blessed. The opposite is true as well. Curse His people and nation and expect curses to come back on you, too. It’s what I call God’s foreign policy statement. And then there is the good that will come to the families of the earth. I could go into all of the many things the Jews have been a part of that helped and continue to help the people of planet earth. But there is one blessing that we often forget. And we’ll talk about that in part two of this series.