I WILL BLESS YOU ABRAHAM
Introduction
After the Great Flood the offspring of Noah started to sin just like people did before. They built a huge tower to make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. But God was not pleased and he confused their language, so they stopped building. Some generations after that, God picked one man through whom He would bless the whole world.
Abram is called
God spoke to Abram:
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.”
God had a special plan for Abram’s life. This becomes clear in what God said to Abram after this:
“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
God promised Abram that he would become the father of a great nation. This is special because Sarai, Abram’s wife, was barren. They had waited for children many years already. God also promised that ‘all people on earth will be blessed through you’. This means that Abram will be the forefather of the Savior. Do you remember that God promised a Savior to Adam and Eve? One of Eve’s descendants would crush the head of Satan. God did not forget this promise and now repeats it to Abram. God also said that he would make Abraham a blessing. You never get God's blessing to keep it to yourself, but to share it with others.
Abram obeyed God, took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and all his possessions, and traveled to the land of Canaan, which is modern-day Israel.
The promise repeated
Abram waited for God to give him and Sarai a child. They waited for many years, they got older and older, but still nothing happened. One night Abram said to God: ‘You have given me no children, will my servant be my heir?’ Then God told Abram to step out and he said:
And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
This is how Abram responded to God’s words:
And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Abram trusted that what the Lord said to him was the truth, he believed every word God said would come true. And God credited this belief to Abram as righteousness. This means that in the eyes of God, belief in him is what really matters. God now viewed Abraham as being in the right relationship with him.
Sarai impatient
When Abram was 85 and Sarai 75, they still had no children. Sarai did not believe that she would ever get pregnant. She started to believe that Abram had better sleep with another woman, in order for God’s promise to be fulfilled. So she urged her husband to sleep with her maidservant, Hagar, a woman from Egypt. Abram did as he was told, and Hagar conceived and bore Abram a son, Ishmael. But this son was not the one for whom God had a special plan. It was unwise of Sarai and Abram not to wait for God’s timing to give them a child. God does not need help to make his promises come true.
The Covenant
Fourteen years after this, when Abram was 99 years old, God repeated the promise that he and Sarai would really get a son. Abram would no longer be called Abram, but Abraham, which means father of many nations. And Sarai was going to be called Sarah. God promised that she would be the mother of nations and kings. And then God told Abraham that he had to circumcise every male member of his household. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant between Abraham and God. Abraham’s people had a special relationship with God, and circumcision was the sign of that.
Isaac born
Shortly after that, God visited Abraham and Sarah and again told them that Sarah would have a son in one year’s time. When she heard this, she laughed because she could not believe that it was true. But it was, and a year later Isaac was born. Sarah was 90 years old, and Abraham 100 years old. Isaac means ‘laughter’ and this is what he brought to the house of Abraham and Sarah.
The most difficult command ever
But one day when Isaac was already grown, God ordered Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him to the Lord. Then God said,
He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
What a terrible command. But Abraham did not hesitate. He saddled his donkey and he and his son set out to the mountain.
When they arrived there, Isaac asked: “We have fire and wood, but where is the lamb?” His father answered: “God himself will provide a lamb.” Then Abraham built the altar and laid Isaac on it. The boy did not resist. But when Abraham lifted up his knife, suddenly there was a voice. “Abraham, Abraham!” It was God’s voice.
He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
God wanted to see whether Abraham would really trust him and he was not disappointed. And when God saw Abraham’s faith, he pointed him to a ram that got stuck with his horns in a bush. So Abraham did not have to kill Isaac. This ram became his sacrifice to God instead of his son. God had indeed provided!
what is the essence of His promises to abrahm to us today
Amen amen God bless you so much
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