During the past few days, I have spent time with different people where the issue of God’s promises to Israel came up numerous times. One person asked me how to answer people who say that the promise of blessing from Genesis 12:1-3 is Yeshua himself and therefore, it speaks only to those who believe in Him? Let’s take a look at those verses:

“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

While I believe that, yes, the ultimate promise of the blessing (its root and its seed) is Yeshua Himself, one can’t ignore a key part of that great promise, which is the Land. As we studied in my most recent blog entries, the promise of the blessing always included a Land.

One of the main problems that I find today is that instead of making ourselves conform to God’s standards – instead of reading and accepting God’s Word in its fullness as it is written – we make God fit within our own standards; we choose what we want from God’s Word so that it matches our worldview.

But it does not work that way! The Word of God says that, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” 2 Tim 3:16 We are to read God’s Word in its fullness and submit ourselves to His authority, in accordance to His standards.

One cannot ignore the following things: 1) the promise to Abram included a Land, and 2) the promise was to continue to Abram’s descendants after him. This promise seemed impossible back in those days, as Abram was ninety-nine years old! However, the God of the impossible was the One Who promised this:

“Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.” And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. “And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. “And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:1-8

God Almighty promised Abram something that by today’s standards is impossible; He promised that a 99-year old man would father a great nation. And to affirm this, He even changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “father of many nations.”

Let me stress once again that this is God’s covenant, and this covenant would continue to Abraham’s descendants, and it is everlasting. To say that God is finished with Israel (the Jewish people) and that Israel today is not part of the fulfillment of this promise, is tantamount to calling God a faithless liar. That is not the God I believe in!

My brothers and sisters, in the same way that it may seem impossible that Abraham would father a child at such an old age, it may also seem impossible that there is any hope for Israel today. But that’s according to the world’s standards! God Almighty has a great plan for Israel in the days to come and His word proves it. Will we accept it or reject it?

In the next few blog entries, I will address who are Abraham’s descendants, and what the covenant means for them.

Shabbat Shalom,

Moran