Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Genesis 12:1-3 The Promise of Peace: The Calling of Abraham


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 show 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 we have the calling of Abram, who is later renamed, by G-d, as Abraham, the father of the Judaic line. His wife is Sarai, who is also renamed as Sarah. I find it very interesting that G-d adds the Hebrew letter “hey” to their names. The letter “Hey” is symbolic of the breath of G-d. By the breath of G-d comes his Word which is the Messiah Y’shua and the father of the Messianic line is Abram or Abraham.

Also, anytime G-d calls anyone into service, he calls them to be sanctified, or separated from worldly influences. This is no different from you and me. Here he is telling Abram to get away from everything and come to G-d. Notice that it’s not a request. He is commanding Abram to come forth. If it was a request then he would have phrased it as an “If …Then” comment. If you come forth then I’ll will bless thee. No. He is telling Abram to come forth and he WILL bless him. The reason is that G-d has had a salvation plan for you and me from the beginning and now is going to continue through this man, Abram.

Notice that it is a command followed by a unconditional promise. It doesn’t matter what Abram does from here on out, G-d is going to follow through with his promise. Praise G-d. Aren’t you glad that G-d is that way. Once you place your faith and separated yourself from the world, G-d has promised you eternal life with him and there’s nothing you can do to separate yourself from G-d….unless you make a conscience decision to leave him. Abram is no different. As we will see, Abram will put his faith in G-d and will fall flat on his face many times before the end of his life. However, G-d will always be faithful and follow through with his promises.

In these verses, G-d promises to show him a land that he will give to Abram and his descendants and make it a great nation. This nation is what we know today as Israel. I love the part that G-d will bless the nation of Israel and make it a blessing to the whole world. This blessing came to us through the Messiah Y’shua which came out of Israel. It is amazing to sit back and look at how G-d’s plan has played out and continues to play out according to the scriptures. I do believe we are in for some exciting times ahead as G-d’s salvation plan comes to a head. I firmly believe and expected that we will see the coming of our Lord and Savior in his triumph return for his people within our lifetime.

Finally, notice in verse three that G-d will also bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. To see this, all you have to do is look back on the past seventy years and see the supernatural protection of the nation of Israel. You might say that they don’t believe in the Messiah, Y’shua. That is true right now. However, as the scriptures tell us, they will come to recognize the Messiah in the end times and remember that this is an unconditional promise. It doesn’t matter what Israel does, G-d fulfills his promises not for Israel and anyone else but for his glory and name sake.

We, as the people of this world, must treat Israel with respect and friendship because they are blessed by G-d. Right now, there is a movement within the United States leadership to slowly distance themselves from Israel. This is a major mistake. I firmly believe that will lead to our downfall as a great nation. The United States, Great Britain, Canada, etc. have been blessed because they started are Christian nations and have supported the nation of Israel. Turning our backs on Israel will lead to judgement.

Today, I leave you with Psalm 122.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good. “

We should daily pray for peace in Jerusalem, Israel. If we do, we will prosper and we will see the coming of the Lord. For true peace will come only when Israel recognizes the true Messhiach which happens, according to the scriptures, just before G-d comes for his people.

Come Lord Y’shua Come.

Shalom

No comments:

Post a Comment