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About Jesus Steve Sweetman The Abrahamic Covenant And Prophetic History Part 5 The
Fulfillment Of The Abrahamic Covenant With
Paul's thoughts in mind, let's look at the 13 promises I've listed
earlier to see if they have been fulfilled or not. We'll start with the
personal promises made to Abraham. The
Personal Promises To Abraham Promise
1 stated that Abraham would have a son through Sarah. (Genesis 15:4 –
8, 17:19 – 22, 18:10 and 14)
There's no debate here. This
has been fulfilled. Promised
2 stated that it would be through Isaac that Abraham's offspring would
be reckoned. The word reckon
means "to call out". Therefore
the offspring who we've learned is Jesus as stated in Galatians 3:16
will be called out of the lineage of Isaac, which Jesus was, thus
fulfilling this promise. Promise
3 stated that Abraham would be a great and powerful nation. (Genesis
12:2 – 3, 18:18) Logically
speaking, one man can't be a great nation, but Abraham symbolizes all
those who would become his descendents.
I think we can safely say that
Some
say this promise of greatness was fulfilled when David was king and
therefore doesn't need to be fulfilled again. Israel
was pretty great then, but not as great as this promise seems to
suggest. She hasn't been
great since David's day. This
promise is yet to be fulfilled.
Promise
4 stated that Abraham would be the father of many nations, not just one.
(Genesis 17:3 - 8) Abraham
became the father of many nations when Gentile believers in Jesus became
part of his descendents. Yet,
in the truest sense of the word, this is yet to happen.
The text specifically says that Abraham would be the father of
many nations. It
doesn't say that many nations would become part of him. The many nations
remain distinct and separate from Israel. Therefore, the final
fulfillment will take place when Jesus rules all nations from Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:16 says that
all nations will come to Promise
5 stated that God's promises to Abraham would be forever, and that He'd
be Israel's God forever. (Genesis 17:3 – 8, 13:14 – 15,
17:19 - 22) If
forever means forever, then God didn't withdraw any promise he made to
Abraham concerning Israel. It's that simple.
Let's not complicate things. Promise
6 stated that Abraham would die in peace as an old man.
(Genesis 15:15) That's
been fulfilled. The
Promises Made To Abraham's Descendents Promise
7 stated that Abraham's descendents would number as many as the stars in
the sky and the sand by the sea. (Genesis 22:17 – 18)
That just means Abraham would have an awful lot of descendents. I
don't think the final number is in yet.
Romans 11:26 says that more Jews will
be added to Promise
8 stated in Genesis 15:18 said that Abraham's descendents would inherit
all the land from the Some
say the reason why Israel
has never got the land is because God never intended for us to think of
it in terms of literal land. They
say it's spiritual land, as
in the Kingdom
of Promise
9 stated that Abraham's descendents would be free from 400 years of
slavery. (Genesis 15:13 – 14) There's
no debate here. Moses led Promise
10 stated that Abraham's descendents would possess the cities of their
enemies. (Genesis 21:17 - 18) The
Promises Made To Abraham's Offspring Jesus Galatians
3:16 says that Jesus is Abraham's offspring, so the following promises
are promised to Jesus. I
don't think many Christians understand that Jesus actually gets some of
these promises too. Promise
11 stated that Abraham's offspring Jesus would
get a certain piece of land, and that He'd get to keep it forever.
(Genesis 12:7, 13:14 - 15) We've
seen that Abraham's descendents get land. Now
we see Jesus getting land too. Although
the borders of Jesus' land isn't specified as it was with In
Luke 23:42 – 43 the thief on the cross asked Jesus to remember him
when He enters His kingdom. Jesus
answered by saying that He'd see the thief that very day, not in His
kingdom, but in paradise. Jesus
went directly to paradise, the place where God is.
He won't enter His physical kingdom until He returns to it on
earth.
Promise
12 stated that the number of Abraham's offspring will number as many as
the sand of the sea. (Genesis 15:4 – 8)
As was with the descendents of Abraham, so Jesus will have a
great number of descendents. These are
those who trust their lives with Him.
Obviously the final count isn't in yet.
Promise
13 stated that the nations of the earth will be blessed through
Abraham's offspring Jesus. Here's
another promise that's made to both
All
nations have had the opportunity to be blessed by Jesus because of the
cross, but not all nations have chosen
to receive this blessing. I
think this promised blessing is linked to the same blessing God promised |