Multitudes of people, Universal Power, the Promised Land (25 July 2017, 2 Av, 5777)
An analysis of the blessing to Abraham indicate a division between the types of blessings received, at least at the interim level. Abraham was promised that he would become a great and mighty nation and an exceedingly populous one. Kings of peoples would come out of him. All peoples of the earth would be blessed in him. Receiving the blessings was both a reward and a prerequisite. Abraham would need to become a great and might nation IN ORDER TO be a blessing other peoples. As a reward for doing what he had to he would then receive further blessings of the same kind.
Ultimately these blessings were given unconditionally.
Abraham was also promised to receive the Land of Canaan. This however was conditioned on belief in God, circumcision, and Keeping the Law. Our understanding is that those descendants of Abraham who received the promises were the Twelve Tribes of Israel. These were divided into the Ten Tribes (headed by Joseph) and Judah i.e. the Jews. The Ten Tribes were initially to receive those blessings that were not conditional whereas Judah was charged with Belief in God, Circumcision, and Keeping the Law. These were linked with inheriting the Land. This is why Judah has a greater claim on the Land than the other Tribes. In the End the two halves will re-unite and both aspects of the blessings will be fulfilled by BOTH halves of the nation.
Abraham was the first Hebrew.
Abraham was called out of his land in Ur Casdim. This may have been the region of Ur of Sumer in Mesopotamia. Others say it was to the north of Syria.
At first Abraham was called Abram.
Genesis 12:
1 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;
2 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;
3 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 will be blessed.
We see here Abraham being promised to become a great nation, and a source of blessing to others.
The Land of Canaan through which Abraham was passing was also promised to him.
Genesis 12:
7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land. So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
This promise was repeated and added to an enormous number of physical descendants.
Genesis 13:
14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. 16 I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.
The Promise of an exceedingly great number of descendants was again repeated.
Genesis 15:
5 AND HE TOOK HIM OUTSIDE AND SAID, NOW LOOK TOWARD THE HEAVENS, AND COUNT THE STARS, IF YOU ARE ABLE TO COUNT THEM. AND HE SAID TO HIM, SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.
There follows dialogue, Abraham falls asleep and has a vision concerning the subjugation of Israelites in Egypot followed by other Exiles, and then again the Land is mentioned.
The Promise of inheriting the Land was too repeated but separately from that concerning an exceedingly great number of descendants.
Genesis 15:
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.
Meanwhile Abraham had begat Ishmael from Hagar a handmaiden of Sarah.
The Almighty later appeared to Abraham.
He changes his name from Abram to Abraham;
He speaks of a covenant;
A great number of people will come from Abraham.
A multitudes of nations.
Nations and kings will come from him.
The Land of Canaan will be given to Abraham.
Every male needs to be circumcised.
Sarai the wife of Abraham will have her name changed to Sarah.
Nations and Kings of peoples will come from her.
Ishmael the son of Hagar will also become a great nation but the covenant is to be with the son of Sarah who when he is born is to be named Isaac.
Genesis 15:
17 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.
2 I will establish My covenant between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly.
3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.
7 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.
8 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.
9 God said further to Abraham, Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.
11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12 And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
13 A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.
15 Then God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?
18 And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before You!
19 But God said, No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.
22 When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
It is worth noting that covenant of circumcision follows the promise to inherit the land.
Later we will see that inheriting the Land, Circumcision, and Keeping the Law are bound up with each other.
The other promises are not necessarily contingent on keeping the Law.
Genesis 17:
1 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.
2 I will establish My covenant between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly.
3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.
7 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.
8 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.
9 God said further to Abraham, Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.
11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12 And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
13 A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.
15 Then God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.
Here (Genesis 17) God has repeated his promises.
A Covenant is to be made with Abraham.
He shall be numerous and bring forth nations and kings.
The Land of Canaan will be given him for an everlasting possession BUT it appears to be linked to the Covenant of Circumcision which again is mentioned before it in a preconditional sense.
Sarah will be "a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
This means several nations existing at one and the same time will come from Sarah. Kings will rule over them (or most of them). IN addition kings of other nations may also be desceמded from her even though their subjects (in some cases) are not.
In Chapter 18 God makes a statement concerning the blessings he shall bestow on Abraham and their purpose.
Genesis 18:
17 The LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?
19 For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.
Abraham will become a great and might nation.
All the nations of the earth will be blessed in him.
They will "keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice."
Both Following this and as a Prerequisite to do this they shall receive the blessings.
In other words he shall
"become a great and mighty nation"
in order that
"All the nations of the earth will be blessed in him."
After which he will be further rewarded.
Genesis ch.22 describes how Abraham is commanded to take his son Isaac and offer him up as a sacrifice.
Abraham prepares himself to fulfill the commandment but at the last minute is prevented by an angel.
Abraham then receives another blessing.
Genesis 22:
15 THEN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CALLED TO ABRAHAM A SECOND TIME FROM HEAVEN, 16 AND SAID, BY MYSELF I HAVE SWORN, DECLARES THE LORD, BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THIS THING AND HAVE NOT WITHHELD YOUR SON, YOUR ONLY SON,
17 INDEED I WILL GREATLY BLESS YOU, AND I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY YOUR SEED AS THE STARS OF THE HEAVENS AND AS THE SAND WHICH IS ON THE SEASHORE; AND YOUR SEED SHALL POSSESS THE GATE OF THEIR ENEMIES.
18 IN YOUR SEED ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED, BECAUSE YOU HAVE OBEYED MY VOICE.
The blessing concerning becoming exceedingly populous, possessing strategic seagates and thoroughfares, and bringing a blessing to all the peoples of the earth is NOW given unconditionally.
"By Myself I have sworn," i.e. without condition.
The Land is NOT mentioned since the Land is still conditional on worshipping God, the Covenant of Circumcision and Keeping the Law.
The Ten Tribes were to receive one aspect of the Blessings and its concomitant tasks and rewards whereas Judah was to receive the other.
See Also: