Lesson 10. Nation and Nations: Understanding God’s Salvation Plan!

Genesis 12.

Welcome, students, to Lesson 10! All praise and glory goes to Jesus Christ for this lesson. Amen.

Today, we’re going to pick up from 1esson 9, Gen 12: 1-3, that is the Promise to Abraham; and based on this area we shall shoot into different directions of the Bible for a 360 degree understanding of the salvation plan of God. At this point, he was still called Abram, but we shall call him Abraham. No offense, Daddy Abraham!

From our recent lessons, we have generally been looking at how God’s salvation plan progresses through individuals, right from Seth to Noah, Shem, Terah, and now here, Abraham. In Genesis 12:1-3, something centrally important happens: God makes a significant promise to Abraham!

But before we continue, please run to the Dictionary section and get the definition of a crucial term that I don’t want to bother you once we start mentioning it: Patriarchs.

Believing that you are now familiar with the term let’s proceed. The promise given to Abraham while he was still in the Land of Ur of the Chaldeans that we concluded in Lesson 9, can be broken into two parts. At Rest Assured Fellowship, we designate them as Part A (God would create a NATION out of him and bless it) and Part B (through Abraham, all the NATIONS would be blessed). This lesson will entirely focus on explaining the meanings of these two phrases.

In Lesson 6, we examined what happened to man’s life in Genesis 3. At Rest Assured Fellowship, we call it the Great Problem of Genesis 3, and it encompasses the following: the Loss of the 5 Attributes (do you recall them?), the adoption of a Sinful Nature/Seed of Satan, Separation from God, the imposition of Curses, and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Because of this problem, God took upon Himself the task of restoring all the above that was lost: reinstating the 5 attributes to man, restoring a Godly nature within man, reconciling man to Himself, lifting the curse, and reinstating fellowship with man in Eden. This does not happen all at once. It happens across the pages of the Bible, and even past them. From this point onwards as you progress through the Bible, you notice God’s work as He is doing the above becoming increasingly apparent, visible, evident, and pronounced, fulfilled in Jesus Christ at different stages of His manifestation. It gets personal; for even now He continuously makes great improvements in our lives by the Holy Spirit, and you can testify of that. The more we individually let Him work in us through prayer, worship, and reading His word, the more He accomplishes His task and good work within us, and what’s more beautiful? He will perform it until the day of our Lord.

Now in this specific event of Genesis 12, God is promising Abraham a Blessing as a means to counteract and resolve the curse bestowed onto man, as outlined in Genesis 3. Get that. Though the blessing is seen to manifest as material prosperity, as evidenced in the lives of Abraham (you remember when he went to Egypt and came back a tycoon?) and Israel (If you are someone who does their research well you surely know how Israel is rich and blessed with technology and wealth), this blessing is in reality a spiritual one rather than physical. It is not about money. At least not entirely. The physical blessings serve as a visible manifestation or projection of the spiritual blessing. The physical blessings’ purpose is to prophesy, to give evidence, and to serve as proof of the spiritual blessing. It is a prophetic symbol, and it is the spiritual blessing that holds true significance and authenticity. It is the real deal! You’ll see why…just read on.

From the promise, the term “Nation” refers to the nation of Israel, while the “Nations” encompass all other nations outside of the Israeli lineage, often referred to as Gentile nations. The Bible mentions several of them: Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Greece, Rome, Ammon, Moab, Syria, Canaan, and Philistia (Palestine), name them. Defining it from a non-Biblical context, from history that is beyond Bible times, Gentile nations mean peoples that are not Israelis, mentioned throughout world history and stretching to current contemporary times. We are talking Europeans, Americans, Africans, Persians, Arabians, Asians, Australians, even you, my friend if you are not an Israeli by blood! I am talking about you.

The Lord makes specific promises to these two groups of people– a pair of promises enveloped in one– promises that persist, are evident and valid till now, shaping their futures in different ways through their fulfillment. Understanding these promises and their true meaning can significantly influence a student’s interpretation of events that happen from that point in Genesis 12 forward throughout the BC era to the end of the Bible narrative, the earlier AD era up until now (events happening in current times). By comprehending which nation is considered Israeli and which are Gentile, students can distinguish the prophecies in the form of promises allotted to each group, prophecies that are manifested till current times. I am sure you are excited to know what God says about your future as a… (you know where you fall hahaha). Well, see this: nothing new unfolds for nations, states, kingdoms, governments, and also individuals in the past, present, and even in the future, other than that which was promised here in Genesis 12. Every individual, nation, government, and any social or political unit established on the face of the earth exists according to this prophecy right here, whether or not they are aware of it. For all history of the world revolves around what was written here and the fulfillment of just that.

This pair of promises is what we shall collectively term here as Foundational Prophecy, Central Prophecy, or just Prophecy. From this Central Prophecy come all the other prophecies of the Bible. While the specifics of these other prophecies in books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and others may appear to be varied, these prophecies are ultimately derived from this foundational Prophecy in Genesis 12. And even though the prophets may not have been aware of it, their prophecies served as subsets or expansions or clauses to explain this foundational prophecy, and they are tailored to serve the wider purpose of blessing first Israel and later the rest of the world.

To put it in quick simple language the promise made to Abraham serves as the foundational or central prophecy that shapes the course of human history, guiding the destinies of both Israel and Gentile nations throughout time.

 

How the promise was fulfilled.

Part A:   “I will create a NATION out of you and bless it”

Beginning from Genesis 12 and extending throughout the rest of the Old Testament to its very end, the Bible progressively reveals the realization of Part A of the promise. The narrative of the Old Testament narrows its scope to find out whether and how Part A of the promise was fulfilled. Essentially, the Old Testament comprises two main elements: 1. The unfolding fulfillment of this promise, and 2. Prophecies about the New Testament era and Eternity. It is crucial to approach our reading of the Old Testament with this kind of understanding. The books from Genesis to Malachi precisely lay out this unfolding process, as follows:

1. From Genesis to Deuteronomy (Torah). These books do the following:

(a) Portray the formation of God’s people from the descendants of Abraham, specifically through Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes. At this juncture– in the Torah books– they are identified solely as Israel God’s people, not yet established as a nation.

(b) Chronicle the collapse of God’s people into slavery in Egypt through Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, and their eventual liberation after 400 years. This fulfills God’s earlier prophecy to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16.

(c) Show how following 400 years, God’s people embarked on a grueling tiresome migration from Egypt back to the land of Canaan, which their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had briefly occupied. This very long painful escape-migration spans 40 years through the wilderness. During this time, God affirms their status as His chosen people through a Covenant, known as the Old Testament. This covenant serves to confirm previous covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, reminding Israel that He had neither forgotten nor abandoned part A of the Promise to Abraham. This covenant encompassed the following elements:

1. Ritual consecration and purification through animal sacrifices,
2. The Law,
3. The establishment of the Tabernacle system of worship,
4. The practice of circumcision.

Here, God updates prior covenants (adding in more clauses that were missing from the previous ones, therefore making His wider goal clearer than previously. Compared with the components in the above covenant it is only circumcision that appears in the previous covenants), confirming them more; hence actualizing part of what He promised to the forefathers in the sequence of prior covenants. In Deuteronomy 7 God discreetly creates a nation from among them as they are still journeying, partially fulfilling Part A of Abraham’s Promise.

The characteristic elements of this covenant serve to update the prior covenants and modify them into one, the Old Testament. All the previous covenants are fused and consumed into this one. This means that the essence of part A of the promise was to create a nation under the Old Testament. So simply part A of the promise was the Old Testament!

Task 1: From your understanding of the Israel migration from Egypt to Canaan, list the deserts that Israel migrants went through in their journey. Use a map if possible.

 

How Israel was created out of Abraham

Israel was crafted from Abraham down to the 12 tribes of Israel as explained below. Please, use the genealogy table here.

Abraham: God promises Abraham that he will become the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3). Abraham has a son named Isaac, who continues the lineage.

Isaac: Isaac marries Rebekah, and they have twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob receives the birthright and blessing, continuing the covenant lineage.

Jacob (Israel): Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel by God, has twelve sons who become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

The Twelve Tribes: Each of Jacob’s sons becomes the head of a tribe, and these tribes form the foundation of the nation of Israel. The descendants of these twelve tribes eventually settled in the land originally promised to their great-grandfather Abraham (Canaan), with each tribe inheriting its portion of the territory. This land therefore becomes Israel’s land. In essence, this part of the world changed from Canaan to Israel.

The Israelites are most times referred to as Jews, Israelis, and Hebrews interchangeably. These terms differ in meaning and context, though they generally refer to the same people; but today let us interest ourselves with just the term Hebrew. Much later we shall tackle the Jew issue.

Hebrews

The term “Hebrew” is used to describe Abraham and his descendants in the Bible. Its exact origin and meaning are somewhat debated among scholars. Why? Because if we analyze Genesis 10 and 11, Abraham is a Semite settler of Ur in Babylon. So how does he abruptly become a Hebrew in Genesis 14:13, where he is referred to as Abram the Hebrew? The word is used throughout the Old Testament to describe the Israelites and their language by heritage. We can assume that because God had consecrated him from his people He gave him a new identity–a Semite to a Hebrew–so that later his descendants would eventually become Israelites. So Abraham was not an Israelite? No, he was not. He is their great-grandfather. Are Israelites Hebrews? Yes, because they are posterity of a Hebrew man. The book of Hebrews is written to the Israelite people who had converted to Christianity but were confused about whether or not to maintain their Israeli cultural and religious Old Testament practices. A student of history can argue that this book was also written to the Arabic converts who are also descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham. Why? Because if Abraham was a Hebrew, all his sons would be expected to be Hebrew too; so if  Israel, a nation that originated from Abraham through Isaac is Hebrew, so is Arabia/Ismaelites, who also originated from Abraham through Ishmael. Well, this can at this point be solved by looking at Hebrew as a language rather than a heritage. Israel maintained their language as Hebrew, but the Ishmaelites’ language evolved into Arabic. Besides, the content of the book speaks of practices that were practiced by the Israelites by instructions from God through Moses, not Ishmaelites. The simple explanation would be that perhaps God wanted Israel to maintain that which had been destined for the child of the Promise. Study for another day!

Here are a few other helpful Bible-leaning and History-leaning theories for the origin of Hebrew.

1. The exact etymology of the word “Hebrew” is uncertain. Some scholars suggest that it may be derived from the name “Eber,” a distant ancestor of Abraham mentioned in Genesis 10:21-25. According to this theory, “Hebrew” could mean “descendant of Eber” or “belonging to the lineage of Eber.”
2. Another theory proposes that “Hebrew” could be related to an ancient Semitic root word meaning “to cross over” or “to pass through.” This interpretation aligns with the biblical narrative of Abraham’s journey from Mesopotamia to Canaan, which involved a ‘crossover’ of the Euphrates River.
3. Outside of the Bible, the term “Hebrew” appears in various ancient texts and inscriptions. For example, Egyptian records from the second millennium BCE mention a group called the “Apiru” or “Habiru,” which some scholars associate with the Hebrews. These references suggest that the term “Hebrew” may have been used by neighboring cultures to describe a specific ethnic or cultural group in the ancient Near East.

Hebrew as a language

The creation and evolution of the Hebrew language, like the development of any language, was a complex and gradual process that occurred over centuries. The Hebrew language belongs to the Semitic language family, which also includes languages like Arabic, Aramaic, and Amharic.

1. Proto-Semitic: The earliest ancestor language of Hebrew is Proto-Semitic, believed to have been spoken around 3500-2500 BCE in the ancient Near East. Proto-Semitic is the reconstructed common ancestor language of all Semitic languages and is the linguistic root from which Hebrew emerged. This is the language we think Terah and his family spoke; the language that birthed the Hebrew that Abraham and his family later adopted. Click Here for a self-help book to help you study Proto-Semitic languages.
2. Ancient Hebrew: Ancient Hebrew is the earliest attested form of the language, dating back to around the 10th century BCE. It is primarily known from inscriptions found in archaeological excavations, such as the Gezer Calendar and the Siloam Inscription. Ancient Hebrew is characterized by its consonantal script and relatively limited vocabulary. Click Here for a self-help book to help you study Ancient Hebrew language and Alphabet.
3. Biblical Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew refers to the form of the language found in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). It developed during the First Temple (Solomon Temple) period (10th to 6th centuries BCE) and continued to be used in various forms until the Second Temple (Zerubabel Temple) period (5th century BCE to 1st century CE). Biblical Hebrew expanded its vocabulary and underwent grammatical changes during this time. Click Here for a self-help book to help you study Biblical Hebrew language and Alphabet.
4. Medieval Hebrew: After the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the Second Temple, Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language but continued to be used for religious, literary, and scholarly purposes. During the Middle Ages, known as Medieval Hebrew, Hebrew underwent further development through the composition of religious texts, commentaries, poetry, and legal writings.
5. Revival of Hebrew: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Hebrew experienced a remarkable revival as part of the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a leading figure in the revival of Hebrew, played a significant role in modernizing and adapting the language for everyday use. This period saw the development of Modern Hebrew, which became the official language of the State of Israel upon its establishment in 1948. Click Here and Here to study and learn Modern Hebrew.

Today, Hebrew stands as a vibrant and living language spoken by the Republic of Israel, serving as a symbol of Jewish identity and culture. We use the term Jewish here because later after the return of the Babylonian Captivity, Israeli tribes got mixed up, other scholars say some tribes were lost, and only those in Judah (Southern Kingdom) remained. However, the issue of the lost tribes has been contested by many scholars. What is important to study tonight however is that from the return of captives till now, Israeli nationals have been referred to as Jews though the term Jews means the descendants of one tribe of Israel, Judah (and generally means all citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah after the division of tribes). A study for another day.

 

From Joshua to Ruth:

(a) Depicts how the people of God allocated the land of Canaan by tribe upon their arrival.

(b) Illustrates how they responded to God’s law given during the 40-year journey from Egypt, which was largely negative.

(c) Chronicles the initial governance of Israel under the leadership of Judges.

 

From 1 Samuel to Malachi:

From 1 Samuel through the conclusion of the Old Testament in Malachi, Part A of the promise comes to pass as, while all nations of the earth watch, God officially fulfills His commitment to make Israel a fully recognized nation through the establishment of a monarchy and governmental structure. The transition from the era of Judges to that of kings is facilitated by Samuel the Seer. Saul becomes the first king of Israel.

 

Part B: Through you, all NATIONS shall be blessed.

This is the most important aspect of the promise as it directly addresses the core issue at hand: the Great Problem of Genesis 3. Just like Part A was the Old Testament, similarly Part B is the New Testament and Eternity. Notably, the New Testament and Eternity are a fulfillment of Prophecy in the Old Testament, but most clearly a fulfillment of the Foundational Prophecy in Genesis 12.

According to Genesis 3:15, as a consequence of leading man into sin, Satan’s punishment was foretold by God through the curse to the serpent: he would be crushed by the ‘seed’ of woman. We shall find out that this part of the curse was good hahaha; for it intended to depict the real process of the salvation process and how sin would be overcome. Now open your eyes, I am about to drop a bombshell! From Adam to Abraham, the lineage was merely that of a family. Abraham’s selection however marked a turning-point moment where God updated the curse to the serpent and made it much clearer, depicting the exact person from whose lineage ‘the seed’ that was to crash the serpent’s head would come. The ‘seed of the woman’ that was to do this job would actually be ‘the seed of Abraham.’ Hence the curse to the serpent, we can say, was modified to be something like: ‘..the seed of Abraham shall crash your head…’ Read this paragraph once more.

Just like we have seen the curse to the serpent being modified into the promise to Abraham, this promise to Abraham also takes a similar path–it comes in phases, with each subsequent phase seeming like an update and a modification of the prior one, and bearing more clarity. Reading the Bible now it is amusing how these patriarchs never comprehended the whole process and idea of what was going on in its entirety and how it would end. We are blessed to have its full knowledge now. We even know what is going to happen in the future! Initially, in Genesis 12, the promise remained rather generalized and sealed. Abraham’s understanding of how this blessing would materialize was limited. However, in Genesis 22:15, God unseals the promise and describes to Abraham how He would bless other nations through him, clarifying that it would be through ‘his seed’ rather than directly through Abraham himself. Although Abraham had two sons Ishmael and Isaac, God’s promise was to be fulfilled through Isaac (Genesis 21:1-12). So, with this in mind, Abraham turned his eyes to Isaac and did whatever he could to protect him from any adversity, even if it meant sending his half-brothers far away from him (Genesis 25: 1-6). While doing all this, what Father Abraham never realizes at this point is that the seed mentioned in the passage transcended more than just Isaac, for the ideal seed was supposed to fulfill Genesis 3:15 (crashing the head of the serpent. Isaac never crushed any serpent’s head all his life hahaha. From what Abraham does here with his effort, do you pick a lesson about how in our canal understanding of God’s word we tend to try to fight for it with our canal efforts and power? It is only God who has the power as well as the plan to fulfill and protect His word. Isaiah 55:11 ). So this qualifies the statement in Genesis 21:12 ‘…through Isaac shall your seed be called’.  So again we discover something here that Abraham never discovered; that Isaac isn’t the actual seed, but it’s just through him that the true seed should be called. Yes. Woah! This is becoming more detailed than we expected! The seed affair is becoming one big puzzle. So who is the seed? Well, take a deep breath and read Galatians 3:15-16:

15 Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.

16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. Scripture does not say ‘unto seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘unto your seed’ meaning one person, who is Christ.

So there you have it: Jesus Christ is the seed! He is the seed of Isaac. He is the seed of Abraham. He is the real seed of the woman, which seed was intended to crash the head of the serpent. If the ideal seed is not Isaac but Jesus Christ, how then does Jesus relate with Isaac to be the ideal seed? Well simple;

1. Jesus is related to Isaac through genealogy relations. Click here to see the genealogy table of Jesus Christ.
2. Jesus crushed the head of the seed of the serpent. On the cross Jesus Christ overcame sin. And by definition in our previous lessons, we said that sin stands for Satan In Nature or the seed of Satan. So through His victory over sin, which is equivalent to the seed of Satan, He was actually crushing the head of the seed of Satan. So, the true meaning of Genesis 3:15 (which is our litmus paper) would be something like this: ‘…Jesus Christ shall crash ‘sin’. Take another deep breath!

Task 2: Read Genesis 3:15 again and replace the phrase ‘the seed of the woman’ with ‘Jesus Christ’ and the phrase ‘your seed’ with ‘sin’. How does it sound? Does it sound like the Gospel?

Now what we are about to discover right now from the above observation are the true essential truths of the gospel that should represent the core of what we preach and teach as followers of Christ. Galatians 3:29 will help us make this discovery:

“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

From the above scripture and from the mention of just two words, seed, and heirs, we make below some important conclusions that every Christian should be equipped with. Are you ready? Let’s go.

1. All who belong to Christ, who is Abraham’s seed through genealogy, inherit Part B of the promise of Genesis 12.
2. Seeds of Abraham: Through Christ, the seed, God was and is still fashioning out of the other nations (Gentiles) another community similar to the nation of Israel, assembling a commonwealth of nations that would be called the seed of Abraham, not according to birth or genealogy but by faith in the one related to Abraham by genealogy, as it is stated in John 1:11-12: “He (Jesus) came to that which was His own (Israel), but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—” ). Talk of being qualified by the qualified. And yet not every qualified person (any descendant of Abraham or Isaac) could qualify us. This particular one had to be someone with the power to crash the head of the serpent and that of its seed!

In this context, the term born-again, which we proudly call ourselves, therefore means being born into this new identity, becoming seeds of Abraham. And those who are born this way are collectively called the Church!

3. From (2) above we discover some of the most important reasons why God created Israel:

(a) To have a sample nation from which He would exercise and show His love and power so that the rest of the world would watch and marvel. If their marvel turned into a deep desire to belong to this God, there would be a way to do that: through Jesus (John 14:6). It was this same God that the world had long turned away from in Genesis 3 and other areas especially Genesis 4 and 6, but He was just using a combination of pull and push factors, projected through Israel, to attract the world back to Himself. Have you ever wondered which nation is located at the very center of the world map? Well, when you find out you will know why. Someone is quickly checking their maps hahaha!

(b) To show the world, through Israel, that it is only by Grace through faith that man could be saved. He included the Law, the direct opposite of Grace, in the covenant He made with them in the wilderness to prove this. The failure of the Law among Israel, as we shall later see, qualified Grace as the better alternative for one to attain Salvation (Romans 4: 13, 14).

(c) To distract the devil who was watching every step that God made. In all the history of the Bible, Lucifer was making attacks on Israel using his kingdoms ( you remember the Kingdom blueprint: Lucifer version?); yet God was using these attacks as an opportunity to secretly create another kingdom, the Church.

(d) Israel was to act as a physical kingdom that would serve as a prophetic symbol of what God was creating for man, the heavenly Kingdom. It was the role of man to examine what God was doing for Israel and interpret it to know what God was preparing for the whole world; at least if the knowledge attained from the fruit of Eden would have one advantage, God would wish that it would be to open man’s mind to see this mystery! Unfortunately, the fruit had zero advantages. Too bad! Anyway back to our point, Part A of the promise (which involved the creation of Israel) was a prophecy of Part B, and Part B was a fulfillment of Part A. Israel is the prophecy of the Church, and the Church is a fulfillment of Israel. Have you heard about the New Heaven and Earth, the New Israel, The New Zion, and the New Jerusalem? I bet you have.

4. Just as Abraham was credited with righteousness through faith in the promise (Genesis 15:6: “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”) gentiles are granted the same righteousness by faith in Christ (Romans 3:22: “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,”). Satan planted the seed of satan (sin) in man, hence man becoming sinful. Jesus as the seed of the woman, and as the direct opposite of sin, is the righteousness that replaces sin in a believer’s life. Now when Christ turns us into the seeds too when we turn our faith unto Him, we don’t only turn away from being vessels that bear the seed of satan (sin) but we become like Christ Himself. We too become righteousness. We are the righteousness of God! Another long lesson later…
5. Ephesians 2:11-13: “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

When believers of Christ get qualified as Abraham’s seed, they thereby by extension become sons of God, and they automatically attain the power to crash the head of the serpent and its seed (sin). In this context, believers of Christ demonstrate their identity as seeds of Abraham by their power to crash the head of the serpent (Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and overall power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.). If we can not crash the head of the serpent and its seed (sin) we can’t prove that we are seed. Why? Because in this case, it is the only litmus paper to prove our seed state (which Christ, as we have said, granted us).

Task 3: How do believers of Jesus crash the head of the serpent?

6. Heirs of the Promises:

The mere mention of the word heirs in Galatians 3: 29 provokes us to ask ourselves a question as deep as this: what is the real meaning of the whole promise of Genesis 12, especially for the other nations– the Gentiles who are just grafted in? If we Gentiles are referred to as heirs, then the whole meaning and purpose of the promise entails inheriting something. Of course, heirs exist only to inherit. So we exist to inherit something. Something more than just material possessions. What we inherit is called–brace yourself– Salvation!

1 Peter 1:9: “For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

But what are we saved from? We are saved from the cancer of the Great Problem of Genesis 3. And we are saved completely. But not at once. Salvation entails three components that work in a sequence —Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. The endpoint and final stage of salvation is Glorification, which shall (future tense) fulfill and wrap up the entire goal of the salvation process, for believers to be glorified with Christ in His Kingdom for eternity. Essentially, the promise to Abraham was that through him, all mankind in a community called the Church, would inherit the Kingdom of God according to the Kingdom Blueprint, and be glorified as kings. But this was only for those who would choose to believe and have faith in his seed, Jesus Christ. Wow! So in a way, we were right when we said that Abraham did not comprehend the full scope of the promise and what it was about. But we now know that it was about the kingdom, don’t we? See you next time…

Dictionary (Meanings of underlined words)

1. Patriarch: refers to the founding fathers of the Israelite nation, particularly Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also known as Israel. These figures hold immense significance in both biblical and historical contexts, as they are considered the primary ancestors of the Hebrew people and are central to the narrative of God’s covenant with Israel.

 

2. Etymology: refers to the study of the origin and history of words, including their meanings, structure, and development over time. It involves tracing the roots of words back to their earliest known forms and understanding how they have evolved and been influenced by various languages and cultures. Etymology helps linguists and scholars understand the connections between words and languages, providing insights into human communication and cultural history.