Riff's Christian Journal

So many times we have heard about the blessing given to Abraham. And the tag given to it is that this applies to the Jewish people. But, does it really apply to them?

Here is the blessing as found in Genesis 12:

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

From this one verse it is said that this is talking about the people of Israel and that those who bless Israel they will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. However, does this really apply to the Jewish people?

Let’s look at some other verses to see what the Bible says about it. What we need to find is a “key”. It needs to be a word or a verse that can tie all of this together.

First, let us look at Genesis 22: 17 – 18. God is talking to Abraham…

“Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Next, in Genesis 26: 3 – 5, we find the God talking with Isaac and He tells him…

Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your
descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to
Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of
heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all
the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My
voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Lastly, we look at Genesis 28: 13 – 14 and now we see God talking with Jacob and telling him basically the same as what He told Abraham and Isaac…

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham
your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you
and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth;
you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south;
and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

In all three of these verses God has made two promises, and they are the same to all three of the men. The first one is “your descendants” and the second one is “your seed”. Now we need to ask the question – do these both refer to the same people?

It is safe to say that the promise made to “your descendants” would refer to the Jewish people. The literal people of Israel. However, the second promise being given to “your seed”, to whom does it refer.

Well, if we let the Bible give us an answer we will know what is the truth…

For the answer, let us first look at Galatians 3: 8 – 9. Here we first see who are those who will be blessed with Abraham:

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Then we can look at Galatians 3: 16 – 18. And this is the most important scripture verse that we need to read, for it tells us who is “the seed” in whom all of the families of the earth shall be blessed…

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to
seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,
who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four
hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed
before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance
is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

It is very clear that the “seed” through whom the promise would come is Jesus Himself. So, if Jesus is the “seed” which God tells Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through whom the blessing will come, then it stands to reason, and it is very clear, that the blessing is for the followers of Jesus. Namely all of the born again Christians who are followers of Jesus.

For support verses on this, let us first look at Romans 9: 6 – 9 and we will see something very interesting…

But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called. That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Now, if the children of the flesh, that is the direct descendants are not the children of God, then who is? Well, once again the Bible gives us a very clear answer. In Galatians 4: 28 we read the following:

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.

You see, it is the children of God, the born again believers of Jesus who are the children of the promise. It is Christians about whom God is referring when He gave Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the promise that…

in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

If you think about it you will see the truth and it makes great sense. God’s people are Christians, the followers of Jesus. It is through them that all of the families of the earth are blessed and it is the Christians that the promise belongs. And when God says, “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” It is the Christians about whom He is talking.

If one blesses the Christians they will be blessed and if someone curses Christians it is they who will be cursed. It is through Jesus and the born again believers in Jesus through whom the families of the earth are blessed. It is through Jesus and the born again believers in Jesus that the blessings and the curses come.

Now, I can see some of you not wanting to believe this. But if you will just go back through and read the verses that I’ve quoted, the verses that talk about this, there is no way you can arrive at a different conclusion. Don’t let anyone, not even what I’ve been saying, make the decision for you. Read the verses for yourself and pray that God will give you insight to them.

God has said, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” The seed, according to scripture is Jesus and the children of the promise (the blessings and the curses) are the Christians, as we have read in Galatians.

So now you have to ask yourself this question. According to the Bible who is it through whom all of the families of the earth will be blessed? And second, according to the Bible, who are the children of the promise?

As we have seen, according to Scripture, the answers are Jesus and the born again believers of Jesus who we call Christians.