The Promise of Nations

In Genesis 17, the Lord visits Abraham and gives him this message:

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 

God has promised 1) many nations will be created out of Abraham and 2) the land of Canaan.

And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 

I have never noticed before how that Abraham laughed before Sarah did.  I realized when reading this that Sarah laughing in Chapter 18 makes me wonder if Abraham shared this revelation from the Lord with Sarah.

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 

God names the son of His covenant Isaac, which means laughter.  

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 

I love that Abraham loved both of his sons and requested that the Lord bless them both.  God conveys to Abraham that His covenant is with Isaac.  But He also promises that He will make Ishmael a great nation with very large numbers.  Today, Muslims numbers are growing rapidly around the world.

But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

Although the Lord gave Ishmael the blessing of a great nation, Isaac is blessed with the covenant which was fulfilled through Jesus Christ.  Isaac produced Judah who God renamed Israel, having twelve tribes.  This one son who was promised a covenant.  This covenant was fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  John 3

Anyone who believes through faith of and in Jesus Christ that they are redeemed and life a life to become more like Jesus by repenting of their sins and turning away from their former life to become more Christ-like share in this promise.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:4-9

What's in a Name?

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, it is explained that once we become saved we are made a new creation.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  This new creation is even given a new name by Jesus:

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.”  Revelations 2:17

I have often wondered what my new name would be.  In the Old Testament, Jehovah changed the name of Abram (אבדם) and Sarai (שרי).  I have often found it curious as to why he changed it.  Abram became Abraham (אבדהם) and Sarai became Sarah (שרה).  Notice in both names the character ה was either added to the name or it replaced the character.  In the New Testament, Saul’s name (Samlon) was changed to Paul (Pamlon).

He, Jehovah, completed their name by giving them a part of Himself using almost the same character which looks similar to the symbol for Pi.  This character appears twice in His own name in Hebrew.  Yahweh or Jehovah is spelled in Hebrew as יהוה, which literally translates to “He who causes to exist (or gives life)” or “He who is, who exists.” Yahweh gave Moses at the burning bush “I am” אהוה in Exodus 3:14’s Hebrew or “I am that I am” in the King James.  Jesus also revealed this same revelation to the woman at the well in John 4.

To Martha, Jesus revealed He was the resurrection and the life.  Jesus commended His spirit to the Father after dying on the cross and was raised to life on the third day, appearing to many disciples before ascending into Heaven.  Jesus also raised many from the dead, including Lazarus in John 12:9.  Jesus literally has the power to give life.

In the beginning, Jehovah God said after making a blood sacrifice to clothe Adam and Eve in Genesis 4:23-24:

Behold! The man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil.  And now, lest he put forth his hand and also take from the Tree of Life, and eat, and life forever.  And Jehovah God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground out of which he was taken.  And He drove the man out.  And He caused to dwell the cherubs at the east of the Garden of Eden, and the flaming sword whirling around, to guard the way of the Tree of Life.”

The Tree of Life to live forever.  Jesus provides hope for the saints in Revelations:

• ·         Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (2:7)
• ·         Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (22:14)

Jesus also gives this warning in Revelations:

And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. (Revelations 22:19)

Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” In Revelations, Jesus repeatedly says of Himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (22:13, 21:6, 1:8) 

Jesus is יהוה.  He is Yahweh, Jehovah, Messiah.  Jesus literally is Immanuel, God with us.  He came to show us the way through Himself to bring us back into relationship with God the Father Almighty.  I can see why He describes Himself as “I am” for Jesus is the one who gives us life.  A complete life that is truly living which is achieved only through a relationship based on our personal faith in Him who is.