PERIOD OBSERVATIONS LESSONS

 God from the onset shows that He has his eyes on all the nations of the earth. In  Since I am Abraham’s descendant through faith
Patriarchal all the confirmation of the promises to the patriarchs, God does not separate the in Christ Jesus, the blessings that God has given
Period- blessing of all the nations. This reminds of the lesson we learnt during KAIROS me are not meant to be a blessing to the whole
about bottom line and top line parts of the blessing to Abraham. earth. This blessing is that of righteousness
The following illustration shows how I saw God’s promise to Abraham and I am through faith in Christ Jesus. It is not a
Genesis 12:1-3, sure Abraham did not understand the extent of it. humanitarian effort that God has engineered.
13:14-17, 22:15-  Fruitfulness means increase in number-Gen 17:6  God is calling to place supreme trust on His
18, 26:3-4, 28:13- promises. Just like Abraham, to place high
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regard on it above family, friends and even my
country. It is like my whole life, successes and
ambition is supposed to be all about His mission
to bless all the nations of the earth.
This is big for me.
 God is always with me; Gen 28:15


 God further promises to make them a Kingdom of priests. The reason the Lord
Israel was chose them as His treasured possession was so that they could be ‘priests’ for
the nations of the earth. This reminded me of 1 st Peter 2:9
 God fulfills His promises to the Abraham and delivers the Israelites from captivity
and He drives out the nations from Canaan and they possess the land.
 God promises David that His kingdom will be established forever.
 The Dispersion of Israel happens and I see Ezekiel mention countries. The Lord
Prophets shows me that He is the Lord who is zealous for His Holiness. He promises to show
this to the nations of the earth by cleansing the Israelites and even changing their
hearts. He promises that is out of them and without their help.
 God promises to pour His Spirit to His people through the prophet Joel.
 The prophecies seem to ultimately point towards the salvation of God through
Christ. This is what is what David calls the blessing to the nations in Psalm 72. The
King looks forward to a royal Son who rules in righteousness. One who will rule
forever and through whom people will exalt God for His faithfulness and
righteousness. Psa. 89:1-37, 45:6, Isaiah 9:6-7
 The Scriptures according to the prophets look forward to the Root of Jesse who
 will rule in righteousness and justice and to whom all the peoples of the earth will
run to for rest. Through Him all the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God.
 The Apostles interpret the blessing of Abraham to be righteousness by faith and
New this same blessing was to be inherited by the Gentiles. The Gospel was therefore
Testament proclaimed to Abraham in advance. Gal 3:6-9
passages  All the promises that God gives are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. All the saints believe
this.2nd Cor. 1:19-20
 Being a blood descendant of Abraham doesn’t make one a partaker of the
Promise. This is seen in the way God chose different people in Abraham’s lineage
to inherit the promise. For example Jacob instead of Esau and David and not his
brothers. The conclusion therefore is that only those who were hewn from the
rock of righteousness by faith inherit the promise. Hebrews 6:12 and Romans.
 God fulfills His promise on the Pentecost; both men and women receive the
promise of the Holy Spirit. Joel 2:28-32. The promise is not earned, it is freely
given.
 On the same day, God fulfills the promise to Abraham by blessing the nations too
through the Israelites.

Reflections on the study on the Promisest

“All further promises to the patriarchs and Israel were merely expansions and closer definitions of salvation held out to the whole human race in the first
promise of God in Gen 12:1-3 –Willis Beecher”