The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen 12:1-3)
He took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." (Gen 15:5)
I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen 22:17-18)
Components of the Blessing
Let's look at the seven components of the blessing:
1. The promise to bless AbrahamLet's look at the seven components of the blessing:
2. The promise that he will have a great name (reputation)
3. The promise that he would become a great nation (have many descendants)
4. God will bless those who bless him
5. God will curse those who curse him
6. Abraham will be a blessing
7. All nations will be blessed through Abraham
a) Great name: Had a great name and was considered a mighty prince among the people (Gen 23:6)
a) Had good relationships with the Canaanites among whom he lived as a stranger
b) Became a nation called Israel that possessed the land of Canaan
b) The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in everything he did (Ge 39:3)
c) Joseph found favor in the eyes of his Egyptian master Potiphar, who put him in charge of his entire household and entrusted to his care everything he owned (Ge 39:4)
d) From the time Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything, the Lord blessed his household because of Joseph, and the blessing of the Lord was upon everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field (Ge 39:5)
e) While in prison, the warden put all the prisoners under his authority (Ge 39:21-23)
f) Became ruler of all Egypt (Ge 41:37ff)
4. Judah became a tribe from which the line of David and many kings descended, included the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
6. Esther became Queen of Persia (Est 2:18) and all the Jews in the Persian realm were blessed through her, because through her intervention they were not annihilated.
a) The head prefect over all the wise men there.
b) He remained through the reign of 5 kings
c) Influenced those kings for the glory of God, and they were blessed through him.
d) He wielded tremendous power and influence
e) He served with great honor and distinction
10. The apostle Paul brought the gospel to the entire known Roman world of the first century (Rom 15:19), many people came to know Christ through him, many were healed, delivered from demons, and many churches were planted through him. Many people in Israel also received support from the Gentiles during the famine through the collection that Paul took up and the offering he brought to Jerusalem.
Fulfillment of the Blessing
Here are some biblical examples of how the blessing of Abraham is fulfilled:
1. Abraham Here are some biblical examples of how the blessing of Abraham is fulfilled:
b) Many descendants: Had many descendants through Jacob and Esau/Edom his grandsons.
- Ishmael became a great nation and had 12 sons who became chiefs
- Isaac’s son Jacob had 12 sons, who became 12 tribes
- Esau had 12 male descendants (among his 5 sons and 10 grandsons) who became chiefs of 12 tribes in Edom (aside from Amalek born to his concubine)
- Esau’s descendants had a part in the founding of Ancient China and Japan, and played an important role in Russian history.
- Abraham had 6 sons through Keturah: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Of course, from Midian came the Midianites, who lived in the Arabian Peninsula.
c) Became extremely wealthy (Gen 13:2)
2. Jacob
b) Became a nation called Israel that possessed the land of Canaan
c) God blessed Jacob’s unusual breeding practicesd) Laban was blessed through his association with Jacob (Gen 30:27,30)
e) Became exceedingly wealthy shortly after Rachel his wife gave birth to Joseph (Ge 30:43)
3. Joseph
a) Joseph prospered while in Egypt (Ge 39:2)
b) The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in everything he did (Ge 39:3)
c) Joseph found favor in the eyes of his Egyptian master Potiphar, who put him in charge of his entire household and entrusted to his care everything he owned (Ge 39:4)
d) From the time Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything, the Lord blessed his household because of Joseph, and the blessing of the Lord was upon everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field (Ge 39:5)
e) While in prison, the warden put all the prisoners under his authority (Ge 39:21-23)
f) Became ruler of all Egypt (Ge 41:37ff)
g) Saved Egypt, Israel, and other nations from perishing during famine.
5. Solomon son of David became a very wise, wealthy and great king that was sought out by other rulers like the Queen of Sheba. God promised him wisdom, riches, honor, and a long life if he continued in righteousness, and it was fulfilled. (2 Chron 9:13-29). He was so unbelievably wealthy that he "surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches" (I Kings 10:23).
7. Mordecai became a high official of King Xerxes as well, and the same is true of him that all the Jewish people were blessed by him, just as King Xerxes was blessed when Mordecai reported the two, would-be assassins that intended to kill the king.
8. Daniel became ruler of the province of Babylon
b) He remained through the reign of 5 kings
c) Influenced those kings for the glory of God, and they were blessed through him.
d) He wielded tremendous power and influence
e) He served with great honor and distinction
9. The Lord Jesus - The blessing of Abraham is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the “Seed” of Abraham (Galatians 3:16).
How This Applies to Us Today
This blessing continues today in the life of every true disciple of Jesus Christ, possessing the faith of Abraham that led him to obey God, since we are descendants of Abraham, the children of promise (Gal 3:7,14, 29; 4:31).
This blessing continues today in the life of every true disciple of Jesus Christ, possessing the faith of Abraham that led him to obey God, since we are descendants of Abraham, the children of promise (Gal 3:7,14, 29; 4:31).
1) The promise to bless us
a) Blessed spiritually with justification and with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)
b) Blessed in every area of our temporal and eternal lives
c) Note that the land God promised to Abraham is the type of the better land; the nation is a type of the spiritual nation, the temporal blessing is a type of the eternal blessing.
2) The promise that we will have a great name (reputation)
3) The promise that we would have many descendants, especially spiritual ones
4) God will bless those who bless us
5) God will curse those who curse us
a) “Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.” (Psa 34:21)
b) Also see Ps 35:1-8, 26
c) “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” (2Th 1:6-7)
6) We will be a blessing to others whom we associate with
a) Not merely a recipient of blessing, but a medium or conduit of blessing to others.
b) Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” So this is not a “bless me” message, but one that clearly has others in mind.
7) All nations will be blessed through us
Your life has a ripple effect, like a pebble when it drops into the still water, causing blessings to ripple from one person to the next across the whole world. Each and every word -- even unspoken -- and action of yours causes a ripple that spreads throughout the entire world. It's time to take that seriously.
Closing Words
This is the gospel that was announced to Abraham. “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith,” (Gal 3:8-9).
This is the gospel that was announced to Abraham. “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith,” (Gal 3:8-9).
This is what we were redeemed for. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promised of the Spirit.” (Gal 3:14).
Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image courtesy of Jan van 't Hoff Dordrecht, copyright 2023 Gospel Images, www.gospelimages.com, used by permission.
Author's Note: If you enjoyed this message, you may also like other articles about prayer, like Being Blessable, Prayer Promises, which you can find on the Home page of this blog, as well as other articles of mine Bowing Low in Worship. Also see What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel? I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. Now let me ask you a very important question.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
Author's Note: If you enjoyed this message, you may also like other articles about prayer, like Being Blessable, Prayer Promises, which you can find on the Home page of this blog, as well as other articles of mine Bowing Low in Worship. Also see What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel? I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. Now let me ask you a very important question.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
