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All the Nations Shall Be Blessed (Even natural Israel?)

All the Nations Shall Be Blessed

Indeed I will greatly … multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore.—Genesis 22:17, NASB

The Abrahamic promise is one of the most comprehensive covenants in the Bible: “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves [see margin], because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:16-18, NASB).

This promise states God’s will for his human creation, and it is the foundation for the redemption provided through Jesus and the blessings that men will receive by it. God saw in Abraham possibilities of faith and devotion that were acceptable, and so offered him the privilege of being the channel of intended blessings to mankind. But Abraham did not receive the “Abrahamic promise” immediately.

Read more here:

The Sands of the Seashore – A Channel of Blessing

TRACING THE SEED OF BLESSING

6 comments to All the Nations Shall Be Blessed (Even natural Israel?)

  • Isa.10:22 reads
    “Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous”.

    Isa.49:19,18
    “Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”

    Rom.9:27,28
    “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

    • Peter K. (admin)

      Pearl,

      I am glad that you have been sharing your thoughts.

      Bible Students preach the very scriptures you are quoting. We agree with you that the nation of Israel was punished and that only a remnant was saved. We see that Jerusalem was destroyed and only a remnant became Christian and fled from the Roman armies (thereby avoiding destruction with the nation). However, there are other scriptures which clearly show that this punishment is temporary and that natural Israel (“the sands of the seashore”) will be blessed, even if the blessing of the anointed prospective bride of Christ will be much greater (“the stars of heaven”).

      Jesus clearly indicated that the period of Gentile domination of Israel would eventually end.

      Luke 21:24 (ASV), “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

      Romans 11:25-29 is so beautiful. It shows that Israel was “blinded UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles comes in,” that is until the 144,000 are complete. And then the blindness and their sins will be removed (verse 27). Verse 28 shows this that they are enemies for the sake of the Anointed, but beloved for the sake of the fathers – God still keeps them in His plan and will help them.

      Romans 11:28 says, ” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers”

      How can Romans 11:28 be speaking of anything other than the nation of Israel, when it specifically says:

      1. They are enemies for the Gospel’s sake
      2. They are beloved for the father’s sake

      Are Christians (Jehovah’s Witnesses) enemies for the Gospels sake? I should hope not. So this group of enemies is natural Israel who are “beloved for the fathers’ sake.”

      Rom 11:29 tells us that, “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.” What are the gifts and calling of God to the natural nation of Israel that are irrevocable?
      * God will bless all the nations of the world through them (Gen 12:3)
      * They will own the land of Israel forever (Gen 13:15)
      * They will eventually be planted in their land and never again plucked up out of it (Amos 9:15)

      Jeremiah 31:35-37 NIV “This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that the waves roar — the Lord Almighty is his name: “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.” This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord.

      Pearl – The eight hundred pound Gorilla in the room is that over 50% of the world’s Jewish population is not in Israel, a nation since 1948. Sometimes we wonder how the Jews rejected Jesus in spite of the clear miracles he performed in their midst. Here we have the miracle of the children of Abraham returning to the land promised to him forever. If God cast Israel off forever, have these people outsmarted Jehovah and re-established their nation against His will?

  • Hank

    To Peter;

    liaten—–I think you had listen and eaten the popcorn on your mind and out popped–liaten.

    Smilely face!

    Hank

  • Hank

    To Dieter;

    Would love to hear you explain what this means. Gen 25:1,”And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah.” Here are the names of the six children. Zimran,Jokshan,Medan,Midian,Ishbak and Shulah.

    What can this all mean with the types?

    Hank

  • Hello again dear Peter K. (admin),
    Thank you and may Jehovah bless you to no end for starting this thread. Your quote from the NASB particularly endeared you to me, because of all the negative comments -not here- by many NWT opposers which is almost identical same in that verse.
    The verbform is generally little credence by those who have adopted an almost cargo cult mentality which demands that God blesses them without any great effort on their part. Not here talking of earning a place with God, but availing themselves of the opportunities God has provided for their everlasting benefit. That just does not happen without requisite effort.
    Jesus words to the Devil are pertinent here: 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” -Matthew 4:4
    Effort every time. No force-feeding here and, above all, the absolute need to eat first to stay alive long and healthy enough to actually be able to listen and DO whatever ‘every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ asks of us. Only in this manner can and shall we be able bless ourselves as we yield to whatever God have us do.
    This lovely and far-reaching promise Jehovah made to Abraham brings yet again to mind that the sheep was an entirely different ans separate living being that rendered its life in behalf of Abraham’s only begotten.
    Why, for Jehovah’s sake, does that type not find its antitype in the NT according to the whole Christian realm, JWs included? Oh yes everyone fiddles with it but then they finally meld the sheep and Isaac into the one person when it comes to the fulfillment of all things written aforetime.
    May I bid you farewell. Dieter

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