THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM

It stands to common sense, that with all the intelligence (all intelligence) and all the reason (all reason) that God has, that He would say where His plan was going, before He started it. After all, He knows the end from the beginning. And He did say where it was going. Titus 1:2 says that eternal life was promised before the foundation of the world. That promise of eternal life was repeated, in various ways, to various people, throughout the Bible. It was repeated to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and Paul tells us that the gospel was preached to Abraham. So, let us look at the promise, because you may not know this, but the promise was not of eternal life alone, but of Universal Salvation.

Let us first get some background on the promise. The promise was made to Abraham and to Jesus. Galatians 3:16 says: "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 we see that the promise to Abraham was that "In your seed (Jesus) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…" (Genesis 22:18)

So let's look more closely at the promise. The first time it is given to Abram (as he then was) is at Genesis 12. Genesis 12:3 says this: "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."

So, what does God mean when He says, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed"? Well, the Hebrew word for "families" can cross the spectrum of meanings, from a group of individuals to a nation. And the word for "blessed" can be associated with bending the knee; in fact, the New English translation says at Genesis 12:3: "…will pray to be blessed…"

So, all the groups of individuals on the earth being blessed, or praying to be blessed, certainly sounds like Universal Salvation, but does not stand as sufficient proof on its own; It is not enough to base a case on. We need to know more about this blessing which is to be to all the families of the earth.

And so we come to Acts 3:25,26 which, speaking of the promise, says:

"You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' (verse 26) To you first, God, having raised up His servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."

So now we see that the blessing which will be to all families on the earth, will be that Jesus will turn every one of them from their iniquities (Poneria - can also be translated wickedness). If they are turned from their iniquities, they are turned from sin; if they are turned from sin, they are saved from death, because the wages of sin is death.

But does this just refer to living families? What about all those people in the grave? Well, when God says in Genesis 22:18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…" the Hebrew word for "earth" is eres, and it can include the grave, as it does in Jonah 2:6. "Families of the earth" can include the living and the dead of the earth. So this blessing can reach to even those families of the earth who are in the grave.

Very good. That shows salvation of all the families of the earth. But it does not show Universal Salvation, because for that, we need the salvation of everyone, including Satan. Otherwise, it is not universal; it is limited. Now Satan is an adversary of God, in fact if God tried to have Satan saved, being the ultimate in evil opposition, he would resist.

Let us go back to Genesis 12:3. God said: "…And I will curse him who curses you…" Very interesting indeed. You see, the Hebrew words for "curse" there, are different. The first curse is Arar, which can mean, "to render powerless to resist." The second curse is Qalal, which can mean "to despise, to revile." So, with those definitions, the verse can be translated "I will render powerless to resist, him who reviles you." Satan, an adversary of God, reviled Jesus at the cross (Mat 27:44), and since we have seen that the promise also applies to Jesus (Gal 3:16), Satan will be rendered powerless to resist; in performance of the promise. So Satan will not always be an adversary of God, because he will be rendered powerless to resist - Universal Salvation.

So Satan will be rendered powerless to resist. Fine, but resist what? Well, since he is the ruler of world, let's see what some of his subjects have resisted, under his direction. They have resisted the authority of God (Romans 13:2), they have resisted the truth (2 Tim 3:8). What? If Satan is rendered powerless to resist the authority of God and the truth, does that mean that one day, Satan won't resist? That is what it says.

Did you know that not only does the promise speak of salvation, but also of redemption - two separate things? Yes, it does. God repeated His promise to Jacob, Abraham's grandson, saying this at Genesis 28:15: "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."

Let's analyse this scripture. God promised that "…wherever you go…" The Hebrew word for "go" can refer to characteristics of one's lifestyle. So, "wherever your lifestyle goes." God carries on "…I will bring you back…" The Hebrew word for "bring you back" can have to do with bringing back from an evil way. So "wherever your lifestyle goes, I will bring you back from evil ways." It is figuratively talking of redemption - being brought back from sin, or an evil way.

Why? Because, God says, "I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken (the same Hebrew word as "promised") to you." The word for "leave" can also mean to set free, to release, to permit. So, God says, "I will not set you free until I have done what I have promised." What has God promised? To bless you by turning you from your iniquities; to render Satan powerless to resist; to bring you back from evil ways. If God won't permit you absolute freedom until He has done what He has promised, then what He has promised must include preservation, otherwise people will continually go back to their evil ways, i.e. the promise is of salvation from sin and death. Preservation is essential for salvation.