Genesis 22:

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 

16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

17 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,

18 and through your offspring all nations on the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

The angel of the Lord, the second time, spoke to Abraham out of heaven, making the mind of the Lord known. The Lord has sworn that He would surely bless Abraham; and this, by Himself. This is an oath, an unfailing treaty with Abraham, and by extension, the whole humanity, about the redemption of the fallen man. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no-one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants” (Hebrews (6:13-14). The passage above goes further to say that God did this by two immutable things – Himself and His oath – which show His incapacity to lie or fail. Has God said a thing? He will do it. Has He promised? He will make it good. Thousands of years after Abraham, even when he is not physically present here, the promises are increasing strength of fulfilment.

It’s worth noticing that the angel of the Lord and the Lord are interchangeable in our text. This confirms that the entity referred to as the angel of the Lord speaking here, declaring the mind of God is the Lord Himself, using the personal noun of, “I” will”! This shows that Lord and the angel of the Lord are intertwined and the same. How great it is to know that the Lord is involved intemately with those He’s interested in. And He is involved with humanity; He is after the whole world, all of human races.

The angel of the Lord in His announcement of these promises uses two graphic images of stars in the sky (or stars of heaven) and sand of the seashore. Some have decided to severe the two images. Stars, they say, naturally shine in the sky speak of Israel; sand on the seashore which by nature lacklustre means the children of the bond woman or the offsprings of Ishmael or the religion springing from them. There is no reason to force this meaning here. Stars are associated with heaven, heavenly while earth is earthy. Man is supposed to be of dual nature: heavenly and earthy. As a matter of fact, this is the present outworking of God for the man in Christ. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven… And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:47, 49).

Abraham was the gateway for this divine arrangement as he was such a representative-man that gave God His rights, standing for Him on earth. Just as the believers in Christ are standing for Christ here. The believers who constitutes God’s church which is called the Body of Christ are actually referred to as spiritual Israel, the children of God, fully in obedience to Him. The Lord says to Abraham, “I am giving you these redemption promises because you obeyed me.” What does it mean to obey the Lord? It’s speaking of being absolutely sold out to God, to the Holy Spirit; it’s to trust the Lord to the extent of, if it comes to it, not shrinking back from death. It may mean death. And death are in various forms, including the denial by God, of our longings and desires; it may involved being charged from our loved lifestyle to another by the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul writes of himself in one of his epistles that his ultimate goal is to get to the point where he can glorify the Lord with his life or death. Abraham gave up his loved Isaac; Paul and the many apostles and disciples of Christ down the age pay the price of death.

Thy seed or offspring of Abraham, says our text, shall possess the gates of their enemies. NIV renders this as the offspring of Abraham possessing the cities of their enemies. First, the word here is the seed or offspring, which in here is in singular. Paul gives the insight to this as the promised Christ. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as one, And to thy seed, which is Christ (Galatians 3:16). It’s through this SEED, CHRIST, that all nations, all human races shall be blessed, according to God. Thus, the real blessing on earth is Christ. O yes, other things as what the earth can offer – its beauty, its glories, its honour, its recognition and given fame which we all hanker for are not excluded, but the REAL blessing is God’s Christ – with or without the earthly pursuits.

Then again, the descendants of Abraham, the Israel from Isaac… Or the spiritual Israel today is the Church. The victory promised is absolute. It’s for and through the man child, rendered male child in NIV. This is the Church, the victorious Church. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron… (Revelation 12:5).

In this male child is the conclusion of all things when all of creation is restored to its original plan of God. This is called redemption. The world has been subjected to vanity for aeon.

 

Thank You Lord for your great work of redemption. Thank You Lord for the blessing that the Lord Jesus Christ is from before the world began.