Genesis 12:2 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Genesis 12:2

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Now we have a series of great promise of God. ‘And I will make of thee a great nation,’ one that doesn't exist as yet, and your progeny will be so numerous, it will be a great nation a notable nation. Not only literally, the nation of the Jews, but spiritually – ‘an holy nation, a peculiar people’, say Peter, the international church of Jesus Christ, the greatest conceivable nation. He has separated himself from his former life, and the outcome is that he is going to be made a great nation. It is inconceivable that that promise could be fulfilled in his lifetime. How many people can descend from one pair, Abraham and his wife, Sarai, in a lifespan? Certainly not a nation and a great nation. It sounds very far-fetched to the earthly understanding. It has to be seen and accepted with the eye of faith. Faith, faith, faith is all the way through this – an inconceivable promise. I will make of thee a great nation. We will all need faith like Abram. ‘And I will bless thee’ – a second promise. I will be a constant support, and provision, and help to you. ‘And make thy name great’ – that seems to be part of that second promise. I will make your reputation great, that means. Your very life will be a testimony to a walk with the one true God. But Abraham is going out of where he's known into a place where he is not known. He is in a position of great obscurity. No one there knows who he is or what he is doing there, and yet he receives all these exalted promises from God, and he is going to be made a most significant testimony. People everywhere will know of your walk with God, and your character, and your reputation, and your godliness.‘And thou shalt be a blessing.’ That is partly because from his line comes the Saviour, and partly because of his own example and influence. You will be instrumental. You will have tremendous influence for good towards many other people. Now, that doesn't seem to have happened up till now in Ur of the Chaldees, or in Haran. But it's going to happen when he goes into a place where he's not known, where people are hostile. Look at the pronouns here: ‘And I’, God says, ‘will make of thee a great nation.’ Yes, but he is 75 and his wife is 65 and they are childless; they don't appear to be able to have children, and the promise the fulfilment of it is so unlikely. ‘And I will bless them that bless thee’ – amazing promise. People who are friendly towards you and accept your message, your morality, your God; I will bless them. ‘And I will curse.’ The word curse is very powerful – I will put under judgment , anyone who judges you, attacks, criticises. The future of other people will be determined by how they relate to you. The destiny of other people and their lot in life will be determined by God, depending on how they treat you and respond to you and what you stand for. ‘And in thee shall all families, tribes and nations of the earth be blessed.’

Application

‘I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee.’ Where in the New Testament is this promise found? It is made to the apostles of the New Testament church? It is in Matthew 16:19 where the Lord says to Peter, as the representative apostle with the confession of faith, ‘And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ In other words, to the church is given the proclamation of the confession of Christ, the proclamation of the gospel. The true church will be instrumental in bringing about the eternal destiny of human beings. Whether they are lost or whether they are found, will depend on whether they accept or reject you and your message. And that promise made to Abraham is reiterated by Christ to the disciples. It passes to the church. Its influence will be international. It will consist of converted Jews and converted Gentiles. The influence of Abraham will be everywhere through Christ. In time, the great nation includes all the saved among the Jews and all the saved among the Gentiles in the church age.

Through you the destiny of men and women, even their eternal destiny, will be determined by how they react to you, and what you stand for and your message. It is the same promise that was made to Abram, now operating in and through Christ and his messengers and his church. It is repeated in Matthew 18:18: ‘Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ The key of the kingdom which is the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And through our witness and through our gospel, the eternal destiny of men and women is determined. Not by our power, of course, not by our determining personally but by the work of the Holy Spirit and the reaction of people to that gospel. That is the promise of Genesis 12:3. ‘I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee.’ You have it here in embryonic form.

There will always be a battle. This will be a troublesome journey. It will be a difficult journey. The war goes on. They may have been delivered, particularly from Ur of the Chaldees, but the world will continue to be against the church. The seed of the serpent will be against the seed of the woman. But nevertheless God will see them through. So that is the beginning of the journey of Abram.

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Genesis 12:2 Commentary and Bible Study