Happy Wednesday!
Yes, I am still doing laundry...don't judge me too harshly okay?
On Monday (while I was also doing laundry) I chose to link up to a photo challenge.
It has been so NICE to go and visit all the blogs of the other people who have linked up as well.
Why is it nice??
Well for the most part they are people just like me.
People who love God and want to talk about it a bit as they ponder on the other stuff going on in a day, AND they all take pictures...and have the ups and downs that go along with that!
So, that has been a big blessing in a short amount of time!
Now on to today's pondering!
All scripture is quoted from the NASV.
I want you to go check out (or just read it right here) Genesis 12:1-3.
1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great ; And so you shall be a blessing ;
3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you the all families of the earth will be blessed."
In my Thursday class our teacher has pointed out this threefold promise given to Abraham which is in essence a threefold outline to the bible in general...condensed!
3 promises given, 3 promises fulfilled!
Basic outline of what the Bible is all about.
Genesis-Exodus 1 is the promise of a Nation.
Exodus 1:7-Joshua 21 is the Nation seeking to obtain the promise of the land.
Joshua- the birth of Christ are stories from the long lineage from this nation leading to the "Son of David" finally making his debut!!!
After that it is a bunch of wonderfulness to help us make good choices about how to live.
Let me lay it out a bit more for you with scriptures to aid in the journey!
Now the promises are not fulfilled in the original order given, but you can be flexible right?
Promise 1:
I will make you a great nation.
First we need to visit Genesis 15:4-6 where we learn more about this.
4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir ; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." 5 And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 Then he believed in the LORD ; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Now head over to Genesis 21:5
Now Abraham was 100 when his son Isaac was born to him.
Promise fulfilled in another 190 or so years!
Check it out, Exodus 1:7
But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them!
But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them!
Promise 2:
To the land which I will show you!
To the land which I will show you!
For this one we must head all the way to Joshua 21.
Those children had some trekking to do before they could finally settle in the promised land.
verses 43-45
43 So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. 44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. 45 Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed ; all came to pass. Those children had some trekking to do before they could finally settle in the promised land.
verses 43-45
Now for the third promise which affects us personally!
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed!
Lets take a closer look at that one over in,
Genesis 22:15-18
15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 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. 18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
That there is a big promise!!
HUGE!
We have some trekking to do in the scriptures before we find out where it is fulfilled.
Luke chapters 1 and 2 tell the story magnificently!
In 1:54, 55 Mary is talking, maybe even praying and says,
"He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever"
She knew the promise was close to being fulfilled and had been taught the significance of it.
I do really like though, the passage in Galatians 3 where Paul is trying to explain justification by faith!!
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of Law, having become a curse for us...
14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "and to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is Christ.
Yeah, I would say coming to know Christ is the biggest blessing a person could attain!
I have all of these passages marked in the margins of my bible for ease of finding!! All I have to remember is Genesis 12 and then I can just follow the bread crumb trail I have created for myself. (you know...since my rememberer isn't so great!)
I hope that this has come across concise and not confusing.
It is something I have been meaning to share for some time!
We review it so often in class that it is just second nature to me now, so I hope I had my explainer working okay today!
I need to get some summertime action going on now.
See ya tomorrow!
