Promises to Abraham

In Ephesians 1, starting from verse 3, we read, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.

God has blessed us with many, many blessings. He has planned this all the way from the beginning of time. He is building a family of sons and daughters, and He has chosen to work through families.

The outcome of this will be many, many brethren that will be in His family, the God family. So, to deliver these blessings to the whole of humanity, He has decided, as I mentioned, to work through families, and He started blessing these blessings through Abraham. Abraham and his family, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a family that obeyed God, was faithful to Him. These blessings include both physical and spiritual blessings.

Ultimately, as we read in Ephesians chapter 1, He said, He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. His ultimate goal is that the blessings we are to have, not only they are amazing today, they will even be bigger. And so, God is planning for us a great, a great reward. As a Master Potter, He decides who to work with first, and He decided to work with Abraham and his family. And the Bible therefore teaches us that God made two Abraham promises, which are both physical and spiritual. The physical promises involve national greatness, material blessings, and those physical blessings were through the line, the descendant line, of Isaac, Jacob, which then became later renamed as Israel, Joseph, and then through Joseph, his two children, Ephraim and Manasseh. The spiritual promise is also fulfilled through Abraham, but that's Abraham's seed to come, which we know is Jesus Christ, making therefore salvation possible to all mankind, regardless of physical lineage. And so, we see that the promises started with Abraham, and they started with his calling. And so, if we start there in Genesis chapter 12, Genesis chapter 12 in verse 1, we read that God told Abraham to leave his land, and he says, get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I'll show you, and I'll make you a great nation, and I'll bless you. So, we see he would become a great nation as a physical blessing. And then he says, and I'll make your name great, and you shall be a blessing, and I'll bless those who bless you, and I'll curse those who curse you. So, that blessing would go beyond that family to others, and ultimately says, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And so, God working through the Abraham and his family, the intent is for that family to grow into a model nation that ultimately, through that model nation, would help all other nations to ultimately the whole earth to be blessed. And so, God, through his word, explains that through Abraham, God began a divine process by which he would bless every inhabitant of the earth.

And the nation of Israel was to be the first and the physical and temporary kingdom that pointed to God's ultimate kingdom. So, it was to be a physical analogy of God's ultimate kingdom. And so, we see that the promise, by seeing at the end of verse 3, is not merely personal to Abraham.

It is a covenant, an agreement, a commitment, because he says, I will, I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will bless those who bless you. I will, through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. So, it's a covenant, and therefore, it is prophetic.

It has significant prophetic meaning, showing that all families of the earth show that this promise is not only to ethnic Israel, but to the whole world.

So, God's plan would embrace all humanity. And so, the promises, obviously, would start and include physical, national greatness. And we can see that those physical promises were repeated and expanded. For instance, in the same chapter, Genesis 12, reading in verse 7, it says, Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I'll give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. So, the promise is repeated that there is a blessing through his family and his descendants. Then, a little lighter, in chapter 13, verse 14 through 17, we see, And the Lord said to Abram, after a lot had separated from him, Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are. Northward, southward, eastward, and westward. Look in every direction. And he says, For all the land which you see, I will give you and your descendants forever. And I'll make your descendants, as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. And so it shows that this promise would expand in land and innumerable children or descendants from Abraham. In chapter 15, in verse 18, we see that the definition of the land now is expanded with the word covenant, very specifically in Genesis 15, verse 18. He says, On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, To your descendants, I've given this land. And then he numerates the area. And so we can see that it is a covenant promise. And a covenant is not just an act of obeying God, but a covenant is there that God can bless us beyond normal blessings that are following due to obedience. So God is promising additional blessings, additional blessings. And so now we see very clearly that this physical promise of land is not only symbolic. No, it is real territory. It's a real promise. But it also points beyond, because look at what Abraham looked at. If you keep your finger there in Genesis, because we're going to come back to it, but just briefly look at Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, as we know, is the faith chapter. And in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 10, we read, For Abraham, he's talking about Abraham, for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham looked beyond the physical world today to New Jerusalem, in the new heaven and new earth. And so we can see that Abraham understood even further than just the pure physical blessings. So the physical inheritance becomes a type of eternal inheritance. And so God promised to Abraham not only physical blessings, but as a type of spiritual blessings which would expand to the whole world and to the whole of mankind. The promises were passed through to his son. And we see in Genesis 26, so let's get back to Genesis, but now 26, Genesis 26, and we see starting in verse 3, Dwell in this land, for I will be with you and bless you. So now God is the Lord appeared to Isaac, and he says, Dwell in this land, I'll be with you and bless you, for to you and your descendants, I'll give all these lands and I'll perform the oath which I swore to Abraham, your son. And he promised to Abraham, he says here in verse 5, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. And so we can see that this promise now is repeated. The promises of land, of multiplied descendants, and a blessing to all nations was passed to Isaac, not Ishmael. Now this establishes a covenant line, a line through which the covenant is passed.

Yes, we do know that God blessed Ishmael separately, but the Abraham covenant promises passed through Isaac. And this is essential for us to understand and to trace the prophetic promises through Scripture. So from Isaac, then the promises passed down to Jacob. Turn with me to Genesis 35, Genesis 35, 9 through 12. Genesis 35, 9 through 12. He says, Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padam Aram and blessed him, and God said to Jacob to him, Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name. So here is where Jacob's name was changed to Israel, so called his name Israel. And God said to him, I am God, Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. And now some additional specific detail is added. So the promise has gone from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob. Jacob is named, renamed as Israel. And in Israel, the promise of descent now goes to his one of his children, the firstborn from the wife that he loved, because the other firstborn had committed sexual sins. And so he went to the firstborn of the wife he loved, which was Joseph. And through Joseph, we can see that there is a promise now, yeah, of a nation and a company of nations. And so, yeah, we have a crucial point of importance, because the promise is not merely that Israel would become just one nation. Yes, they would become a group of nations of 12 tribes, all important nations, but they would be a predominant blessing to a great nation and a company of nations to come. And so this is a prophetic distinction to be able to understand what comes through Joseph's sons. And so we read now that the promise now passes to Joseph, from Jacob to Joseph, and from Joseph to East to sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Let's look at that in Genesis 48. Genesis 48 and 49, it's the section when Jacob is just about dying, and in a sense he passes his lost world in testament. And in Genesis 48, he gives this special blessing to Joseph and Joseph's sons. And then in Genesis 49, he addresses to the whole Israel. So in Genesis 48, starting in verse 15, it says then, well, let's start from verse 14. Then he has reached out to his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's hand, and Ephraim was the younger, the left hand, and on Ephraim's head.

And then he says, and then he says, and his left hand on Manasseh's head. God and his hands, normally for Manasseh was the firstborn. So Manasseh was the firstborn, was the older, and therefore to have the greater blessing. And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers, Abram and Isaac, walked. This is Jacob saying, the God who has feared me, all my life along to this day, the Agile law has redeemed me from all evil. Bless the lands. Let my name be named upon them. And the name of my fathers, Abram and Isaac. And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of earth. And that is verse 16, verse 17. Now when Joseph saw that his father had laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, which was the younger, it displeased him. And so he took hold of his father's hand to remove his right hand from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's, which was the firstborn. And Joseph said to his father, not so, father, for this one is the firstborn. In other words, Manasseh is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head. But, verse 19, but his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. But truly, his younger, that's Ephraim, brother, shall be greater than he. And his descendants shall become a multitude of nations. So Ephraim was to become a multitude of nations, and Manasseh a great people. And then we can see, therefore, that Jacob deliberately crossed his hands, placing the greater blessing on Ephraim, although Manasseh was the firstborn. Manasseh would become great, but Ephraim would become greater and become a multitude or a company of nations. So this is important prophetically. Then in chapter 49, we can see that he called all his sons, and he said, okay, this is what I'll tell you, what shall befall you in the latter days, in the last days. So this is prophetic. And so we have promises here to all of 12 tribes, all the 12 children, but to Joseph, specifically to his children, Ephraim and Manasseh. And so what we have here is the physical promises passed down to Israel, to all 12 tribes, all the way through the firstborns. And this explains the distinction now of the great nation and the company of nations. By looking at how history developed over the years, we can see that Manasseh today has become primarily the receiver of this great nation, which today, and there's no other nation that fills this prophecy and the blessings that has received, Manasseh today is fulfilled by the blessings received by the United States. And so this is not because the nation is better, but it is because of God fulfilling his promise because of Abraham and his family's obedience. And also, prophetically, we can see through the historical developments that have occurred throughout the ages and where we live today, that if frame has become what we call Britain and the Commonwealth peoples of British ancestry. But these birthright promises were delayed. We're delayed through one, slavery, and two, disobedience. The Bible teaches that the fulfillment of these physical promises was delayed because Israel, the primary oldest, being Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh, became, first, Israel became slaves, and then, secondly, the slaves in Egypt, and secondly, they were enslaved in Assyria because of disobedience, and that being the nation of Israel. You see, as we read through the biblical history, we see that the nation of Israel, after they left Egypt, then they disobeyed, they went through the wilderness, and then after that period, we can read the period of where finally kings came along, and then King David came, and he was obedient, and God promised great blessings through King David.

And those blessings were passed on to Solomon. Solomon, as we know the history for those 40 years of his kingdom, became an extremely powerful nation. However, because of Solomon's disobedience, the kingdom was divided at the end of those 40 years, and at the end of those 40 years, we can see there was a northern kingdom. That's the kingdom of Israel composed of 10 nations, and led by Jeroboam, and this kingdom, as I mentioned, comprised of the 10 northern tribes, the northern kingdom led by Jeroboam. And then the southern kingdom, which was the kingdom of Judah, which was led by Solomon's son, Rehoboam. And that kingdom consisted of Judah and Benjamin, and also the Levites then joined in with them, because the kingdom of the north, Israel, was not obedient. Because of the disobedience of the kingdom of the north, and Ephraim and Manasseh was in the kingdom of the north, the kingdom of the north became enslaved by Assyria. We know that. We can read that in the Bible. And that slavery was some 130 years before Judah went into slavery into Babylon. Now, when the kingdom of the north, or the kingdom of Israel, which initially was led by Jeroboam, went to slavery in Assyria, they then did not return to the promised land. Now, details about this are covered in great amount in our booklet, U.S. and Britain in Prophecy, which you are welcome to get a copy from reception, or download it from the website, or order it from the home office.

But we do know that God does not forget His covenants. And so, if we go back to Genesis, I beg your pardon, Exodus 2, we can see in Exodus 2, write, Yahweh and God remember His covenant with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. So, we read in Exodus 2, verse 23 through 25. Exodus chapter 2, verse 23 through 25.

It says, Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died, then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out, and they cried came up to God because of the bondage. And so God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abram, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And so, they left Egypt. We know the story. They left Egypt. But again, God doesn't forget His covenant. Unfortunately, the nation of Israel disobeyed. After Solomon, we can see the nation of Israel disobeying greatly under Jeroboam, and they ended up in slavery. We can see that if we look at prophecies like Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, there are national blessings for obedience and national curses for disobedience, and the nation disobeyed. And so what do we have in summary to simplify all that I've mentioned so far is God is blessing Israel as a forerunner for blessing the whole of humanity.

However, Israel has not been faithful, and we've seen that the promise went down from Abram, Isaac, Jacob. Jacob became Israel, and Jacob went to Joseph, Joseph to Ephraim and Manasseh, the main blessings of those two groups of people, and Ephraim to be a great nation, and Manasseh to be a great nation, and Ephraim, a company of nations. But they've disobeyed.

And so what do we have so far? It's the Abrahamic covenant. The covenant made to Abraham is basically unconditional. God will fulfill it. God's promises to Abraham will be fulfilled.

There's no doubt about that, but they were delayed. They were delayed. Why? Because of the obedience. See, the timing and experience of the full national blessings were affected by Israel's obedience or disobedience. But God remains faithful. God doesn't change, but Israel's sins have delayed and complicated the fulfillment. And so we get to the point that those ten tribes that went to Assyria, they didn't go back to to the Promised Land, but they lost their identity because they were not keeping the Sabbath. They lost their identity. And so became what it's so called today the lost ten tribes. So the Bible and history teaches us that the northern kingdom was taken into Assyrian captivity, as I mentioned, and did not return to its homeland.

But Judah did later, or part of Judah did. These ten tribes of the north became known, as I mentioned, the lost ten tribes. And according to to biblical facts and also looking at migrations of people, we can see that they migrated through northwestern Europe and some of them all the way to the British Isles. Now, once again, this booklet in page 58 under the section the mysterious Cynthia's burst into history reveal very interesting historical facts about that migration throughout northern Europe. So, but the point is, the other we can see, summarizing this at this stage, is that Jews are Israelites.

They are one of those tribes of Israel. But not all Israelites are Jews. This is like you say, Texans are Americans, but not all Americans are Texans. You know, it's just as simple as that. And so the Jewish people, which descended from the ancient southern kingdom of Judah, they did come back, or some of them did come back, to the promised land. But the others of the northern kingdom that went into Assyria, they never went back, except maybe one or two people.

And so this distinction is an important fact for us to address end time prophecies. Why? Why is it important? Because we need to understand, Israel was a group of people that was the northern kingdom, and then they were dispersed through northern Europe and became lost, and Judah kept the identity because they kept the Sabbath, and many of them went back to the promised land.

And so what do we have? We have prophecies about Israel. And you have to see, by looking at the context, where it's talking about the whole of Israel, all 12 tribes, or is it talking about the northern kingdom of Israel? You have prophecies of Jacob. Now Jacob became Israel, so that clearly applies to all 12. But you have prophecies to Ephraim, and you have prophecies to Manasseh, and those are not necessarily Judah, as you know. And so this is important for us to understand this historical development, to fully understand biblical prophecy. Because when you read prophecy about Israel, in the context, it might just be talking, and quite often it is just talking about the northern kingdom, not talking about the Jewish nation.

And so it is important for us to understand in context. Now, unfortunately, to this society, we call the nation of Judah, we call it Israel, and so it even confuses the issue even more. But the point is those people are basically of Jewish descent.

And so these promises now that are extended to Ephraim and Manasseh, and that they were delayed, and because we've seen through historical movements of people or nations, and as our booklet describes in some detail, not perfect, but in in a reasonably good detail, Ephraim became or was to become the promised company of nations, which today we have, Great Britain and the Commonwealth of British ancestry, whilst Manasseh became a great nation, which today is the United States. Now, with that understanding, the prophetic framework that points to many end-time prophecies of Israel point to prophecies to the United States and Britain and those English-speaking nations.

That is an important point to understand this prophetic framework. And so this, brethren, is not a question of national pride. It is important to understand this is not a question that British people or English-speaking people or the United States is better. No, it's not a question of national pride. It's a question of a covenant that God made to Abraham, and it is fulfilling that covenant. And as a covenant, we as the recipients of that covenant have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to fulfill, to be a lead nation, and to be example to the world, which regrettably we have failed.

And if we look at the trauma between at Leviticus and the Autonomy, there are curses coming because we have failed.

And so Israel, if we are in Manasseh, we are intended to be a model nation to the world.

And indeed, we've been a model nation of sin, of sexual immorality, and every other type of perversion and surely God is not well pleased with that.

In Deuteronomy chapter 4, Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 5 through 8, Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 5 through 8, it says, surely I've taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me. This is Moses instructing the Israelites at the end of those 40 years in the wilderness. And he says that you should act according to these value systems, to these laws and principles in the land which you go to possess. Therefore, Yah is the accountability and responsibility that we have. Therefore, be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there that God is so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, whatever reason we may call upon him? And what great nation is there that are such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all the laws which are set before this day? That's our responsibility. But look at verse 9, says, only take care, take heed to yourselves, and diligently keep them. Lest you forget the things your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.

So be careful. Make sure you teach them to your children. Make sure you pass it on.

You see, Israel was to show the nations the wisdom and the righteousness of God's way. The promise to Abraham included an accountability, a responsibility.

Israel has been blessed. The United States has been blessed with celebrating 250 years of that blessing. But that blessing was to witness to the world the benefits of God's way. But Israel has failed because it has lacked the heart to obey.

You see, God's Word clearly shows that Israel was given God's laws and his promises and his covenant, but they did not have the heart to obey. Look at the Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 29. And when they say just before in verse 27, we will do it! We will do it! And then in verse 29, God says, Oh, Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep my commandments, that it might be well with them and their children forever.

Israel failed. The United States of America has failed in its example and will come shortly under great national punishment. Regrettably, that's what the Bible tells us. So the soul then points us to a new covenant.

The problem is not the law. The problem is our human heart.

Physical Israel could not fulfill its calling without spiritual conversion. And so we can see that the spiritual promise that is given to Abraham is greater than the physical promise. The Bible teaches us that the more important promise to Abraham was spiritual. Salvation would become available to all who become Abraham's seed.

All the nations that will become Abraham's seed through Christ. As we read in Genesis 12 verse 3, it says, In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. And in Galatians 3 verse 8, Galatians 3 verse 8, Galatians 3 verse 8.

And the scripture foreseen that God would justify, in other words, make the Gentiles just. It does not mean save. It means made just. It means reconciliation. It means forgive their sins. Would justify the Gentiles by faith. Preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all nations shall be blessed. And so the Abrahamic covenant contains the gospel in, let's call it, in a tiny little seed package. And that blessing is to all nations through that seed, which is Christ. And therefore, that blessing is going to be fulfilled, not in political elections of this world, not through political influence, or through material prosperity, but it will be fulfilled through Christ. Christ is the seed. The Bible teaches that Paul identified the promised seed as Jesus Christ. Galatians 3 verse 16.

Now to Abraham and his seed where the promise is made. It does not say to seeds, as of many, but as of one, to your seed who is Christ.

And so Paul's argument is very exact, is very precise. The promises converge in Christ. Christ is the central descendant of Abraham, through whom the spiritual promise becomes available to all nations. And those in Christ become Abraham's spiritual descendants seed. The Bible teaches, therefore, that those who are of faith are regarded as Abraham's descendants and heirs according to the promises. Salvation is, therefore, not a birthright by race.

But is open to all whom God calls. In Galatians 3 verse 28 and 29, we read, there is not a Jew nor Greek. There is not a slave nor free. There is not a male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus, and if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Those who are Christ's are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Romans chapter 4 is a very interesting chapter, and let's briefly just pick up a few points on Romans chapter 4. We start in verse 1. Romans chapter 4 verse 1. What then shall we say that Abraham, our father, was found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified, he was made right, reconciled with God by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed, trusted God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. It was granted to him, was imputed upon him as righteousness, because he trusted God. Now, to him who works, the salary, his wages, are not counted as grace. So if you've got a job and you get a salary, that is not a generous kind thing of your boss. That's what he owes you because you've done a job. That's a debt that he has for you. But continue now in verse 5. But to him who does not work but believes or trusts in him, who makes right, who forgives, who forgives our sins because of what is done for us justifies them godly. His faith is trust. He's accounted for righteousness. That is God's righteousness. Not self-righteousness, God's righteousness. Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works, God makes us righteous when we trust him. When we trust him. That's why it says in verse 8, a blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. Do we trust God?

100%? He says, he will not impute sin on us. He will pass over. He will forgive through the blood of Christ. And so, brethren, the promise is sure to all of us. The promise is absolutely sure. Look at verse 16 of the same chapter 4. It says, Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but to all those who are of faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. So it's not just to those that are the sedents through that law, that are the lineage, the physical lineage through that law of the saints, but to all of us, provided we trust in Christ and do what is pleasing to God. Because once you and I trust God, once you and I believe in Him and commit ourselves to Him, we are now made right, reconciled, forgiven. Our sins are forgiven by that trust, by that faith. That's what Romans chapter 5 verse 1 says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. In other words, we are at peace. We are reconciled. We are at one with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But we're not saved yet. We're not saved yet. You see, we're made right. Now we've got to use God's only Spirit. We've got to use the capability that God gives us. We have to repent. We have to live a different way. And now we've got to do our part. That's why it says in verse 2, Through whom we also have access by faith into this grace, in whom we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Yes, through Christ we have that hope that we will be glorified as children of God. You see, the promise is sure to all the seed. Not only those that are descendants through the physical line of that law, but also to all of those by faith. Because after all, Abram when he was promised this in Genesis 12, he was not circumcised yet. He was not circumcised yet. And so the physical lineage, yes, has prophetic significance. But salvation is not based on race.

Spiritual inheritance comes through faith. It was trust in God. Then we recognize that we have to repent and change. We have to be called by God and respond to that calling. That means act upon it and love. We have to receive God's early spirit upon baptism. And we're going to use that spirit. We're going to remain faithful till the end and then we'll be saved. And so God's early spirit is central to these better promises. The Bible teaches that God's early spirit, God's power, is key to these better promises of the new covenant. The apostle received God's early spirit, which is the guarantee of the inheritance in Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13. It says, In him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel or the good news of our salvation, in whom, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased positioner was until we resurrected or until we changed if we're alive at Christ's coming. And this is to the praise of God's glory. You see, you and I are sealed with God's early spirit, which is the guarantee that we will inherit eternal life, we will inherit greater promises than all the physical promises, if we remain faithful and follow the lead of God's Holy Spirit. Romans 8 verse 14. Romans 8 verse 14 says, Those who are led by God's Holy Spirit are the sons of God. Romans 8 verse 14.

It says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. You have to be led by that means you have to follow and you have to do it because God's spirit leads but doesn't possess, doesn't force, does not dominate. Leads, guides, directs, points, but you and I have to respond and act upon it. And then we really are the children of God. And so the promise to Abraham reaches its spiritual fulfillment through the gift of God's Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit enables true conversion, obedience, sonship, and inheritance.

And the church, therefore, is a forerunner of Israel's new covenant future, because the new covenant will go to all Israel and to all nations. But the church is a forerunner of that new covenant, a new covenant which God will establish with Israel and Judah at his return and which will be opened up to all humanity. Physical Israel, then, will finally become the model nation God intended to. Will be transformed into spiritual Israel and will help the world, it will help Christ lead the world into a saving relationship with the Father. The Abrahams' promises are not yet finished. They are not yet fulfilled.

The real promises, even physical, are going to be much greater in the millennium, much better than it is today. They will be fulfilled. The promises and blessings move from Abraham through Isaac, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, to Israel, to Christ, to the church now, and ultimately to the restoration and conversion of Israel and all nations under the government of God ruling on earth during the millennium and during the second resurrection. God's teaching regarding the promises to Abraham can be summarized as follows.

God's promises to Abraham contain both physical, birthright blessings and spiritual salvation. The physical promises pass through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim, Manasseh, explaining the rise of the modern Israelites nations and providing a key to understand biblical prophecy.

The spiritual promises fulfill through Christ, Abraham's seed, by whom all nations may receive salvation. Those of us called by God who repent, who receive God's early spirit, who use God's early spirit and follow the lead of God's early spirit and are faithful till the end of the day. We then belong to Christ and ultimately will become Abraham's spiritual seed and heirs according to the promise. The promises to Abraham will be completely fulfilled.