"I will make of
thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be
thou a blessing" Gen. 12:2
In this chapter we have the beginning
of the history of the people through whom God has acted in human history, IN
ORDER TO THE REDEMPTION OF THE RACE AND THE RESTORATION OF THE DIVINE ORDER.
From this point the Biblical literature is concerned with that people Israel, until
of its stock the Deliverer appeared. Then it is concerned with HIM AND THE ELECT RACE resulting from HIS WORK. While this is so, we must never imagine
that the nations or the world are excluded from the Divine thought and purpose.
The nation ISRAEL is now to be called into being; the One Who, after the flesh,
would be of that nation; and the new race created by His work all in the
purpose of God, are called into co-operation with Him on BEHALF OF THE WORLD
AND OF ALL THE NATIONS, and look at how THEY ALL FIGHT this work of God. The recognition of this fact is fundamental to any
correct interpretation of the Biblical Revelation. This is the vital matter
in these words spoken to Abram. The last words, "Be thou a blessing," give
the reason of the former, "I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless
thee, and make thy name great." IN CALLING ABRAM, God did not
reject other men; IN MAKING HIS NAME GREAT, He did not degrade other names; IN
BLESSING HIM, He did not hand others over to a curse. When at last this nation
have for a season been cast out from privilege and responsibility it was because it
had become SELF-CENTERED, and forgotten
its high responsibility for the nations of the world. When Israel is RESTORED
to its true place, it will be to fulfill that office. The truth abides. The
Church also exists in order to be a blessing. For that, she is blessed of God.
To forget this, is to fail utterly, and to be cast away as Israel has for a
time, but soon to be restored and that through great tribulation.
No comments:
Post a Comment