Good morning,
In light of the Hamas invasion of Israel, this week we will look at other groups who tried and failed to exterminate the Jewish people. Then focus on why Israel has a God given claim to the land.
Today, we will look at the Abrahamic covenant. God gave blessings and land to Abraham and his seed.
Abrahamic Covenant
The Lord will…
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
“And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18)
Land Covenant
“And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” (Genesis 13:14-17)
“In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:18-21)
“And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea,3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.4 And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 34:1-5)
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com