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This is a pivota! point. This is the point where profes–
sing "Christians" and their teachers jump the track of
truth. This is the point where they switch off the track
that would lead them to the missing master key to the
prophecies. They miss the fact that God gave Abraham
promises of physical
RACE
as well as spiritual
GRACE.
But the plain fact that the "great nation" promise
refers alone to race- not the "one seed" of Galatians
3: 16, who was Jesus Christ the Son of Abraham and the
Son of God, but to the plural, multiple seed of natural
fteshly birth- is made certain by God's repetition of His
promise in greater detaillater.
Notice carefully! Understand these promises!
"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the
Eterna! appeared to Abram, and said unto him, 1 am the
Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
And 1will make my covenant between me and thee,
and
wi/1 multiply thee exceedingly.
...
thou shalt be a father of
MANY NATIONS.
Neither shall thy name any more be
called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a
father of
MANY NATIONS
have 1 made thee" (Gen . 17: 1-
5).
Notice, the promise is now conditional upon Abra–
ham's obedience and perfect living. Notice, the "great
nation" now becomes many nations- more than one
nation . This cannot refer to the "one seed," Christ. The
following verses prove that.
"And
1 wi/1 make thee exceeding fruitful,
and I will
make
nations
of thee, and
kings
[more than one] shall
come out of thee" (verse 6). Notice, these nations and
kings shall
come out of
Abraham- physical generation–
multiple seed, not just one descendant
through whom
scattered individuals
may
become Abraham's children
by spiritual begettal through Christ (Gal. 3:29). The
scattered, individual Christians do not form
NATIONS.
The Church, it is true, is spoken of as "a royal priest–
hood, an holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9), but Christ's Church
is not divided into "many nations." This is speaking of
race, not grace.
"And 1 will establish my covenant between me and
thee and thy seed after thee
in
their .
generations ..."
(Gen. 17:7). The "seed" is plural-"in their generations."
"And
1
will give unto tbee, and to thy seed after thee,
the
land
wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan
[Palestine] , for an everlasting possession; and 1 will be
THEIR
God" (verse 8).
Notíce, the land- material possession- is promised to
the plural seed, of whom He is "their," not "bis," God .
The plural pronoun "their" is used again in verse 9 :
"and thy seed after thee in
their
generations."
But now examine this
PROMISE
carefully!
The future of great nations rests on the promises the
eternal Creator made to Abraham. The only hope oflife
after death for anyone-regardless of race, color or
creed- is dependent on the spiritual phase of these
Tha
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1978
promises to Abraham- the promise of grace through the
"one seed"-Christ the Messiah!
How Much Land-What Slze Natlons?
These are not casual, incidental, unimportant promises.
These are basic-the foundation for the establishment of
the greatest world powers; the basis for any personal
salvation spiritually; for any hope of eterna! life for
humans. These are stupendous promises. The future of
mankind is based, by the Creator God, on them.
Jesus Christ carne "to confirm the promises made unto
the fathers" (Rom. 15:8)- which fathers were Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
A carnal cynic, whose mind is hostile to God and His
promises, purposes, and ways, tosses these tremendous
promises aside, saying fiippantly, "Oh yeah?-but what
kind of 'many nations'? Twentieth-century style? Na–
tions of 100 million or more people? Don't be ridiculous!
Those meo who wrote the Bible knew nothing of nations
that would be 'great' by our twentieth-century stan–
dards! They referred only to little nations like there were
theo- nations containing no more people than a small
township or county today!
"And then how much land did this promise include?
Was God supposed to have promised an inheritance out
"1
am God Almighty: be fruitful and
multiply; a nation and a company of
nations shall be of thee, and kings shall
come out of thy loins."
of the land of Canaan, as mentioned in verse 8 of
Genesis 17? And then in repromising this land to Jacob,
all the land that was included was 'the land whereon
thou liest' in Genesis 28: 13 . How much land was that?
Not more than a tiny plot two feet wide, and about six
feet long! "
A cynical objector actually argued thus!
So let's answer the sneering closed-minded cynic!
Let's check carefully, and see precisely what was
promised under this phase of the promises pertaining to
race- the physical, material, national promises. 1 leave
the checking of the spiritual phase of the promises to be
explained in other booklets or articles.
How much land was promised?
A Cynlc Argues
But first hear out the refutation of the criticizing cynic.
"That promise," continues the objector, "of 'many na–
tions' was written in Hebrew, and the Hebrew word for
' nation' is
goi,
and for more than one, plural, it is
goiim.
lt merely means sorne "people"- it could mean just a
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