Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1–3
This passage in Genesis 12 is the Bible’s introduction to one the greatest champions of faith. So great was his faith that his name is mentioned alongside this glorious attribute more than a dozen times in the New Testament. It was “by faith” that he sojourned for a full century in a strange land (Hebrews 11:8–10), and even though he left this mortal world without ever seeing the blessings that God had promised (v 13), he saw them from the vantage point to which only a great faith like his could elevate a man in the flesh. God’s promise to Abraham was three-fold.
God promised Abraham a people. The promise of becoming the patriarch of a great nation might not seem so remarkable if it weren’t for the fact that Abraham was already advanced in age, as was his wife, who had been unable to conceive even during her younger years (Genesis 12:4; 17:17; 18:11; 11:30). This would not, however, be the last time when God would make a once-barren woman rejoice over the birth of a son (cf. Genesis 25:21; 29:31; Judges 13:2; 1 Samuel 1:4; 2 Kings 4:14; Luke 1:7). When Sarah laughed at the thought of having a child at her age, God replied, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). It was indeed against overwhelming odds that God kept His promise to make a great nation out of Abraham. Two pharaohs tried to destroy this nation (Exodus 1:8–22; 14:6–8), as did a number of foes who rose against them both in the wilderness (Exodus 17:8–16; Numbers 22–24) and in the Promised Land. Although Abraham never lived to see the fulfillment of God’s promise, he saw them as it were “afar off” (Hebrews 11:13) and “contrary to hope, in hope believed” (Romans 4:18).
God promised Abraham a place. This place was the land later known as Canaan, the long, narrow strip stretching from the Euphrates to the Sinai peninsula––perhaps the most frequently and hotly contested piece of real estate on Earth. This promise too was fraught with apparent complications, for the inhabitants of the land were many and strong in the days when Israelite spies made their reconnaissance, and their cities were walled (Numbers 13:28–29). In spite of these difficulties, Israel obtained all the land God had promised to Abraham. The Bible says that “Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt” (1 Kings 4:21).
God promised Abraham a Person. How his seed would bless all nations of the world must have been a mystery to Abraham, as it would remain for centuries still to come. With the advantage of hindsight we are able to recognize this as a prophecy of the coming Redeemer who would taste death for all mankind. God had already told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). This is the same “Seed” promised to Abraham years later. The inspired apostle plainly identifies this Seed as Christ (Galatians 3:16) and adds that the seed promise was nothing short of an early declaration of the gospel (Galatians 3:8). Once again, God tossed aside great obstacles to keep His word, for Satan tried repeatedly to upset His plan (Matthew 2:13–18; 4:1–11; Luke 13:31). We find the promise fulfilled at last, however, and announced at Pentecost (Acts 2:39). The faithful patriarchs died without receiving “the promise” (Hebrews 11:39–40; cf. vv 13, 33)––the promise which is now ours in Jesus Christ!