And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
The above passage is the end of the story of God asking Abraham to offer his son Isaac (his only son) on an alter on Mt. Moriah. Abraham has already knew in his mind that Issac was God’s promised son to him and God had already said that through Isaac blessings would come. Now, if God was asking him to sacrifice Isaac that meant only one thing: God would have to either miraculously save Isaac through the sacrifice or would have to bring Isaac back to life if he died as a result of the sacrifice. We do not see that in the above verse, but we do read about it in Hebrews:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
One truth in this passage that we might over look is the prophetic utterance the angel of the Lord said to Abraham. He told Abraham that through his obedience God would bless him, his family AND THROUGH HIS FAMILY THE NATIONS. The only way that will happen is through a descendent of Abraham that would have the power and position to bless the nations. This is a prophecy about the coming of a King that would be in position to bless all mankind. That would be the Messiah, Jesus Christ. When reading the book of Revelation it might be easy to miss this obscure mention about the new heavens and the new earth and God’s purpose to heal the nations:
through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Even though we see nation rise against nation throughout the history of mankind, God’s intent from the beginning is to restore the harmony that was seen at the Tower of Babel. But, that harmony was in rebellion to God. God has full intention to heal the nations and bring them in perfect harmony to His will. All of creation will be blessed by the Messiah King.
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