December 2nd

Genesis 12:1-3

Once upon a time one man had a revelation of the God of the universe and chose to follow his leading. He wasn’t living in a monotheistic culture, and we have no idea how he came to this knowledge and experience of God; the Bible doesn’t tell us. Four thousand years ago, during the Bronze Age, Abraham decided to obey the call of God to leave his homeland and go to a new place God was giving him. His obedience brought with it a promise of land, descendants numerous enough to be a nation and a global reach. All the families of earth are to be blessed through this one man. This scripture is the first mention of a promise to be repeated many times at significant moments in Abraham’s life (Gen. 15:1,22:18, 26:4).

As we will read later both Joseph and Mary are direct descendants of Abraham and King David. This promise is about much more than just the formation of the peoples of Israel (through Isaac) and Palestine (through Ishmael), this is a promise to all of humanity. Abraham is a man of faith and obedience towards God. He understands that God is both sovereign and faithful, and Abrahms’s faith becomes the bedrock of this future blessing. It is cited by both Peter (Acts 3:25) and Paul (Gal. 3:8-9, 17-18) as the beginning of the promise.

We could go even further back to the beginning of creation and humanity’s fall into sin. In Gen. 3:15 God promises that the seed of woman will bruise the head of the serpent. Already there is a plan to deal with the devil, evil and sin’s consequences. That the serpent will bruise his heel hints at the cost of our salvation.

The Bible is clear that God’s word is dependable and will not fail; he will be faithful to his covenant for a thousand generations (Deut.7:9). Isaiah tells us that while everything around us may fade and die the word of the Lord stands forever (Is. 40:8). This plan to rescue humanity from its sin and make a way into the Kingdom of God has been there from the very beginning, slowly unfolding over thousands of years until we come to the revelation of God that we see in Jesus.

Reflection

Someone once said that God takes a long time to move suddenly! Are there moments in your own life where you have seen that work out? Perhaps there are events that you are waiting patiently to see happen. Why not bring them before God today, remembering that he is faithful to his word.