Many Sons Had Father Abraham

Turn in your Bible’s to Galatians 3:5-18.

Hear now the word of the Lord.

Galatians 3:5–18 ESV

5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

PRAYER

Introduction

Fewer topics are more divisive in our day than the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. Even in the church, there is much disunity on the topic. This has not always been the case, but it certainly has been for the last 80 years or so.

This is a particularly tricky subject because it lies at the intersection of the two most controversial categories of discourse; the two things you are never supposed to mention at Thanskgiving dinner: religion and politics.

While I have my opinions on certain political policies relating to this issue, I understand it is not the place of a Christian minister to declare “Thus says the Lord” where He has been silent.

When it comes to this issue as a whole however, God has spoken—and I believe clearly spoken.

But here lies another problem. All Christians I have ever met believe the Bible has clearly spoken on what we are to think of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Why are we divided then? It comes down to this: varying methods of interpreting the Bible; specifically the Old Testament.

How is one to interpret the promises made to Abraham and his offspring?

What about the land promises?

What about the pronouncement that those who bless Abraham will be blessed and those who curse him will be cursed?

Does God still have a plan for the Jewish people in our future?

Are the Jews still God’s chosen people today?

Are we obligated to take care of the Jewish people in a unique way from other people?

If we go to the Bible with these questions, but approach it with the varying methods of interpretation, we will walk away with different answers.

So then, in this sermon, I hope to use Galatians and Genesis to give us a proper framework for understanding how we relate to Abraham and the promises made to him.

And I know my church well enough that some of you have different views on this than I do. That is fine. This is not a first-tier issue. We can still have unity in our friendship and in our church despite our disagreements. I only ask that you listen with an inquisitive mind and a humble heart.

Prolegomena

Before getting into our text, I want to lay my cards on the table and explain what I believe to be the proper approach to interpreting the Old Testament writings. I have done this in the past, but considering we have several new members, I’ll explain it again.

FIRST PRINCIPLE: The Apostles’ writings are an authoritative guide to understanding the Hebrew Scriptures

In other words, the New Testament is God’s divinely inspired commentary on the Old Testament writings.

The New Testament directly quote the Old Testament about 300 times, not including illusions or paraphrases. That is about 1 in every 22 verses.

So when we are seeking to understand the OT better, we should go to the NT to see what it has to say.

Why would this be?

Because if we try to interpret the OT apart of the revelation of Jesus and the New Testament, we will not fully understand it. Listen to what Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians: 2 Cor 3:12-18

2 Corinthians 3:12–18 ESV

12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

It isn’t as though the OT was totally cryptic and unreadable until Jesus came along.

The point is this: any method of interpreting the OT that fails to take into account how the Messiah Jesus would bring fulfillment to all of the promises, is a method that will lead the reader astray from the main point.

Jesus said that Moses wrote about him. He is the point of the OT. He was where the whole story was headed.

SECOND PRINCIPLE: Typology

On a related note, the second principle for interpreting the OT is that of Typology.

Typology is the concept that certain people, events or rituals point beyond themselves to something that is greater and in the future.

The most obvious example of this is animal sacrifices. They symbolized atonement for the payment of our sins. Though they did not actually cause our forgiveness. They pointed instead to the ultimate sacrifice: Jesus.

Typology is very important to understand because it guards us from falling into the two ditches of OT interpretation.

The first ditch is the mere historical method of interpretation. This method sees nothing beyond what is directly written. So the passover feast, for example, would ONLY symbolize the exodus from Egypt and NOT point to the ultimate passover lamb, Jesus. The flood and Noah’s ark was merely a historical event and does not point to Jesus, the true and better Ark.

The second ditch is that of the allegorical method of interpretation. This method disregards the historical context of the OT and jumps immediately to some sort of spiritual interpretation and application.

Instead of the mere historical method or the allegorical method, we should use the typological method, which in a way, takes the best of the other two while avoiding the errors of both.

Typology shows us that there is a historical aspect and a future aspect; a temporal meaning and an eternal meaning; an earthly layer and a heavenly layer.

One procures temporary benefits, the other procures eternal benefits

EXAMPLES:

Sacrifices (Jesus is the true sacrifice)

Temple (Jesus and the church)

High Priest (Jesus is our high priest)

Bread from Heaven (Jesus is the bread of life)

There are many more examples we could look at, but you get the point. The OT is truly historical, yet in a divine way, so that many of the people, events, and rituals point beyond themselves to something greater.

So then, with those cards on the table, let’s get into our text.

Contents of The Abrahamic Covenant

You’ll notice in the text we read from Galatians 3, Abraham is mentioned several times—a total of SIX TIMES along with the promises made to him and his offspring.

It would be good for us to read the accounts in Genesis where these promises to Abraham are first given:

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 15:5–6 ESV

5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 17:1–8 ESV

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

The promises of God’s covenant with Abraham can be boiled down to three things:

Offspring

Land

Blessing

OFFSPRING PROMISE: a great nation; many nations; innumerable offspring

LAND PROMISE: the land between Egypt and the Euphrates River

BLESSING PROMISE: Abraham will be a blessed as well as his offspring; Abraham and his offspring will in turn be a blessing to the other nations of the world.

Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant

We must now turn to see how God’s covenant with Abraham has been fulfilled.

But wasn’t the Abrahamic Covenant Eternal?

I can imagine what some of you may be thinking: The Abrahamic Covenant has not yet been fulfilled. It still applies today. After all, doesn’t God say that the covenant he makes with Abraham is everlasting?

Genesis 17:7 ESV

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

It certainly does call it everlasting. But hang on a minute: even the Mosaic Covenant was also called everlasting and perpetual, but we know that covenant has been fulfilled and done away with.

Leviticus 24:8 ESV

8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever.

Numbers 25:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’ ”

Regarding the Passover Feast

Exodus 12:14 ESV

14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

Exodus 12:17 ESV

17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever.

Exodus 27:21 ESV

21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

Yet the Mosaic covenant is obsolete:

Hebrews 8:13 ESV

13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

So what does everlasting mean if it isn’t really everlasting?

Simple: It just means the covenant does not expire on its own. There is nothing man can do to cancel it.

The covenant will not end until God ends it. It is not obsolete until it is fulfilled.

But let’s look to the Scriptures to see each of the things promised in the Abrahamic Covenant and see how they were in fact fulfilled:

1. The Offspring Promise

1 Kings 4:20 ESV

20 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy.

Hebrews 11:12 ESV

12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

Notice the past tense

God took a barren couple, Abraham and Sarah, who were far beyond child bearing age, and from them made billions of people.

2. The Land Promise

You may have heard it said that the nation of Israel has never possessed all the land that was promised to them. But listen to these scriptures.

Joshua 21:43–45 ESV

43 Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Next, compare these two verses:

Genesis 15:18 ESV

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

COMPARED WITH:

1 Kings 4:21 ESV

21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Listen to Nehemiah

Nehemiah 9:7–8 ESV

7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

So then, on multiple occasions, Israel possessed all of the land, exactly as God had sworn to them.

3. The Blessing Promise

Galatians 3:8 ESV

8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

We know, of course, that Jesus is offspring of Abraham who blesses all of the nations.

Mary saw this when Jesus came into the world

Luke 1:54–55 ESV

54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Zechariah saw this when Jesus came into the world.

Luke 1:68 ESV

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people

Luke 1:72–75 ESV

72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

So then, according to God’s Word, the Abrahamic Covenant was fully realized by the time Jesus came.

The Abrahamic Covenant’s Relationship to Us

How then does God’s covenant with Abraham relate to us, if it all?

Well, we can look at each of the promises: offspring, land, and blessing, and see how they were pointing to greater and eternal realities.

The Offspring Promise was Typological of Jesus and the Church

JESUS

Galatians 3:16 ESV

16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

So the , Jesus is the true and ultimate offspring of Abraham. And we are united to him, thus we too are Abraham’s offspring. That is what Paul says in Galatians 3:7

CHURCH

Galatians 3:7 ESV

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

The song “Father Abraham” taught many of us this glorious truth when we were just children.

Sometimes our tongues have better theology than our minds.

What does this mean? It means that all those who believe are heirs to the eternal promises of God.

The Land Promise was Typological for the New Earth in the Eternal State

Listen to how Paul interprets the land promise

Romans 4:13 CSB

13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world (cosmos) was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Abraham saw it this way too

Hebrews 11:8–10 ESV

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:13–16 ESV

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

The Blessing Promise was Typological of the New Covenant (Justification by Faith; the Holy Spirit)

Justification by Faith

Galatians 3:8 ESV

8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

The Holy Spirit

Galatians 3:13–14 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The Abrahamic Covenant is Pregnant with the New Covenant

The Abrahamic Covenant brought us Christ and Christ brought us the New Covenant

The Abrahamic Covenant is not the New Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant did not promise forgiveness of sins. But what it did do is bring about Jesus who is himself the one who brought about forgiveness of sins and our eternal inheritance in the new creation.

Amen.