[Thankful Jane]

I have a little time in my day, so I’d like to back-track and respond to a few statements made in an earlier post.

Originally Posted by OBW

Before Israel came to be, God made a covenant with Abraham to make a nation out of him, and beyond that, to bless the world through that nation. Who did God woo to leave their people to move the promised land and be made into a nation according to God’s promise? I can’t see even a huge stretch of the available facts getting to that comparison.

In the interest of biblical accuracy, in Genesis 17:4-6, God said to Abraham,

“As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. [5] Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. [6] And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.”

In Romans 4:17-18, Paul repeated this saying,

“(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. [18] Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.”

Also, Jacob, in his blessing on Ephraim (Joseph’s second son) makes another such statement:

“And his father [Jacob] refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he [Manasseh] also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 48:19)

I am not saying I understand what these references to "many nations" or a "multitude of nations" mean, but someone brought them to my attention several years ago. In light of them, it isn’t accurate to say “God made a covenant with Abraham to make a nation out of him.”

The above statements are just the plain word of the Bible. God said them, not me. He said many nations would come out of Abraham and specifically a multitude of nations would come out of Ephraim.

A multitude of nations coming out of Abraham could be explained by the fact that Abraham had Ishmael by Hagar, who was an Egyptian, and nations came out of Ishmael. However, this explanation does not account for Jacob saying concerning Ephraim that his seed would become a multitude of nations.

Originally Posted by OBW

Israel did not become blessed because they decided to consecrate to God. They were blessed because God chose them as a people.

If they were blessed because God chose them as a people, then part of that blessed people was the seed of Ephraim, who became a multitude of nations, and accordingly, those nations would be blessed also.

I do not know what this means, but it means something. I’m just putting out some food for thought here J.