His Oath to Abe
How God’s promises to Father Abraham are fulfilled in the Global Church
“He has dealt mercifully with our fathers and remembered his holy covenant - the oath that he swore to our father Abraham.”
In the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, a chapter full of angel visits and miraculous births, the Holy Spirit moves both Mary (Luke 1:54-55) and Zechariah (Luke 1:72-73) to praise God and prophesy. They each declare that with these events God has remembered his promises to Abraham.
Abraham is the father of the nation of Israel. God called Abraham to leave his homeland and follow him to a new place, a place he’d never seen. God promised to be his God and make him into a great nation. But what “oath” did God swear to Abraham, and what does it have to do with Jesus?
In Genesis 22, after Abraham, by faith, laid his son Isaac on an altar, God declared this oath:
“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.”
The Promises Fulfilled
God makes three “offspring promises” to Abraham in this ancient oath. Can you find all three in the scripture above?
Let’s take each promise one by one. We’ll need to consider: Who are Abraham’s offspring? And what does each promise have to do with Jesus?
Promise 1:
“I will multiply your offspring... as the sand on the seashore…”
The most obvious offspring of Abraham are his physical descendants, the nation of Israel (Acts 3:25-26). These offspring are numerous, but not uncountable, like “the stars of heaven” and “the sand that is on the seashore.” The promise must mean something more.
When that baby in Mary’s womb grew to be a man, he died on a cross, and in so doing he tore down the boundary line between Jews (Abraham’s natural offspring) and Gentiles, who were previously outside the family of God. (See Ephesians 2:14-19.) Through Jesus, there is no more Jew or Gentile, but all have access to the God of Abraham (Galatians 3:28).
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul explains that everyone who has faith, everyone who is IN Christ, is included in this offspring, and are blessed along with Abraham:
“Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham…[and] are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith… And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”
Through the growing and expanding global Church, God is multiplying Abraham’s offspring far beyond what Abraham could ever imagined.
Promise 2:
“Your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.”
In the Old Testament, we read how God caused the descendants of Abraham to conquer the pagan cities of Canaan and literally come to possess the gates of their enemies. But by the time we get to Luke 1, the tables have turned many times, and now the enemies (the Romans) possess the gates of Israel.
History tells us that the nation of Israel never did possess the gates of Rome. In fact, the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem, along with its temple and its gates, in AD 70, and the people of Israel were scattered.
If we consider, however, that the Church is the offspring of Abraham, then history tells a different story. For after years of persecuting the Church, the Roman empire eventually became Christian. And the Church “possessed the gates” of Rome.
The enemy of Abraham’s offspring, the Church, is Satan. He roars around like a lion seeking to devour our faith (1 Peter 5:8). He has strongholds in nations all over the world, where he oppresses people and keeps them blinded from seeing the light of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The Enemy’s gates are the gates of hell. But Jesus, made this declaration about this enemy:
...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Church attacks the gates of hell with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and takes back for Jesus ground that belonged to His enemy. It is through the Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, that Jesus sets the captives free and opens the eyes of the blind (Luke 4:18). And Jesus promised that the enemy’s dark gates shall not prevail against this onslaught of the light. (Luke 1:78-79)
Promise 3:
“In your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”
Through Mary and Joseph, Jesus is one of Abraham’s ethnic offspring. In fact, Paul tells us that he is more than just AN offspring. He is THE offspring:
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.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the blessing that God meant when he promised to bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham’s offspring.
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.”
God’s plan is for this blessing to penetrate into every nation of the earth. That’s what Jesus purchased on the cross:
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
The Church is The Promise
Jesus is the blessing that God gave to Abraham and his offspring. Forgiveness of sins, new life in Christ, adoption into a diverse and multitudinous family, and participation in the Kingdom of God – these are the promises which belong to the Church.
The Church is not only the fulfillment of the promise, but the MEANS God is using to fulfill His ancient oath. Through the Church, the offspring of Abraham are being multiplied beyond measure today. The Church is taking ground from the enemy and bringing the blessing of Jesus to new places and nations.
God called Father Abraham to go to a new place, and live as a stranger in a new land, a land that would be his inheritance (Hebrews 11:8). Abraham obeyed by faith, and we are his offspring if we exercise that same faith, taking the good news to places it has never gone before.
Thus Luke closes his gospel account with this:
"...repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in [Jesus'] name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
Excellent cross-references to the O.T. and to Paul’s writings. This is really both relevant and top notch scholarship. It fills my heart with this overwhelming sense of being part of something bigger – the Abrahamic Covenant – until every tongue, tribe, and nation are a part of it!