The Seed of Abraham - The Blessing to All Nations

Theological Proposition/Focus: Even in the smallest detail, God is at work bringing His plan to fulfillment.

Christ Focus: The genealogies of Jesus demonstrate the fulfillment of every detail of prophecy in bringing about God's blessing.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We can trust God with the smallest details in our life.

Introduction

Image: Attention to detail is hard.

Are there areas of life where you are pernickety and others where you struggle with details? I am that way. Since I am trained as a mathematician, I am very particular about the precise definitions of words. Our ministry staff knows this; when I use words, I use them very carefully. In advanced mathematics, the majority of a person's time is spent writing and carefully using definitions. It is what we do.

In contrast, I really struggle with attention to detail when it comes to punctuation in English. Frankly, the goal of punctuation is to clarify syntax, and I think, as a whole, our written language fails miserably when it comes to punctuation, and so I give up on punctuation. I lack attention to detail in my punctuation.

Attention to detail is hard, and no matter who someone is, I have found that every person I have met lacks attention to detail in some aspect of life; we simply are not capable of managing all the details. But our God is.

Setting the Stage:

Abraham is one of the most important characters in the Old Testament. Abraham was the one whom God called out of Ur to follow Him into Canaan. Abraham was the one whom God chose to make a covenant with. Abraham is the one to whom Israel traces their lineage.

Through the book of Genesis, on three separate occasions, God promises Abraham that through him all peoples would be blessed.

Genesis 12:3 says, "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Genesis 18:18 says, "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him."

And finally, in Genesis 22:18, we again see the blessing promised. But before we focus in on that one verse, verse 18, I want to take a moment and read the entire passage.

Genesis 22:1-19: "Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.' Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.' Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire and wood are here,' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. 'Do not lay a hand on the boy,' he said. 'Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.' Abraham looked up, and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.' The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.' Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba."

This is the stage that is set as we begin our sermon today. Abraham, the one who was promised to be a blessing to all peoples, is put through the trial of his life and asked to completely trust God. And guess what? Abraham does trust God. Abraham trusts God with everything and he has proven his unfailing loyalty to God.

So how does God respond to the loyalty of Abraham? By reminding Abraham what He has already promised and assuring Abraham that his descendants would be an incredible people.

Body

Promise — God's blessing to all nations will descend from Abraham (Genesis 22:17-18).

Idea: God's promise is not a vague hope but a carefully constructed plan — a detail-oriented covenant that unfolds through history.

Detail 1: Numerous descendants

When we read the details of God's promise, one of the first things that stands out is that God promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. As a general rule, I am a literalist whenever it's practical in Scripture, but I don't believe we are to take this literally here.

Just to explain myself a bit: there are between two and six thousand stars visible to the naked eye. In the Milky Way, there are somewhere between one hundred and four hundred billion stars, and astronomers estimate around two times ten to the twenty-third stars in the observable universe. Somewhat ironically, people who enjoy counting such things have compared the number of stars in the universe to the total number of grains of sand on all the beaches on earth.

But I don't think that's the point of the promise. Abraham didn't know how many stars there were in the heavens, nor did he know how many grains of sand covered the seashores. What Abraham knew was that both were vast — and that God had promised him something vast.

In Genesis 15:5, God took Abraham outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." The point was not to calculate a number, but to understand that Abraham's descendants would be beyond what he could possibly imagine.

Detail 2: Victorious descendants

The second detail we see in this passage is the promise of victory. God's covenant with Abraham includes not only numerous descendants but descendants who would be victorious. In Genesis 14, Abraham had already experienced victory over the kings who kidnapped his nephew Lot. Now, God promises that his descendants will continue to experience triumph — "your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies."

That phrase "possession of enemy cities" carries a powerful image. In the ancient world, taking control of the land around a city was often achievable, but conquering the city itself was another matter entirely. Cities were fortified, and most battles turned into long, drawn-out sieges. Jericho-type victories — where walls fell quickly — were rare. Yet here, God promises Abraham that his descendants would not only survive against their enemies but would prevail completely. Even the strongholds of their foes would not stand.

Detail 3: A blessing on all people

The final and ultimate part of the promise comes in verse 18: "Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed." The scope of God's promise expands beyond Abraham's family, beyond the borders of Israel, to all nations. I'm not sure what Abraham would have imagined this blessing to mean, but it's worth pausing to consider how his descendants might have been a blessing to others.

Perhaps they could have been a missionary people — teaching the nations about Yahweh, the one true God. They might have demonstrated the sacrificial system and God's moral standards. They might have shared God's blessings, showing the world what it looks like to live under His favor and rule.

Of course, as we'll see later, the ultimate fulfillment of this promise comes through Christ. But even here, at this early stage, we can see that God's promises to Abraham were significant, far-reaching, and global in their design.

MTR: Take a second and carefully consider: what has God promised me?

Be careful here — many promises in Scripture are not directly ours. Yet some are. God's promises of salvation, His presence, and His care are certain. Take a moment and reflect on the promises you are holding onto today.

1. Salvation and eternal life

• Romans 10:9-10 "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

2. God will not leave or forsake

• Matthew 28:20 "And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

3. God will care for His people

• 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Timing — God keeps His promise across epochs of history (Matthew 1:17).

Idea: Throughout history, God's people have expected many different things from Him — but His promise was grander and longer in scope than anyone imagined.

When you're reading your Bible, how often do you really read through all the genealogies — and how often do you skim them or skip them altogether? I get it. All those names can feel like a burden, and often it seems like those details don't matter much.

But the truth is, those details do matter. Many people have taken the time to carefully compare Matthew's genealogy with Luke's, noting several important differences. When I first began preparing this sermon, I thought I might explore those details — but that's not where God ultimately led me. (Maybe you can study that comparison on your own sometime!)

Instead, today I want to focus on one key verse at the end of Matthew's genealogy: Matthew 1:17.

A lot of scholars have wrestled with the meaning and significance of the phrase "fourteen generations." Rather than diving into that phrase, I want us to notice how Matthew chose to divide history — from Abraham to Jesus — into three distinct epochs. These divisions aren't just historical; they reveal God's faithfulness through centuries of waiting.

Epoch 1: Waiting for a nation.

After God promised Abraham many descendants, victory, and that he would be a blessing to all peoples, His people entered a long period of waiting — over a thousand years!

Think about it: after God made His promise, Abraham grew old, Isaac married and grew old, and Jacob — who received the blessing — went to live with Laban. Jacob’s twelve sons eventually found themselves in Egypt, and before long, their situation spiraled downward until the Israelites became slaves.

When God finally delivered them from slavery, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. At last they entered Canaan, but even then, their victories were incomplete. The stories of Joshua and Judges are filled with as much failure as triumph.

Eventually, the people anointed their first king, Saul — only to discover he was yet another disappointment. The first epoch of Israel’s history, this long waiting for a nation, hardly looks like a story of fulfilled promise. And yet, through every setback, God was still quietly working out His plan.

Epoch 2: Waiting as a nation.

The second epoch begins with great promise. David sits on the throne, and God makes a new covenant with him — a promise of an everlasting kingdom. But soon the nation begins to crumble.

After Solomon’s reign, Rehoboam’s arrogance divides the kingdom in two. The northern ten tribes of Israel quickly plunge into idolatry, while the southern two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) fare only slightly better. There are brief moments of revival, but overall the nation slides into rebellion and ruin.

Eventually, the northern kingdom of Israel is carried off to Assyria, and generations later the southern kingdom of Judah falls to Babylon. By the time we reach 587 BC and the destruction of Jerusalem, God’s promise seems to hang by a thread. To anyone living then, the hope of God’s covenant with Abraham and David would have looked bleak — maybe even forgotten. But it wasn’t. God was still keeping His promise, just not in the way anyone expected.

Epoch 3: Waiting after a nation.

With the fall of Jerusalem, Israel's hope and expectation began to shift. Instead of focusing on being a blessing to all peoples, they began to long for a "Messiah" — a conquering king who would overthrow their oppressors and bring in a golden age of freedom and prosperity.

By the time Jesus was born, that expectation had hardened into a national dream: "When the Messiah comes, He will destroy our enemies and restore our kingdom." But Matthew's genealogy reminds us that God's promise had always been larger — not just for Israel, but for all nations.

Across these three epochs — from Abraham to David, from David to exile, and from exile to Christ — God was faithfully keeping His word. His timing is not our timing, but His plan unfolds perfectly. Through generations, kingdoms, and failures, God's promise never wavered.

MTR: As you wait for the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise, take heart — waiting is part of the story.

Waiting is not wasted time; it's part of God's design. The Israelites, in their waiting, often misunderstood what they were waiting for. They began to focus narrowly on a conquering Messiah instead of the full scope of God's promise — a Redeemer who would bring blessing to all nations.

We need to learn from their example. As we wait for Christ's second coming, we too must remember the full promise. We're not only waiting for a King who will bring judgment and victory — we're waiting for the Savior who will right every wrong, heal every wound, and roll back the curse itself.

So take heart as you wait. God is never late in keeping His word. Every generation that waited before us was part of His unfolding plan — and so are we.

Fulfillment — God's promise to Abraham finds its complete fulfillment in Christ.

Idea: God's promise truly is one of global significance.

Fulfillment 1: Through Christ, Abraham has many more descendants (Galatians 3:7).

Through faith in Christ, the family of Abraham multiplies far beyond the boundaries of ethnic Israel.

Before we go any further, I want to raise a large caution sign. The Church does not replace Israel. God still has a distinct plan for ethnic Israel, and that plan will come to its ultimate fruition in the millennial reign of Christ.

However, even as God preserves His promises to national Israel, He is also fulfilling another aspect of His promise to Abraham through Christ. Scripture uses several related images to describe this reality. We are adopted as sons and daughters of God the Father (Romans 8:15), and we are also counted as descendants of Abraham through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:7). These are complementary truths — one speaks to our relationship with God, the other to our place in His redemptive story.

When you place your faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus, trusting Him personally as Savior, you become part of Abraham's spiritual family. You are grafted into the line of promise.

Here's where I find something particularly beautiful. In the book of Numbers, the physical descendants of Abraham were carefully counted. Later, at the end of his reign, David also attempted to number Israel. But in Christ, we now belong to a family that cannot be numbered. Because faith is a matter of the heart — the "circumcision of the heart" (Romans 2:29) — there is no census that can capture the redeemed. Through Christ, Abraham's seed has multiplied beyond measure, fulfilling God's ancient promise in a way no human could have imagined.

Fulfillment 2: Through Christ, the descendants of Abraham will realize complete victory (Revelation 19:11-16).

Christ's triumph secures the final vindication and victory promised to Abraham's descendants.

Throughout Israel's history, one pattern is unmistakable — their victories were always partial and temporary. Though God had promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the cities of their enemies (Genesis 22:17), Israel never enjoyed lasting peace. Even at its strongest, under David and Solomon, the kingdom fell short of permanent victory.

Revelation 19 paints a very different picture. When Jesus returns, He comes not as a suffering servant but as a conquering King — "Faithful and True," riding on a white horse, with all authority in heaven and on earth. In that moment, every promise of triumph finds its completion. Christ will conquer His enemies and establish His righteous rule over all creation.

In that day, Abraham's descendants — all who are united to Christ by faith — will share in His complete and eternal victory. What Israel only saw in glimpses, Christ will bring to perfect fulfillment.

Revelation 19 makes it clear, the day is coming when Jesus will have complete victory.

Fulfillment 3: Through Christ any person can enjoy the blessings of sonship (Galatians 3:8).

The final and perhaps greatest fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham is that all nations would be blessed through him.

Paul draws this connection clearly in Galatians 3:8, explaining that the gospel itself was foretold in God's promise to Abraham. Jesus came, died, and rose again to secure a right relationship with God for everyone who places their full faith — their total dependence — on Him for salvation.

And here's the key: that salvation is available to all people, regardless of ethnicity or background. To Jew and Gentile alike, salvation comes by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Through faith in Christ, every believer receives God's ultimate blessing — adoption.

As Paul writes in Romans 8:15:

"The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" The word Abba is the word of endearment for father, something akin to a child calling their father daddy.

Through Christ, we are brought into a personal relationship with the God of the universe — the very source of every blessing.

MTR: Take a second and make sure that you are counted on the winning side.

God's promises have never failed. Every word spoken to Abraham finds its ultimate "Yes" in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). The question that remains is personal: Are you part of that fulfilled promise? Have you placed your trust in Christ, the only true descendant through whom all blessing flows?

Make sure today that you are counted among Abraham's children — those who have found life, victory, and eternal blessing through faith in Jesus Christ.