Genesis 26:1-5 (ESV)

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Christians understand the meaning of the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12 & 22 (“In your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”). It’s all about Jesus.

But non-Christians don’t see it that way. They’ve come up with numerous theories for how Abraham’s descendants will bless all nations. They will be beneficent rulers. Their wisdom will bless their neighbors. They will do great things.

But two things in this passage contradict those theories.

• The entire promise is passed to Isaac; none of Abraham’s other sons are involved.
• Isaac is told to stay put and not travel to other lands.

These things dictate a single line of blessing through Isaac’s descendants while preventing the spread of those descendants who might bless all nations with their “wonderfulness.”

The whole Old Testament points to Christ.

But the timetable takes a little getting used to. The Messiah is still over a thousand years away.

Imagine that God told you that He was granting you a thousand year life and that at the end Christ would return.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-10/13/richard-seymour

Would this try your patience? We’ve already waited two-thousand years for Christ’s return. What’s another thousand?

Yet there’s something about actually sitting through a whole millennium that’s intimidating. We always talk about how God deals with things on a larger scale, and how God’s ways are not our ways, but we rarely ponder what that means.

For the time dimension, we at least have some feel for it. We have a mental image of a thousand years – and it’s scary. That helps us see one aspect of how God’s ways are above our pay grade.

Praise God for who He is. Would you want His job?

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies