365 Prophecies: Prophecy 5

The prediction that Abraham will become a great nation and his name made great. From his line of descendants, the Messiah will come. Through the Messiah’s life, death, and resurrection, the whole world may be blessed if they receive Him.

Old Testament Prediction:

Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you (Abraham) a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great;And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

New Testament Fulfillment:

Acts 3:25-26 “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

Application:

Because of this 5th Old Testament prophecy, Abraham became the father of the nation of Israel. The greatness of Abraham’s name is seen in the line of descendants that came from him. In fulfillment of this prophecy, there are exactly fourteen generations from Abraham to David. Seven, being the number of completion, times two.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Pharez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

Abraham produced Isaac; and Isaac brought forth Jacob, who is the father of the twelve tribes. One of the twelve was Judah, who brought forth the Messiah Jesus Christ. The Messiah is referred to as The Son of David, because David is the fourteenth descendant of Abraham. Forty-two descendants later, Jesus is born to Mary, a direct descendant of King David.

1. Nathan, Mattatha, Menan, Melea, Eliakim, Jonah, Joseph, Juda, Simeon, Levi, Matthat, Jorim, Eleazer, Jose, Er, Elmodam, Cosam, Addi, Melchi, Neri, Salathiel, Zerubbabel, Rhesa, Johanna, Juda, Joseph, Semei, Matthias, Maath, Nagge, Elsi, Naum, Amos, Matthathias, Joseph, Janna, Melchi, Levi, Matthat, Heli, Mary, 42. Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the 56th from Abraham, which is 7 X 8.

He is qualified to be the Messiah because His genealogy proves that He is The Son of David and the Son of Abraham.

Jesus told the Jews that because they had missed the time of their visitation by the Messiah, their house would be left to them desolate. In 70 A.D., Titus destroyed Jerusalem and burned all the genealogical records, so that from that time onward, no one could prove that they were descended from Abraham and David and therefore, qualified to be the Messiah. The reason that God allowed all these records to be destroyed was that the Messiah had already arrived and no further proof was required of the Messiah’s genealogy.

Luke 13:34-35 (Jesus speaking) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

Luke 19:42-44 (Jesus) saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

See Prophecy 309 and the chapter, The Predictions of Jesus, for further information.

Abraham is called the father of faith, because he simply believed what God said; because he believed, his faith was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham’s righteousness in believing God made it possible for all future generations after him, which eventually led to the coming of the Messiah, to also be righteous because they believe what God has said.

At the beginning, Abraham was called Abram. Later, when God revealed His plan of salvation through a future Messiah, who would come from one of Abraham’s descendants, Abram believed what God said.

Upon Abram’s trust God, He then changed Abram’s name to Abraham. The addition of the Hebrew letters ha, which is the sound of breath or the Holy Spirit. The addition God’s Spirit upon Abraham is what made Abraham the father of many nations. It was the breath of God or the Spirit of God that changed Abraham’s life. Just as the Holy Spirit today, dwelling in us as a result of our faith in Jesus Christ, makes us a new creation. It was because Abraham believed what God had said concerning the coming salvation by one of his descendants, that God added the ha, to his name (the Holy Spirit), which enabled him to live the life that God had called him to. Abraham produced the twelve sons that became the twelve tribes of Israel. From the nation of Israel and the tribe of Judah, the Messiah came against impossible circumstances.

When Abraham reached a point in his life where the promises of God seemed impossible, he placed all of his trust in what the Lord told him instead of the impossibility of his circumstances. God made promises to Abraham that he believed and then lived out in the actions of his life. Although he struggled with his trust in God, making many mistakes along the way, in the end he was willing to give up that whom he loves the most— his only son Isaac. In Genesis Chapter 22, God commands Abraham to take his son and offer Him as a burnt offering. Abraham took Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah, strapped his son to the wood on the altar, and raised the knife to sacrifice Isaac. The Lord stopped Abraham before his son was killed, and Abraham graduated from the school of faith.

If you were 99 years old and had no children, and God told you that the Messiah was going to come from your line of descendants, what would you say to Him?

Genesis 17:1-6 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.”

God promised Abraham and Sarah that a line of descendants would come from their bodies which would produce the Messiah. He would be a blessing to every nation, and many people who would receive Him as the Messiah. Although they were both past the age when it was possible to conceive a child, this son would be given to them by God, in their later years. Isaac was born as a result of the fulfillment of God’s promise, not as a result of their human effort. This son, by impossible circumstances, would be a reminder that salvation is of the Lord, not by human achievement.

Imagine that your wife is well past the age when she could bear a child, and God informs her that she is going to have a baby. What would her response be? The first thing that most folks would do at that age is tell the Lord, No, thanks, it is too late for us, we are too old to have a child.

Abraham and Sarah had completely given up hope of ever having a son, believing that it was simply not the will of God. The Lord often waits until it is humanly impossible for us before He brings into our life the blessings that He has planned. God works in this way, so that when He does act, we will understand that the blessing came from Him and not by human effort or our hard work. Delayed blessings are frequently the end result of those who trust in the Lord. By being forced to wait, God builds character in us and the ability to manifest patience.

Romans 5:3-5 …we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Despite Abraham and Sarah’s constant and fervent prayers, the Lord chose not to give them the desire of their heart. When Abraham and Sarah both reached the place where it was humanly impossible to have a child, this was the time when the Lord gave them a son.

God was going to bring to the earth His only Son through Abraham’s line of descendants. He wanted all of the circumstances surrounding the birth of His Son to be extraordinary and by impossible means. The Lord wanted to demonstrate to us that when something seems impossible, that is when the Lord does His best work.

God did for Abraham what he could never do for himself. Jesus came to do for us what was impossible for us to do for ourselves. Salvation is impossible to obtain by human efforts.

Just as the birth of Abraham’s son came only by the supernatural working of God, so also did Jesus’ birth come by impossible circumstances. Jesus was born without the assistance of man. He was born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ death and resurrection also came by impossible means. When all those who had followed Jesus watched Him suffer and die on the cross, they imagined that their hopes and dreams for the Messiah were over. Three days later, God showed what He is capable of. With enough time and a little trust, the Lord can do anything. Our eternal life and the forgiveness of our sins came by the extraordinary and amazing work of God’s Son, dying for all of us, and then raising Himself from the dead three days later.

In this 5th Old Testament prophecy that Jesus fulfilled as the Messiah, He comes from Abraham’s line of descendants. God was reminding us that our salvation and our entire life are all a supernatural works of His hand. It is by His Grace, through our faith that we are saved; not by ourselves.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…

The promise of this 5th prophecy is that all those who bless Abraham will themselves be blessed. The entire scope of God’s working in Abraham’s life was to bring into the world a birth by impossible means— a line of descendants who would bring about His Son, the Messiah. When God promised those who bless Abraham that they would be blessed themselves, He is alluding to those who will receive the One that came from Abraham, the Messiah Jesus Christ.