December 08, 2021 – Wednesday
Genesis 22:17-18 NIV
17 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,
18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Comment.
This is God making a promise to Abraham which He clearly keeps. We know from our reading of the Old Testament Abraham’s descendants grew great in number. As true as that is, I would like to think the verses above also speak of Jesus.
Consider the portion that reads, through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed. Jesus was sent to save all of mankind. Surely that is a blessing to all the nations of the earth. And He came from Abrahams’s line per Matthew 1:1-17 or Luke 3:23-38. If you are concerned about some of the arguments about the lineage of Abraham through David to Jesus I would recommend the article The Question of Jesus Two Genealogies as a great read which confirms Jesus as a descendant in the line of David.
One interesting point made in the article was that Jesus did not carry the DNA of Joseph, so He did not have a right to David’s throne. The author of the article states, This is simply not true. It was not unusual for a king to adopt an heir to his throne when he lacked natural children, and furthermore, the laws of levirate marriage stipulated that if a childless widow were to marry her deceased husband’s brother, her first husband’s name and inheritance would be passed on to the child of that union. Legal and kinship standing, therefore, was related to either genes or adoption or marriage.
Either way (read the article) as we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25 we may also look all the way back to Genesis and God’s promise to Abraham for the promise of Jesus and His lineage as the Messiah (Christ) to come.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for the Promise of Your Son who loved us so much He died on the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we would have the opportunity to repent, believe, and call on Him as our Lord and Savior. Your Word holds true. Thank You. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton in Beavercreek