God told Abram: "... I will make of thee a great nation..." Genesis 12:2
These words actually convey the idea that God was going to make of Abram only one great nation in the future without including his pure bloodline descendants. In fact, God never mentioned to Abram, prior to him becoming Abraham, that his descendants (plural) would ever become nations!
The words of this scripture may seem to be strangely spoken, or it may even seem to be contradictory, especially when you think about how God promised to make Abraham the father of many nations in the book of Genesis 17:4 & 5, but Genesis 12:2 actually says God will make of Abram a great nation, which means one great nation that will come from him!
To understand why God said it that way, you must remember to separate the man Abram, from the man Abraham. Abram was party to the 1st Covenant, and Abraham was party to the 2nd Covenant. God was speaking to the man Abram of the 1st Covenant when "He said I will make of thee a great nation."
God first told Abram that he would make of him a great nation when He instructed Abram to leave his family and land, in Genesis 12:1 & 2. God had to keep that promise, so after Abram had become Abraham, God told Abram that Ishmael would become that great nation He had promised. "... the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed." Genesis 21:13
I want you to take notice that God still did not promise to Abram that Ishmael's descendants would become nations. God only promised to Abram that Ishmael would become a great nation because He had already made the promise to Abram before he [Abram] violated the 1st Covenant.
We have proof that Ishmael's descendants did not become nations. Because all of them mingled with other tribes and nations. Even though some of the tribal people who they assimilated with became nations, but they themselves were not named as nations.
The word "seed" that is used in Genesis 21:13 refers to "a child that is born from Abram's own body, and the child was not conceived with his Covenant wife." The scripture can be paraphrased to read like this: "...the son you have with the bondwoman [Hagar] will I make a nation, only because he is your child."
Be Blessed, and enjoy all future articles from Robert J. Parker, Sr.
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