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BEGINNING OF THE HEBREW NATION

I. QUAR., LESSON V., FEB. 4, GEN. 12:1-9

Golden Text—”I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.”—Gen. 12:2

VERSE 1. The Lord had commanded Abraham to leave his native land, etc., while he was yet in Haran (verse 4); and later, when his father was dead, and when he arrived in the land of Canaan, God showed him the land and gave him the title to it for himself and his seed after him for an everlasting possession. (Verse 7; 17:8.) Thus we have a very important point in chronology established, viz., the date of the Abrahamic covenant. See MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II., pages 44-47.

VERSES 2,3. In partial fulfilment of this promise, the nation of Israel has indeed become a great nation—a nation unique in its separation from other nations, and in its peculiar history under the divine guidance. And the promises and threatenings of verse 3 will in due time be dealt out to those who bless and to those who oppress her.

The blessing of all the families of the earth through Abraham and his seed—which seed is Christ, head and body, as the Apostle Paul explains (Gal. 3:16,29)—is a promise which few Christians have duly considered. All the families of the earth must certainly include the families that have died, as well as the families that are living. And it points forward, therefore, to the grand millennial reign of Christ, when, according to his Word, all that are in their graves will

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hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall come forth.—John 5:25,28.

Nor is God’s dealing with this nation yet ended; for the gifts and callings of God are not things to be repented of or changed. In God’s due time, after the full completion and glorification of the elect Gospel Church, the mercy of the Lord shall again turn toward the seed of Jacob. And so all of fleshly Israel shall be saved from present blindness, as it is written, “There shall come out of Zion the deliverer [the Gospel Church, the spiritual seed of Abraham—Gal. 3:29], and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob;” for this is God’s covenant with them.—Rom. 11:25-33.

The remaining verses of the lesson show that Abraham obediently followed the Lord’s direction, walking by faith in his promise. Thus his acts attested his faith, and his faith, thus attested, was acceptable to God.—Jas. 2:22.

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— January 15, 1894 —