A Father of Many Nations

by

Philip du Nard

Skipping over the story of Hagar and Ishmael in Gen. 16 for the present, we come to Gen. 17 which is a key chapter in God's dealings with Abram and his descendants. The full text can be accessed here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Gen/Gen017.html

The first nine verses read:  And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.   
   And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.   
  And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,   
  As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.   
  Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.   
  And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.   
  And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.   
  And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.   
  And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

Here again, mention is made of a covenant with Abram and his descendants whose name is now changed to the more familiar Abraham to signify that he would become the father of many nations. Sometimes Christian people come to the Scriptures with preconceived ideas about what certain passages mean based on what they may have been taught or read elsewhere and this may influence our understanding rightly or wrongly and so it is sometimes helpful to approach scripture passages such as this forgetting what we think we know and let the passage speak for itself. Not all nations on earth can claim Abraham as their father. But if this passage is true, then we should expect to find many nations on earth today which can legitimately claim Abraham as their father. Once again, the longstanding, popular theological tradition that the Jewish people are the only people on earth that are in a covenant relationship with God based on natural descent from Abraham makes a scripture passage such as this of none effect. One of the complaints the Lord had about the Pharisees was that they made the word of God of none effect through their traditions (Mark 7:13).

Romans 4:16-17 out of context has tempted many Bible students to think that the many nations referred to is a reference to all the people that would believe on Christ since in verse 11, Abraham is called "the father of all who believe." While it is true that Abraham is the father of all who believe, a fuller reading of both Genesis 17 and Romans 4 reveals that in order for Abraham to become the father of many nations required that he believe for the physical quickening of his mortal body and also the quickening of Sarah's womb so a spiritual seed is not what is referred to here. The manner in which Galatians 3 has been interpreted has also been a stumblingblock to many to accepting what should be the obvious understanding of Genesis 17 but that will have to be dealt with in another study.

The Jews have been dispersed to many nations, but this does not make them many nations. There are Christians of many nationalities but this does not make them nations. The promise to Abraham is not that God would make him the father of many individuals of or from many nations but rather, "I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee."Whole sovereign nations, along with their kings, etc. could claim to be the result of God's promise to Abraham and God would be a God to those nations in a way in which He would not be the God to the remainder of earth's peoples. The promise in verse 8, "and I will be their God" is one of the keys to identifying those nations. One must look at the whole history and not just at the present period of rebellion aganst God.

Let us realize the truth contained in Rom. 15:8 that "...Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God,to confirm the promises made unto the fathers."So Christ died to make these promises a reality, not to start something contrary to these promises. Let us also realize the truth contained in I John 2:23 and I John 5:12 that it is only through Christ that we have access to God. Thus, we would expect to find the nations of which it could be said, "and I will be their God" among the nations which have historically been the nations of Christendom. This did not mean that every citizen would be a born again believer. That was never true, not even in Bible times.

                                                                         Next: Three Measures of Meal



















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