Series: Changes
Genesis 12:3 ESV
Acts 3:25-26 NIV
Early in scripture God issued a blessing and that blessing is a solid promise. God doesn’t say I might bless you if you do everything right.
It’s a done deal.
When God called Abram to go out and sent him to a new land the blessing was a promise.
The Prophecy found in Genesis 12:3 says,
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
I’m not sure but in my case when God tells me I will be blessed I expect to see the result in about ten minutes. I realize that’s not realistic, but I have to wonder what Abram (who would be called Abraham) would have thought about the blessing and the curse.
According to Scholars Abram was born in 2166 B.C. and he was called when he was 75 years old.
The prophecy would have been given in a vision. In today’s world there are church denominations that openly embrace visions and dreams and there are churches that believe God no longer speaks to humans utilizing those gifts.
I’ve been part of a large denomination that did not embrace those gifts and they did not openly speak specific gifts. I once told a pastor God came to me in a dream and he told others I was a heretic. I was in my early twenties and I was devastated. My dad knew God spoke to me through dreams and visions and he helped me to understand what God was saying. I didn’t know it at the time but I now know my dad had the gift of interpretation.
As a result of the pastor’s claim about me years ago I did not openly speak about my gift for years. Then many still later I had moved to a community and started going to a very large church. They embraced all of the gifts listed in scripture. I met a group of people who embraced all of the gifts. Eventually I was director of the healing prayer ministry and we had a weekly meeting so others could come to be prayed for at that meeting.
Back to Abram’s vision from Genesis 12:3, Biblical scholars believe the fulfillment of the prophecy is found in Acts 3:25-26:
“And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
At the time I was going to the large church I was meeting monthly with a Spiritual Director. He helped me understand more about my gifts and (more importantly) the interpretation of my dreams and visions.
I came to realize there would be times when I understood the meaning, there would be times when I needed to pray and wait for God to show me the meaning, and there would be times when in God’s time the meaning would be revealed.
Today’s scripture is a perfect example. Abraham received the word from God in Genesis and the fulfillment did not come in his lifetime. It really was all in God’s hands. We are blessed by Abraham’s Word from God. It gives us hope.
In God, Deborah/acrazyjourney.com
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