Who is Abraham’s Seed? – Lech Lecha – Oct. 24

The life of Abraham was a life that was truly blessed.  We read of the blessing of Abraham throughout his life, which then continued in the life of his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. We first read of the blessing of Abraham, who was formerly called Abram, at the beginning of this week’s Torah Portion:

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” – Gen. 12:1-3

God promised to bless Abram in every possible way and to make his name great.   God also promised that all of the families of the earth would be blessed through the life of Abram.  This was a clear prophecy about the Messiah, who would one day come through the line and seed of Abram and bless the whole world through His life.

According to the Bible, God first spoke to Abram about this blessing and commanded him to leave his own country and go to the land where God would show him when Abram was 75 years old (Gen. 12:4).  Abram was obedient to God and left the place that he was living, Haran, taking with him Sarai his wife and his nephew Lot (Gen. 12:5).

God led Abram to the Land, which He had promised, and God told Abram that He would give that Land to Abram’s descendants: “The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him” (Gen. 12:7).  The word used for “descendants” in this verse is the Hebrew word “זרע” – “zerah” which means “seed” in the singular.  The significance of the singular seed is extremely important as we will see later in the story.  God’s promise was to Abraham and to his seed!

The Blessing without an Object

Some time later God appeared to Abram in a vision and told him: “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” (Gen. 15:1).  As time was passing, and Abram was not getting any younger, Abram asked God a very logical question:

Abram said, “O LORD God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” – Gen. 15:2-3

Abram was thinking like any normal person.  God had promised to bless Abram and give an inheritance to Abram’s descendants (seed).   How could God make Abram great and give this beautiful Land to his descendants (seed) if Abram didn’t have any offspring (seed)?

The irony of this story is that Abram’s name has significant meaning.  Abram’s name in Hebrew is “אברם” – “Avram,” which means “exalted father.”  At this point in the story Abram appears to be in his early 80’s, his name means “exalted father,” God is making unbelievable promises to Abram and his descendants, but Abram is childless.

Abram is confused by this whole scenario and was planning on making his house steward, Eliezer, his heir.  In fact, Abram sort of blamed God when he said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir”  (Gen. 15:3).  The phrase “Since You have given no offspring to me” in Hebrew is “הן לי לא נתתה זרע” – “hen li lo natata zerah” and is literally translated as “since to me you have not given seed.”  God had promised to bless Abram and his “seed” and Abram was reminding God that something was missing in this scenario.  Where is the seed?

The Seed of Abram as the Stars of the Heavens

God realized that he needed to give Abram a bit more information and so God spoke to Abram in a very straightforward manner:

“This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” – Gen. 15:4-5

God wanted Abram to understand clearly that Eliezer was not going to be his heir but rather God would give him a natural born heir from Abram’s own body.  God also promised that Abram’s descendants would be great in number as the stars in the heavens.  Again, God used the word “seed” – “zerah” to speak of Abram’s descendants in these verses.  In these verses we actually read of the dual meaning behind the word “seed.”  God speaks of the actual descendant of Abraham that would come from his body and then God promised to multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens.  The promise of Abraham’s seed was both individual and national.

The following video gives us a glimpse of what God meant when he told Abraham to count the stars:

Abram asked God to confirm to him that he would indeed possess the Land as God has spoken.  God told Abram to bring him certain animals for sacrifice and God made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:” (Gen. 15:18)  The word for descendants here is also the word “zerah,” – “seed.”

An Attempt to “Help God”

Up to this point in the story of Abram, God has only focused on the fact that an heir would come forth from Abram’s body but has said nothing about Abram’s wife, Sarai.  When Sarai realized that she had grown old and was prevented from bearing children, she encouraged Abram to take her Egyptian maid, Hagar, and have a child through her.  Abram followed the advice of his wife but then when Hagar became pregnant she used it against Sarai and Sarai was not too happy.  Sarai treated Hagar harshly and Hagar fled from her as a result (Gen. 16:1-6).

While Hagar was pregnant the angel of the LORD appeared to Hagar and gave her a prophetic word about the son whom she would bear:

Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers.  – Gen. 16:11-12

And so is the prophecy of the man Ishmael, the son of Abram that Hagar bore to him.  Ishmael would be a wild donkey of a man and in constant turmoil with everyone.  Abram was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.

A Chosen Name

Thirteen years passed until God appeared to Abram again.  Ishmael was now 13 years old and Abram 99 years old.  God came to Abram and reestablished His covenant with Abram:

As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. – Gen. 17:4-5

God reconfirmed His covenant with Abram and changed his name from Abram to Abraham.  As mentioned earlier, the name “Avram” means “exalted father” and “Avraham” means “father of many,” for God said that he would make Abraham a “father of a multitude of nations.”

Later on in this same chapter God changed Sarai’s name as well: “Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name” (Gen. 17:15).  The name “Sarai” in Hebrew is “שרי” and to the best of our knowledge means “my princess.”  The name “Sarah” in Hebrew is “שרה” and simply means “princess.”  It appears that God was taking her from just being Abraham’s wife, his special princess, to being the mother and princess of many peoples.  God speaks of this specifically in the following verse: “I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her” (Gen. 17:16).

It was at this time that God spoke openly to Abraham that Sarah herself would provide Abraham with a son.  This son was to be the promised seed that God had been speaking about for all of these years.

God changed both Abraham and Sarah’s names to prophetically depict what God wanted to accomplish through them.  God chose their names and used them for His glory.  In the book of Proverbs we read the following verse which explains the value of a chosen name:

“A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, favor is better than silver and gold.” – Proverbs 22:1

The phrase “a good name” in Hebrew is actually “נבחר שם” – “nivchar shem” which is literally “a chosen name.”  Abraham and Sarah received names that were chosen for them by God Himself.  God would also choose the name of their son as well.  God desired to bless all of the families of the earth through Abraham and Sarah in their son Isaac and ultimately through the Messiah.  A chosen name is truly more desired than all of the wealth that the world can offer.

The Promised Seed

Although God was speaking very plainly to Abraham, he still struggled to believe that God could actually use him at 99 years old and especially Sarah at 90 years old.  Abraham’s response to God regarding Sarah bearing him a son was laughter (Gen. 17:17).  Abraham laughed (יצחק – yitzak) and then tried to help God work this out in a “more reasonable manner:”

And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. – Gen. 17:18-19

Abraham asked God to just use Ishmael but God said No!  God had a plan and he would use the son of both Abraham and Sarah to accomplish this.  Abraham laughed at this idea and God told Abraham that his son’s name would be Isaac or in Hebrew “יצחק” – “Yitzak,” which means, “he laughed!”

God proclaimed that it would be through Isaac that He would continue to establish His covenant and that it would be an everlasting covenant for “his descendants after him,” literally “לזרעו אחריו” – “le zeroh acharav” – “to his seed after him.”

Ishmael: The Other Seed of Abraham

Ishmael was not forgotten at this time.  God explained to Abraham that He also had a plan for Ishmael:

As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year. – Gen. 17:20-21

Ishmael would also become a great nation with twelve princes, however, God’s covenant would be through Isaac.

Islam claims that Muhammad was a descendant of Abraham through Ishmael and Islam follows the story of Abraham from Ishmael in Islamic teaching.  In other words, where the Bible clearly speaks of Isaac as the child of promise, Islam follows Ishmael as God’s “chosen” son of Abraham.  However, the prophecy of God to Ishmael in the Bible, as noted earlier, is that he would be a wild donkey of a man and that he would be against everyone and everyone would be against him. As I look upon the situation in Israel and all over the Middle East I can’t help but think that the violence perpetrated by Islam is a fulfillment of this prophecy.

God’s covenant and blessing would be through Isaac.  God confirmed His covenant with Avraham through his wife Sarah who would bear Abraham a son.  God made a promise to Abraham and Sarah and gave each of them a new name in the process: Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac (Yitzak).  Isaac was the promised seed.

Who is the Seed of Abraham?

I was recently talking with some friends about this subject of the seed of Abraham.  One of my friends was proposing the idea that the seed of Abraham is only the Messiah and all who believe in Him.  I responded that I didn’t totally agree with this and asked about the Jewish people today, “Aren’t the Jewish people also the seed of Abraham?”  We had much discussion about this but never really came to a firm conclusion.  For the remainder of this week’s study I would like to investigate how the New Testament interprets and understands the concept of “the seed of Abraham.”

The New Testament speaks often of Abraham and his seed.  One of the most well-known verses is found in the letter to the Galatians: “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ” (Gal. 3:16).  This verse in Galatians is clearly referring to “Christ,” the Messiah, as the seed of Abraham.  I believe this is true, however, does the seed of Abraham only refer to the Messiah?

Messiah – The Seed of Abraham

The context of Galatians chapter three is that of a righteousness based on the Law compared to a righteousness based on faith.  The point that Paul is making in Galatians chapter three is that the seed of Abraham was pointing to the promised Messiah who came through the seed of the Jewish people and that righteousness is only possible through faith in God’s promised seed, which is ultimately Yeshua (Gal. 3:24-26).

Abraham’s Seed – Children of Promise: Jews and Gentiles

Yeshua the Messiah is the fulfillment of the seed of Abraham in a physical sense (through his mother Mary and the seed that was placed in her) and also in a spiritual sense.  Anyone who believes in Yeshua as the Messiah is also counted as the spiritual seed of Abraham: “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29).

Paul also taught in the letter to the Romans that those who are truly the seed of Abraham are those who are included in the promise of God:

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. – Rom. 9:6-8

Paul then continues his defense of the “spiritual seed” of Abraham referring to those who believe, both Jew and Gentile, throughout Romans chapters nine and ten:

And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. (Rom. 9:23-24)

We can conclude from this rather lengthy defense and teaching of Paul that there is clearly a spiritual reality of the seed of Abraham referring both to the Messiah and to all of those who believe in Him by faith, including both Jew and Gentile.  Therefore, just as we read earlier about the individual and national reference of the physical “seed of Abraham” (Gen.15:4-5) we also read here in the New Testament of both an individual and a national fulfillment of the spiritual seed of Abraham through the Messiah and all of those who believe in Him.

Does this truth of the spiritual seed of Abraham nullify the physical seed of Abraham?  Are the Jewish people still relevant today as a distinct nationality and people group in God’s program or has their purpose been completed by giving the world the Messiah?

The Physical Seed of Abraham

Paul’s straightforward teaching about the spiritual seed of Abraham, including both Jews and Gentiles, found in Romans chapters nine and ten, is bookended at the beginning of Romans chapter nine and throughout Romans chapter eleven by an even more explicit teaching regarding the physical seed of Abraham.  There is a physical reality to the seed of Abraham which came through his son Isaac and then through Jacob, who was later called Israel, from whom came the twelve tribes of Israel.

In the first few verses of Romans nine, Paul speaks of the people of Israel, of whom he was also a part, as a distinct people in the flesh (Rom. 9:1-5). Then in chapter eleven Paul more explicitly defends the physical seed of Abraham, in which he also identified himself:

I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” – Rom. 11:1-2

In identifying himself as an “Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,” Paul literally used the phrase “a seed of Abraham,” in the Greek to speak of his earthly family heritage in a physical sense.

Israel – The National Seed of Abraham

Romans chapter eleven in its entirety is a quite thorough defense for a biblical reality and continuation of the Jewish people as the seed of Abraham beyond even today, into a glorious future which God Himself will bring about:

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved;… – Rom. 11:25-26

The use of the terms Israel and Gentiles in this context is clearly referring to Israel as the physical descendants of Abraham and the Gentiles as the people from the nations who believe in Yeshua the Messiah.  Paul distinguishes between Jew and Gentile in this context to emphasize that God has a plan involving the Israelites, the physical seed of Abraham promised through Isaac, which will have its ultimate fulfillment at the culmination of days when Israel will be saved.

All Israel will be Saved!

There are differences of opinion regarding what this statement means: “all Israel will be saved.”  Some believe that this means that all Jews from Abraham until the return of the Messiah are automatically saved, indiscriminate of their faith in Yeshua.  I don’t see any evidence for this in the Bible.  My personal opinion is that there will be a salvation for the people of Israel at the end of the Great Tribulation that will be so comprehensive that it will include all the Jews who are alive at that time, before the coming of the Messiah (Zech. 12:10. 13:1).

The Fullness of the Seed of Abraham

In the various verses focused on in this week’s study we can conclude that the “seed of Abraham” is not a simple concept to understand.  It is clear that there is both a physical seed and a spiritual seed of Abraham.  The physical seed of Abraham is Isaac, Jacob, the nation of Israel (the Jewish people), and the Messiah who came through the Jewish people (Psalm 105:6. Isaiah 41:8).  The spiritual seed of Abraham is also the Messiah and all who believe in Him; Jew and Gentile alike (Gal. 3:16. Rom. 9:6-8).

In a practical sense, it is important for each of us to be good stewards of the Word of God and be able to properly explain it and teach it to others.  This subject of the “seed of Abraham” is often confused in both Jewish and Christian circles and is even more confused in the world in general.  Some go to the extreme of believing that the Jewish people are automatically saved by being Jewish and almost worship the Jewish people like a cult.  On the other side, there are those who believe in “replacement theology,” which teaches that the “church” replaces Israel and that all known biblical promises to Israel (past, present, and future) are now applied to the church.  Both of these extremes are mistaken.

Through the life of Abraham we can see the plan of God from beginning to end.  God chose Abraham and he walked with God in faith.  God promised to bless all the families of the earth through this one man and through his seed.  God used Abraham to bring forth a nation, Israel, and from this nation has come the Messiah, the seed of promise.  Today it is only through faith in the Messiah that we can all be sons and daughters of Abraham (Luke 19:9-10).   The spiritual seed of Abraham is faith in the Messiah but God is not done with the physical seed of Abraham.  God is and God will use the nation of Israel in this world until the Messiah returns!

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Gen. 12:1 – Gen. 17:27

Hafatara: Isaiah 40:27 – Isaiah 41:16

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