Thirteen years after the birth of
Ishmael, God appeared to Abram once again. I don't know about you,
but thirteen years is a very long time, even in those days. For
thirteen years, Abram heard nothing of the Lord. He didn't have the
Holy Spirit inside of him like we do, he didn't have the Bible to
inspire him and he didn't have preachers and gospel music to lift
his spirit. He only had his faith. He believed in God and that what
God promised him twenty four years ago when he left Haran, will
still come to pass. And God was pleased. God rewarded Abram's faith
and He appeared to him once again to establish a lasting covenant
with him.
"This is My covenant with you:
I will make you the father of not just one nation, but a multitude
of nations! I will give you millions of descendants who will
represent many nations. Kings will be among them! I will continue
this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation.
It will continue between Me and your offspring forever. And I will
always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. Yes,
I will give all this land of Canaan to you and to your offspring
forever. And I will be their God." Genesis 17:4, 6-8
Wow what an amazing thing to hear,
God was rewarding Abram's faith. He even changed his name from
Abram, meaning 'exalted father', to Abraham meaning 'Father of
many'. And everything He promised to him came to pass. Abraham did
indeed become the father of many nations. He was the father of
Ishmael, Isaac and six other sons through his wife Keturah whom he
married after Sarai died. Therefore he became the father of many
physical descendants, resulting in many nations. But he also became
the spiritual father of all Christians as we have seen a couple of
weeks ago. Abraham is the father of all who believe.
God also promised Abraham and his
offspring the land of Canaan forever. And as we know, the
Israelites did indeed occupy the land from the invasion of Joshua,
until they were exiled to Babylon about 600BC. Thereafter the
Israelites returned and stayed in the land, although they were
under constant Gentile rule. It was only in 1948 that they
officially owned Israel again. And if we read Revelation and end
time prophecies carefully we also know that most of the events
happening will be centred around Israel. We also know that when
Jesus returns, His feet will land on the Mount of Olives which is
in Israel too. Israel will be His main land from where He will
rule. Abraham's descendants will indeed live there forever just as
God promised, until the earth is destroyed and a new Jerusalem will
descend from the heavens.
My point today is that God's
promises can be trusted. Biblical prophecies are extremely
interesting and when you study it, it will strengthen your faith.
If you read those that have come to pass already, you will be
amazed and when you read those that still need to happen, you will
be encouraged, filled with hope and faith for a better tomorrow.
God will reward your faith. Faith is the key to unlock the
heavenlies.
"Since we have been made right
in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what
Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ
has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now
stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing
God's glory." Romans 5:1,2
We have peace with God and we will
share in His glory. Can you truthfully imagine that? How amazing
that is going to be! Look forward to your destiny, the reason you
were born. Look forward to it, God's promises are true and will
come to pass. We will be with Him forever, hallelujah!
Thank you Father that we can look
forward to the day where we will share in Your glory, where we will
be partakers of all the good You have planned for us. Thank you so
much Father. We believe in You and in Jesus that took away all our
sins and clothed us in righteousness. And we are so grateful for
that. Thank you Jesus. Amen