Missed Insights About Genesis 12:3 (Part 3)

See the series here 

‘I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
and in you, all the families of the Earth shall be blessed.’

Genesis 12:3

Perhaps ever since The Lord inspired Moses to pen this pivotal promise, people who read it likely had significantly different understandings of who would be the you in it. Abram, whose name The Lord changed to Abraham, is ‘the father of many nations’. So the possible choices are many across his vast line of descendants—Ishmael’s Arabs, Esau’s Edomites, Jacob’s Hebrews and Jews, and only God knows which others! The Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel, and selected his to be the descendant line through which He would be born as a man, to pay the price for all sin. In light of this, Christians generally interpret the you in this verse, as Jews and governments of Israel. Yet The Bible reveals The Lord’s significantly different choice. 

 

Let’s conclude our exploration of Genesis 12:3, and finally learn who are the descendant you that are thrice referenced in this prophecy. Who gets to ‘claim the prize’ of The Lord’s blessings throughout history??

6. Spiritual Discernment. Genesis 12:3 establishes a binary choice of blessing or curse. Across The Bible, The Lord has inspired writers to present clear, binary choices of various kinds, all of which address various aspects of righteousness vs. sinfulness. History reveals human nature always leans toward the latter choices. Given the cloudy vicissitudes of life, navigating these extremes requires developing mature, Holy Spirit discernment—our defense against devilish delusions—by developing and applying The Mind of Christ. The Bible requires believers to perceive, then align with The Lord’s overarching strategic plan, as revealed from Genesis-to-Revelation. Applying ‘religious mindsets’ to isolated passages, out of context of that plan, causes us to (a) misunderstand His broader, strategic objective and context, (b) fail to perceive His repetitive patterns, and (c) misconstrue the revealed sequence of His prophetic events.

Genesis 12:3 was never intended to be a blank check for the spiritual and political endorsement of ‘all things Israel or Jewish’, as many believers may think. Nor was it a clarion call for supportive nations to flood Israel with foreign military weapons. Discernment would reveal the latter only delays the core lesson ancient Israel and Judah iteratively failed to learn—that The Lord ALONE is its defense! (See: Out of My Way, USA! (Poem)) I intuit this lesson will finally be learned during the coalition invasion of an over-crowded, defenseless Israel, as depicted in Ezekiel 38. 

 

Ponder this: Would you agree that we believers today need much more spiritual discernment than believers may have needed during the phase-out of the 1st (pre-flood) and the 2nd (pre-cross) ages? Our world today is infinitely more complex; the global population is so much bigger; and devils are far more experienced, effective and efficient at tempting, deceiving, and deluding people now, than they were in the previous ages! As each age drew and will draw to its predicted close, they knew and will know their time was/will be short. ¹ Ergo, rest assured they are diligently ‘maximizing their harvests’ of as many people as possible into satan’s kingdom (to share their fate in The Lord's promised lake of eternal fire), before this current, 3rd age ends! The closing period of this age is definitely not the time for us to be slack in spiritual discernment!

 

When we bless sin as righteousness (whether the sins of Jews and/or their governments, our political leaders, or our own personal sins), we cloud our perception of The Lord’s unfolding strategic plan, and misrepresent His heart. So let’s pray for, believe we receive by faith, and then start confessing that we have keen Holy Spirit discernment. As we faithfully plant and nurture those seeds, The Lord will faithfully ensure they are fruitful. Amen?

 

7. So Who’re the You? Does it make any sense to you for the you in Genesis 12:3 to refer to The Lord blessing anyone who blesses ALL of, and everything about Jacob’s seed (the Jewish people and their governments), when their largely grossly sinful lifestyles across history, and even some today, repeatedly tested and exhausted His Grace, forcing Him to curse, and drive them out of their lands, and then (get this!) promise to eliminate two-thirds of all Jews who will survive the apocalypse and Armageddon?? ² 

 

Ponder this: Genesis 12:3 was effectively The Lord’s first, indirect reference to His Genesis 3:15 'Seed promise’. Genesis 12:3 narrows the Genesis 3:15 strategic plan, from ‘the seed of a woman’, to Abram’s seed.  From that seed, HE, Himself, eventually became its FIRST FRUIT, spiritually born of, and by faith. Faith in that seed’s eventual fruit was released by many people across the 2nd age-- from Abram’s faith (Genesis 15:6), to Mary’s faith (Luke 1:38), until its fruit burst forth from Mary’s womb, ‘in the fulness of time’. Hallelujah!!! That fruit was severely tempted, tested, criticized, accused, convicted, and crucified, in order for YOU, dear faithful Christian, to become the you in Genesis 12:3. Please re-read that sentence.

 

The you in that verse has nothing at all to do with Jews or Israel! It’s all about the FIRST and SUBSEQUENT FRUITS of the Genesis 3:15 Seed. Please re-read that. The Lord’s faithful saints are the subsequent fruits of Jesus, The First Fruit, because we are spiritually-linked to Him, by faith. Galatians 3 affirms this pivotal point. ³ Christians who interpret Genesis 12:3 in light of Jacob’s seed and political Israel, have fallen into satan’s temptation, deceiving, delusion trap. His aim is to get our focus off of this quintessential message: 

 

Abraham was the father of Godly faith—

of all who would eventually believe!

Romans 4:11

 

When we read in Genesis 17:4 that Abraham would be the father of many nations, we might carnally focus on his diverse physical descendants, and totally omit His ‘spiritual descendants of faith’. If so, when we then read Genesis 12:1-3, we might repeat that error. When we are thus trapped, we parade our carnal mindedness to the on-looking world, and align our beliefs and actions, accordingly. Brothers and Sisters, how sad that must look from Heaven’s perspective!!

 

From the missed insights explored in this series, I hope and trust you will agree it would be wise for us today, to step back from our erroneous proclivity to presume ‘everything Jewish and Israel’ must be righteous, and, ergo, worthy of our blessings!’  It never was, nor shall it be… until the Millennial Reign, when The Lord will severely purge Jacob’s remnant physical seed. Genesis 12:3 was never about politics, ethnicity, or national loyalty. It was always about Heaven’s unfolding plan (a) to bless us who would be spiritually faithful to God, through Jesus, the First Fruit of Genesis 3:15, and (b) to curse rebellion against Him. The binary choice before us is whether we will or refuse to bless what Heaven blesses, and discern and then align with its strategic plan across the ages, until faith’s final fruit is formed in us who are ready for ‘harvesting’ at His appearing.

 

Here are two enigmas that are curious and unfortunate:

1. On one hand, we Christians erroneously assume WE are or will be the bride of Christ, though The Bible so very clearly states otherwise! (See: The Bride of Christ (Series))

2. On the other hand, we erroneously assume the you in Genesis 12:3 is anything but The Lord, Himself, and WE, His faithful-till-death saints.

 

What does that infer about our

spiritual discernment--

‘defense against devilish delusions’??

---------- 

¹ Don’t think for a second that satan didn’t learn about the pending global flood until the last minute, or that Jesus was likely The One Who would fulfill the Genesis 3:15 prophecy. And though all devils will be locked away during The Millennial Reign age—the fifth age of history, they will likely know when the time for their predicted release from the bottomless pit, will be approaching. (See: Revelation 20)

² See: Hasty Jewish Migrations (Series) and especially Zechariah 13:8-9. Where these 2 verses fit into the prophetic sequence is not entirely clear, but it clearly links with Zechariah 12:10-14. In a pending series, I hope to share my intuitions about the sequence of the transition from the tribulation age, to the Millennial Reign age.

³ In 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, Paul mentions how Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection promise. That narrow distinction may trigger some readers to only perceive the ‘first fruit’ concept, as tied to resurrection. But Jesus could only become the first fruit of the resurrection promise AFTER He was born as the first spiritual fruit of the Genesis 3:15 promise.

Worship or Warfare? (Part 1, exodus rebels)

See the series here

When most of us picture the exodus, we see miracles, freedom, Sinai, tablets, and a nation learning to worship. True enough. But what was The Lord’s immediate objective? The classic read is devotional. The Lord’s repeated demand—‘that they may serve Me’ (Exodus 7:16)—is taken as a summons to worship, covenant loyalty, religious festivals, and a tabernacle-centered life. Israel would be forged into a holy (set apart) nation at Sinai; the wilderness would become a classroom of faith; and Canaan waits until the Hebrews become spiritually fit. This perspective coheres with the giving of The Law and the charge to be a kingdom of priests.

 

A second view (as modern voices echo it) highlights timing: Genesis 15:16 states ‘the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.’ Thus, The Lord deliberately delays judgment of the Amorites. The four centuries Hebrews spent in Egypt aren’t merely about Israel’s growth. They allow Canaan’s corruption to ripen to the threshold where judgment is indisputably just. The exodus then becomes the moral regulator of timing: Genesis 15:14, ‘Not yet!’, then 4 centuries later    ‘… NOW!!!’

Missed Insights About Genesis 12:3 (Part 2)

See the series here

‘I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

and in you, all the families of the Earth shall be blessed.’ 

Genesis 12:3

Many Christians may casually quote Genesis 12:3 without asking who this verse addresses over time. They may treat it as a blanket promise of blessing for supporting Jews and/or modern Israel. That is the result of a rather myopic focus on one verse, out of context of the message across the entire Bible! Moreover, as noted in Part 1, they completely side-step the considerable blessings The Lord pronounced on Ishmael, Abraham’s first son, and on his descendants—Arabs.

In Part 2, let’s explore why the ‘you’ in this verse is neither Jews nor Israel. Brace yourselves as we continue with my 4th point in this series. What follows is not ethnic condemnation, but aspects of divine chastening within covenant. This is not a blanket indictment on any people, but a careful reading of how God disciplines within covenant. Please read prayerfully, not defensively.

Tips to Understand The Bible (Part 1)

See Part 2 here

 

I grew up among faithful saints whose education was limited, but whose love for The Lord was real. They passed on what light they had, and I will always honor them for it. Yet I have since discovered that much of what they taught was lifted out of context — single verses detached from their chapters, concepts colored by their socio-economic struggles, and moments divorced from the long sweep of The Lord’s strategy.

 

Sadly, many teachers today may be doing the same or similar things. They may read The Bible with a relatively narrow, religious mindset, for example:

A Cup of Drunkenness and Heavy Stone

 

Readers, 

This is ‘the back and forward story’ of how, when and why Jerusalem is like a cup of drunkenness for surrounding nations, and a HEAVY STONE for the whole world! 

In Zechariah 12:2-3, The Lord inspired the prophet to pen His following intentions:

 

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for ALL peoples; all who would attempt to heave it away will surely injure themselves, though all nations of the Earth are gathered against it.

 

Many, if not most Bible teachers think this applies to the tribulation age, the last half of which will feature the apocalypse and Armageddon. History proves the veracity of this prophecy, and global news reports, daily confirm its continued unfolding. However, history actually demonstrates it began to unfold much earlier—as a repetitive pattern! 

Missed Insights About Genesis 12:3 (Part 1)

See the series here

See the Missed Insights series here

We seriously missed the key points in this verse! 

‘...I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

and in you, all the families of the Earth shall be blessed.’

Genesis 12:3

 

To achieve Heaven’s plans to redeem humans from the eternal curse of our sins, The Lord selected a people lineage through whom He would be born as a man to sacrifice Himself, physically and spiritually, and thus pay our unpayable price. That lineage is Jews, born through Jacob, whose name The Lord changed to Israel. From Heaven’s perspective, their selection, first hinted in Genesis 3:15 and later in Genesis 12:3, was intended as an incredible blessing! An eventual righteous remnant of that lineage will be appointed to serve Him as immortal priests in the global capital city of a promised, new, MASSIVE, eternal Earth. (Exodus 19:6) How exciting! Yet...sadly, their, and our collective sinfulness has flipped many aspects of this script.  

 

Many Christians might be conflicted about Genesis 12:3, possibly thinking it narrowly means: ‘Bless Israel, or The Lord will curse you.’ If only we would s-l-o-w  d-o-w-n and perceive the Biblical, historical and spiritual contexts of this verse, we might comprehend it in a much wider, sharper, and more ‘unsettling ‘light’ than our religious mindsets may allow. ¹