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Genesis 22:18 "And in thy seed shall the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou (Abraham) hast obeyed my voice."
On this verse the Christians found the assertion, that the promise given to Abraham as to the blessing of all nations through his seed, had no reference to the whole race of Abraham's descendants, but specially and exclusively to Jesus as the pre-eminent posterity of the patriarch; that, therefore, this promise was never realized on other individuals but through Jesus alone.
Answer for yourself: Is this a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus and does this passage find its fulfillment in Jesus alone?
Here, again, we have to treat with a apparent fallacy, because many Christians generally argue in favor of their religion from detached portions of the prophecies, without going deeply into the sacred subject and studying the context. The slightest attention to the verse which precedes the one cited, will enable us to judge that no single individual is meant by the Divine bounty. For there we see plainly predicted, "For I will surely bless thee, and multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven, and like the sand on the shore of the sea, and thy seed shall inherit the gates of his enemies; and with thy seed shall be blessed all the nations of the earth," refers to the whole posterity, which is to be abundant as the stars of heaven, and time sand on the shore of the sea. Through the entire seed, through the whole people of Israel the other nations of the earth are to be blessed and not just one man.
If one were to consult the Art Scroll Tanach Series, Genesis 1 (a) commentary concerning the above verse and those associated with it one would find the following. On page 810 is the comment: The blessings given to Abraham were unconditional. G-d did not say that they would be granted only if his descendants scrupulously obeyed the commands of the Torah.
We find something very important when we consult the Hebrew of the verse which is totally lost in the English translation. It does not say "shall be blessed" but rather "shall bless themselves by your offspring."
The commentators state that the nations will pray to G-d and ask for the "blessings of Abraham" to be given them as G-d blessed Abraham. The Rabbis comment that nations will, in the time to come, call upon HaShem's Name to serve Him unanimously (Zeph. 3:9). The non-Jewish nations will see blessings through Abraham's seed (plural) and endavor to emulate them. In such a way they bring the blessings of Abraham upon themselves.
Answer for yourself: Is the Christian Church trying to emulate the Jews "theologically" for instance? Is their religious beliefs system anything like Jewish beliefs, and if not, why not, seeing the blessings of Abraham are contingent upon it?
Moses gives his testimony to this in addressing the people of Israel, Deut. 1:10, "The Lord your G-d hath multiplied you; and behold ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude." To this effect, also, the Almighty gave His assurances to Israel and Jacob, as seen in Genesis 26:4, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed"; and again in 38:14, the Lord says to Jacob, "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south, and through thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." The "seed" to which the passage refers is reflective of the whole of the Jewish people and not just one person! To change the import of the verse, as Paul would do, is a crime.
We have established that the Jewish people and religious leaders for hundreds of years, and even longer, had long understood that the promises of Abraham were unconditional and that through the example of the Jewish people the Gentile nations, who had contact with them through trade, commerce, travel, and even war, would learn of their ways and their G-d and by example come to saving faith in the G-d of the Jews. In this way the non-Jewish people would, according to the Hebrew word, learn to "bless themselves." Again it was by G-dly example of the Jewish people, the corporate people, that the blessings of Abraham could be made available to the non-Jewish people of the world as they conformed to the image and teachings of the Jewish people and their spiritual leaders. The "seed" from which these blessings flowed was understood to be the corporate nation. But Paul will change this verse in the New Testament.
We find Paul saying in Galatians 3:16:
Gal 3:16 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (KJV)
In case you just missed it Paul purposefully misquotes and misapplies the Old Testament passage in his epistle to the Galatians.
The plural term for "seeds" in the Greek comes from the Strong's number 4690 sperma-
It would seem to anyone with rational ability that the meaning of the word has been altered in Galatians 3:16 and this is deceptive to say the least and destroys the real message of the original passage and its meaning to the non-Jew! To say, as Paul does, that this is fulfilled "in Jesus alone," distorts the original meaning of the passage and destroys the truth of the passage. But the theological agenda is served by altering the text when the "selling" of Jesus as the Messiah to the gentiles takes priority over the truth!
The Divine promises of love agree with the one given to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed"; and again in 18:18, "And Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him."
The patriarchs had become a blessing to all the nations of the earth by fearlessly acknowledging the existence, unity, and omnipotence of the Lord, and by proclaiming His name in all their migrations; and they had raised themselves above all other people by their communion with time Divine Being, who awards true blessing and spiritual beatitude.
An equal reward of bliss was appointed unto their children following their paths and observing the virtuous acts of their forefathers. Agreeably to this, Scripture declares, Genesis 18:19, "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, that they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him." Also Isaiah 51 states, "Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him." It is well known no spiritual blessing has ever fallen to the lot of the Gentiles, unless conveyed to them through the medium: of Israel's religion. This will be borne out by the following quotations : "Numbers 10:32, "And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea it shall be, that what goodness the Lord shall do unto us [Israelites] the same we do unto thee [Gentiles]". Also again Isaiah 14:1, states, "For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land, and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob." Also again Isa. 56:6, which states, "Also the Sons of the strangers that join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant." It goes on in verse 7 to state, "Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer," etc. Again in Isaiah 63:3, "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." Zechariah 2:15 (English version, ver. 11), "And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me unto thee." Also Zech 8:23, states, " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, in those days it shall come to pass that ten men out of all languages of the nations, shall take hold, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that G-d is with you." And finally Psalms 67:1, "G-d will be gracious unto and will bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us." - Selah. "That thy ways may be known upon earth," etc.
It might be possible to say that Jesus of the New Testament is the quintessential Jew, however, if one is aware of the paganism and solar-astral concepts connected to the theology surrounding him as found in the New Testament such a conclusion is impossible and unwarranted. As long as the picture of Jesus sold to the unsuspecting Christian is connected with purposeful mistranslations of the Jewish Scriptures, purposeful misquotations of the Jewish Bible, purposeful misapplication of the Jewish texts and passages purposefully lifted out of context to present concepts completely foreign to the original writer in the Old Testament [as evidenced in this article for example], then the example of Jesus as portrayed in the New Testament does a great disservice to the "corporate seed" of Israel. The promises given to the non-Jewish nations and which were associated with the emulation of the "corporate Jewish people/seed" will always evade those who look to the neo-pagan Jesus of the New Testament. Only when one's love for G-d is such they embark upon a serious study of the Jewish world of Jesus and the religion of Jesus as understood as Biblical Judaism will one be able to see the "historically accurate Jesus" and by so doing become familiar with the religious beliefs of this man and then through repentance make them their own. Only in this way will the promise of Genesis 22:18 become real in your life. Only in this way will you learn to "bless yourself" by the example of the Jewish people by patterning yourself and your life after their religious beliefs because within Biblical Judaism G-d made a place for the non-Jew where he is engrafted into the Israel of G-d and not hell-bent on replacing it! Only in this way will the promise of Genesis 22:18 by fulfilled in your life and the life of your family. But emulating a sun-g-dman from solar mythology as sold to the non-Jews of the first century who already had such cherished "religious beliefs" will never fulfill Genesis 22:18 in your life and when you face G-d face to face you will have to answer why you chose not to receive His blessing in your life in this regard! Don't let that be you.
Shalom
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