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<v Speaker 1>This recording constitutes a section of my class on Genesis.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I began teaching the class before COVID caused any number of problems,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>of which we are all well aware.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>At any rate, this recording is meant to be both standalone as</v>

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<v Speaker 1>an exegesis of a section of Genesis twelve and as an accompaniment</v>

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<v Speaker 1>to an episode of the Stone Choir podcast, one that will be</v>

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<v Speaker 1>released incidentally the same day as this recording.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>It will be in the show notes for that episode.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The topic of that episode is dispensationalism, which is why this particular</v>

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<v Speaker 1>section of Genesis is relevant.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The section of Genesis that I will be exegeting in this recording</v>

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<v Speaker 1>is the beginning of Genesis twelve, and I will start by reading</v>

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<v Speaker 1>that section, it's just one paragraph.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country, and your</v>

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<v Speaker 1>kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show</v>

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<v Speaker 1>you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I</v>

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<v Speaker 1>will bless you and make your name great, so that you will</v>

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<v Speaker 1>be a blessing.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth</v>

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<v Speaker 1>shall be blessed.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>For this recording I will be focusing on verses two and three,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>and so not the first verse about Abram leaving his country and</v>

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<v Speaker 1>his kindred, and going to a land that God would give to</v>

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<v Speaker 1>him or to his descendants.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>More accurately.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Although this does not come through particularly well in English, there are</v>

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<v Speaker 1>seven blessings or promises here.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The first God will make him a great nation.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The second, God will bless him.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The third, God will make for him a great name.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The fourth, he will be a blessing to others, the fifth, he</v>

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<v Speaker 1>will bless those, that is God will bless those who bless him,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>the sixth, God will curse those who dishonor him, the seventh, all</v>

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<v Speaker 1>nations will be blessed in him.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Now this is an expansive set of promises, and we should spend</v>

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<v Speaker 1>some time unpacking them.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>So we will go in order.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>First, Great Nation.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Of this promise, Luther contends that not only is it gospel and</v>

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<v Speaker 1>so it is, but that it is also a most outstanding passage</v>

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<v Speaker 1>and one of the most important in all holy scripture.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I would recommend you highlight or underline it, unless you refuse to</v>

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<v Speaker 1>write in your Bible, which I do with most of mine.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Again from Luther First of all, you should consider that what the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Lord promises Abraham here is altogether impossible impossible, unbelievable, and untrue if</v>

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<v Speaker 1>you follow reason, because it cannot be seen.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>If the Lord has something like this in mind for Abraham, why</v>

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<v Speaker 1>does he not let him remain in his land and with his</v>

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<v Speaker 1>kindred, where Abraham undoubtedly had some influence or reputation?</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Is the way to success easier among strange people, where one does</v>

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<v Speaker 1>not even have a place to set one's foot, than at home,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>where one's fields, friends, neighbors, and relatives are, where one's household has</v>

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<v Speaker 1>been well established.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Therefore the power of the Holy Spirit was great and extraordinary in</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Abraham, because he was able to apprehend with his heart these impossible</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Impossible, unbelievable, and incomprehensible things, as though they were real and already</v>

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<v Speaker 1>present. Such must have been the case, especially since he was already</v>

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<v Speaker 1>approaching old age, for he was seventy five years old, but Sarah</v>

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<v Speaker 1>was ten years younger, and barren at that.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The second blessing I will bless you.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>We would do well to interpret this promise as applying both to</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Abraham and to his offspring, but who were the offspring of Abraham?</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Romans nine.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>But it is not as though the word of God has failed,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and</v>

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<v Speaker 1>not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring, but</v>

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<v Speaker 1>through Isaac shall your offspring be named.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>This means that it is not the children of the flesh who</v>

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<v Speaker 1>are the children of God, but the children of the promise who</v>

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<v Speaker 1>are counted as offspring.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>two some degree this promise was fulfilled to Abraham personally, for he</v>

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<v Speaker 1>was truly blessed spiritually and physically.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>To another degree, this promise was fulfilled to Old Testament Israel, as</v>

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<v Speaker 1>they, in accordance with the first blessing, became a great nation, and</v>

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<v Speaker 1>to the fullest degree, this was fulfilled in Christ, the greatest blessing</v>

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<v Speaker 1>of all, and a blessing in which Abraham participated through faith.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The third blessing, I will make your name great.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Need we even review this promise, this blessing, at any real length.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>It is now twenty twenty three.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>God made this promise to Abraham in the second millennium BC, to</v>

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<v Speaker 1>the best of our calculations.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Can you quickly name three people who lived seven hundred years ago?</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps a medieval history major would have an answer for me, but</v>

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<v Speaker 1>the point should be clear.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Abraham lived more than five times seven hundred years ago, and yet</v>

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<v Speaker 1>here we are learning of him.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I do not suppose that history will remember most of us four</v>

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years from now.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Luther, perhaps, but Abraham will still have thirty five hundred years on</v>

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<v Speaker 1>him, and Christ himself spoke of Abraham.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The fourth promise, you will be a blessing.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Our fourth blessing is not merely a blessing, but also an interpretive</v>

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<v Speaker 1>lens for the preceding three blessings and for the following three.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>It is a perfect centerpiece in God's perfect sevenfold blessing of Abraham.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Here we see why God blesses Abraham.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Certainly God blesses Abraham, because it is his good pleasure to do</v>

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<v Speaker 1>so, but he does so also with an aim, an end, a</v>

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<v Speaker 1>goal in mind.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>So that I will make you a great nation, so that you</v>

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<v Speaker 1>will be a blessing.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I will bless you, so that you will be a blessing.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I will make your name great, so that you will be a</v>

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<v Speaker 1>blessing. You will be a blessing, so that him who blesses you,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I will bless, you will be a blessing, so that, him who</v>

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<v Speaker 1>dishonors you, I will curse, you will be a blessing, so that,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>in you all nations will be blessed.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Promises five and six.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who dishonor</v>

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<v Speaker 1>you. We must carefully note here that God's promises are not idle.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Today the church seems small and shrinking, despised, held in contempt by</v>

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<v Speaker 1>the world.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>But here we have the Word of God.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>He will bless those who bless us, and curse those who dishonor</v>

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<v Speaker 1>us. Well over a thousand years of European Christendom speak to God's</v>

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<v Speaker 1>steadfast love and faithfulness in his promise to bless, and the drowned</v>

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<v Speaker 1>army of Pharaoh speaks to the fate of those who persecute the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>church. We know that persecution will come from Second Timothy.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus</v>

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<v Speaker 1>will be persecuted.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>But we also know that Christ is and will be with us,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>even until the end of the age, this life may at times</v>

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<v Speaker 1>seem beyond even the vestiges of hope, but we know that the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>victory has already been won.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>From Revelation one.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Behold he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see</v>

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<v Speaker 1>him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>earth will wail on account of him, even so, Amen.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Promise seven.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>In you all the Families of the Earth will be blessed Thus</v>

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<v Speaker 1>far, the promises have been more or less material or temporal in</v>

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<v Speaker 1>nature. However, the seventh and final blessing is clearly spiritual, in nature</v>

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<v Speaker 1>and casts a spiritual meaning upon the first four promises as well.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>What we have here at the end of verse three is a</v>

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<v Speaker 1>recapitulation of the promise of Genesis three fifteen.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>For how will the families of man be blessed except through the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>sun, on account of the blessed seed who crushes the serpent's head.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>As Luther comments.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>But now there follows that promise which should be written in golden</v>

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<v Speaker 1>letters and should be extolled in the languages of all people.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>For it offers eternal treasures, for it cannot be understood in a</v>

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<v Speaker 1>material sense, namely, that it would be confined to this people only,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>as the previous blessings perhaps were.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>But if, as the words clearly indicate, this promise is to be</v>

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<v Speaker 1>extended to all nations, or families of the earth, who else shall</v>

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<v Speaker 1>we say, has dispensed this blessing among all nations, except the Son</v>

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<v Speaker 1>of God, our Lord Jesus Christ?</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Luther actually goes further and reasons out the nature of the promise</v>

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<v Speaker 1>and Christ's work from these verses, and in doing so he is</v>

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<v Speaker 1>well supported, for clearly only a true man, who was and is</v>

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<v Speaker 1>more than mere man, could proceed from Abraham, and yet bless all</v>

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<v Speaker 1>humanity, including Abraham.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>If I were tasked with pulling from Scripture ten sections to summarize</v>

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<v Speaker 1>what and why we believe, this would be the second or the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>third, even if there is some danger in using a third of</v>

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<v Speaker 1>one's allowance before leaving the first of sixty six books.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>These promises are properly understood as applying to the church, and what</v>

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<v Speaker 1>a beautiful set they form.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>We begin with the promise to form from Abraham a great nation,</v>

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<v Speaker 1>and we end with a clarification of what kind of nation this</v>

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<v Speaker 1>will be.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Note carefully the language, and the ESV does in fact capture this.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>And I will make of you a great nation, and I will</v>

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<v Speaker 1>bless you and make your name great, so that you will be</v>

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<v Speaker 1>a blessing, I will bless those who bless you, and him who</v>

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<v Speaker 1>dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of</v>

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<v Speaker 1>the earth shall be blessed.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Abraham will be a great nation, but all the families of the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>world will be blessed in him.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Scripture does not usually speak of families in this context, for the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>usual term is nation, which is to say ethnos, or in the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>plural ethne, instead of Pasi I Foule, Foule being the term for</v>

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<v Speaker 1>families here.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Why then do we have families in this verse?</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Two reasons.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Nations would not work here.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>For Abraham's seed, Christ, does not bring blessing to all nations, at</v>

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<v Speaker 1>least not in the sense here in view, because what he actually</v>

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<v Speaker 1>does is create a new nation, the church, the true Israel.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Now this is not to say that Christ's work destroys national identities.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Soteriology does not destroy ontology.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>However, it is to say that only the nation that is the</v>

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<v Speaker 1>church is truly and completely bless.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>That nation is pulled from all members of all actual nations, which</v>

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<v Speaker 1>is to say the sense of nation used to mean blood, used</v>

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<v Speaker 1>synonymously with ethnicity, the sort of nation that is directly heritable</v>

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<v Speaker 1>and so in that sense all nations are of course blessed in</v>

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<v Speaker 1>Christ, but it is only the church in which all members of</v>

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<v Speaker 1>the church are individually themselves blessed in Christ.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>And second, we are being told from whom Christ will craft his</v>

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<v Speaker 1>new nation, from all the families of the earth.</v>

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<v Speaker 1>The scope of this blessing is universal, even if some will tragically</v>

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<v Speaker 1>reject it</v>