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The Blessing of the LORD
“That the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith” (Gal 3:14) …
Written by M. Larry Perrino
ã 2005 by Rivkah
Ministries
What is that Biblical essence known as “the blessing?” The New Testament teaches us that the “blessing of Abraham” has come upon the gentiles (see Gal 3:14 in the title section atop each page). What is so important about the “blessing of Abraham?” Isn’t the giving of blessings merely an Old Testament ritual? Does the modern Christian really understand the depth of what it means to be blessed in a Biblical sense? Can the same “blessing of Abraham” really be placed upon you and your house in the same way that it was for Abraham?
Let’s begin by looking specifically at the blessing
of Abraham, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will (1) bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a (2) blessing: 3 And I will (3) bless them that (4) bless thee, and curse him that
curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be (5) blessed” (Gen 12:2-3). The word “bless” is used five
different times in that passage alone!
If the blessing really is that important then we should devote some
honest effort to understanding “the blessing of Abraham!”
Paul teaches in the Book of Galatians, “Christ (the
anointed one) hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a
curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ; that we might 
receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith” (Gal 3:13-14). According to
Paul’s words in that passage, the whole concept behind the process of
redemption was, “That the blessing of Abraham” might come upon
us!
Before we get too far into this lesson let us resolve to get
a solid understanding of what “the blessing” is really all about! What is the fundamental nature of the entity
that Paul identifies as, “the blessing of Abraham?” According to Paul this “blessing” is
supposed to be upon all of us in the Church!
Our purpose in this Bible Study is to carefully research the “blessing
of Abraham” much more thoroughly than we have in the past.
We first need to understand the Hebrew
expression “shalom!” Shalom is an integral part of the blessing;
therefore, in order to understand the “blessing of Abraham” we first need to
understand exactly what the Hebrew word shalom is all about. Shalom literally means to be
whole; it means that there is nothing missing and nothing broken! When somebody experiences true Biblical shalom
they come into direct contact with mental, physical and social well-being. This means that they naturally live in
complete peace and financial prosperity.
Prosperity certainly must include a financial component; however,
material wealth is merely one of the many aspects of shalom! The Bible claims, “the way of peace (“shalom” in a Hebrew perspective)
have they not known” (Rom 3:17). Now
let’s observe some illustrations regarding the conceptual nature of shalom:
if someone has a million dollars in the bank but they are hooked on drugs, or
in bondage to the curse of pornography, or they are a closet alcoholic, they
cannot truly experience Biblical shalom! Or, if somebody has money in the bank and peace of mind but they
are dying of cancer in their flesh then it is impossible for them to experience
Biblical shalom! Let’s take the
concept of a person who has money in the bank and health in their body; however
that person is a mean wretched individual and has nobody to love him. Once again this person does not experience
the Biblical meaning of the word shalom. You must make the effort to understand this deep down in your
spirit; shalom in a Biblical sense means that the individual is
completely whole and happy, and there is nothing missing and nothing broken!
In Bible study there are many instances
where we simply cannot rely on the common definitions that we have picked-up
through our modern society. An
illustration is the disparity in definitions is obvious when we investigate
“prosperity” and “poverty” from a Biblical perspective. Without the proper Biblical definitions of
“prosperity” and “poverty” we could never really appreciate God’s perspective
on these two opposite conditions! For
example most everyone in our society would naturally consider a person who
outwardly possesses a great deal of first-rate property and commercial
merchandise to be “prosperous.” Let me
describe such an individual; he/she has both a late model Jaguar and a Mercedes
Benz in their three-car garage along with a classic Ford Model T. The person’s home is located behind a tall
wall made of stone; and the only entrance to their spacious mountain property
is through an electric gate monitored by means of cameras by a full-time
guard. This person owns a Lear Jet
which is stored in a private hangar at a nearby private airport and a yacht at
the local private marina.
Would you all agree that this individual is
prosperous? Now let’s examine just one
Biblical example which is assured to assault our modern common concepts
regarding “prosperity” and “poverty.”
Notice, Rev 3:17, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need of nothing; (In other words, I
am prosperous; certainly our make-believe individual that we have just focused
upon would fit into this category.) and knowest not that thou art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, (In other words, even though
you have great possessions, you are nevertheless impoverished!) and blind,
and naked” (Luke 4:18). Obviously, this
passage clearly teaches us that an individual, “rich and increased with goods”
is not necessarily prosperous from a Biblical perspective! Before any of us can understand the “blessing
of Abraham,” we must eliminate our false or at least non-Biblical concepts
regarding the rich and the poor.
With that background regarding prosperity,
poverty, and Biblical shalom, we can begin to get a handle on “the
blessing.” We must first realize that
the blessing of the Lord includes shalom! Shalom is an external provision from the Lord upon your
life that empowers an individual to exist in a state where nothing is missing
and nothing is broken. It is from this
perspective that John wrote, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest
prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth” (3 John 2). John
desired more than anything else in the LORD that his followers in Christ would
prosper and remain in (shalom), “Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, (shalom)
from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 John 3). John and indeed that entire society
considered shalom to be financial, physical, and mental well-being. John expected Christians to live in peace (shalom)
and have nothing missing and nothing broken!
From these perspectives, we begin to understand that the blessing is an
empowerment to prosper.
God’s blessing is an invisible and
intangible essence placed upon a person that despite circumstances causes the
material physical world to respond to the blessed individual in a favorable
fashion! Joseph had this invisible
intangible essence upon his life. After
being sold into slavery, wherever Joseph served he prospered! He came out of a dungeon and into Potiphar’s
house; “his master saw that the LORD was with him, and
that the LORD made all that he did to
prosper in his hand” (Gen 39:3).
Joseph even prospered when he went to prison, “The keeper of the prison
looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was
with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper” (Gen 39:23). We simply
must begin to realize that the blessing from the LORD is an intangible
empowerment to prosper. The blessing is
not the physical observable stuff; instead, the blessing is what causes the
stuff to come to the individual who is blessed. The bible says that during a famine, “Isaac sowed in that land,
and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him”
(Gen 26:12). The hundred-fold return
from the field that Isaac received was not the blessing; the hundred-fold
return was only the physical observable manifestation of the blessing upon his
life; its says after the hundred-fold return, “and the LORD blessed him!” Notice how Abraham (blessed) or
prospered Eliezer in a total non-financial manner, “And he said unto me, The
LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper
thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my
father's house” (Gen 24:40). This is
the second time that the word “prosper” occurs in you bible; it’s first four
usages all relate to Eliezer! In this
passage Abraham viewed prosperity or the blessing that he placed upon Eliezer
as his servant’s ability to accomplish the mission.
Notice how God views prosperity, “So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa 55:11). Unlike the perspective of our modern
society, Biblical prosperity is much more than mere financial affluence! Obviously prosperity is associated with “the
blessing.” The question is, “How can we
obtain that Biblical blessing?”
The Bible identifies five paths that every
Christian certainly must travel in order to arrive at the place of blessings in
his/her life. (There is probablly more than these five essentials; however,
the Bible identifies these five things as minimum requirements.) The place of our blessings is the place of
true Biblical prosperity:
(1) You must be obedient – “If ye be willing and obedient,
ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isa 1:19);
(2) You must be connected with the blessed, and you must be
blessing the blesssed – Notice what God
told Abraham, “I will bless them that bless thee”
(Gen 12:3). When we bless somebody who
is clearly working on a assignment that none other than God has established
upon this earth (Your Local Church; Television Ministries; Charities, Feeding
the Poor Programs; etc,) then we are blessing those who are blessed and
therefore we are qualified ourselves to receive blessings;
(3) You must be faithful –
Faithfulness could itself become a study; the Book of Proverbs teaches that, “A
faithful man shall abound with blessings” (Prov
28:20);
(4) You must be pure in both deed and word – The book of Psalms asks a powerful question, “Who
shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall
receive the blessing from the LORD” (Ps 24:3-4).
(5) You must forgive and be forgiven – Obviously, we need forgiveness of our sins; likewise we must
forgive others, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven”
(Ps 32:1); and Jesus taught, “forgive us our sins, just
as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us” (Matt 6:12).
“Bless” occurs 330 times in the Old
Testament’ the first time that we observe that word we find it used in the
first chapter of Genesis, “And God blessed them, saying, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply
in the earth” (Gen 1:22). We
immediately notice that God’s blessing was bestowed first upon the fish and the
birds! As a result of His blessing upon
them they became fruitful and they certainly have multiplied and filled the
earth. The birds and fish prospered in
the earth as a result of God’s blessing.
Next we see God’s blessing upon humanity; notice that they were given
dominion over the previously blessed groups, “God blessed them,
and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth” (Gen 1:28). Therefore let us
recognize the Biblical concept; the blessing upon the first group was so that
they could in turn be a blessing unto the second group. We will learn more about this as we
continue.
What does it mean for us to be
blessed? Notice, “Christ (the one
who received the anointing – or the anointed one) hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ” (Gal 3:13-14). It appears that the entire redemptive
process was to the end that the blessing might come upon us! We can actually be blessed in the same sense
as our spiritual father, Abraham!
From that passage we discover that we must
take delivery of the conceptual package that we are “the blessed.” Remember last week we learned that it is
needful for us to obtain knowledge from the LORD, “My people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge” (Hos 4:6). When
we lack knowledge we are ignorant and therefore we cannot receive every
Biblical attribute that we are supposed to enjoy! Rosa Parks is an example of a person who
used proper knowledge to drastically change her life. She claimed that she was entitled according to “equal rights under
the law” to sit on a bus wherever she might chose! Nearly 100 years before Rosa’s proper claim, President Abraham
Lincoln and many soldiers gave their lives to uphold that demand. However, for ninety-some years even though
the law of the land was clearly in favor of black people they failed to achieve
their proper privileges under the law.
Discrimination persisted even after a change in law because the slaves
had become accustomed to their oppression!
In the same fashion, Christians must believe in and claim their rights
to Biblical prosperity and shalom or like 90 years of Negro history they
simply will live below their authorized level of rights and privileges! We receive the blessing of the LORD through
knowledge from the Bible, “through knowledge shall the just be
delivered” (Prov 11:9). This strongly
implies that we must know about each promise before we can receive it! If you were to open a secret bank account
with millions of dollars, which authorized me to make withdrawals at will, it
would not be possible for me to withdraw any money unless I knew about the
existence of the account! God has
designed blessings in much the same fashion.
If we do not study, find and then claim our promised blessings we simply
will not receive those promised blessings!
Abraham’s actual life was an empowerment to
prosper others! God essentially told
him, “whoever empowers you to prosper, I will prosper them!” Notice the passage, “I will bless them that
bless thee” (Gen 12:3). Once the
blessing of Abraham is upon your life, then people who bless you are themselves
empowered to prosper! Notice Abraham’s
blessing, “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” (Gen
18:18). Abraham’s blessing became the
agent through which all families of the earth will be blessed! Through the “blessing of Abraham” all
families of the earth will have an opportunity to come to Jesus Christ!
Let’s take a look at how Abraham blessed
his sons. It seems that Abraham never
did openly lay his hands on his son Isaac and pronounce over him the blessings;
instead, Abraham simply believed God’s word that He Himself would bless Isaac,
“as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will
make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes
shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant (This
is the same covenant that God made with Abraham.) will I establish with Isaac” (Gen 17:20-21). And notice exactly how the blessing
transpired, “it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed
his son Isaac” (Gen 25:11). At
this point Isaac possessed Abraham’s blessing.
Notice what happened next, “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received
in the same year an hundredfold” (Gen 26:12).
Clearly, Isaac understood that he was
supposed to place Abraham’s blessing upon his sons, “as soon as Isaac had
made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from
the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his
hunting” (Gen 27:30). Notice that as
soon as Isaac realized that Jacob had beguiled him, “Isaac trembled very
exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison,
and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have
blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed” (Gen 27:33). The very fact that Esau (Jordan) and
Israel have struggled throughout the years is proof of the potential inherent
in the “blessing of Abraham.”
After the shock of that incident, Isaac
blessed Jacob once again, “And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him,
and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters
of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's
father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's
brother. 3 And God Almighty bless thee, (Isaac
acknowledged that it would be God who would bless Jacob.) and make thee
fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; 4 And
give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with
thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which
God gave unto Abraham” (Gen 28:1-4).
Jacob never forgot the “blessing of
Abraham.” He passed-on that same
blessing to his own son, “he blessed Joseph, and said, God,
before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my
life long unto this day” (Gen 48:15).
The New Testament teaches us that, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and
Esau concerning things to come” (Heb 11:20).
Notice however, Jacob did not stop with Joseph! The passage continues, “By faith Jacob, when
he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon
the top of his staff” (Heb 11:21).
Jacob clearly understood the power of the “blessing of Abraham!” Therefore, he not only blessed his own son
Joseph; but he also decided which grandsons would receive the “blessing of
Abraham,” “Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given
me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I
will bless them” (Gen 48:9).
Other Scriptures actually teach that Jacob literally adopted Joseph’s
two sons as his own.
Where/How does Jesus fit into all of this
issue regarding the “blessing of Abraham?”
Jesus did not receive a blessing; instead, He was cursed so that you and
I could be blessed, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us” (Gal 3:13) (The individual who is cursed must
live outside of God’s blessings. That
is the whole point; Adam was cursed and the Second Adam took away that
curse! It was for this reason that
Jesus said, “My God! My God! Why hast
thou forsaken (or removed the blessing from) me?” Why did God forsake Jesus? Read the answer from Galatians Chapter
3, “That the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ” (Gal
3:14).
We have gone through all of this
information about the “blessing of Abraham” to arrive at this next concept, “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” (Gal 3:16). That statement seems to be very
powerful! But, what exactly does it
mean? It means that the blessing was
not given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, etc. Instead, it says that the blessing was given to Abraham and to
Christ, “to Abraham and his seed . . . thy seed, which is
Christ” (Gal 3:16) This
means that Isaac and Jacob and Joseph were not immediately included in the
blessings of Abraham! Sure, as we have
just read, they ultimately received the “blessing of Abraham.”
The blessings needed to be transferred to
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. After having
received the blessings they actually became witnesses of the surety of God’s
blessings, “Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an
hundredfold: (This hundred-fold reaping came during famine!) and
the LORD blessed him” (Gen 26:12). Jacob too, was blessed directly by God, “Wherefore is it that
thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there”
(Gen 32:29); notice Jacob’s expression of blessing that God had bestowed upon
him, “Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee;
because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have
enough” (Gen 33:11). Here are
two witnesses of what Moses wrote, “thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it
is he that giveth thee power to get wealth” (Deut
8:18). We already read how Joseph also
prospered! These offspring that came
from Abraham are all witnesses that the “blessing of Abraham” is powerful!
Can you begin to appreciate the blessings
that come through Jesus Christ and are placed upon your life? If we hope to truly become victorious in our
Christian walk, we simply must get to the point where we recognize and take
hold of the “blessing of Abraham!” The
“blessing of Abraham” is supposed to be upon our lives, “That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ” (Gal 3:14)!
Receiving God’s blessings is one literal
way that we can actually please God, “Let them shout for joy, and
be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them
say continually, (This is a command that we should regularly
vocalize positive affirmations.) Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure
in the prosperity (shalom) of his servant” (Ps
35:27); God takes pleasure in the prosperity and shalom of his
servants! Our lives actually
demonstrate our focus as we favor His righteous cause! Let us focus on the work of God to take the
“blessing of Abraham” to the nations!
When we do, it naturally follows that we become those servants that God
greatly takes “pleasure in (their) prosperity!”
Abraham’s blessing became the agent through
which all families of the earth will be blessed! God said, “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and
mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in
him?” (Gen 18:18). This
obviously means that through Abraham all families of the earth will have an
opportunity to come to Jesus Christ!
Well if you have the “blessing of Abraham” upon you, then you will
experience prosperity when you become focused upon being a blessing to “all
the nations of the earth!”
As you bless them with your focus, then God will cause them to become a
blessing to you! In that exchange you
will begin to experience true shalom and Biblical prosperity!
So let us go back to one of our original
questions in this study, “Can the same ‘blessing of Abraham’ really be placed
upon you and your house in the same way that it was for Abraham?” The answer is, “YES!” But only as you know
about, understand, claim that blessing, and set about to bless others!
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Written by M. Larry Perrino ã 2005 by Rivkah MinistriesRivkah Ministries