Israel

Abraham was a faithful man of God. He is known as the father of faith by Christians. How he was considered the father of faith, you can read in the Old Testament that he was an idol worshiper and when God called him, he left everything and followed God. Then God started giving him promises and commandments which he believed by faith and saw it fulfilled. First, when God blessed him, he will have descendants that will be like stars in heaven and Abraham accepted it, even though he was old and was not even having a single child. Even though he and his wife Sarah was not having the child baring capability since they were too old, he believed in God and as a result got a son Isaac through his wife Sarah. “And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” – Hebrews 11: 11, 12.

 

Once he got a child, God called him and told to sacrifice his child, which he was prepared to do. He had faith in God that God will be the ultimate voice in the times of trouble and emptiness. He knew God can do anything, even raise his child from death after the sacrifice. God liked his faith. “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death” – Hebrews 11: 17-19

Isaac had two sons and the youngest of the twin, Jacob got the blessings from his father and had a run from his brother. He then encountered with God and God changed his name to Israel and through him the blessings which were told to his grandfather Abraham flowed to his children and the generations. The Israel is thus the descendants of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. All the blessings which they have are being inherited by their great grandfather Abraham, because God was pleased with Abraham’s faith.

“And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” – Genesis 12:2,3.

God’s powerful words from this blessing are seen now almost 4000 years from the time of the blessing. If you take any invention which helped the world to achieve something, it came from a Jew, descendant of Abraham. Even though God withdrew his blessings from Israel and gave it to the all over the people who believe in Christ, the powerful word of God is still working. Those who are against Israel are cursed now also, and those who are with Israel are been blessed.

All these blessings came because of one man’s faith in God. Now it’s the time for renewing our faith in God and be like Abraham. Christ told, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you” – Luke 17:6

“Faith is assurance that the things promised in the future are true and that unseen things are real” – Hebrews 11:1