Bedside Watchman -- THE BLESSING OF ALL NATIONS

Last Updated on : October 11, 2014

The Bedside Watchman

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October 3rd -- Galatians 3

THE BLESSING OF ALL NATIONS

"IN thee shall all nations be blessed" was God's promise to Abraham before he left his native Ur to go to the land of promise (Genesis 12:3). This purpose was repeated as the ground of God's communication concerning the overthrow of Sodom. "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?" (Genesis 18:17,18). What is the blessing here promised? We perhaps think firstly of the material blessings of Christ's reign, the era of peace, the establishment of justice, the abundance of food; houses for all; security based on law; the removal of tyranny, bloodshed, oppression and torture of all forms; the bringing of enlightenment, and love of the things that are best to all. It is true that these things are included, as the glowing pictures of the prophets of the coming age abundantly show: but they are not the first or the most important blessing. Paul quotes the words: "In thee shall all the nations be blessed" as proof that God would justify the Gentiles through faith. "All the nations" included Gentiles as well as Jews -- clearly, therefore, the blessing of Abraham is for Gentiles. The proof that God would justify them lies in the word "blessed" -- in other words, when God said the nations would be blessed the promise concerned the justification of the nations.

JOHN CARTER, The Letter to the Galatians, page 66