When God called Abraham the father of all nations, we get the evidence that the promise of God to Israel was for all tongues, tribes, and nations. From Genesis chapter 12 through to chapter 17, we are told precisely what promises of God to Israelites are. Through these chapters, we find evidence in Gen 15:6 where God says that faith is not in the bloodline of Abraham, but it is by faith that a person becomes an heir to God’s kingdom. By calling Abraham the father of all nations, God had an intention that all tribes are to be blessed and not Israel alone.
In the entire book of Genesis, it is evident that God used the nation of Israel and the person of Abraham to be a blessing to other nations. Indeed, Scott (2018) affirms this when he says “God chose one family in an order that through this family, the rest of the earth would be blessed.” God’s glory in other nations is evident in the blessings that God pronounced on Abraham and from these blessings, the rest of the nations would see the benefits and rewards of worshiping God. In a speech by Melchidezek in Genesis 14:18-20 (The New King James Version), Melchidezek says “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hands.” The glory in this speech is given in Exodus where God delivers Israel enemies into their hands and delivers them.
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In Exodus 19 (The New King James Version), God gives conditional promises to Israelites that they will be ‘a holy nation’ and a ‘kingdom of priests.’ These promises could only work if Israelites kept the old covenant; the covenant that God declares in the chapters that follow. Israel never experienced these blessings because they never met the conditions; they were not able to keep the law (Robert 2008). However, the laws given to them were not supposed to lead them to the blessings pronounced by God, but instead, lead them to the ‘rock’ of God’s salvation. Israel’s role back then was to keep God’s commandments, maintain intimate communion with God, and live a life without sin or fear. Specifically, this is the role of the present church.
References
Robert, L. (2008). Can we serve Church Cafeteria Style? Retrieved from https://bible.org/seriespage/3-relationship-church-israel
Scott, A. (2018). God’s commitment to Abraham and his descendants Retrieved from https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/the-united-states-and-britain-in-bible-prophecy/gods-commitment-to-abraham-and-his-descendants
