“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you’” (Hebrews 6:13-14).
God made several promises to Abram/Abraham in his lifetime. Only one of these promises was confirmed with an oath. It is found in Genesis 22:15-18, after Abraham had obediently taken Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him as a burnt offering. Here, it is written: “Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’”
Unbeknownst to Abraham and his descendants, the climactic fulfillment of this final promise is the coming of Christ and His gospel. The inspired apostle explains God’s promise with these words: “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16).
Not only does Abraham have physical descendants because of God’s final promise, he also has spiritual descendants from every nation on earth. He is the father of all those who believe the gospel, regardless of whether the believer is circumcised or uncircumcised (Romans 4:11), because “you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ….And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
Not only was God’s final promise to Abraham confirmed with an oath, Jehovah continues to be faithful to His word to this very hour. Every person who believes and obeys the gospel today becomes another one of Abraham’s innumerable descendants.
