The "Seed" is Christ

Abraham Meets Melchizedek - Peter Paul Rubens, Public Domain Image

There exists an Israel-based hermeneutic throughout much of modern Christianity, asserting that a dichotomy exists between the physical seed of Abraham (Israel), and the spiritual seed of Abraham (the Church). Zionist brethren will argue that the Abrahamic covenant is primarily a land covenant made with Abraham and his seed. This is confusing given that Abraham is the father of “many nations (Genesis 17:5).” Rather than overthrow the New Testament with the Old it is better to use the New Testament to decode the Old Testament. Galatians 3:

15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

16 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.

The entire context of Galatians 3 and the books as a whole is that Paul is rebuking false doctrine that has crept into the church of Galatia. This teaching was of the Pharisees, asserting that Christians had to keep the works of the law of Moses in order to be justified. Paul spends a great deal of time asserting justification by faith, rather than works. In chapter 3 Paul uses the example of Abraham’s faith to prove that the blessing of Abraham that will bless all nations if by faith and is spiritual in nature rather than particular to any tribe or ethnicity. See verses 6-14 for context. I am focusing here on verses 15 and 16 of chapter three to go even further and show that the physical, land inheritance covenant ultimately applies to Christ rather than the tribes of Israel and to the extent that the land previously known as Canaan was promised to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac’s line, it was all fulfilled in the Old Testament.

If we believe what Paul told us in Galatians 3:16 that Abraham’s true seed is Christ, then we need to go back to Genesis and find the verse that Paul is quoting. The first promise to Abraham is found in Genesis 12, and Paul actually addresses those verses in Galatians 3:6-14 so we can rule those out. The next promises to Abraham appear in Genesis 15 and 17.

“And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” Genesis 15. This passage clearly does refer to a plural definition of the use of the word “seed,” so they cannot be what Paul is referring to in Galatians 3:16.

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. – Genesis 17

We are getting closer to Paul's meaning but this is still not a singular seed pointing us to Christ. But notice this: in Genesis 17:8 God includes Abraham himself in that land promise. Abraham never inherited the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. When Sarah dies in Genesis 23, Abraham purchases a burial ground for her in Canaan from the children of Heth, even though they offered it to him for free (because he had so blessed the nations around him as the prophecy stated in Genesis 12). He insisted on buying the land rather than taking it for free because the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise rightly interpreted means that only God can give him that land for a possession. Clearly Abraham did not expect a literal fulfillment of that promise in his lifetime. The true fulfillment of God’s land promise to him is in the Resurrection of the just.

It is in Genesis 21 that we find reference to a seed referring to individuals. “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” - Genesis 21:12.

"The Sacrifice of Isaac" - Caravaggio, Public Domain Image

God is able to keep his promises and glorify his name despite our circumstances. Notice verse 13: “And also the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.” Here we have both Isaac and Ishmael being referred to as individual seeds of Abraham. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called, meaning that Jesus Christ, the true promised seed will descend from Isaac. But Ishmael and Abraham’s other descendants through other wives and concubines will all go on to become nations as well in keeping with the promises of Genesis 12 and 15. The tribes of Israel are significant because the Messiah will come through them.

"Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called." -Romans 9:6

Keep these things in mind and we next examine passages in Genesis used to support modern Zionism, Lord Willing.

Selah.

I Will Be Gracious To Whom I will Be Gracious

[17] And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou has spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

[18] And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

[19] And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will shew mercy. – Exodus 33

God’s grace is the only thing that has ever saved anyone. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God…” - Ephesians 2:8

This means that the grace of God alone empowers you to obtain saving faith. It wasn’t you lining up all the possibilities – comparing and contrasting the theologies of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc and logically concluding that Christianity is the way, truth, and life. You aren't saved because you are smarter than anyone else. No. In Matthew 16 when Jesus asked Peter, “But whom say ye that I am?” Peter replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To which Jesus said, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” - Matthew 16:15-17.

The sons of God are those “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:13

I have written in the past about the dangers of Calvinism and predestination, but I see now that these doctrines were misrepresented to me by pastors who were themselves misled by their pastors. I stand by my assertion that Noah Harari is a false prophet, and his assertion that they can hack an individual's free will is a lie, but I think my difficulty with completing the series stems from the Spirit constraining me and humbling me to the knowledge of just how unworthy I was of any of his gifts.

The Last Jugement - Giotto, Public Domain Image

Any philosophy or hermeneutic that holds man’s will sovereign over God’s will is problematic to say the least. Our will is constrained because anything we choose is filtered by the circumstances that God made from his will and foreknowledge. When Harari talks about free will being over, he is not talking about himself of his cabalist ilk, he’s only talking about your will. He is still saying that man is sovereign over God, the only distinction is that he just doesn’t consider you to be a man. He considers you little more than cattle. This is the view of the Luciferian/Satanist.

I pray that God uses my errors for his glory and pardons me for my ignorance. Let anything I say be tested against the word of God and let any error fall away and never take root in your heart. Search the scriptures daily and make sure that what you are being told is true.

Amen.

Seek the Peace of the City

“And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

-Jeremiah 29:7