I Will Bless Them That Bless Thee: For The 2nd Sunday In Lent

I Will Bless Them that Bless Thee

Genesis 12:1–4 NKJV

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

We now come to the Second Sunday in Lent, which is a time for introspection and repentance. By giving things up for Lent, it reminds us that the Lord is the giver of all good things. We also remember that what isn’t of God needs to be purged from our life. Even earthly gifts and blessings can be a problem if we neglect the most important relationship there is, to be child of God. On the day before Ash Wednesday is a day known as Shrove Tuesday in which the flesh is feasted before this time of special reflection. Many churches have pancake suppers on this day in which we all over-indulge on food, which is good and a gift of God. But eating can be abused. I can personally attest that such over-indulgence led to my getting diabetes which has caused me much sorrow. But others celebrate carnival (Mardi Gras) in which sinful lusts and actions are indulged in. It makes me wonder why to have Lent at all if we desecrate it by this indulgence. The life which we remember that a Christian should live is to be our life 365 days a year, not just 40. Think upon this during Lent.

The Old Testament text which we are to reflect upon this Sunday comes from the Book of Genesis and the call of Abraham. How can our reflection upon this text improve our Christian service and relationship with God and our fellow Christians. How can this text make us better witnesses of Jesus Christ to a world lost in the indulgence of the flesh?

We are introduced in the text to a man named Abraham. Most of the world has heard of Abraham, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others. Truly, in even secular circles, the name of Abraham is famous and fulfills part of the promise that the LORD gave to Abraham, whose name at this point was Abram which means “exalted father.” This is odd, as at this point we are told that he was seventy-five years old and was not yet a father. What else do we know Abraham. We will only cover what the Christian Bible says about Abraham which is the only authoritative account about him.

We know that Abraham was a Semite, a descendant of Shem, the son of Noah. Taken in proportion, this means that one-third of the world’s population is Semitic. In fact, when we consider intermarriage with the descendants of Ham and Japheth, virtually everyone on earth could be called a Semite, as they would have Shem for an ancestor. The definition today of who is a Semite has been narrowed down to one group of people. We must not forget that other groups like the descendants of Ishmael and Esau are Semites. Do were the six sons of Abraham’s descendants from his second wife Keturah also Semitic. And Shem also had other descendants than Abraham and his seed.

Abraham was not Jewish or even an Israelite. Israel was not born for more than 100 years, whose original name was Jacob, a deceiver. This promise was given exclusively to Abraham and not to the nation of Israel. It is true that a later promise to Abraham tells us that he would be the father of many nations whose seed would be numberless like the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea. Note that nations is in the plural, not the singular. Not just Israel, but all of Abraham’s descendants if taken strictly as physical descendants. So anyone who curses ANY of Abraham’s descendants is cursed, and the one who blesses any of his descendants is blessed.

The end of the Book of Joshua tells us that Abraham and and his fathers worshiped false gods when they lived in the area of Babylon. The call of Abraham was not by merit. Abraham was a sinner like everyone else. the basis of his call must have had a different basis which is the purpose of God and grace. Abraham responded in faith by first believing in the LORD and obeying his command to remove from Haran to the land of Canaan. this has very important repercussions for our faith and how we stand before God.