Good News Part 4

Good News

Part 4

The Promise 

In the first three parts of this study, we have discovered that the Good News did not begin in Bethlehem, nor did it begin with the Apostolic Writings. It began in the opening pages of Genesis with the Almighty Creator Himself. 

We saw that YHWH Elohim created the heavens and the earth, made mankind in His image, and desired to dwell in fellowship with those He had created. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Hawwah were given every good provision, along with the freedom to choose whether they would trust and obey their Creator. 

That choice changed everything. By listening to another voice, sin entered the world, bringing shame, separation, suffering, and death. Yet even during judgment, Master YHWH revealed His mercy. He sought the man and the woman who had hidden themselves, promised that the serpent's victory would not be final, and provided a covering for their shame. From the very beginning, the Creator revealed that His purpose was not to abandon mankind, but to redeem what had been lost. 

As we continued through Genesis, we saw that the problem of sin did not end outside the garden. Cain murdered his brother. Violence and wickedness filled the earth until the days of Noah. After the Flood, the inclination of man's heart remained unchanged, and at Babel humanity once again united in pride rather than humble obedience. Again, and again the Scriptures demonstrate that mankind cannot save itself. 

Yet through every generation, one truth remains constant: YHWH Elohim remained faithful. He preserved a remnant, established His covenant with Noah, and continued unfolding the promise first spoken in Eden. Human rebellion never canceled the Creator's purpose. 

Now, as we come to Genesis 12, the Scriptures turn our attention to one man. In calling Abram, the Almighty begins revealing His plan with greater clarity. Through promises and covenants, the hope announced in Eden will continue to unfold—not only for Abram and his descendants, but ultimately for all the families of the earth. 

 Genesis 12
1. And יהוה said to Aḇram, “Go yourself out of your land, from your relatives and from your father’s house, to a land which I show you.

2. “And I shall make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing!

3. “And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you. And in you all the clans of the earth shall be blessed.”

4. So Aḇram left, as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him. And Aḇram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Ḥaran.

In the passage above, we begin to see the promise first spoken in Eden unfold even further. Master YHWH calls one man, Abram, and makes extraordinary promises to him. He promises to make him a great nation, to bless him, and to make his name great. Yet the promise does not stop with Abram himself. 

The Almighty declares, "and in you all the clans of the earth shall be blessed." 

This is remarkable. Until this point in Genesis, the promise of redemption has been broad. In Eden, YHWH promised that the Seed of the woman would ultimately crush the head of the serpent. Now, for the first time, He identifies the family through whom that promise will continue.  

Exactly how all the families of the earth would be blessed is not yet fully revealed. As with every promise we have encountered thus far, Master YHWH unveils His plan one step at a time. Each covenant and each generation bring the picture into sharper focus, preparing us for the fulfillment of the promise He made from the very beginning. 

Genesis 12

10. And a scarcity of food came to be in the land, and Aḇram went down to Mitsrayim to dwell there, for the scarcity of food was severe in the land.

11. And it came to be, when he was close to entering Mitsrayim, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.

12. “And it shall be, when the Mitsrites see you, that they shall say, ‘This is his wife.’ And they shall kill me, but let you live.

13. “Please say you are my sister, so that it shall be well with me for your sake, and my life be spared because of you.”

14. And it came to be, when Aḇram came into Mitsrayim, that the Mitsrites saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

15. And Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.

16. And he treated Aḇram well for her sake, and he had sheep, and cattle, and male donkeys, and male and female servants, and female donkeys, and camels.

17. But יהוה plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Aḇram’s wife.

18. And Pharaoh called Aḇram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not inform me that she was your wife?

19. “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? And so I was going to take her for my wife. Look, here is your wife, take her and go.”

20. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Although Abram believed Master YHWH and obeyed His call to leave his homeland, he was not a perfect man. During a famine, Abram journeyed into Egypt (Mitsrayim) and, fearing for his own life, instructed Sarai to say that she was his sister. 

This deception brought trouble upon Pharaoh's household until Master YHWH intervened and protected Sarai. Once again, the Scriptures remind us that the hope of mankind does not rest upon the faithfulness of men, but upon the faithfulness of YHWH Elohim. Abram stumbled, just as others before him had stumbled, yet the Almighty remained faithful to the promises He had made. His covenant purposes would continue—not because Abram was flawless, but because Master YHWH is faithful. 

Genesis 13 

14. And after Lot had separated from him, יהוה said to Aḇram, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,

15. for all the land which you see I shall give to you and your seed forever.

16. “And I shall make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that, if a man could count the dust of the earth, then your seed also could be counted.

17. “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

18. So Aḇram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamrĕ, which are in Ḥeḇron, and built a slaughter-place there to יהוה.

In Genesis 13, Lot separates from Abram, choosing the fertile plain near Sedom (Sodom), while Abram remains in the land that the Almighty had promised him. After Lot departs, Master YHWH once again speaks to Abram, reaffirming His promise. He declares that all the land Abram can see will belong to him and to his descendants forever, and that his descendants will become as numerous as the dust of the earth. Once again, Abram responds in faith, settling in the land and building an altar to YHWH Elohim. 

Genesis 15
1. After these events the word of יהוה came to Aḇram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Aḇram. I am your shield, your reward is exceedingly great.”

2. And Aḇram said, “Master יהוה, what would You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eli‛ezer of Dammeseq?”

3. And Aḇram said, “See, You have given me no seed, and see, one born in my house is my heir!”

4. And see, the word of יהוה came to him, saying, “This one is not your heir, but he who comes from your own body is your heir.”

5. And He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So are your seed.”

 At the beginning of Genesis 15, Master YHWH again confirms His promise to Abram and also comforts him letting him know he need not be afraid. On this occasion, Abram asks how this is all going to come about. After all, he is childless, and at this point his only heir is a servant named Eli’ezer of Damascus.  

Even now, Master YHWH does not explain exactly how this promise will come to pass. Instead, He simply assures Abram that Eli'ezer will not be his heir. His own son would inherit the promise. Then YHWH brings Abram outside beneath the night sky and says, 

"Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them... So are your seed." 

Once again, YHWH asks Abram to trust what he cannot yet see. There is still no son. There is still no great nation. There is only the promise of the Almighty Creator. The question remains the same as it has since the Garden of Eden: Will mankind trust the word of YHWH? 

Genesis 15

6. And he believed in יהוה, and He reckoned it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 is one of the most frequently quoted verses from Genesis in the Apostolic Writings. Both Paul and James return to this passage when explaining faith and righteousness. Rather than introducing a new idea, they point us back to what YHWH revealed through Abram from the very beginning. I encourage you to read Romans Chapter 4, Galatians Chapter 3, and James Chapter 2 in their entirety to see how the apostles build upon this foundational passage. 

Genesis 15

7. And He said to him, “I am יהוה, who brought you out of Ur-kasdim, to give you this land to inherit it.”

8. And he said, “Master יהוה, whereby do I know that I possess it?”

9. And He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

10. And he took all these to Him and cut them in the middle, and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds.

11. And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Aḇram drove them away.

12. And it came to be, when the sun was going down, and a deep sleep fell upon Aḇram, that see, a frightening great darkness fell upon him.

13. And He said to Aḇram, “Know for certain that your seed are to be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14. “But the nation whom they serve I am going to judge, and afterward let them come out with great possessions.

15. “Now as for you, you are to go to your fathers in peace, you are to be buried at a good old age.

16. “Then, in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the crookedness of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17. And it came to be, when the sun went down and it was dark, that see, a smoking oven and a burning torch passing between those pieces.

18. On the same day יהוה made a covenant with Aḇram, saying, “I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Mitsrayim to the great river, the River Euphrates,

19. with the Qĕynite, and the Qenizzite, and the Qaḏmonite,

20. and the Ḥittite, and the Perizzite, and the Repha’im,

21. and the Amorite, and the Kena‛anite, and the Girgashite, and the Yeḇusite.”

Throughout the ancient Near East, covenants were often ratified by passing between the divided pieces of sacrificed animals. In doing so, those entering the covenant pledged themselves to keep its terms. The ceremony declared that the covenant was binding and could not be treated lightly. 

Yet something remarkable happens. Abram does not walk between the pieces. Instead, after a deep sleep falls upon him, only the smoking oven and burning torch—symbols of the presence of YHWH—pass between them. The covenant rests upon the faithfulness of Master YHWH Himself. The promises He has made do not depend upon Abram's ability to fulfill them, but upon the faithfulness of the One who established the covenant. 

Another remarkable truth is revealed in these verses. Before Abram's descendants inherit the land, YHWH Elohim explains that "the crookedness of the Amorites is not yet complete." The Creator would not bring judgment upon the Amorites until the proper time. Even those nations living in rebellion were shown extraordinary patience. Rather than acting impulsively, Almighty YHWH demonstrated His long-suffering, allowing centuries to pass before His judgment finally came. Throughout the Scriptures we repeatedly see this same aspect of His character. He is righteous in His judgments, yet patient beyond what mankind deserves. 

With Genesis 15, the promise first spoken in Eden reaches a new stage. What began as a promise of a coming Seed has now become a covenant established by YHWH Himself. Abram has no son, no nation, and owns none of the land that has been promised to him. Yet the covenant has been made. From this point forward, the question is no longer whether Master YHWH will keep His word, but how and when He will accomplish it. The Good News continues to unfold—not through the strength of man, but through the unwavering faithfulness of the Almighty Creator.