God promised to give Abraham

Promises that inspire faith

 God promised to give Abraham all that he longed for... and more 

" Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me Gen 22:18

Human beings haven't changed much in 4,000 years. The longing for children and the desire for land still crop up with surprising  emotional power.

When God wanted Abraham's attention he promised him land and more sons than he could count. To a Babylonian emigrant, 75 years old and childless, owning nothing but his tents and animals, the promises sounded wonderful. In fact, they sounded impossible. Yet, because God himself was making the promise, Abraham"believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness" Gen 15:6

For the God who had created the heaven and the earth, making good on the promises was an easy matter. But God did not make it easy for Abraham. Not until 25 years later, when he was 100, did the promise of a son come true. Then, incredibly, God told Abraham to make a human sacrifice of his little boy, It was really asking too much.

Astonishingly, A Abraham followed God's orders. And God gave him back his son.

Far from fulfilled

When Abraham died, God's promises were far from fully realized. Abraham had only that one son to cling to. His only land was a burial plot. He still lived in a tent; his only permanent structures were alters erected to worship the God who had made all those promises.

God, having promised him everything a man of that time could want, apparently wanted offspring and land:" All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" Gen 12:3

God wanted to bless,. not just Abraham, but the whole world. Thousands of years later, in the time of Jesus, the full meaning of those words become clear