Abraham: the Promise of Blessing

Scripture Texts: Genesis 12:1-3; 22:17-18

Think for a moment about events that changed the course of human history, inventions, discoveries, assassinations, wars, natural disasters, and plagues.

Today is Peral Harbor day, 84 years ago on a Sunday morning our world was changed.

The printing press (1454)

Protestant Reformation (1517)

American Revolution (1765-1783): The Declaration of Independence.

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1914) triggered the start of World War I.

Stock market crash of 1929: the beginning of the Great Depression.

Nuclear bomb on Hiroshima (1945)

Moon landing (1969)

Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989): The end of the Cold War and the reunification of Europe.

Birth of the Internet and the digital revolution (1990s)

9/11 Attacks (2001): a major shift in global security and foreign policy.

COVID-19 Pandemic (2020): A global health crisis that disrupted daily life, economies, and international relations.

In the book of Genesis several of the absolutely most world changing events happen in just the first twelve chapters.  In Genesis 3 after the tragedy of the garden the world is cursed; in Genesis 6-9 the total wickedness of men’s hearts led to it being destroyed by a flood.  In Genesis 11 after the great pride of trying to assert themselves at Babel judgment falls again and the world is scattered to the winds.

Three times God’s divine displeasure resulted in His great wrath and judgment on the world.  That’s three strikes, mankind should be out.  Then Genesis 12 begins with the Word of the Lord came to Abram.

This is an unexplainable verse in the Bible.  So let me explain why it is unexplainable.

Why in the world does God insist on blessing a world that mocks, defies, and rejects Him?