“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 12.2-3
Are certain parts of God’s Word more important than others? Paul tells Timothy that ‘All Scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ 2 Timothy 3.16-17.
Taking these together they are clearly more important than say 1 Chronicles Chapter 1 which is an extended list of names. However if you were asked to rank the 10 most important Bible verses in order of importance what would you put in your list?
As we have been exploring Genesis over the past 11 days and we come to chapter 12 on day 12 I want to argue that these verses would have to be on the list for here God makes promises which are the foundation of who, what and where we are today, for they are the promises ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.
Abram is promised a land.
Abram is promised that he will become a great nation
Abram is promised that God will bless him
Abram is promised that he will be the means by which all nations will be blessed.
These great promises should excite and encourage us but there is a lesson in this chapter to warn us against complacency.
With these massive promises we would expect a better ending to the chapter than we have. God has promised Abram great things but on the first sign of hardship (famine v.10) he decamps to Egypt where he doubts God’s ability to keep him and Sarai safe from the lustful eyes of the Egyptians (one wrong step leads to another). But in spite of this failure God remains true to his promise and brings judgement on Pharaoh and his household and Abram goes back to the land God has promised with all that he had.
Paul writes this in 2 Timothy 2.13. If we are faithless (Abram in this instant) God will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself. His promises stand!
In the light of God’s great and precious promises let us seek his help to remain faithful even when things are hard and testing, trusting our unchanging God.