Through Isaac, the Seed Was Promised

As I've written before, Arabic Muslims believe they're the special people because they descended from Ishmael. While Abraham did father two boys, only Isaac was the one who was the child of promise.

We see God's declaration of this in Genesis 21:12 (KJV), as it is written, "And God said unto Abraham, 'Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.'"

But the word "seed" is singular, not plural. Look at what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:16 (KJV). "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, 'And to seeds,' as of many; but as of one, 'And to thy seed,' which is Christ."

We see our position as heirs of the promised Messiah declared in Galatians 4:28 (KJV). Paul wrote, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."

But does this apply to us today? Paul also obliquely referred to all the faithful in Christ. Romans 9:7 (KJV) reads, "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called."

And because of Christ, we too are heirs by faith. As Paul wrote in Galatians 6:16 (KJV), "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."

Though Abraham had a sun through his slave Hagar, it was God who caused the miraculous birth of Isaac. Hebrews 11:11 (KJV) explains, "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."

Trusting completely in the salvation provided by God is the main theme of my upcoming book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Only by faith, meaning total trust, will anybody be saved. I keep having to make this point because it's counterintuitive to human nature.

By the way, Saturday's song will be about gun control and why it doesn't work.

Why Are Jews Universally Despised?

Since the Jews are God's people, why do they end up being uniformly hated? Of all the world's ethnic groups, and as far as I know, they've suffered the most. That doesn't seem right if they're chosen by God.

The Devil hates God and anybody who follows him. But the Lord punished his people through Satan's servants whenever they turned away from worshipping and loving him. The Bible is filled with instances when foreign powers oppressed his people. As Jeremiah 36:31 (KJV) forewarned, "And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not."

But God didn't leave his people in bondage. In fact, he punished those who punished Israel for being so wicked. Jeremiah 25:12 (KJV) reads, "And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations."

The faithful of Israel and the followers of Christ receive persecution because Satan and his followers hate being rebuked. As Amos 5:10 (KJV) explains, "They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly."

In fact, anybody who follows the one and only true God will be persecuted by Satan. As Christ said in Luke 6:22 (KJV), "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake."

The Apostle Paul also explained how those of Israel who were faithful and the believing gentiles are one people. In Galatians 6:16 ((KJV) he wrote, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."

Paul also explained how there are those in Israel, the ethnic group, who are united with gentile believers through faith in the Lord. Romans 9:6 (KJV) and onward explains this. "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:"

I'll write more about this in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is one long story of God's plan to rescue humanity through Christ and present those who believe to himself. This key makes the entirety of holy scripture come together and make sense to we who believe in its author. But he has graciously allowed people to choose to follow or reject him.

Are Jews Saved?

Since God calls the Jews his chosen people, some folks might say they're all saved. But as we see from the most famous Bible verse, it's whosoever believes on Jesus that are saved.

So if the chosen people weren't chosen to be saved, what does it mean that they were chosen? It was so that the Messiah would be born through the lineage of Abraham. As the Apostle Paul explains in Galatians 3:8 (KJV), "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed."

This shows that the purpose of God to work through Abraham was to lead humanity to salvation. These people are what Paul calls the Israel of God. As he wrote in Galatians 6:16 (KJV) regarding those who are in the body of Christ, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."

Some folks might argue that Romans Chapters nine to eleven claim that all Jews will be saved. They quote Romans 11:26 (BBE) which says,  "And so all Israel will get salvation: as it is said in the holy Writings, There will come out of Zion the One who makes free; by him wrongdoing will be taken away from Jacob:"

But look at the context of the verse and you'll see that Paul's writing about those of Israel who are faithful to the Lord verses those who were not. Likening them to olive tree branches, he said that it's possible to graft them back into the tree. Therefore, this Israel of God is all the faithful believers in the Lord down through the ages without regard to ancestry. Like wild olive branches, we gentiles who trust in Christ are grafted into the Israel of God tree.

There's so much more I could write but I'll save that for my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? It isn't a matter of genetics but of trust in God and his son which saves us from eternity in hell.