"But the Scripture, having forseen that out of faith God is justifying the nations, pre-evangelized to Abraham that, 'All the nations will be blessed in you.'"
-The Scripture. The Scripture. The Writing (or graphé), literally. It typically refers to a single particular verse, one which is contained within the larger collection of the Scriptures. But when this term is invoked, there is the implicit understanding that God almighty has spoken. He has spoken, and it will come to pass. It is incontrovertible. It is inerrant, and is the final word on truth, this Word of Truth (2Samuel 7.28, 1Kings 17.24, Psalm 119.43, Psalm 119.160, John 17.17, 2Timothy 2.15). It more than contains truth - it IS truth, and is 100% totally entirely true, unchanging, timeless, forever relevant and trustworthy. You and I and all peoples can take it to the bank. We can guide our lives by it, and commit our lives to it. And we should.
-Here in this letter to these Galatian believers, Paul appears to be quoting Genesis 12.3. In the original Hebrew, the word translated as ‘nation’ here is mishpachah, which is more often rendered as ‘family’, and that is how the word is in fact rendered there. All families will be blessed in you. There are three Greek words which are variously translated as family - oikos, genos, and patria, but Paul here instead uses the word ethné, which of course is the Greek word for nations. However, in the Hebrew there is a different word which is overwhelmingly used for nation(s), and that is goy. After the covenant of circumcision is put in and the Mosaic law is laid down, the term in fact becomes rather pejorative, refering to the category of all non-jews, the morally filthy and to-be-avoided-at-all-costs Gentiles. Clearly that is not what the Lord has in mind back in Genesis, but it is interesting to consider why Paul would substitute the word ‘nations’ here. In Genesis 12, Abraham is still called Abram, in fact (cf Genesis 17.5). Is it possible that Paul is thinking of Genesis 22.18? At that point, he is now Abraham, and the verbage is similar, except that there the Lord does indeed say that all the goy will be blessed. However, by then the Lord is saying that all the nations will be blessed "in your seed" (or descendant[s]). Either way there is a bit of a discrepancy between what Paul is quoting and the original verses in Genesis. It is quite possible that Paul has simply combined the essence of the two passages in Genesis in order to better reinforce the three things he is emphasizing here: the Good News of justification by faith, for all the Gentiles, and pre-evangelized to Abraham many centuries before it was formally put in thru the sacrifice of the One Who was indeed the Seed of Abraham.
-But let us be perfectly clear as to what - or rather, Whom - is forseeing and pre-evangelizing. Paul says that the Scripture foresaw and evangelized, but is it not God Himself Who in fact is declaring Good News to Abraham? Is it not the Word Who was in the beginning, and that, long before any line of Scripture had even been written down? Thus we have both an affirmation here of the inspiration of Scripture, that the words contained therein are in fact the very words of God, as well as a glimpse into His heart, into the eternal plan of God. All. The. Nations. Panta ta ethne - the theme resounds throughout the pages of Scripture, this God Who blesses, that in His manifold wisdom He would gradually unfold His plan to create and then gather together men and women out of every nation-tribe-and-tongue under Heaven into an eternal experience of His glorious goodness. That is the Good News, straight from the heart of blessing God Himself, Who is forever blessed, amen.
-Yes indeed, God is bringing into His eternally glorious presence those who are separated from Him (because of their sin) and making them totally right with Him, morally perfect, solely out of faith, the ones trusting in Him to make it so. That is definitely Good News, more than enough to put you on shouting ground! And who knew? We find that the first declaration of the Good News occurred not in the Gospels themselves, not in John 3.16 or some other New Testament verse, nor even in one of the prophets. Nope, we find it in the verse Paul quotes here, way back in the beginning, in Genesis 12.3. (altho one could - and some surely do - make a fine case that there is even good news to be found back in Genesis 3.15, but I digress...) Yes, the great unrivaled Good News is that all nations AND families on this broken planet will be blessed. Every tribe and tongue will be brought into the family of God, to know Him and experience His breathtaking goodness. This is the same breathtakingly good God Who has been blessing and manifesting and bestowing His goodness on His creatures since the beginning of creation (Genesis 1.22, 1.28, 2.3, 5.2, 9.1 - it is what He does, Who He is). Breathtaking! Can I get an amen?
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