Nations and Kings
"She shall become nations; kings of Peoples shall come from her."
GENESIS 17:16
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Nations and Kings
From the womb of Sarah there came not only kings—David, Solomon, etc.—but also peoples, the Edomites and others, who are reckoned among the descendants of Esau. This is the physical promise. When Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, the spiritual promise was also fulfilled. That was the real time of blessing. Then there were valiant kings: the apostles and their successors. Next came Gentiles who, because of faith in the blessed Seed, are also descendants of Abraham, not according to the flesh or by nature but "engrafted," as Paul calls them in Romans 11:17. Of course, the promise concerns the spiritual seed, that is the believers, more than it does the physical descendants…. Just as we correctly call Isaac a son of faith and not of the flesh—for if you consider the flesh, Abraham and Sarah are like two corpses which procreate despite this, not by virtue of the corpse but by virtue of faith—so all who believe according to the example of Abraham are descendants of Abraham and partakers of the blessing. . . . Paul calls them fellow citizens of the prophets and apostles (Ephesians 2:19-20).
GENESIS 17:16
+
Nations and Kings
From the womb of Sarah there came not only kings—David, Solomon, etc.—but also peoples, the Edomites and others, who are reckoned among the descendants of Esau. This is the physical promise. When Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, the spiritual promise was also fulfilled. That was the real time of blessing. Then there were valiant kings: the apostles and their successors. Next came Gentiles who, because of faith in the blessed Seed, are also descendants of Abraham, not according to the flesh or by nature but "engrafted," as Paul calls them in Romans 11:17. Of course, the promise concerns the spiritual seed, that is the believers, more than it does the physical descendants…. Just as we correctly call Isaac a son of faith and not of the flesh—for if you consider the flesh, Abraham and Sarah are like two corpses which procreate despite this, not by virtue of the corpse but by virtue of faith—so all who believe according to the example of Abraham are descendants of Abraham and partakers of the blessing. . . . Paul calls them fellow citizens of the prophets and apostles (Ephesians 2:19-20).
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