Year of Prophecy: ©1977 BC (Genesis 12)

Year of Fulfillment: ©1395 BC (near death of Joshua – Joshua 24:13)

Time until fulfillment: ~582 years

The promise of a nation to Abraham is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the second of ten.

As was seen earlier, when God made His covenant with Abraham (Gn 17), it included the promise of making Abraham into a great nation. Actually, this promise was given even earlier – when God called Abraham out of Ur of Chaldea (Gn 12:2). However, the fulfillment of this promise did not occur during Abraham’s lifetime. Both Abraham and his son Isaac seemed to remain somewhat Nomadic during their lifetime (Gn 20:1, 21:34, 24:62, 26:1, 17, 23) although they became very wealthy (Gn 26:13), another part of the promise (Gn 12:2-3). It was not until after the time of Moses and during the leadership of Joshua that the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham through the promise, became recognized as a nation. The life of Joshua was devoted to the conquering of the land of Canaan for establishing Israel as a nation. At the time of his death, Israel had rest from war (Js 23:1). Although other altercations later ensued, Israel had become a formidable nation with which to be reckoned.

Because this promise to Abraham was unconditional, the actions of Abraham or his descendants did not change the outcome. This was probably a good thing, because the Israelites were not always appreciative of the journey to becoming a nation. Over the 2-year period it took the Israelites to reach Canaan, the Promised Land, from Egypt (Ex 13:17-18 states that they did not take the shortest way so as to avoid early war with other nations which would discourage them and have them voluntarily return to Egypt) there are 10 rebellions that are recorded in Scripture:

1. Complained at the Red Sea about being trapped (Ex 14:11): God performed a miracle by parting the Red Sea so Israel could go through on dry ground, but Pharaoh’s army was drowned (Ex 14:21-31)

2. Complained at Marah about water being bitter (Ex 15:24): God performed a miracle by showing Moses a tree to cast into the waters which then became drinkable (Ex 15:25)

3. Complained in Desert of Sin about no food (Ex 16:3): God performed a miracle by sending quail for food and sent manna every morning until they reached Canaan (Ex 16:4-15)

4. Disobeyed and tried to gather manna on the Sabbath (Ex 16:27): God had Moses re-explain the significance of the Sabbath and why a double portion was to be gathered on the sixth day (Ex 16:29-30)

5. Complained at Rephidim about lack of water (Ex 17:2): God performed a miracle by providing water from a rock (Ex 17:5-6)

6. Worshipped golden calf (Ex 32:5-6): Levites killed about 3000 people using their swords (Ex 32:27-28)

7. Complained at Taberah about their hardships (Nu 11:1-3): fire from the Lord consumed the outskirts of the camp (Nu 11:1)

8. Complained about the manna at Kibroth Hattaavah (Nu 11:4-6): God performed a miracle and sent quail, but also sent a plague among them (Nu 11:31-34)

9. Miriam & Aaron opposed Moses (Nu 12:1-2): Miriam was given leprosy and had to dwell outside the camp for 7 days at which point God healed her (Nu 12:15)

10. Complained at Kadesh Barnea about not being able to enter the Promised Land (Nu 14:2-3): God had them stay in the wilderness a year for each day the spies were spying out the land of Canaan (a total of 40 years) (Nu 14:34).

These incidences show the longsuffering of God to Israel and how the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham was not dependent upon their obedience. The first five instances above have no consequences attached to them. However, the last five have consequences, yet Israel still did not learn their lesson. Then, after the 10th rebellion, God stated that they would have to roam for another 38 years before the Israelites could enter the Promised Land (Nu 13:34, Dt 2:14) – to purge those that disobeyed (Nu 14:22-34) and allow them to learn to depend and trust upon God. As noted above, God fulfilled the promise through Joshua and his conquests with help from the Lord (Js 24:13).

Therefore, it took over 5 centuries for God’s promise to Abraham to be fulfilled. It seems obvious that the people of Israel did not necessarily remember this promise as evident by their complaints or was just too self-absorbed about their own comfort and desires at the time, God did not forget, and the promise came to fruition.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Year of Prophecy: ©1977 BC (Covenant with Abraham – Gn 15)

Year of Fulfillment: 1952 BC (birth of Isaac – Gn 21:2)

Time until fulfillment: ~25 years

The promise of a son to Abraham is an example of fulfilled Biblical Prophecy. To show how the amount of time passing between prophecy and fulfillment doesn’t matter, we will cover ten of such prophecies. This is the first of ten.

Abraham was born as Abram in the land of Ur (Gn 11:27), which is in modern Iraq. Abraham had received a special call from God to leave his homeland (Gn 12:1). It is unknown why Abraham received such a call. However, the genealogical record in Genesis gives evidence that Noah may still have been alive during Abraham’s early years. Perhaps through his influence or other godly descendants of Noah, Abraham’s heart was softened to God’s direction and leadership. As is usually the case then as today, all around Abraham was ungodliness – even his own father worshipped idols (Js 24:2). God’s challenge to Abraham was to ‘step up to the plate’ and choose whom he was going to serve. Abraham chose wisely and reaped an everlasting benefit not only for himself but also for his descendants (Gn 17:7).

Abraham, as great as he was, was still human. As so many married couples do today, Abraham and Sarah desired a child. Not just a child, but one of their very own (Gen 15:2). Throughout history, being childless has often had a hurtful stigma to a Jewish couple. It was said that he who had no child was like one dead.  We don’t know exactly when the promise God made to Abraham that he would have a son occurred (Gn 15:4), but it was at least 10 years after they had reached Canaan that Sarah and Abraham began to compromise (Gn 16:3). Perhaps the reasoning went something like this: I believe what God said, but He stated that I would have a son from my own body, but he did not exactly state Sarah would be the mother, so perhaps it is okay to go with custom and have a son through my wife’s maidservant. It was God who instituted one man and one women to be together (Gn 2:24), so for what reason would God yield to man-made customs over His own declaration? Bottom line, man is weak. However, God did not give an exact date for Isaac’s birth until Ishmael, the son of Hagar (Sarah’s maidservant) and Abraham, was 13 years old (Gn 17:21) – one year after the establishment of the circumcision as the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants, and the changing of Abram’s name to Abraham (Gn 17:5) and Sarai’s name to Sarah (Gn 17:15). Isaac was born at least 25 years after God’s first proclamation of the promise – a lifetime of wait for any couple, but just in time on God’s timetable. Isaac was born after the sign of God’s covenant to Abraham was established.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

For the past several posts we have been discussing how God has always had a plan for inclusion, but did this really include everyone? In the last post, we had the story of Rahab and how she and her family were saved and incorporated into Israel. Yet, some of you may have asked why this wasn’t an inclusion of everyone rather than just Rahab. How is a policy of inclusion really inclusion if it doesn’t include everyone? Let’s try and explore that.

First of all, inclusion cannot be inclusion if the one being offered inclusion doesn’t want to be included. Sound like a cop out? Well, not really. To understand this, we need to go back several years—actually, several hundred years. The inhabitants of Jericho were a section of the Canaanite people who were descendants of the Amorites.

The Amorities. We have to go back at least five hundred years. This would be during the time of Abraham. Remember him? He is the one God promised all this land to in the first place (Gn 13:15-17). Yet, he told Abraham that he was going to have his descendants to be slaves in Egypt for about four hundred years (Gn 15:12). Why would he do that if Abraham was already in the land of Canaan? Kind of like going around your elbow to get to your thumb, huh? It would be if it wasn’t because of God’s plan for inclusion. Confused? Let’s look further.

God told Abraham he was going to do this because “the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Gn 15:16). I know that sounds a little cryptic, but what it means is that God was dealing with the Amorites somehow. We don’t have details, but it shows God was trying to get their attention to elicit a decision from them. You see, God loved them and wanted the best for them. Yet, let’s not confuse love with permissiveness. God has standards. He is longsuffering, but ultimately there are consequences. Also, let’s not confuse longsuffering with inattentiveness. God is not pushy. He allows circumstances to give people opportunities to make the right decision. Some make the wrong decision, and because they don’t get zapped right away, they think God doesn’t care or isn’t even there. That is, until the consequences fall, and then, unfortunately, it is too late. God is loving, but he is also a God of justice. Longsuffering is due to his love, but that only lasts for a time. Justice eventually comes.

So, we don’t know what or how God was dealing with the Amorites, but there are some clues. Granted, what I am about to say is hard to substantiate fully, but there is circumstantial evidence. Before the flood, there were giants called Nephilim who apparently came from angels intermarrying with human women (Gn 6:2). Their offspring became men of renown who were all but worshipped (Gn 6:4). This was part of the reason for the flood. Mankind’s genetics were getting infused with fallen angel DNA. This was one of Satan’s plans to destroy God’s plan. He failed. Yet, Satan is relentless. Somehow, Satan became influential with the Amorites. They were known to have abandoned themselves to his worship, such as child sacrifice and sexual religious rites. It is likely they allowed him to lead then into genetic manipulation to produce giants again so he could again obtain something similar to what he had accomplished prior to the flood.

The angels who Satan had used to create the Nephilim were punished by being abandoned to Tartarus, a special place built for these angels in Sheol (2Pt 2:4). I find it interesting that Satan kept himself just distanced enough to not get caught in the consequences. Here, he goes to the line without crossing it. The Amorites, although influenced, followed willingly. The Amorites likely were influenced to intermarry in a way that giants were again produced in the land. Why? To prevent the Israelites from gaining the land of Canaan God had promised to Abraham. How do we know this? Just look at a map where these giants were located. The sons of Anak were giants and the ones who intimidated the Israelites the first time they tried to enter (Nu 13:31-14:10). Ten of these twelve spies influenced all of Israel they could not take the land. These giants lived in the southern and southwest region of Canaan. Then there were giants in the southeastern region of Canaan (Sihon was the king of these Amorites; Nu 21:21-25), and giants in the land of Bashan (Og was their king; Nu 21:31-35), the northeast region of Canaan. Therefore, these giants were almost like sentries around the land.

So, it seems the Amorites refused God’s promptings. God was longsuffering for almost five centuries. Justice was now due. God was now going to fulfill his promise to Abraham through the Israelites and use them to deliver his justice to the Amorites and their descendants who followed their practices. Through Moses and Joshua, God had the Israelites break through the giant barricade and they were now in the land he had promised them. Although justice was delivered starting at Jericho, we also see God’s mercy for individuals who responded to God even if their nation did not. God was always about inclusion. The nation did not agree, but Rahab and her family did.

This helps us see that God has plans within plans to achieve his master plan. We don’t always know what he is doing or how he is doing it, but we can trust him that he wants the best for us and is always looking for ways to include others and offering opportunities for people to make the right decisions. Therefore, that makes it easier for us to respond to him with faith and trust. We don’t have to understand him to trust him, we just have to trust him and allow understanding to slowly reveal itself.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens