CHAPTER 1 - GOD S PROMISE TO NATIONAL ISRAEL
When and how did Israel begin? Is it a nation that goes all the
way hack to Noah? Can we know its precise beginning?
Indeed we can know its beginning. By carefully reading the
Bible we can know without the possibility of error the exact
circumstances relating to the founding of Israel.
The birth of the nation of Israel coincides with commands by
God to the ancient patriarch Abraham. Abraham was a Gentile
living in Ur of the Chaldees. God commanded him to leave his
homeland and go to a innd in which he would llve as a stranger. The
land he was sent to was the land of Canaan which became the land of
Israel.
As Abraham faithfully obeyed God， he received significant
~romises concerning himse]~ and eoneerffmg h~s see~. Paese
promises related to the ~an<~， to b，bra~am an~ %~s ~ x ~~~x~xx~x~，~
t toGo~， and to the character and extent of his seed. These promises
must be looked at very carefully if we are to understand God s
present day commitments to national Israel，
The prom ses in question are especially set forth in the twalfth
~g~ the twenty-eighth chapters of Genes s. We will examine
th t oa~fally.
Two Kinds of I~omls~
When we read these promises given to Abraham (Abraham was
called Abram unfilGenesis 17) in Genesis 12 through Genesis 28， we
i are going to discover that some related only to the seed of Abraham
while other promises related to Abraham himself as well as to his
seed.
We read for example in Genesis 12:7:
，.. the Lord appeared unto Abram and said， Unto thy seed will I
this land，
i This promise does not concern itself with Abraham bnt only with his
seed. On the other hand， we read in Genesis 13:15:
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