Genesis 12:2-3, "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
God made some promises to Abraham, and He ratified those promises with a covenant ritual. God promised Abraham that He would make him into a great nation at a time when Abraham and Sarah were old and childless. Then God gave them Isaac. Today the Hittites, Jebusites, Hivites, and all the other nations mentioned in the Old Testament, have melted into the pool of humanity. However, there is still a distinct Jewish nation, descendants of Abraham and Isaac.
God promised to bless Abraham, and He gave Abraham great wealth as well as many descendants. God promised to make Abraham's name great. Not only Christianity, but also Judaism and Islam, claim Abraham as the founder of their beliefs. Abraham is referred to 116 times in the Bible, and his life has been an influence to trust and obey God in every generation since he lived. God promised Abraham that all the people on earth would be blessed through him. Through Abraham came the belief in the one true God at a time when many gods were worshiped. Abraham's descendants not only wrote most of the Bible, but the Jews also preserved it through hundreds of years. And from the Jewish nation came the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the whole world. Truly all people on earth have been blessed by Abraham and the legacy of his people. Where would we all be today if Abraham and Sarah had not chosen to trust and obey God?
We will see that everywhere Abraham went his life was marked by two special activities. He built altars to worship God, and he dug wells which benefited the people in his vicinity. Because of his faith and obedience he was a blessing to many others during his lifetime. If we trust and obey God, He will make us blessings to those around us as well.
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