Plenty of room for optimism - 13 April 2009 |
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Genesis 12:1-3 is a pretty important biblical text. It sets out God’s plan to redeem and restore his world after the catastrophe of Genesis 3-11, and thereby to fulfil his purpose in creation. The whole creation will be ruled by his people, under his loving authority, for his glory. The whole Bible – indeed, the whole of human history – is the outworking of this promise.
It may truly be said without exaggeration that not only the rest of the Old Testament but the whole of the New Testament are an outworking of these promises of God. (John Stott, quoted in Vaughan Roberts, God’s Big Picture, pp. 52-53)
All of world history is related to the promises that God makes to Abraham. (Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan, p. 155)
However, there’s a problem with Genesis 12:1-3 in some translations, which could easily lead us astray. Here’s the NIV, with the offending worlds in bold:
The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 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.’ (Genesis 12:1-3)
The problem with this translation is the implied uncertainty in the relative proportions of those who will ‘bless’ Abram and those who will ‘curse’ him. Here’s what v. 3 actually says:
I will bless those who bless you, and him who makes light of you I will curse (Genesis 12:3, lit.)
Thus the Hebrew (followed by the ESV) has a plural for the people who bless Abram, and a singular for the people who curse him. This is important because the LORD is hinting at something about the relative proportions of the saved and the lost. Gordon Wenham puts it nicely:
This appears to imply that those who disdain Abram will be far fewer than those who bless him. (Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, p. 277)
When it comes to God’s plan to save the world, there’s plenty of room for optimism.
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Minister's Blog