At Genesis 22:16-18, God told Abraham: "‘By myself I do swear,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘that by reason of the fact that you have done this thing and you have not withheld your son, your only one, I shall surely bless you and I shall surely multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the grains of sand that are on the seashore; and your seed will take possession of the gate of his enemies. And by means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have listened to my voice.’â€Â
Abraham's fleshly "seed" later became the nation of Israel (meaning "Contender With God, or, God Contends"), but the "seed" by which "all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves" proved not to be fleshly Israel. Later, when Jacob was upon his deathbed, he gave prophetic statements concerning his sons, the "12 tribes of Israel", with Joseph's two son, Manasseh and Ephraim, being, in effect, adopted by Jacob as equals with his sons, with Ephraim supplanting Reuben as firstborn and Levi having "no inheritance...among the sons of Israel".(Num 26:62; Deut 18:1,2; Gen 49) The "12 tribes of Israel" grew into a nation of perhaps some 3 million by the time the exodus from Egypt.(Ex 12:37,38)
Thus, from Abraham's "loins" came forth a nation that became fleshly Israel. In 1513 B.C.E., three months after their exodus, these were given the opportunity to become "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."(Ex 19:6) However, over the course of fifteen hundred years until the arrival of the Messiah in 29 C.E., as a nation, these proved disloyal to the Law covenant that was inaugurated at Mount Sinai. Hence, after 3 years of ministering to the nation of fleshly Israel, Jesus gave an illustration, saying: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the vinedresser, ‘Here it is three years that I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, but have found none. Cut it down! Why really should it keep the ground useless?’ In reply he said to him, ‘Master, let it alone also this year, until I dig around it and put on manure; and if then it produces fruit in the future, [well and good]; but if not, you shall cut it down.’â€Â(Luke 13:6-9)
When Jesus gave this illustration, he had been endeavoring to cultivate faith among members of the Jewish nation. Jesus intensified his activity, “fertilizing†the symbolic fig treeâ€â€the Jewish nationâ€â€and affording it an opportunity to produce fruit. Before Jesus died, however, it became evident that the nation in general had rejected the Messiah, for just three days before his death, he said of the nation: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent forth to her,â€â€how often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings! But you people did not want it. Look! Your house is abandoned to you. For I say to you, you will by no means see me from henceforth until you say, ‘Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah’s name!’â€Â(Matt 23:37-39; Ps 118:26)
Thus, God abandoned the nation of Israel, with these never seeking to find favor according to God's arrangement of worship. Jesus thereby indicated that soon God would no longer accept the form of worship practiced at the typical temple in Jerusalem. It would no longer be “a house of prayer for all the nations.†When his disciples pointed out to Jesus the magnificent temple buildings, he said: “Do you not behold all these things? . . . By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.â€Â(Matthew 24:1, 2) Earlier, Jesus had said: "Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone that the builders rejected is the one that has become the chief cornerstone. From Jehovah this has come to be, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? This is why I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits."(Matt 21:42,43; Ps 118:22,23)
The apostle Paul wrote concerning his own nation of Israel, that "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but not according to accurate knowledge; for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God."(Rom 10:2,3) Thus, the nation of fleshly Israel were spurned from being God's people, replaced with a "nation producing its fruits", as the "Israel of God".(Gal 6:16) These had rejected "the chief cornerstone" of God's spiritual temple, as the apostle Peter said, the "head of the corner".(Acts 4:11)
At Romans 9, the apostle Paul said that "I have great grief and unceasing pain in my heart" concerning the nation of fleshly Israel. He, however, clearly recognized that God had replaced them with a spiritual "nation", saying: "However, it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who [spring] from Israel are really “Israel.†Neither because they are Abraham’s seed are they all children, but: “What will be called ‘your seed’ will be through Isaac.†That is, the children in the flesh are not really the children of God, but the children by the promise are counted as the seed."(Rom 9:6-8)
Therefore, fleshly Israel is not Abraham's "seed", but rather "the children by the promise are counted as the seed", those selected to serve as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies†of the one that called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. For you were once not a people, but are now God’s people; you were those who had not been shown mercy, but are now those who have been shown mercy."(1 Pet 2:9,10; Hos 2:23)
These are chosen out all nations, receiving "a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out: “Abba, Father!†The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children. If, then, we are children, we are also heirs: heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ, provided we suffer together that we may also be glorified together."(Rom 8:15-17) These are the "Israel of God", those who are anointed with God's spirit and become his adopted "sons", "joint heirs with Christ". These are the same as the 144,000 spoken of at Revelation 7:4 and 14:1. These have become a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" and have replaced the nation of fleshly Israel, producing the fruits of God's kingdom. Fleshly Israel is a militarized nation, having rejected God's "chief cornerstone" and are looking for a political messiah.
By means of the "Israel of God" as Abraham's "seed", with Jesus as the primary "seed"(Gal 3:16), "all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves".(Gen 22:18) These have the hope of serving in the official capacity as "kings and priests" in heaven.(Rev 1:6, King James Bible) These will then apply the shed blood of Jesus in behalf of others, for they are serving as "priests", just as the Levites under the Mosaic Law. Of these "others", Jesus said: "Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth."(Matt 5:5) Then later, in the Lord's Prayer, he taught us to pray for ' God's kingdom to come, for God's will to take place on this earth, as in heaven.' (Matt 6:10) Hence, those who are "meek ones"(King James Bible),will be those who also bless themselves by means of exercising faith in Jesus shed blood.
These "meek ones" are to inherit the earth forever, and are further brought to our attention at Revelation 22:1,2, which says: "And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its broad way. And on this side of the river and on that side [there were] trees of life producing twelve crops of fruit, yielding their fruits each month. And the leaves of the trees [were] for the curing of the nations." These "nations" are ones from all parts of the earth who have submitted to God's kingdom, under the leadership of Jesus Christ and have the wonderful hope of living on this earth forever in a paradise.(Luke 23:43)
