Fulfilment: when did the promises to Abram in Genesis 12 come about?

The promises that God made to Abram in Genesis 12 were very big promises. When did they happen? That is a good question to ask. Like with so many Bible promises, God fulfilled them in stages. I think it is helpful to think of partial fulfilment, ultimate fulfilment in Jesus, and then the final fulfilment that is coming. Let me explain.

Stage 1, the first partial fulfilment of these promises, we read of in the rest of Genesis. Others around Abram were blessed or cursed through their interactions with him. One is the next passage, where the Pharaoh was cursed because of Sarai. Likewise, Laban, Potiphar, and the people of Egypt were blessed through interaction with Abram’s descendants. Yet at the end of Genesis, they are not a nation and do not own the land.

Stage 2, another partial fulfilment of the promises, we read of in the nation of Israel and the conquest of Canaan. The people received blessing, rescue from Egypt, and were given the land. They became settled with land, with blessing, with a nation. Yet this is not a complete fulfilment. They had not really been a blessing to other nations much at all. And life in the land was certainly not perfect and united.

Stage 3, the ultimate fulfilment, is in Jesus. Jesus came to die and rise again to gather a people for himself. A people from all nations, a united people under the kingship of Jesus. People who have the blessing of forgiven sins, peace with God, and who are in God’s family. This is where the promises to Abram were heading, to the church.

Stage 4, the final fulfilment, is when Jesus returns and the kingdom of God is complete. It is then that we truly see the blessings in their fullest form. We will have a united people, blessed beyond imagining, gathered under King Jesus, in a perfect place. God keeps his promises again and again and again. Deeper each time, heading towards eternity.