I will multiply your offspring as the stars of Heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands, and in your offspring, all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
– Genesis 26:4–5
Oh, these verses are so important to understand. They represent a consistent theme throughout the Book of Genesis that sets the stage for the rest of the Bible. God said to Abraham, in Genesis 12… When he initiated his covenant with this family… What would become the people of Israel. “I’m going to bless you,” God said, “and through you, all the families of the Earth will be blessed.”
And now, in Abraham’s son, Isaac, we’re seeing the same promise from God. “I’m going to bless your offspring. I’ll multiply you like the stars of Heaven. I’m going to give you all these lands and in your offspring, flowing from your family, I’m going to bring blessing to the nations of the Earth.” And then, a couple of chapters later, God’s going to say this same thing to Isaac’s son, Jacob.
Genesis 26:4–5 is the foundation of the Great Commission.
See, from the very beginning of the Bible that God desires blessing for all the nations. Just let that soak in. All the nations, all the peoples, all the tribes, all the languages. God created all of them, and God wants them all to experience his blessing. He wants them all to experience his goodness. He wants them all to experience his salvation. We know that, again, setting the stage for the entire Bible that ends in what happening? In all the nations, tribes, peoples, and languages gathering around the throne of God, praising him for his what? For his blessing, for his salvation.
This is the whole story of Scripture. And this is why we pray every day on this podcast for different people groups that have yet to experience the blessing of God. Where there are very few or relatively few, if any, in some circumstances followers of Jesus who’ve experienced his salvation. And churches who are experiencing his blessing as his people in that place. And God wants every tribe, language, people, and nation to be reached with the good news of his love. To receive it, to be in his family, and to experience his blessing. That’s why we pray like this. This is not just a side thing for those who care about missions. Like, no, this is what it means to be in the family of God. It means to live for the blessing of God to go to all the nations.
Genesis 26:4–5 encourages us to obey by making disciples of all nations.
So, we pray like this, and then, we live like this. Let’s make disciples of all the nations. Verse five says, “Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge.” This is the charge Jesus has given to you and me. Today, go and make disciples of the nations. Right around you, reach people with the gospel, right around you. From the nations right around you. Look, open your eyes to how God has brought the nations right outside your doorstep to you. And then, keep going, keep giving, keep praying until all the nations are reached, until all the nations are blessed.
Oh, God, we pray. Help us to live for this today, to spread your blessing. God, we pray that we would be a blessing today to all the people around us. Help us to spread your blessing today to the nations where you’ve called us to live, wherever that might be, whatever nation we might live in right now. God, help us to be a blessing to the nations, to the people around us.
Lord, we pray for boldness to share the gospel today, to lead people to you, to encourage people in you. God, we pray that our lives today would be a blessing to the people, and people groups represented around us, wherever we are in the world. And God, we pray that you would use our lives, our prayers, our resources, our giving, and our going, our living right where we live, wherever you might lead us. God, we pray that you would help each of us to spend our lives however you desire, to use us as a blessing to the nations.
Prayer for the Turkish People
God, we pray specifically today for the Turkish people, spread out in many different places in the world, obviously predominantly in Turkey. Oh God, we pray for 67 million Turkish men and women and children, relatively only a few of whom know you and have experienced your blessing as your children. God, we pray for your blessing on those brothers and sisters. We pray that you would draw them into a closer and closer relationship with you, and you give them boldness to spread the gospel in their people group. And God, we pray that you would bless all those who are working, including close friends of mine, to spread the gospel among the Turkish people.
God, we pray for your blessing to spread. We’re asking. Oh, God, we’re interceding. Cause your blessing to spread among the Turkish people for your glory that they might be blessed, they might be saved, oh God, that they might be brought into your family to enjoy you forever. God, we pray this over the Turkish people and over every unreached people group in the world, and we pray that you would help us to give our lives as a part of the fulfillment of this promise that you made in Genesis 26. We pray all of this, according to your Word, in the name of Jesus who makes the blessing of the nations possible. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
