who is abraham's seed?

First read Genesis 12 and Genesis 13 to find the section where God is promising Abraham about his descendants.

Next read Galatians 3:15-21: When Abraham was promised the land to be inhabited by his descendants, there is a correction: Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.

Using the concordance link (left sidebar) read again the parts you found in Genesis, specifically the word descendants (Strong's number 2233).

So what appears to have occurred is the translation has caused the word seed to be read as a plural (more than one item) rather than the single (only one item).  This is similar to how we use the word sheep or fish. According to the correction made in Galatians, who is the seed?

Therefore, if the same word is being used in Genesis 15 and Genesis 22, then their meanings will need to be reexamined.

Perform the same concordance research and look for the sections that speak of God's promises when he uses the analogies of stars and sand.

Now to gain an understanding of what God was really promising Abraham:

1. Write out the following quote from Gen 22:17-18 "indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore ; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
2. Replace the word descendants with the answer to who the seed is
3. Reading the sentence like this sounds a bit weird so you will need to discover how a few other Hewbrew words translate (highlighted)
4. Use the meaning which makes sense in the new context
5. Feel free to look at any other words you need to

When I did it, it came out as follows:

"Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will make  Jesus mighty.  He will be as the stars of the heavens and the sand on the seashore.  He will possess the gate of the enemy.  In Jesus all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because My voice was obeyed."

Now read John 10:1-8 and John 11:52 from the new testament.  Remember to read the surrounding text for context.  Does anything sound familiar about God's promise?

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gender specific messages

introduction
The use of terms referring to gender occur throughout the bible (e.g. mother, father, son, daughter, wife, husband).  Some apply to specific people.  Others provide information about a principle.  For instance:

• Characteristics of a wife … (Ps 31)
• How women should behave in church meetings … (1Co 14:34-35)
• Definition of a widow … (1Tim 5)
• How fathers need to treat their children … (Eph 6)

But how does reading Galatians 3:26-28 affect matters?

You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In other words, being part of God’s family means the divisions of heritage, social status, and gender are no longer relevant.  Does this mean you stop being a male or female?  No.  You still have the physical parts and the associated functions such as pregnancy and beard growing.  Then there are differences in hormones, emotions, etc.  So what exactly, does it mean for gender to be no longer relevant?

what does the bible say?

The starting point is to consider yourself in just one category: a child of God.  Do a word search of the bible using the keywords child and God.  How many of them refer to a gender?  What is common among them?

• General information (Mt 5:9; Lk 20:36; Heb 12:7-8)
• Connection to Jesus (Jn 1:12; Gal 3:7; Gal 3:26; Heb 2:14; 1Jn 5:1)
• Where they come from (Jn 11:52; Rom 9:8).
• Connection to God’s Spirit (Rom 8:14)
• What God gives them (Rom 8:17-23; Gal 3:29; Eph 3:6)
• How to recognise them (Mt 5:9; Phil 2:15; 1Pe 1:14; 1Jn 2:28; 1Jn 3:9-10; 1Jn 5:18-19)

fathers and their children

Choose one of the passages from the introduction, for example Ephesians 6: Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

If gender is relevant to this passage then it’s request only applies to men who are fathers.  Everyone else, including mothers, could be considered exempt and may therefore provoke children and not be responsible for the discipline of children. Such a world would make the efforts of a father impossible, so why even ask it of him.

If at the very least mothers also need to discipline their children and treat them in such a way that they are not provoked, then we must re-examine how God views things.

widows

Now read 1 Timothy 5: a widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her husband…continue reading.

Why does God repeatedly associate widows with orphans and strangers in his word?  Could it be they are each a group of vulnerable people in the community?  If gender is relevant to this passage then it’s request only applies to widowed women.  Vulnerable elderly men could be considered exempt and we may therefore ignore their needs.

But read the passage in context.  Why were female widows even brought to attention?  Was there a cultural context? Do we simply transfer the action word for word, or do we need to look at the intent between the lines?

conclusion

Whenever you read something in the bible or are given advice, look at the underlying truths.  If God treats his children equally, then we need to live that way too.  Matters of character, principle, ethics, justice, love apply to everyone.  Equally.

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