God’s Plan & Purpose with Israel

The recent debate between Senator Ted Cruz and commentator Tucker Carlson has reignited discussions about the biblical promise in Genesis 12:3—“those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.” To fully grasp the significance of this scripture, it is essential to understand its original context within God's plan.

In Genesis 12, God is calling out Abraham as the man through whom God will bring about the nation that God will use to accomplish His plan and purpose with the earth.

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

The part of this passage that is often quoted is the “bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee” as though that pertains to the present dispensation of grace. It does not. In fact, the application of this whole passage pertains to Israel in the kingdom. They are not the great nation now, the families of the earth are not blessed through them now, and the blessing and cursing will take place in the kingdom. It is important to know that back in Genesis 10-11, God has consigned the nations of the world over to the adversary to follow Satan’s plan of evil. The nations of the world followed the course that Satan charted for this world and aligned with Satan against God. At the tower of Babel, Satan is attempting to form his own “great nation” by which he will establish his dominance over the earth. Satan means to us his “great nation” as the tool by which he will establish his“ways” upon the earth in both a political and military sense.

This is not the first time that Satan has attempted to do this. With the corruption of mankind utilizing the “sons of God” in Genesis 6, Satan is attempting to create his own “people” through which he will dominate the earth. The tower of Babel is another of Satan’s attempts at creating his own“great nation” by which he will dominate the world. It is no coincidence that the center of this satanic enterprise involves the same geography that will come into play again in the “end times.” In response to the activity at Babel, God intervened by confusing the languages and scattering the people, which hindered Satan’s plan. God gave those nations up, to walk in the ways of the adversary, but He did not abandon his original plan and purpose for the world. God called Abraham away from his kindred and his homeland and promised to make of him a great nation. This is that same “domineering nation” concept that we saw back at the tower of Babel. Only this time, it is God’s great nation that is being put together. It is through this nation that God means to put forth his administrative policy that will hold sway in the earth. This is the “great nation” issue contained in the Abrahamic Covenant. It is not merely that they will become great in number, which they will, but it is that they will become the head of all nations. The last parts of verses two and three in Genesis 12 speak of a blessing that will extend to the families of the earth. This is important to understand but for now, you need to know that this is part of the purpose that God has for the nation of Israel.

These various elements of God’s purpose with Israel are outlined in the Abrahamic Covenant. The concept of God’s blessing (speaking well of something) has not been in operation very much since the events of the opening chapters of Genesis. God spoke well of the creation but after sin came in, we do not see God blessing anyone or anything until after the flood when Noah and his family come off the ark. That is a period of about 1,800 years that have gone without blessing. The next time we see God’s blessing is to Abraham when He promises to bless him and make of him a great nation. At that same time, God promises that through Abraham a blessing will come to the families of the earth. There were a number of instances in which God cursed things in those first two millennia. Immediately after Adam sins, God curses the serpent and the ground. Cain is cursed because of the murder of his brother Abel. They are no sooner off the ark than Canaan is cursed. The point is that there is a lot of judgment going on in response to the things taking place on the earth, but not much to bless. Now we see that being a blessing to the families of the earth is part of God’s purpose with the nation He will bring from Abraham. The calling out of the nation is the fifth new beginning that we have encountered in the book of Genesis and God does it so that he can do that which He intended to do in the beginning; to bring His residence down to the earth and establish His righteous rule from the midst of His creation.

Just for information purposes, let’s just list these beginnings.

Beginning #1 – the beginning of the earth – Genesis 1:1-25

Beginning #2 – the beginning of man – Genesis 1:26 – 2:25

Beginning #3 – the beginning of man’s sin and Satan’s usurped dominion of the earth – Genesis 3:1-24

Beginning #4 – the beginning of man’s devolution - Genesis 4:1 –11:32

Beginning #5 – the beginning of the nation of Israel – Genesis 12:1 –50:26

The entire remainder of the book of Genesis deals with this fifth and final beginning. To really appreciate this beginning, you need to understand some things about the first four beginnings. Those first four beginnings span over two thousand years in eleven chapters. But the fifth beginning takes the remaining thirty-eight chapters even though the time span itself is very, very small. That shows you where God is putting the emphasis and what He wants us to pay attention to. The kingdom represents the purpose for the creation of the earth in the first place and it is the kingdom that is in view at the end of your Bible. It is this understanding that gives cohesion and flow to everything you have in your Bible. This is not a book of unconnected stories. The account of the garden of Eden is not as far removed from David and Goliath or the Flood of Noah or the Davidic Covenant or the call to Abraham or the Babylonian Captivity or the Tribulation or any other thing you can mention in your Bible, as you might think. These are all interconnected.

Next, God calls a man from his country and his family to make from him a people of God’s own creation. It will be this people that God will use to accomplish what man was intended to accomplish all along. Satan’s attention turns to the nation and he attempts to corrupt them, defile them and destroy them. God intervenes on their behalf, punishes them and blesses them. He predicts their future and exposes the plan of the adversary against them. At the appointed time, He sends His Son into the world to accomplish for them that which they must have and which they can never accomplish on their own.

In a brilliant move demonstrating His manifold wisdom, God interrupts His program with Israel to reveal a provision He has made from the beginning for a people through whom He will reclaim the heavenly places forever. Following the conclusion of that program, God will resume and conclude the program He began with Israel and finally accomplish that which was His intent from the beginning; He will bring His residence down to this earth, establish His everlasting kingdom and rule from the midst of His creation. He will establish a new heavens and a new earth in conjunction with that eternal kingdom and He will join together those two programs of the Mystery and Israel in the final dispensation; the dispensation of the fullness of times.

Genesis 12:3 represents a critical moment within the Abrahamic Covenant, marking the beginning of God's promise to Abraham—a promise encompassing land, descendants, and a blessing that would extend globally. This era is identified as the Dispensation of Promise. Through Abraham's lineage, God declared an ultimate blessing that would reach all nations, culminating in the coming of Jesus Christ (Romans 4:13-16). This promise was not only foundational for the nation of Israel but also prophetic in nature, looking forward to the Messiah, who would bring salvation to all peoples.

Today's debate often revolves around how this ancient promise should influence contemporary Christian support for Israel. Genesis 12:3 traditionally guides many Christians to express explicit support for Israel, believing that blessings will follow those who support Abraham’s descendants. This conviction has significantly shaped Christian political advocacy, humanitarian support, and social solidarity with the nation of Israel, manifesting in various forms of cooperation and support at both national and community levels.

PS. Be sure to check out our new Archival Historical Documents Digital Library and download the complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, The Septuagint Old Testament, plus many more documents on our Ancient Pathways Patreon Site! Oh, have you seen my latest film, Qmran 2 Petra?