The word for bless in this passage, is "barakh" and means to kneel. It does not mean to kneel in submission or subjugation, but rather to enrich. It is not a promise of Divine health as used in this passage, but refers to something much greater. It is promise to both Abraham, and world that those who seek to do good to his descendents, will have the favor of God upon their lives. That may mean that God blesses you with healing or a good high paying job as a reward, but it does not guarantee it. God promises blessing, but does not promise the specific form that blessing will take.
God's blessings are never partial, Deut. 28 pretty well covers all of them.
And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
(Genesis 13:14-18)
Again, this is a promise God made to Abraham and his flesh and blood descendents, and not one that you can take unto yourself. Also, there is no universal principle being established. Abraham was a rich man, but nowhere does the Bible promise riches equivalent to Abraham.
Galatians 3:14 says that in Christ, Abraham's blessing might come to the gentiles
Deut, 8:17,18 God is the one who gives the power to make wealth. This is not limited to Abraham, but it is for His seed
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
(Genesis 15:13-15)
Abraham lived to be an old man. You cannot apply this to yourself and claim it for your own. Have you not read Fox's book of martyrs? Have you not read how the apostles of our Lord were killed for their testimony of Christ? Even Paul was beheaded. Read 2 Corinthians 11 how that Paul was beaten, imprisoned, starved, stoned and left for dead. How many saints down through the ages had their lives taken prematurely as they spread the gospel throughout the world. Sorry, but again, there is no principle of long life being established for us in this passage.
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
(Genesis 17:1-9)
And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
(Genesis 26:2-5)
And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
(Genesis 26:24-25)
And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
(Genesis 28:13-16)
The above passages establish the Land of Israel as the permanent possession of the children of Israel forever. They have nothing to do with perpetual health or healing or prosperity. They cannot be applied to believers today as the "Name it and Claim it" crowd applies them. These texts merely show the Jewish people's right to their historic homeland by Divine decree.
The fulness of God's covenant is forever
In the last three passages, God is simply passing on to Isaac what he promised to Abraham. God is honoring the Covenant he made with Abraham in chapter 15. There is no universal application being applied here.
Galatians ch 3, again
And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
(Genesis 35:9-12)
And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
(Genesis 35:29)
Isaac was Abraham's offspring, and as such He inherited the blessings
These are statements of biblical fact, and are not anything that you can apply to yourself. It is a tragic misuse of the Scriptures to teach others that since Abraham and Isaac died of old age, that we can expect the same thing. I have more to say about this sloppy unspiritual handling of the Scriptures at the end of this post.
If you are in Christ, you are Abraham's offspring , heirs according the promise
These promises made were not based upon the covenant God made with Abraham. God already fulfilled what he said to Abraham when he brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt. The promises of Exodus 23 were conditional upon their obedience. God did not say the promises were their's because of the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost. He did not say the promises were theirs because of Abraham. The blessings in those promises were were contingent solely upon their compliance with God's laws, and their abstinence from any type of idolatry.
see concluding statemant
The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he swore unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
(Deuteronomy 7:7-15)
The night befere they left Egypt, they ate the flesh of the Passover lamb, and Psalms 105:37 says they left Egypt without even one feeble among them, More than one million, healed by the Passover Lamb, Jesus is our Passover Lamb, He said , "Eat my flesh, and drink My blood". In the communion passages, it says, many were sick and some died because they did not discern the body of Christ as broken for them.
Again, there is no mention of the blood of the lamb. If healing were connected with blood, then God would have made healing contingent upon blood in the OT. He would have said, because of the blood of the Lamb sacrificed at Passover, the Children of Israel are herby blessed with perpetual good health and each person will live to old age. God makes no such promise to them. In this case as in prior passages, healing and prosperity were conditional. They were conditional upon obedience.
In Christ, we are obedient, if we keep His commandments, to Love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
(Deuteronomy 8:17-18)
Well it interesting because this verse is predicated by the following verses in this chapter:
All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers.
(Deuteronomy 8:1)
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
(Deuteronomy 8:6)
Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
(Deuteronomy 8:11)
And it is followed by these verses:
And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.
(Deuteronomy 8:19-20)
Again, blessing was conditional upon obedience.
We are obedient, if we are in Christ, and therefore we qualify.
As for Deut 28:2-14...
You conveniently left out verse 1
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
(Deuteronomy 28:1)
We qualify in Christ
The blessings that follow are spoken to Israel as a nation and NOT to them as individuals. Furthermore it has nothing to do with atonement, as that is not mentioned as the basis for the blessings in verses 2-14. It is obedience. It is so typical for your crowd to want to claim the blessings, but not the responsibilities that the blessings are contingent upon. You want the blessings just because you are a Christian. It doesn't work that way. Galatians 3 says it does work that way.
A nation is what, if not individuals?
A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
(Psalms 103:1-5)
About whom does the Psalmist write? The verses that follow tell us:
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
(Psalms 103:11)
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
(Psalms 103:13)
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
(Psalms 103:17-18)
Again we see blessing is connected to obedience. Gal. 3
O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
(Psalms 105:1-10)
Again, this applies to Israel, not to the Church. It is not a universal statement, but is recalling God's faithfulness to the covenant he made with Abraham. Gal. 3
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
(Psalms 107:20-21)
This is not promise to heal everyone. Nor is any mention made of an atonement.
In Christ' Atonement, He took our infirmities, ad carried away our diseases,
Matt. 8:17
I am not sure what you are getting out of Malachi 3:1. It talks about the messenger of the covenant, but that is pretty much it. Malachi 3:10 deals with be blessed, but again it is talking to national Israel.
Again, Jesus is our messenger of the covenant, He confirms the promises made to the fathers. romans 15:8,9
As for the verses of Luke 1, you simply don't have anything there to claim.
In Mary's Magnificat, she said God's mercy is upon generation after generation to those who fear Him.
Through Jesus, in her womb, God has given help to Israel, in rememberance of His Covenant, as He spoke to Abraham, and his offspring forever.
Then, also, as Mary, John the Baptist' father knew why Jesus came,
He said God has redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation. He has sent His Messiah to show mercy to our fathers, and to remember His Holy Covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham, our father.
All through scripture, Jesus is the fulfillment of God's ultimate plan for His people.
You cannot just grab verses and "claim" them. There is nothing Scriptural about that. When studying Scripture you must look at who the author is speaking to. Promises that are made to Israel are to Israel. Are we not Grafted in?
1. Nothing in the passages you provided give us any indication of a universal blessing being pronounced
2. None of the passages you provided speak of atonement being the source of the blessings. For you to say that healing is in the atonement as a present day manifestation, you would have to demonstrate that healing was in the atonement in OT times. You can't. In EVERY single cases where a definitive promise of healing or prosperity is made, it is coupled with the condition of obedience.
I would also like to point out that healing is one of the spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Cor. 12:9. If healing were in the atonement there would be no need for any such gift. If healing were in the atonement as a present day manifestation, it could only come through the same avenue through which salvation comes. You don't see any mention of the "gift of salvation." That would be heretical. It is salvation in the sense of justification/spiritual regeneration that comes through the blood of Jesus.
I believe the gift of healing is a special anointing to believers to pray for the sick, I don't believe it takes from God's promise to be our Jehovah Rapha.
Healing DOES come with salvation.
Furthermore, I have heard Kenneth Hagin speak on a number of occasions when I was in Tulsa, since my roommate played Hagin tapes all the time. According to Hagin, unforgiveness will block healing, and prosperity. How can that be if healing is based upon the blood of Jesus. It cannot be argued both ways. If healing is based upon the shed blood of Jesus, then it cannot based upon obedience as well.
Regarding unforgiveness, Matt. 6:15 says if we don't forgive, then we won't be forgiven. Is there such a thing as a saved person who God has not forgiven?
If healing is part of Salvation, then Healing, also is not manifested without forgiveness.
I believe that healing is the atonement in the sense that we are promised a resurrected body free of disease, infirmity and any kind of malady. It is not guaranteed to us as a present day manifestation.
Healing is at the sole discretion of God. It is not for me to say why this or that person is not healed. I wish I knew why. I DO know that God, even if he does not always heal us, never leaves or forsakes us. It is sometimes in our weakness that God is made strong. He told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 129) By that Christ meant that His strength is illustrated, or made manifest when God is able to accomplish his work through us in our weakness. It was in the weakness of Sarah's and Abraham's bodies that Isaac was born. It was in the weakness of the Children of Israel and Moses, that God's power was displayed. In the flesh, David did not stand a chance in front of Goliath, but God gave him the victory anyway. Paul was short, skinny, bald headed old man beaten tortured and pretty treated as the offscouring of the earth. He was always broke being led from one prison to another, never knowing where his next meal would come from, or when it come. He, by all outward appearances had no blessing in his life. Yet God worked through him to reach most of the known world at that time with gospel.
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Is God a respecter of persons?
I believe that God does nothing for His people with respect to blessings outside His Covenant, and since the cross, He does nothing except through Christ, the messenger of His covenant.
