Genesis 12:3 Does Not Point To Modern Israel

 

This chart should stop all debate. Just stop it dead in its tracks. Genesis 12:3 is never applied to the physical nation of Israel in the New Testament, but only ever to Jesus and those who believe in him. This should settle all debate FOR CHRISTIANS about how to apply this verse. We should use it to point to Jesus, not to political support for a modern unbelieving nation.

This should not even be a debate in Christianity, but Christians have been trained to misread and misquote this verse. So, I am putting together here a resource to help you deconstruct this bad teaching.

The core promise of Genesis 12:3 is: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (ESV)

This verse, especially the final clause, becomes a foundational theme for the New Testament, explaining how the blessing intended for Israel extends to the entire world through Jesus Christ, the "seed" of Abraham. Even though this passage is often used to justify saying Christians should stand with the modern nation called Israel, I want us to look at how the New Testament itself quotes this verse, and similar verses. So that we can apply it properly. 

Direct Quotations of Genesis 12:3

Genesis 12:3, and more specifically its parallel verse Genesis 18:18 and 22:18, is directly quoted three times in the New Testament.

Here is the list of direct references:

Acts 3:25

The context of this quotation is Peter speaking to a Jewish crowd in Solomon's Portico after healing a lame man. He explains that they are the heirs of the covenant God made with their ancestors.

Acts 3:25-26 says, 

"You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Peter explicitly uses this quote to show that the blessing promised to Abraham was fulfilled in the salvation Jesus achieved on the cross. The blessing here is “turning every one of you from your wickedness.” It is preaching the message of salvation. This is a direct usage of Genesis 22:18 which is a reiteration of Genesis 12:3.

Galatians 3:8

The context of this quotation is Paul making his central argument that justification comes by faith, not by the Law. He states that the Gospel was preached in advance to Abraham.

Galatians 3:8-9 says, "8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.'  9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Paul uses the passage, Genesis 12:3, exactly the same as Peter uses Genesis 22:18, to point people to salvation in Jesus. He even explicitly shows how Gentiles share in the same promises and the Israelites who Peter preached to in Acts 3.

Hebrews 6:13-14

The context of this quotation is the author discussing God's unchangeable promise, confirmed with an oath.

Hebrews 6:13-14 says,

"13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, 'Surely I will bless you and multiply you.' 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.”

In this reference the writer quotes Genesis 22:17, and the "blessing" inherently includes the promise of 22:18, which is the ultimate fulfillment. The full quote from Genesis is,

“17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:17-18).

So, these are the direct references to the promise from Genesis 12:3 and the other passages which encompass the reiteration of that promise. None of them say we should stand with the modern nation of Israel. All of them point to salvation in Jesus and to the faith we should have in the promises of God. “Standing with Israel” is a doctrine foreign to the New Testament. 

Other Key Mentions of the Blessing Through Abraham

The theme of the blessing to the nations through Abraham and his "seed" is pervasive in the New Testament. Here are the other major references, which often allude to the promise without quoting it verbatim.

Matthew 1:1, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." The very first line of the New Testament establishes Jesus as the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise. This is important considering John says that God could raise children for Abraham from stones if he wanted to (Matt. 3:7-8).

Luke 1:54-55, 72-73,

“54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever… 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us…” 

Both Mary and Zechariah show that God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus. His coming ushers in the fulfilment. 

John 8:56-58, " 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Jesus is here debating with the Jewish leaders about their ancestry and here he drives home the point that Abraham was looking forward to the time of Jesus. This is how the nations would be blessed.

Galatians 3:14-16, 29,

“14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”

This is the most developed theological explanation of the promise. Here Paul is showing how the promise pointed to the offspring who would come by faith, not the flesh. Which is why Gentiles can be full inheritors of the promise. We are part of the nation of Abraham, the people of God., Israel, the Church.

Romans 4:13-18,

“13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

Paul argues here that Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised, making him the father of all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. The promise to Abraham included the land, but this always pointed further to Jesus Christ who would achieve our rest as Hebrews 3 and 4 says.

All these references show that the New Testament authors see Jesus Christ as the ultimate "seed" of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). Through His life, death, and resurrection, the blessing promised to all the nations in Genesis 12:3 is now available to all who have faith, fulfilling the ancient covenant.

In fact, this theme of the promise to Abraham is more prominent in the New Testament than in the Old. However, it is in the Old Testament as well, of course. The promise itself  was given to Abraham and then reaffirmed and expanded upon multiple times to the patriarchs.

The core promise of Genesis 12:3—especially the part about "all nations/peoples of the earth being blessed through you"—is directly reiterated in two other key passages within Genesis.

1. To Isaac (a near-verbatim reaffirmation):
• Genesis 26:4: God appears to Isaac and says, "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." This is almost identical to the wording in Genesis 22:18.
2. To Jacob (a clear reaffirmation):
• Genesis 28:14: God speaks to Jacob at Bethel in a dream, saying, "Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed." The phrasing "in you and your offspring" is a powerful combination of the original promise.

The event where Abraham is willing to sacrifice Isaac is the ultimate test of his faith, after which God swears an oath by Himself, intensifying the promise, as we read above Genesis 22:18,

“17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

As we have shown this passage is quoted by the Apostles as being fulfilled in Jesus. Not in the modern secular nation of Israel. This is the verse most often quoted in the New Testament and it serves as the definitive, oath-bound version of the initial promise from Genesis 12:3.

The fact that this promise is universally applied to Jesus joins the narratives of the Old and New Testaments together. Applying it to modern Israel shrouds over this unification of the Bible’s themes. It obscures the true source of blessing, faith in Jesus. 

Here is the section of my article that some will struggle to comprehend. But it must be reiterated: The promise of Genesis 12:3 is not explicitly applied to the nation of Israel as the direct agent or source of the blessing. Instead, the nation of Israel is the vehicle or channel through which the blessing comes, but the ultimate source and agent of the blessing is the promised "offspring" of Abraham, who is Jesus Christ. This is foundational to Christian theology, but not understood by many Christians today because of the influence of Dispensationalism and Christian Zionism.

To help demonstrate this here is a breakdown of the relationship between the promise, Israel, and the Messiah:

The Original Promise is to Abraham and His "Offspring"

The core promise is made to an individual (Abraham) and his singular "offspring" (or "seed"). This is crucial.

Genesis 12:3 says, "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 22:18 says, "and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

The "you" is Abraham, and the "offspring" is the key. Don’t miss this, because this is how the New Testament expands on this.

The Role of the Nation of Israel

The nation of Israel (Abraham's physical descendants through Isaac and Jacob) is given a critical, but intermediary, role. They are the Covenant People. God establishes His covenant with Israel at Sinai, making them a holy nation and a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5-6). A priest's role is to mediate between God and humanity. In a sense, Israel was to be the mediator of God's truth and blessing to the world.

They are the Custodians of the Promise. To Israel were given "the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ" (Romans 9:4-5). They preserved the scriptures, the prophecies, and the bloodline through which the Messiah would come.

They were called to be a Light to the Nations. The prophets envision a time when Israel's restoration will lead to the blessing of the nations (e.g., Isaiah 42:6, 49:6). However, this is always rooted in God's action through Israel, not because of Israel's inherent merit.

In essence, Israel was the "womb" and the "custodian" for the blessing, but not its final source.

The New Testament Clarification: The "Offspring" is Christ

The New Testament makes a definitive interpretation that clarifies the entire promise. It locates the source of blessing in Jesus, not the Israelites themselves. 

Galatians 3:16 is the most critical verse on this topic. Paul writes: "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, 'And to offsprings,' referring to many, but referring to one, 'And to your offspring,' who is Christ."

This is the theological key. The ultimate, singular "offspring" of Abraham through whom the global blessing arrives is Jesus Christ. The promise finds its ultimate "yes" and "amen" in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20). Therefore, to apply this to a modern secular country called Israel is deeply irresponsible.

But how else is Israel related to all this?

Well, Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, are then incorporated into this singular "offspring" and become heirs of the promise. Galatians 3:29, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise."

This means that the true "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16) or the "true circumcision" (Philippians 3:3) is comprised of all people—from every nation—who are in Christ by faith. The promise is not applied to the ethnic nation of Israel as a political entity, but to the messianic community gathered around Jesus, which includes believing Jews as its foundational members (Ephesians 2:11-22).

The promise of Genesis 12:3 is never explicitly applied to the nation of Israel as the final agent of blessing. It is applied to Abraham and his "offspring," which the New Testament authoritatively identifies as Jesus Christ and, by extension, all those who belong to Him by faith. Israel's role was essential and foundational as the chosen channel for the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is the true source of the blessing, to come into the world. But it is not the object of the promise. 

Hence, as you can see the application of Genesis 12:3 to the modern nation state of Israel is illegitimate. If you want to bless people with the blessing of Abraham you need to point people to Jesus. Whether they are Jewish, Israelites, or Gentiles from any other nation. Any applications of Genesis 12:3, or the reiterated promises, to the modern state of Israel are illegitimate, just as the Australian Senator Babet notes in this twitter post here. Share this post around and pray for this man, because he is teaching the Bible correctly here, but this will still turn many Christians against him. Even though the New Testament is unanimous in quoting Genesis 12:3 to point to Jesus, many Christians have been indoctrinated with other teaching. Maybe this article can help break the spell for some. God bless.