Abraham's Promised Blessings
It’s
been said that the promise of the Lord to Abraham can be summarized in three P’s:
Priesthood, Property, and Posterity. The
Lord told him that he would come to a “strange land” which would be given to
his seed “for an everlasting possession” (Abraham 2:6). In a different account we read that the Lord
said to Abraham, “All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed for ever” —in other words, he would be given great property. The Lord continued, “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”—he would have a great posterity” (Genesis
13:15-16).
The third promise was put this way by Jehovah: “Thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations” (Abraham 2:9). Abraham and his seed would have the Priesthood to bless the world. What’s intriguing to me is the way that Abraham’s life was largely spent seeking these three things; perhaps part of why he was able to receive these great promises of the Lord was because he sought them with all of his heart. His search for these things is the way that the book of Abraham is introduced to us in the Pearl of Great Price. He said, “I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same… desiring... to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers” (Abraham 1:2). He sought the Priesthood diligently from the Lord, and it appears that he received it in the land of the Chaldeans early in his life. But the other two blessings were much longer in coming. He left Ur at the Lord’s direction and went to Haran. We’re not sure how long he was there, and eventually the Lord told him, “I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran” (Abraham 2:6). They traveled to the land of Canaan, then on to Egypt, and then back to the land of Canaan. For one who had been promised to have land, he spent an inordinate amount of his life seeking a place without a permanent home. He even said at one point, “Eternity was our covering” (Abraham 2:16). After finally coming back to the land of Canaan from Egypt, he still had no posterity. How he must have been seeking this blessing from the Lord throughout his many childless years. He said to the Lord, “Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?... Behold, to me thou hast given no seed” (Genesis 15:3). He must have wondered how the Lord was going to fulfill the promise of a great posterity when in his old age he still had no children. He did, of course, eventually have Ishmael, Isaac, and other children, and we know that there are numberless people today who are his posterity. Abraham is one who constantly sought the blessings of the Lord, and if there is any lesson he has for us today it is to never stop seeking the Lord and the blessings He has for us. I love his words after he was visited by the Lord: “After the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee” (Abraham 2:12). Those are words that we all hope to be able to say for ourselves.
The third promise was put this way by Jehovah: “Thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations” (Abraham 2:9). Abraham and his seed would have the Priesthood to bless the world. What’s intriguing to me is the way that Abraham’s life was largely spent seeking these three things; perhaps part of why he was able to receive these great promises of the Lord was because he sought them with all of his heart. His search for these things is the way that the book of Abraham is introduced to us in the Pearl of Great Price. He said, “I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same… desiring... to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers” (Abraham 1:2). He sought the Priesthood diligently from the Lord, and it appears that he received it in the land of the Chaldeans early in his life. But the other two blessings were much longer in coming. He left Ur at the Lord’s direction and went to Haran. We’re not sure how long he was there, and eventually the Lord told him, “I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran” (Abraham 2:6). They traveled to the land of Canaan, then on to Egypt, and then back to the land of Canaan. For one who had been promised to have land, he spent an inordinate amount of his life seeking a place without a permanent home. He even said at one point, “Eternity was our covering” (Abraham 2:16). After finally coming back to the land of Canaan from Egypt, he still had no posterity. How he must have been seeking this blessing from the Lord throughout his many childless years. He said to the Lord, “Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?... Behold, to me thou hast given no seed” (Genesis 15:3). He must have wondered how the Lord was going to fulfill the promise of a great posterity when in his old age he still had no children. He did, of course, eventually have Ishmael, Isaac, and other children, and we know that there are numberless people today who are his posterity. Abraham is one who constantly sought the blessings of the Lord, and if there is any lesson he has for us today it is to never stop seeking the Lord and the blessings He has for us. I love his words after he was visited by the Lord: “After the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee” (Abraham 2:12). Those are words that we all hope to be able to say for ourselves.
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