The following question was a GraceTalk question that was left unanswered from the stage due to time constraints.
Q: In Genesis, God gave Abram (Abraham) the promise that his heirs would outnumber the sand of the sea and stars in the sky. Do you think that Jesus will come before or after that promise has been fulfilled? Have there been that many heirs to Abraham yet?
A: The promise made to Abram in Genesis 15:5 was made to show Abram the vast immeasurability of his offspring. Just as there, even to this day, is no way to accurately count either the number of stars in our sky or the grains of sand on the beach, so too there is no way to count the actual physical off spring of Abraham.
This promise was less about actual numbers and much more about the bountiful faithfulness of the God who made it. Because this promise is not an exact or precise prophecy, I do not think that there is a quota or threshold to hit before Christ can come back. There are other prophecies in the Bible that do need to be met prior to Christ’s return, but this is not one of them.
Additionally, there are different ways to look at the off spring of Abraham. He has physical descendants, special descendants, promised descendants and spiritual descendants. Looked at this way, his descendants clearly are immeasurable; thus, fulfilling God’s promise to him.
| Offspring | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Natural, physical offspring | Physical descendants of Abraham | Ishmael, Isaac, and the Sons of Keturah (and by extension Esau, Jacob, etc) |
| Natural, yet special offspring | Physical descendents of Abraham especially tied to God’s elective and saving purposes | Isaac (and by extension Jacob and the entire nation of Israel) |
| Promised offspring | The true, unique offspring of Abraham | A distinct line of offspring, starting earlier w/Seth and continuing through Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Israel (Jacob), and David, culminating in Jesus (Galatians 3:16) |
| Spiritual offspring | Those united with Christ (THE Promised Offspring) | Jews and Gentiles who trust in the Messiah |
Table from ESV Study Bible
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