Heirs, Please Stand Up

Last week I challenged myself with two questions, which I’ve been pondering for a long time.  They are based on Galatians 3:16 and 29 and surrounding verses.

So let me repeat: “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘and to seeds,’ as to many, but to one, ‘and to your seed,’ that is, Christ” (Galatians 3:16).

In reference to the seed of Sarah, who was to receive the promises, given in the covenants with Abraham…  Which “one seed” was it, the one born of Sarah’s womb, or the one born of Miriam’s?  The answer will determine who the sons of Elohim are.  ^“And if you be Christ [anointed by the Spirit], therefore you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29 emphasis added).  

The first thing we must ask is, what is the particular promise that is mentioned in this chapter of Galatians (as there are a number of promises (given to the forefathers, see Romans 9:4)? Yeshua told his disciples that after his death they (Sarah’s seed) would receive the promise of the Spirit.  But first He had to open the eyes of their understanding in order for them to comprehend the scriptures about Himself being the suffering Messiah (see Luke 24:45).  Afterward, He continued, telling them that He would be sending the promise of  His Father and that they were to stay in Jerusalem until they were “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24: 49).

Later, while on the Mount of Olives (before His ascension), Yeshua repeated these very instructions.  Obviously, the promise mentioned in Galatians is in reference to the Spirit of the Father. In Acts 2:33, in Peter’s explanation of the phenomena that everyone was witnessing at the Shavuot gathering, he made the following statement about Yeshua:  "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of Elohim [His Father], and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Yeshua] has poured forth this which you both see and hear” (Acts 2:33 emphasis added).

Indeed, Yeshua received the Spirit (at His immersion) because His Father brought Him forth into the family/seed of Abraham through Miriam,  but later, as was mentioned above, was given permission or authority by the Father to make good the promise of His Spirit to Abraham’s heirs.  Both in Romans and Galatians Paul states that upon receiving the Spirit, the recipient cries out: “Abba”. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you [seed of Sarah]* have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Elohim, and if children, heirs also, heirs of Elohim and fellow heirs with Messiah” (Romans 8:15-17 emphasis added).  To Jacob’s descendants was accorded the status of the “children of Elohim/YHVH”. In Isaiah, for example, we hear them cry out:  “But now, O YHVH, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand”.  “Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, YHVH, are our Father; Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name” (Isaiah 64:8, 63:16).  

Again, in Galatians: “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything,  but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.  So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.  But when the fullness of the time came, Elohim sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we [the heirs] might receive the adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, Elohim has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through Elohim” [through the indwelling of His Spirit] (Galatians 4:1-7).  This was already predicted in the Torah and the Prophets concerning the whole house of Israel.

Please note: In reference to the above quote, having received the promise of the Spirit does not make the recipient one of the seed, it proves that he or she are already of Abraham’s seed, a heir according to the promise. The Great Shepherd of Israel who knows His sheep, bred His faith species into the Noahic family.  These are the ones that are to be a blessing to the rest of the families of Noah, as promised in the covenant to the father of “the faith” (Abraham. See Romans 4:16+; Galatians 3:7ff).

This may be a long-winded way of answering my original questions regarding which is the “one” seed that received the promise.  Yeshua was already the Son of the Father before He was sent, while the inheritors of the promise had to be redeemed first, by “the way” of the New Covenant, in order to receive the promised Spirit and the adoption into sonship.

In conclusion, the “one seed”, referred to in Galatians 3:16 that inherits the promise is Sarah’s seed as Miriam’s came from the Father’s Spirit into the realm of her humanity and was thus joined to her ancestry (Sarah’s). Therefore Yeshua too had to receive the promise (of the Spirit), which took place at His immersion, so that He could become High Priest (explained in the Book of Hebrews).

 Returning to Acts chapter 2, we read about the first outpouring of the promise and Peter’s response to what they were seeing and hearing.  As a result of his message, they cried out “Brethren! What must we do”?  Peter’s reply: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized/immersed into the name [meaning authority and character] of Yeshua the Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our Elohim will call" (Acts 2:38-39). His sheep will hear His call when He will whistle for them; even those that are far off, both in future generations and those who are scattered/sown to the four corners of the earth. 

*In the Torah, “seed” in relation to a pregnant woman is in reference to her carrying a male child (e.g. Lev. 12:2 as it appears in the Hebrew text). Hence, the “seed of woman” in Gen. 3:15, also had to be a male.