The Messiah Simeon Waited For

When Simeon said that salvation was prepared for all peoples and that the Messiah would be a light for the Gentiles, he was reaching back to Genesis. In the promises God gave to Abraham, the Lord said time and time again that all nations of the earth would be blessed through him. All. Not some. Not just Israel or the nations Israel liked. All.

Genesis 18: 18: “Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.”

Genesis 22:18: “And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command.”

Those were not the only such promises God made to Abraham. Other verses such as 26:4 and 28:14 say similar things.

When I was thinking about this post, it brought to mind an old song I learned in Sunday School.

Father Abraham

Had many sons

Many sons had Father Abraham.

I am one of them.

But so are you.

So let’s all praise the Lord.

It was fun and we sang it as a round, leaving out more and more words and including hand gestures. But these behaviors detracted from the importance of the message. We enjoy faith in Christ because of God’s many promises to Abraham. Because of the patriarch’s faith, and his eventual offspring—Jesus Christ—every tongue, people and nation will be represented in heaven.