POSSESSING THE
ENEMIES’ GATES
(GENESIS 22:17; 24:60)
The apex of the story of Abraham’s
life is the account of the sacrifice of Isaac (Gn 22:1-19). With unwavering
faith, Abraham was willing to obey God’s command to sacrifice the child who was
to bear the messianic line, trusting that God had a solution to how a Savior
could be born from a man who had been made a sacrifice on an altar (see Heb
11:17-19). After observing Abraha’s faith and providing a ram as a substitute,
God, in the form of an angel of the Lord, reiterated and expanded on His prior
pledges to the patriarch:
“By myself I have sworn”—a declaration
of the Lord—“Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only
son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of
the sky and the sand of the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city
gates of his enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your
offspring because you have obeyed my command” (Gn 22:16-18, authors’ translation).
This promise to Abraham is in three
parts:
1.
A blessing for
Abraham—his offspring (Hebrew seed) will be like the stars and the sand
(Gn 22:17a; see Gn 15:5).
2.
Abraham’s
offspring (seed0 will take possession of the gates of his enemies (Gn
22:17b).
3.
All nations will
be blessed by Abraham’s offspring (seed, Gn 22:18; see Gn 12:3).
The first and third statements are
repetitions of previous promises. The second is new. Key to grasping how these
promises are to be understood is the proper understanding of the word seed
in each of its occurrences. It is a collective term referring to many offspring
or is it a singular term referring to specific seed?
Clearly, in the first part of this
pledge, God is referring to a collective seed—the many offspring of Abraham
will be like the many stars in the sky or the many grains of sand on the
seashore. Yet there is a change signaled at the beginning of the second part
that can only be seen in the Hebrew text: the verb used signals a break, not a
continuation. In this way, the attentive reader is alerted that there is a
change in referent coming. Moreover, the offspring (seed) in the second part of
the promise is referenced by a singular pronoun (His enemies),
not a plural pronoun (their enemies). Unfortunately, many English versions
ignore these subtle but important hints in the text and attempt to lead their
readers to understand offspring in the second part of the promise to be
collective by changing the pronoun to plural. Nevertheless, it is clear from a
careful examination of the Hebrew text that the offspring in the second part of
his pledge to Abraham is a particular offspring—the Messiah. He will take
possession of His enemies’ gates. The promise then continues to speak of this
offspring as blessing the nations.
The figure of speech used here—a metaphor
that depicts the Messiah as capturing the gates of His enemies’ city—is one of
a Savior who defeats His foes. He will overcome Satan and death. This is an
extension of the promise of the striking of the serpent’s head at Genesis 3:15.
When Jesus spoke to Peter about this, He explained that through His Church the
Savior extended His kingdom and conquer death and hades by the proclamation of
the Gospel: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18).
This claim that the Messiah’s Church will prevail against the gates of hades
ought to be viewed as a claim that He is the Promised Seed of Abraham. In Him
the promised victory will be won. Thus, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus claims to be
the one to fulfill the promise to Abraham of an offspring who will take
possession of the gate of His enemies. This promise was both missional—through the
Church, which holds the keys that can open the gates of heaven and hades—and focused
on the final victory, when He will have subdued the last enemy: death (1Co
15:19-26). (R. Reed Lessing and Andrew E. Steinmann, The Messianic Message:
Predictions, Patterns, and the Presence of Jesus in the Old Testament [St.
Louis, Miss.: Concordia Publishing House, 2023], 44-46)
