Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible












Neither are all [Jewish] people children [of God], [simply] because they are Abraham's descendants. But [Gen. 21:12 says], "It is through Isaac that you [i.e., Abraham] will have descendants." This means that it is not the physical descendants [of Abraham] who are God's children, but it is the children [born] according to [God's] promise who are [Abraham's true] descendants. For these are the words of the promise [Gen. 18:10], "I [i.e., God] will come at the appointed time and Sarah will have a son." read more.
And that is not all, but Rebecca also conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac. (OMITTED TEXT) For even before the twins were born, and therefore had not done anything good or bad, Rebecca was told [Gen. 25:23], "The older one [i.e., Esau] will serve the younger one [i.e., Jacob]." This was so that God's purpose of choosing and calling [whomever He wanted to] might prevail, instead of [it depending on] what a person did. Just as it is written [Mal. 1:2-3], "I [i.e., God] loved Jacob, but hated Esau."




You people are descendants of these prophets and [recipients] of the Agreement God made with your forefathers when He said to Abraham [Gen. 12:3], 'And through your seed [i.e., your descendant Jesus] all the people of the earth will receive the blessings [of God].' Verse ConceptsAbrahamBlessedAbraham, Family And DescendantsHeirsMission, Of IsraelParticipation, In ChristGod Is JustAbraham, New Testament ReferencesGod, Impartiality OfSons Of The ProphetsBlessing Through God's PeopleBlessings For Jew And GentileChildren Of AbrahamGod's Covenant With The PatriarchsFamily StrengthSons Being A Blessingcovenantprophets














For we do not have a lasting city here on earth [i.e., such as Jerusalem] but we are looking for the city to come [i.e., heaven. See 10:11]. Verse ConceptsDecayCitySociety, Positive Aspects OfDeath, Preparation ForCitizens, HeavenlyThe Future AgeCity Of GodCitizensseeking


These people [all] continued to have faith until they died, [even though] they had not obtained [all] the things God had promised, but had [only] seen them and welcomed them from a distance. And they had confessed to being strangers and aliens on earth. Verse ConceptsExamples Of FaithForeignersBeing A PilgrimBelieversAdventureGod's PromisesWaitingYear Of JubileeFaith, Object OfPilgrimsSaints, As PilgrimsPilgrims, Examples OfSeeing At A DistanceExploits Of FaithReckoned As ForeignersPromises concerningKeeping FaithPromisesHaving FaithAliensdistanceheroesconfessingperformance