God's Promise: A great nation or a multitude of nations

The Bible is a rich collection of books that detail God's interaction through human history. At the core of the teaching is a central theme, the Kingdom of God. There are episodic events recorded from the creation of all from nothing, to the start of man, the fall of man, the rise of nations, the flood, the re-establishment of nations, to the start of a promise to redeem man from certain death.

One of these events is what is known as the Abrahamic Covenant. Our church in Rhode Island has been studying the history of Abraham and God's unilateral covenant with him. Just recently we read the passage in Genesis 17:3.

[Gen 17:3 - KJV] As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations (emphasis mine). - Genesis 17:3 (KJV)  

When I read this, my mind stopped and asked, wait a minute, I thought of Genesis 12:1-2 where God promises to make Abram a great nation.

[Gen 12:1-2 KJV] 1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation (emphasis mine), and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

 These two verses seem to conflict with each other. What in the world does God mean in 17:3 compared to Genesis 12:1-2?

For many who study the Bible, we recognize the first promise in Genesis 12:2 more frequently than we do the verse in 17:3. This study will attempt to give clarity to these passages that seem to conflict with each other.

Background

For a little bit of background it is important to understand the time difference.
In Genesis 12:1, Abram is a mere 75 years old, according to 12:4. As we fast forward to 17:1, Abram is now 99 years old! What only takes a few minutes for us to read, spans almost a quarter of a century for Abram. In that time God has spoken to Abram a few times; Abram has traveled to Egypt and back a couple of times, survived combat, rescued his cousin Lot and his family, engaged in a bit of politicking with the Egyptian rulers, given birth to a son named Ismael, and a host of other things, most of which are not recorded for us in the mere pages of Genesis 12 - 17.

I am not going to be doing a deep dive into these passages to flesh out their exegetical meaning, but will provide enough to aid in clarifying this issue of God's promise to make Abram a great nation, or many nations. Nor am I going to address issues around the birth of Ismael, the events surrounding Hagar, the servant of Sarai and its moral / global impact on us today.

Like anyone I start with a series of presuppositions. First, the Bible is given to us by God. God is true, and cannot lie. The statements in the Bible are factual in how they are represented, but since many passages record the events of men's lives, not all recorded events are factual, but they have been factually recorded. For instance when asked about Israeli spies, Rahab lies. Her statement is not 'factual', however, her statement is recorded factually in that it is a true account of her lie.

When God states to Abram in 12:2 that he will make him 'a great nation', God then means what he says. Similarly, when God states in 17:4 that He will make Abraham the father of many nations, God means that as well. But the two statements seem a bit conflicted, almost as if God is changing his mind.

Logically, God can make Abram a singularly great nation. Reading further into Genesis we discover that this promise gets repeated to Isaac, Abraham's son through Sarah. Further, this one 'great' nation, can be a sub-set of the many nations mentioned in Genesis 17:4.

Here is a simple illustration showing a set of the multitude of nations, and how 'a great nation' can be part of this set. My math friends may find a better way of representing sets and subsets. :D

( MULTITUDE of NATIONS ... {Nation 1} {Nation 2} {Nation 3} ... {Nation of Israel}... {Nation n} ... MULTITUDE of NATIONS)

So logically God has not contradicted himself with the two statements. However, I still find it odd at how God expresses these promises to Abram/Abraham. Why does he even reference the 'many nations' other than possibly to add emphasis to the reality of the promise through the change of name. For instance the name 'Abram' does mean 'father of many'. Abraham, is a variant that means 'father of many nations'.

I have to believe that the reference to 'many nations' is significant because it is repeated several times in the Bible.

In reference to Abraham, the first reference is in Genesis 17:4, and it coincides with God granting Abram a new name, Abraham. We learn that the name Abraham means "father of many nations" according to 17:5. So the promise is so significant that it leads God to rename Abram to Abraham. Every time that neighbors call out to Abraham now, Abraham will be constantly reminded of God's promise.

Common Teachings

The most common understanding seems to be that God here includes Ishmael, born from Hagar, Isaac, born of Sarah, and other children born of Keturah. Matthew Henry teaches this view. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Gen/Gen_017.cfm?a=17004

Even the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge cross references these verses with verses that seems to include Keturah. 

Many others have also taught this. However, I am going to disagree for at least two reasons.

First, is God's promise to grant the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession (Gen 17:8). This land grant is always understood and reaffirmed to be the land granted to Isaac and Jacob, who is renamed Israel. 

Second is that Abraham understands that this promise does not include Ishmael. After God has explained more details of his promise, what does Abraham do, but intercede with God to include Ishmael as a fulfillment of the promise. In verse 19, God reconfirms that the promise is for Sarah and for a son whom will be called Isaac. Isaac according to God is the child of promise. 

Third is that in Genesis 17:16 Sarah is promised to be a 'mother of nations'. This verse alone excludes Ishmael and the children of Keturah in Genesis 25. 

While one can say that Abraham does indeed become the father of many nations, one cannot include Sarah in this description to become the mother of many nations. Somehow God impregnates these verses with meaning that extend beyond just Isaac. 

Dual Promise?

Looking through the Bible, I only find similar references in a few places. Here in Genesis 17 seems to be the first. 

The second relates to when Jacob, Israel, blesses the sons of Joseph in the land of Egypt in Genesis 48:19-22. 

[Gen 48:19-20 KJV] And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. (emphasis mine) And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Throughout nearly all of the remainder of the Old Testament, God does not make mention of many nations in reference to the Abrahamic covenant. However, there are numerous references to other nations usually in contrast to the nation of Israel. Two verses do stand out that may relate to this prophecy. 

[Zec 2:11 - KJV] And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.

AND

[Zec 8:22 - KJV] Yeah, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. 

This passage is a bit weak in that it does not directly tie Abraham to many nations. However, this verse is a prophecy that many indicate is a 'Day of the Lord' or end time prophecy when Christ reigns on earth for one thousand years. Further, teaching from the New Testament will help tie these verses together.

[Rom 4:16 - 18 KJV] Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all; (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might be the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. 

Here Paul, an expert in Jewish law and teaching, teaches of the universality of the Abrahamic covenant. It is a covenant that applies to more than the Jewish people directly. Later he expands on this in Romans 9 where he teaches '... For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: ...' There is clearly a spiritual heritage that Abraham is bequeathed by God.

Finally, John in Revelation 7:9 gloriously proclaims "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no many could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"
The promise comes full circle back to the throne room of God where that promise is visualized as the redeemed worship God and Christ.

So it is my understanding that this reference to 'many nations' is part of a dual promise. First the promise for a great nation was an 'immediate' promise, relatively speaking. Abraham never sees the fulfillment in his lifetime. I believe we see the fulfillment of the second part only partially today. One day when all believers are in heaven we will see with great awe and wonder the 'many nations' of Abraham.