specific gender reference is yet given.
whom God`s covenant pledge will begin to be fulfilled. That Sarah (not Hagar) would be the
mother of the son of promise, God specifies in Gen 17:16, I will bless her [Sarah], and
moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of
peoples shall come from her. Sarah was the chosen instrument through whom the son of
promise would come, and through her son, kings (male leaders of nations) would then arise.
When Abraham protests God`s stated plan, owing to Sarah`s advanced age, and so pleads with
God to accept Ishmael, God again repeats the promise and plan, God said, No, but Sarah your
wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with
him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him` (Gen 17:19).
And surely Paul echoes this same understanding in Galatians 3 when he speaks of the
offspring, not offsprings of Abraham, who is none other than Christ (Gal 3:16). As Paul
summarizes this point, in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so
that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith (Gal 3:14). And so it is clear that both
in the giving of the Abrahamic covenant and in its fulfillment in Christ, it is essential that the one
who come as the ultimate promised heir (the singular offspring, as Paul indicates) would be
born in the line of Abraham, and this one must be a son of Abraham, i.e., a male offspring.
reads: When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your
offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall
build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Here there is
no ambiguity; the promised heir of the throne of David, who will one day reign forever, will be a
son a David, i.e., a male descendent who will be king on David`s throne.
reign over a land of peace and righteousness. And again here, as with the Abrahamic covenant,
the genealogies of Matthew 1 and Luke 3 indicate a line of sons leading from David down to the
birth of Jesus Christ. The angel Gabriel made clear to Mary, that her son, Jesus, would be this
long awaited David, establishing his throne forever, for he tells Mary, And behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his
father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be
no end (Luke 1:31-33). Clearly here also, then, we see that the Savior to come, the long-
awaited Son of David, must be a male offspring from David himself.