The Nations & God’s Call to Abraham

Transcript

GRS 2-4
11/28/2004
The Nations & God’s Call to Abraham
Genesis 10-15
Gil Rugh

We are going to start in Chapter 10 of the Book of Genesis, as we continue our survey of this crucial foundational Book. It is the first Book in our Bibles and it provides the foundational information that enables us to understand much of the rest Scripture. Without the Book of Genesis, we would be adrift in dealing with the rest of the Bible because this is foundational to everything else. The first 11 Chapters remember, entitled the nations because with Chapter 12, the focus will be on the nation; singular, the nation Israel. We are doing a survey, so that means we just overview and there are many details that we don’t get into. That doesn’t mean they are not important, not worthy of much more study, but right now our goal is to just get a grasp and a picture of what is being covered and presented in these Chapters.

Chapter 10 is often called the table of nations because we have had the flood in the days of Noah. Noah and his family now have gotten off the ark and there is only Noah, his three sons and their wives. From them, all the world will decent, so we are all descendants of Adam, but we are all descendants of Adam through Noah because the flood destroyed all humanity with the exception of Noah and his three sons and their families. So what Chapter 10 of Genesis is going to do is give an overview of how the world was settled by the three sons of Noah. In other words, the breakdown of where the nations develop. Really Chapters 10 and 11 go together because we are going to get that overview in Chapter 10 and then we are going to fill in some of the necessary details. How do you get races and nations from one family? Well that will be in Chapter 11.

Chapter 11 doesn’t move us forward, but it will go back and explain what was given as an overview in Chapter 1, similar to the way Genesis Chapter 1 and 2 did. We have an overview of creation in Genesis Chapter 1. Then we go back and fill in the necessary details particularly regarding the creation of man as male and female in Chapter 2. So here we get the overview on Chapter 10 and then we will get an explanation of how you get races and nations and languages when you get to Chapter 11. The table of nations is a horizontal genealogy rather than a vertical. In other words, we are not concerned in Chapter 10 to show the descendants down in a vertical line, but more horizontal, how they spared out, where they went, and thus how the earth was settled or populated. The first five verses show Japheth’s descendants and this is of interest to us because it would be the Indo-Europeans, the white race as we sometimes refer to them, of which most of us are a part, not all of us, but most of us probably in this country identify with that. Some have come from other parts of world obviously. But generally we are part of the Indo-Europeans. These tribes and people do not figure in a prominent or significant way in Old Testament history because beginning with Chapter 12, the Bible is only concerned in dealing with those people who have an impact on the nation Israel. And obviously, the descendants of Japheth are going to sell in regions outside the area where Israel will be settled, so that explains why the Bible doesn’t deal with these people. That doesn’t mean they’re not mentioned.

Ezekiel Chapter 37 does mention some of these peoples that they do play a part in Israel’s history, particularly their future history as unfolded there, but they are not a prominent people. Verse 5 tells us, the coastlands are not occupied and settled until after the events of the Tower of Babel, which will take place in Chapter 11. So again you see we are giving an overview and then we are little ahead of ourselves because we will have to have explained in Chapter 11 what takes places. So verse 5 says from these coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. Well, we have to go to Chapter 11 and find out how we get divided into languages and nations. But here, you are given the overview and the settling of the descendants of Japheth. Ham’s descendants are in verses 6 to 20, and they have closer involvement with the Hebrew people that includes the Africans, but it’s not limited to them. We would call these, may be colored races of the various races that we would identify as colored races, some darker skins, some lighter, but distinct from what we would identify as the white races. That’s not being racist; we are simply distinguishing among the peoples and their origins and so on.

Verses 15 to 19 in covering Ham’s descendants’ concentrates on Canaan because obviously the Canaanites will play a significant role in Israel’s history. And we don’t have any Israel at this point. But as God unfolds this, remember Moses was the human instrument God used to write this, there is in Israel as God puts this together, but the timeline in Genesis 10 obviously precedes Israel. They are non-semantic and that they are not of the line of Shem where the Jewish race will develop from. But their involvement practically in Canaan brings them into direct contact with the future of Hebrews. And then in verses 21 to 32, you have Shem’s descendants; they are of the greatest interest because the whole rest of the Bible is going to focus on them, the whole rest of the Old Testament and then much of the New Testament. Israel is the focus and they will be part of Shem’s descendants. We have the name in verse 21, also the Shem, the father of all the children of Eber. Most take it that the name Hebrew comes from this man’s name Eber, where do we get the name Hebrew and word Hebrew to identify the Jews probably from this particular man who would have been in the ancestor line. So you have the Hebrews and we will refer to Abraham or Abram, the Hebrew, which seems to go back to this identification.

Verse 25, two sons were born to Eber, the name of one which Peleg and his days the earth was divided. Again, we have to go to Chapter 11 to find out about the dividing of the earth. Here, we are just getting an overview and connections, so we will know, well it will be in the days of Peleg that the earth will be divided and that’s a reference to the events of Tower of Babel. Verse 32, these are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood. Remind you that all the nations, all the families of the earth come from one family; from Noah and his sons. But some will be of particular interest because of their association with the nation Israel.

Chapter 11 is about the Tower of Babel, then the descendants of Shem will be developed more in detail to prepare the way for the coming of Abram. Tower of Babel is of particular interest because Chapter 11 opens up, now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. So the first nine verses are about the Tower of Babel. There is a similarity between Chapter 11 and Chapter 6 because the emphasis in Chapter 6 was on the rebellion of the peoples of the world and that’s the same situation we have in Chapter 11. These opening verses, people functioning with disregard to God with a concern to build their own earthly empire and kingdom. So we are going to find out how the nations and languages referred to in Chapter 10 came into being. And what happens, this will explain how all the nations came into being to prepare the way to understand how the one chosen nation from all the nations came into excites, paring the way for the beginning of the nation Israel.

Verse 2, these people using the same language, the same words, they are all basically still one big family, come to the plain of Shinar, settled there, and they say let’s make bricks, mortar, and build a tower. Verse 4, let‘s build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach into heaven. Now they didn’t mean that they could build a tower that would go all the way to heaven, but these kinds of structure have been found in various parts of the world. They are high towers, one is 300 feet high, it’s a high tower. It’s getting up there and then at the top was usually a place of worship, in other words just elevated, brought you closer to the God that you were worshiping. So you are going to build the city, the center of the city is the focal point for your worship. It becomes a way of keeping them together their purpose they want to, the end of verse 4, make a name for ourselves, otherwise will be scattered abroad over the face of whole earth. We don’t know how the descendants of Noah have multiplied to this point, but their concern is we are growing so large. We have to set something that will keep us together.

Verse 5 says the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the sons of men had built, that’s an anthropomorphism, God doesn’t have to come down to see anything. He is on omnipresent. But it indicates his involvement and action here, preparation for his action. He said they are one people. They all will have the same language, so there the unity here. And here is what they begin to do; this is only the start of what they want. Would you have this man wanting to establish his own kingdom with his own center of worship, ultimately the final attempt to this in a satanic kingdom, will be the antichrist kingdom under the authority of Satan in an attempt to unify the world and what will be at the center of that? Worship, false worship.

In Revelation Chapter 13, Second Thessalonians Chapter 2 where that man will set himself up in the temple and declare himself to be God, require the world to worship him, in an attempt to unite the world, there will be one worship. That will be the worship of Satan’s man. Remember when Satan tempted Christ in Mathew Chapter 4, bow down and worship me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth. We have the beginning of that with the Tower of Babel. They do that, nothing will be impossible for them, God says. In other words they will use their unity to accomplish their goals, which are contrary to his will for them. Back in Chapter 9, at the end of the flood when Noah and his family got of the ark, he told them to be – verse 1 to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Verse 7, be fruitful and multiply; populate the earth abundantly, multiply in it. But they don’t want to spread out over the earth. They want to stay together and be united. There is one people around the center of worship. It’s not God’s will for them at this point.

So God destroys their unity in verses 7 to 9. What a simple thing it is for God to destroy the plans of man. Now God’s sitting there, He will come up with something. He breaks them up according to His plan so that some get up and they are speaking one language, so another family gets up and they are speaking another language, what will happen? The people can understand one another, congregate together, and begin to move away from the people that they can’t communicate to. So he spreads them out over the whole earth. What they were willing to do? Obedience to him, He forces them to do by His action. In verse 9, its name was called Babel, that city that they stopped building because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth. From there, the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. Now I take it in here in the plan and purposes of God and in the genetic makeup of man and his division of them, it was such that as they were separated by their language and thus married within their groups, out of that and what God had built into them genetically would develop various races. And they would be built around their common language, which continues to be the case today. Nations are usually united by being able to speak to one another with a common language. We have debates about that in our country today. That people are coming into our country, should they be required to learn out language? The concern is if they don’t learn our language, how we be assimilated together and maintain our identity as one people?

Canada experiences some of that conflict because the French speaking people Canada sometimes want to see themselves as a different and it continues on today. Where does this all go back to? It’s part of the plan of God. It is not God’s intention that the world be united as one. That national distinctions be lost, and be careful. That does not mean that racial prejudice and so on, those things can be substantiated. What can be substantiated is God intended for the races to be different, for the nations to be different that’s part of his keeping the world separated and it will. That’s why even in the uniting of Europe, there will be the strength of iron and the brittleness of clay because you are bringing together some diverse people. Even within their similarities, there is enough diversity that they want to maintain their own identity. You don’t find the French saying we want to learn to speak English and let’s make English the language of French nor do you find the English saying let’s make French the language of England or the Spanish picking up or you know why, because there is an identity with that. That’s part of God’s plan.

When we move to toward the coming of the antichrist who wants to establish that one world system uniting the world, it will also be with a one world religion. And when God unites the world, that’s the way it will be united, but it will be united in the worship of Him unto the authority of His son. Now what He is going to do, He selects one nation now out of the nations that have been divided. So where we go, verse 9 we divide the earth, the bases of these people moving to different places with the people they can communicate with. Let’s pick up on the only nation that God is going to focus his attention on. So with verse 10 down to verse 26 you have the line of Shem. Now we pick out and go into greater detail to show the line of Shem that will bring us to Abram. The point of this genealogy is to show that Abram is a descendant of Shem and he is the one on whom the blessings of God will be placed.

In Chapter 9 of Genesis, when Noah cursed Canaan, he said in verse 26 blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem. And so that blessing of the Lord through Noah on Shem and the line of Shem now is going to be unfolded. We come done and we will read through all of this line. These are the records in verse 10 of Chapter 11 of the generations of Shem. Then you tell how the line of Shem develops and we come down to verse 27 with verse 26, we were told Terah lives 70 years, became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the records of the generation of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot .Now we are getting information we need to have to understand the events as the move into the Chapter 12 and the establishing of the covenant with Abram.

Haran dies at the presence of his father Terah, the land of his birth in Ur of the Chaldeans. That region north of the Persian Gulf, that’s a region south of Bagdad over there. The Chaldeans identified as the Babylonians. Most of your maps in the background, you can identify where Ur is on those maps and what Abraham is going to do is journey up and over the crescent, and he will make a stop at top of that and his father will die and he will sit down into the land. And it is what is going to take place. So he is in Ur, verse 29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, so on. What we are concerned about and the genealogy is concerned about is Abram, Abram’s wife Sarai, and here you were told verse 30 Sarai was barren, she had no child. Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, who was his grandson and his son had died, father of Lot and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went out together from Ur of Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there.

The days of Terah were 205 years and he died in Haran. So we start out in Ur of Chaldeans and we journey up over the crescent top at Haran. If you went straight across, you would be roughly at the top of the Mediterranean in the line across here, inland of course. And the intention was to come down into Canaan. But they stopped at Haran. We are not told why, what happens there, how long they were there, but it’s there that Terah dies. Abram’s name means father of elevation or exulted father; he is going to be one of great honor in the Old Testament. He is the one of great honor in Israel because he is the father of the race. His name will be changed from Abram to Abraham; meaning is the father of a multitude. What will Chapter 17, it’s of interest that in Joshua 24, verse 2 as Joshua reiterates God’s working in Israel’s history. He indicates that Terah was an idol worshiper in Ur of the Chaldeans. I don’t recognize, God did not call Terah, he called Abram.

Act 7, verses 2 and 3 to emphasis that God called our father Abraham when he was in Ur; didn’t call Terah. Now Terah journeys with Abram, but the call of God is on Abram, not his father. We don’t know whether Terah was ever saved as we would talk, became a worshiper of the living God or not. Joshua says that he was a worshiper of idols. We are not told how the family of Abram and how Abram himself is converted being raised in an idol worshiping family. I want you to know just how did God intervene here, what was taking place, Lord, why didn’t you give us more details? Well most of us have a hard time assimilating all the details he has given us. I am thankful that we can get all that God has given us into this one volume that we call the Bible. If there were 600 volumes, would that help me? No. I have my hands full. But with that comes, then the fact God has not filled it with a lot of the details that sometime we are reading and saying I wonder that this family, the father of which was an idol worshiper and assume that was characteristic of the family how did Abraham or Abram as it was known then, gets saved. We know the call and the covenant that will be established in Chapter 12, but other details were not told.

Genesis Chapter 15 verse 7 emphasizes that it was Abram who was called. Nehemiah 9, verse 7 emphasizes that it was Abram who was called. We are not told why they stopped in Haran. Some say well, we had to wait until Abraham’s father died because he was with the one that God was dealing with, that may be so, maybe he was ill. They had to stop at Haran and wait their and he died and so Abram journeys on. Abram knew that his goal was to go to Canaan. And the call came to Abram, but his father Terah willing to make the journey with him. There is no indication to stopping at Haran was disobedience. Oh, I don’t want to read more into the stop there, all we know is they stopped and Terah died there and then we can go on to Abram.

Chapter 12 Abram’s call, Abram or Abraham now probably interchanges the names, he is Abram until his name will be changed to Abraham in Chapter 17, but we often referred to whom is Abraham from the beginning because we are more familiar with that name and it’s the name by which he is called through the rest of the scripture basically. Birth of Abraham is dated about 2165 BC, with dead Abraham, then we will talk about well, Abraham lived about 2000 BC. Well he died about 2000 BC and born a little before that. That’s the date we give to him. God’s revelation to Abram. Now the Lord said to Abram. go forth from you country and you’re your relatives and from your father’s house to the land, which I will Show you, I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and so you shall be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you, I will cures and you all the families of the earth will be blessed. How this all took place? We don’t know. What preparation for this that Abraham has? We don’t know. We just don’t have any details. This is where it begins for us as for as God’s dealing with Abram with this revelation. This is the central passage in all the Book of Genesis, these first three verses. These are foundational to everything else through all the rest of scripture. The relationship that you and I have as gentiles saved by grace to faith in Jesus Christ is founded on this covenant with Abraham, the Abrahamic Covenant. So these are the causal foundational verses. Three areas covered in this covenant. The first is land, there is promise of land, go forth from your country, from your relatives, from your father’s house to the land which I will show you. There is going to be a reiteration of this covenant in Chapter 13 in Chapter 15 and in Chapter 17. So Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 15, Chapter 17 all have an emphases on this covenant with Abraham or Abram as he has noted here.

In Chapter 13:14 now the Lord said to Abram, after Lot separated from him, now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, westward, for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and you descendants forever. So he sent to the land, clear indication that’s what will become his land, he leaves the land that normally would have been his where his father was, his family was to go to the land which God prepared for him. And now that will be more specifically defined for him as we move along verse 17 of Chapter 13 says walk about the land through, its length to breadth. I will give it to you. In Deuteronomy 30:1 to 8, God reinforces this section, sometimes call the Palestinian covenant because it emphases on the land. There is some disagreement, some would not call that a covenant, but just reiteration of provisions of the covenant already made, portion of that with placing of a new heart, circumcising the heart of the Jews, when they are placed in the land.

We would see their realization in the new covenant that will be developed, but some have identified that at least reiteration in Deuteronomy 30:1 to 8 as a Palestinian covenant, whether it’s a formal covenant or not, you can study it. For now we are not going to get into that, but at least there is the reinforcement of it there. Then there is the seed, so the covenant makes provision for a land for Israel 3,000 years after Abraham, what is at great issue in the world, the land that is promised to Abraham and his descendants. Secondly, there is a seed promised to Abram. Many descendants will come from him. Verse 2 of Genesis 12, I will make you a great nation. That means he is going to have a lot of descendants. Chapter 13:16 and you can note in verses 15, 16, and 17, three times his seed or descendants are mentioned. The land I will give to you and your descendants forever, Chapter 13, verse 15. Verse 6, I will make you descendants as the dust of the earth, innumerable, just can’t count them. Then your descendants can be numbered.

So that promise of a seed and that will be reiterated in Chapter 17:2 to 6 as well. Part of that is reinforced in the Davidic covenant where within the seed of Abraham, there will be a ruling line, not only for the nation Israel, but since Israel is the chosen nation, it is the nation that will rule all the nations and the king if Israel will ultimately be the king of the nations. The Messiah of Israel will rule the world and we saw that. When we look the Davidic Covenant, there is connection was Psalms too, when the son of David, Jesus Christ rules, the millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom that will be ultimately realized in that Davidic Covenant as we noted as in Second Samuel 7. Then there is promise of blessing. We have land, seed, and blessing as the three aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant and in Chapter 12; I will make you a great nation. Verse 2, I will bless you, make your name great, you will be a blessing, I will bless those who bless you, the one who curses you, I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. So there is promise of blessing, which involves the redemption of the people because there can be no blessings of God without redemption. So it’s in our study of the opening Psalms, the blessedness, the happiness is provided for those who know the living God, the rest are cursed. So to pronounce blessings is to announce the provision of salvation.

There is a both national and a universal or an international if you will provision here. Provision for the nation Israel and its blessings and as I noted sigh noted we gentiles right today have our salvation under this provision in the end of verse 3 of Chapter 12 in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. That is God’s provision for us. Chapter 22 of Genesis verse 18 in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. We studied Galatians 3, saw Paul’s emphasis, how important it is that God said in your seed singular, but the ultimate realization of that is in Jesus Christ. That’s why the concept that the church as we placed Israel is in total conflict with the Abrahamic Covenant because the Abrahamic Covenant made provision for Israel and it made provision for gentiles. That’s not something new. The covenant with Abraham included a provision for gentile salvation, not to replace the nation, but it’s part of God blessings on the nation Israel, but because through Israel, would be come to save you, not only for the nation, but for the nations. And that savior is the one who will be the anointed son, who will rule and reign.

So, Abrahamic Covenant is of great importance to us as the church today, not because we have replaced Israel. I mean that’s a total misunderstanding of the covenant because the covenant made provision for the blessing of the families of the earth, the nation’s apart from Israel. The new covenant expands on the redemption aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant and that’s developed in Jeremiah 31:31 to 40, you note three categories of the blessings. There are individual promises given to Abraham. He will be the father of a great nation; he will personally experience God’s blessings. He will have a great name, verse 2 said I will make your name great and you shall be a blessing. So he will be a blessing. There are national promises focused on Israel, there will be a great nation, there will be an innumerable people, and they will possess the land that God has given them.

In Chapter13 that’s clearly defined permanently, our promises to the nation Israel. Let me see as we move along, they cannot be revoked. Paul made clear in writing to the Romance in Chapter 11 dealing with the promises God made to Israel, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. There is no changing in this, so it tried to confuse the promises God gave to the nation Israel with what he is doing in blessing the gentiles through Christ is to totally misunderstand God’s plan in giving this covenant. Then there are the universal promises to all the nations, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in Abraham. There is only one nation blessed, the nation Israel in that unique sense, but all the nations will be blessed because the Jewish Messiah is a savior for Jew and gentile alike. So the Abrahamic Covenant absolutely essential. We will have more to say about that as we move into the Chapters that elaborate on it and reinforce it.

As I mentioned, Abraham was in the city of Ur when God called him. Ur was about 160 miles from the head of the Pertain Gulf. You are familiar with that region. And always you have maps on the news these days because it’s a center of interest, the region of Babylon, Iraq. Ur would have been about 220 miles southeast of Bagdad, so get out your map and you can identify it. We were told that Abraham was told anything about the land. I mean that’s a long trip he is going to take. Those were the days when you would have rode your camels and walked. This was a long journey. They didn’t go straight across because it is a desert. So they traveled around at the front of crescent because that was a fertile region. It’s the one that landed in the middle of the desert. You just can’t make it, with a long trip for him, where’s he going? God told him to go. Abraham does and we are told he was 75 years old when he parted from Haran. Keep in mind, Sarai his wife is barren. They have no children. He is a man who is getting on in years. His wife is getting on in years. He just received a tremendous promise and God told him now to leave your land and go to a country, a land that I will point out to you, I will tell you and boy, you are going to have so many descendants and Abraham goes with his family. He now leaves Haran and they go down into Canaan.

They are in Canaan for a while and there is a famine. So in verses 10 to 20, you have Abraham going to down into Egypt. There was a famine in the land verse 10, so Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn there. The famine was severe in the land and this may be a prefiguring of what is going to happen with the descending of the descendants of Abraham into Egypt, where they will spend 400 years and then come out as a great nation. There is no indication that this is the wrong thing for Abraham to do. He gets into trouble in Egypt, but God doesn’t rebuke him for what he has done. It is, I don’t want to say, let me say a paradox, but it is strange to see Abraham, the giant of faith, the man who from the indication of scripture took guarded his word, left his homeland, has made this long journey to Canaan, now he is going down into Egypt. He gets into Egypt, he is afraid. He’s got a beautiful wife, a beautiful 65 years old wife, genuinely beautiful.

You know, we sometimes say well yes, that person, that man, that woman, he is handsome. Well, he is 70; well he is handsome for a 70 year old. She is beautiful for a 70 year old. That’s different than saying beautiful as refer to a 28 year old. But Sarai is everyday genuinely beautiful, so beautiful that Pharaoh would like to have her in his harem. Now he can have the choice of the most beautiful woman of the land. In fact Sarai was so beautiful and that this was the regular practices of Abraham when he traveled to lie about Sarai and say she is my sister. You know why he does it? He is afraid they will kill him and take his wife. Now stop and think about this, here is the man who’s left everything, his homeland and everything, always got is the word of God, he is willing believe God, but he has to lie about his relationship with his wife because he is afraid they will kill him. Now if they kill him, how is the covenant that God made with him going to get fulfilled, it doesn’t look a giant of faith to me. Now it does reveal he is a human.

Look over in Chapter 20:13, I mean, this is just not a onetime stumble for Abraham, Chapter 20 records him doing it again and Abraham tells on this occasion this is my regular practice to lie and say she is my sister and it’s not a bold face lie because it’s a half truth. Verse 11, Abraham said, because I thought surely there is no fear of God in this place, they will kill because of my wife. Besides she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, not the daughter of my mother. She became my wife and it came about when God caused me to wander from my father’s house that I said to her, this is the kindness which you will show to me. Everywhere we go, say he is my brother. Now we can build all kind of stories out of these kinds of incidences. How could Sarai respect such a husband, who is willing to expose her to the worst kind of situations, even these pagan rulers are gusts that Abraham would do such a thing because I could have slept with her and God would have brought wrath on my house. How could you do this? Oh, I do it all the time, everywhere we go I tell her now you be sure to tell anybody who ask you, this is my brother. Oh man, how could you respect a man like this and you have First Peter 3 tells us that Sarai honored him and called him Lord. All these interesting details, we would have gone on sidetracks and we were trying to put the Bible together, that you know we would have had thousand-volume edition, but God is just tracking the account. Abraham is a man great faith. He is not a perfect man. We are not condoning his lies. The Bible does not condone his lies. He just does not get into sidetrack, it just relates enough to let you know God maintains the purity of Sarah the wife if Abraham in spite of the actions of Abraham because it is through Sarah that the line that God has chosen for himself. We will come.

Back in Chapter 12, you know amazing. You think, well boy, we could justify this lie. You know why? Abraham gets very, very rich as a result of telling this lie. Verse 16 of Chapter 12, you know, Pharaohs’ officials go tell Pharaoh you know, find the most beautiful woman and appointed out to her and you make inroads. So Pharaoh wants to honor her brother. So she treated Abraham well for her sake, gave him sheep, ox, and donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, camels. So we read in Chapter 13:2 when Abram comes out of Egypt, he is very rich in livestock. So would that justify lying? No, but God is sovereign in this. Why didn’t Abram just trust God? I have the promise of the God. I mean the God who caused me to wander. It’s God who is directed me here. God will protect me and I will put my wife at risk, I will give my life for her. What a view at all, so there are admirable things in Abraham. There are things we would not want to admire in Abraham. These men of the Bible are human. Their failures are presented, but he is a man of great faith. He is the example of faith in the Bible. God could have these other accounts, but they are part of what God wants to show in his sovereignty in establishing the line that he has chosen for himself. Interestingly Abraham gets rich down here and when later the descendants of Abraham go down into Egypt and stay there for 400 years, when they come out, they all come out rich as well, the wealth that God provides for them in that way.

Chapter 13 about Abram and Lot. First 13 verses tell how Abram and Lot go their separate ways. Lot is not part of God’s plan or Abram. So here he selects out this one man, his wife. Though, he is going to separate Lot from him, Abram is very rich and Lot has become very wealthy. There is conflict among them and the New Testament now confronts Abram, verse 7 there was strife between the herdsman of Abram's livestock, the herdsman of Lot’s livestock, now the Canaanite and the Parasite were dwelling in the land. Abram says to Lot, please let there be no strife between me and me nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen. We are brothers. Now, they are not brothers. Lot is the nephew. He is the younger man. Abram is being very gracious here. He is dealing with Lot as an equal. He doesn’t assert the authority that he might. We don’t have conflict. We are brothers. So choose the land you want and that way you can have that and then I will take what you don’t want. You see something of Lots character. He doesn’t say no. You are the older man. You deserve the honor, you select and then Lot looks around and says oh, that looks likes the most fertile, most productive, I will take it. So you have the separation of Lot from Abram and Lot is going toward the well, watered the fertile plain of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Verse 10 tells us. It is a lush plain, looks like a good choice, but it will be a disaster for Lot and his family. Verse 13, the men of Sodom were wicked, exceedingly sinners against the Lord. You see a progression as Lot will move there and settle his tents. Next time we find Lot is going to be living in the city, sad situation, although the New Testament does call Lot a righteous man. So, yes, he is a saved man, a save man making bad decisions. Now after the separation occurs, verse was14, you have the confirmation of the covenant that God has given to Abram. Now that’s reinforced this convent. The Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated, lift up your eyes, look from the place where you are, and we read this portion earlier, here is the land I will give you, all that you see here belongs to you and further more your descendants will be liked the dust of the earth, innumerable. So walk over this land, see it’s yours. Now keep in mind, there are other people’s here. We saw in verse 7, the Canaanite and the Parasite were dwelling then in the land. Here all Abraham has is himself and his wife, no children. I have so many kids, you are not going to be able to count, and the descendants will be innumerable. We had walked through the land to cherish. So here’s this elderly man with his elderly wife could wake through the land, no kids, but all he has is the promise of God.

Chapter 14, main thing in Chapter 14 is the appearance on the scene of Melchizedek. Remember one thing about Chapter 14, you want to remember, that’s where Melchizedek appears. He appears in Chapter 14 of Genesis and he has mentioned once in Psalm 110. That’s all the Old Testament says about Melchizedek becomes the dominant figure in the Book of Hebrews as far as the priesthood of Christ is concerned. The situation is the war with the four kings and the five kings, first 12 verses and what you have is a rebellion by five kings that includes kings in Sodom and Gomorrah that whole area had been subjugated; now they rebel against the four kings who have dominated them. The four kings invade the land and successfully crush the rebellion. They swipe through now and take captives. Lot and his family are taken captive, so Lord is brought to Abram, verse 12 they took Lot, Abram’s nephew and his possessions and departed for he was leaving in Sodom. Often, it’s noted you know Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld the well-watered plain, then he moved his tents towards Sodom. Next thing you find, he is living there, that progression becoming more entangled and ensnared. Someone who escaped from the battle came and told, verse 13, Abram the Hebrew, what did happen? Abram’s concerned. So he gathers the members of his household, his servants and so on, trained man, 318 trained men living in a land here, you have to be able to protect yourself, your family, you flock, your herds, and so one. So in effect Abram has a standing army because his servants have been trained to battle in the fight. And he is going to take on these four kings. You know, amazing to me as I see Abram lying about his wife because he is afraid he will get killed. You see here is a man who has fearlessness about him. He is going to go and take on four kings, who have just shattered and defeated five kings and their armies. Abram’s going to take 300 plus men from his own family that have been trained to do battle and go out and take on these kings. Tell me why, he is a fearless man in cretin settings. He goes out, defeats those kings, rescues Lot and his family.

Verse 17, after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh. Oh, you have the picture here that he is returning from his victory and now you have the king of Sodom, perhaps the one will become king if the former king had been killed, but any rate, he comes out and the plan is going to offer Abram riches. But before Abram meets with the king of Sodom, he meet a unique character, who seems to come out of nowhere and he does in the biblical account, verse 18 and Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. Now he was a priest of the God most high. Intrusting figure, he is the king of Jerusalem. He is also a priest. He is a priest of God most high. What is going on here in Jerusalem? He got a king priest, who serves the most high God. He blessed him, goes to Abram and said blessed be Abram of God most high possessor of heaven and earth, blessed be God most high was delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abraham gave him a tenth of all. We are back to the king of Sodom.

Psalm 110:4, God says that he has sworn forever that you will be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, referring to his son Jesus Christ. That’s all we have about Melchizedek. What is recorded about Melchizedek here is purposely limited as we find out when we got to the Book of Hebrews. We want to go there at time. But in Hebrews 7 we are told that what was recorded about Melchizedek and what was not recorded was to enable him to be a type of Jesus Christ to prefigure Christ. In Hebrew 7, we have five facts stressed. No birth is recorded about Melchizedek. I believe Melchizedek was a physical figure. This is not the pre-incarnate Christ. Otherwise Christ would be a type of a priest after the order of himself. If it was Christ in Genesis 14, then the picture is not as it is developed. He is without birth. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t born, because there was no record of his birth that’s normally required for a king and for a priest. The Jews would recognize this.

No genealogy given, no death recoded and those things, it doesn’t mean Melchizedek the figure in Genesis would never die, but there is no record of his death. So what is recorded and what is not recorded is to enable him to be a type prefiguring Christ. He receives tithes Abram, which means Abram acknowledges him as the superior figure. There is a greater person than Abraham alive on the earth at this time, why didn’t God chose Melchizedek? Is that going over to Ur of the Chaldeans and selecting the son of an idol worshiper, who then had a journey all the way around and come down into the land and why did not you select Melchizedek? It’s what I would have done because I am not God. Melchizedek comes on the scene. Abram gives tithes, he acknowledge, he is his superior, it becomes a key point in the Book of Hebrews and Melchizedek blesses Abraham. The lesser is blessed by the greater, other indication Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. I mean he is greater than anyone in Israel because Abraham is the father. So every Jew in effect is in Abraham that including the, who would become the head of the Levitical priesthood, priesthood. And that means Melchizedek is greater in his priesthood than Levi in the Levitical priesthood, all developed in Hebrews. So tremendously important figure represented here. I think this confrontation or this meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek also prepares him to reject the offer of the king of Sodom because he offers all the material things, the spoils of word to Abraham. The kind of Sodom said, just let me have the people now that belonged to my city.

Verse 22, Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have sworn to the Lord God most high, possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for a fear you would say, I have made Abram rich. Now the young men who work with me, they can take their share. Abram doesn’t expect the others to leave on his level, with his faith as you are never going to be able to say you know where Abram got his wealth, king of Sodom, I gave it him. I don’t get anything from you. Nothing, not a sandal thong he has sworn to God. I think this comes out of his confrontation or his meeting with Melchizedek.

Chapter 15, you have the confirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant. We mentioned this Chapter and then we will be done. Chapter 15 opens up, after these things the word the Lord came to Abraham in vision saying don’t fear Abraham, I am shield to you. Your reward will be very great. Abraham’s beginning to think. You know all these promises are wonderful. Abraham said, Lord God what will you give me, since I am childless? The heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. In other words, I don’t have any heir. I have lots of wealth, so what will you give me? You know what happens? When I die since I have no children, my chief servant will become my heir Abraham said since you have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir. I mean I have no children of my own. So the closest I have is this servant born in my own house. The word of the Lord came to him saying this man will not be your heir, one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir. He took him outside and said, now look toward the heavens, count the stars, if you are able to count and he said so shall you descendants be. Your descendants are going to be innumerable. Remember before he used the picture of the dust of the earth. Now look at the stars, you are on a dark night with no lights around you, but a clear night, how would you begin to count them, that’s the point. Amazing thing verse 6 and this becomes the key words as well in the New Testament. Then he believed in the Lord and he reckoned that to him as righteousness. As a result of faith, God provides righteousness.

These verses quoted in the New Testament, Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, James 2:23, I do know. I don’t think this is necessarily Abraham’s conversion. This verse becomes key because it is a clear statement of righteousness provided by faith. But the New Testament, the Book Hebrews tells us it was by faith that Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans. So Abraham was a man of faith before this, but this is the first clear statement of righteousness provided through faith in the word of God. This is the first occurrence of the word believe in the Bible. It’s the first occurrence of the word righteousness. So in the New Testament, this is quoted. It is an example of righteousness provided by faith, but this is not necessary Abraham’s conversion experience you will because Abraham had walked by faith before this according to the testimony of scripture. The scripture builds on this because it is the first clear statement we have. So it is pattern that the rest of scripture will build on.

In verse 8, Abraham says how am I know that I will possess all this land? This is not necessarily a lack of faith on Abraham’s part. He asks for assurance from God, conformation. Their times questions can be inappropriate indicate a lack of faith. Their times they are just looking for assurance or clarification and that’s what Abraham asked for. And now you have the covenant conformed with Abraham and Abraham is told in the context of these following verses to take these animals, 3-year-old heifer, 3-year-old female goat, 3-year-old ram, a turtledove, a young pigeon, cut them in two, that the Hebrew word for making a covenant literally means to cut a convent because they split these animals and then they lay one-half on one side, the other half on the other side with room to pass through. So when they would make a covenant, then the parties to the covenant will walk between these animals. That will confirm the covenant that will establish the covenant, though Abraham does what God tells him to do. Now when the sun was going down, verse 12, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. This probably is in the context of what’s going to be revealed that there is a dark period because the descendants of Abram are going to go down into Egypt. They’re going to be enslaved there and oppressed in verse 13 for 400 years. But then God will judge that nation, the Egyptians, and he will bring his people out with many possessions. That’s what happened in the Exodus, but as for you, you got your father’s in peace. So God is unfolded something of the feature of Abraham’s descendants. They are just not going to immediately take possession of the land and on we go. There is a dark period of 400 years of slavery.

God is not ready yet to give Abraham and his descendants’ total possession of Canaan, verse 16, then in the fourth generation they will return here for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete. That picture of ripening for judgment, there is time for judgment, though we have talked before, the world is ripening for judgment. That was true with Canaan, but it wasn’t yet time, they are over 400 years yet before sin of the people of Cannon will have reached the point God is now ready to bring destruction on them and bring his people to take possession of their land. Verse 17, it came about when the sun is set, that it was very dark, behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying your, to your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Then all the people that are now living there, that will be removed so that Israel can have the land. You note here, Abraham goes into a deep sleep. God passes through and his presence is manifested by the smoking oven and flaming torch.

Abram doesn’t pass through because the fulfillment of the provision of this covenant is totally dependent upon God. It is an unconditional covenant, it is not conditioned on anything Abraham or his descents will do. The covenant cannot be nullified. God alone is obligated himself to the fulfillment of all of its provisions. That’s why any denial of the feature for Israel is at a direct attack on the character of God and his ability to fulfill his promises and to keep his word. There are two parties to this covenant, but one only one of them will be responsible to see that it is fulfilled in its interiority and that is God. That’s the significant of his passing through. And then the reiteration of the provision of the land. So what has happened from Genesis Chapter10 to 15, we have come from the scattering of the peoples of the world, their devotion into various nations, nationalities, races, and languages, to the focus of God on one’s specific people, the descendants of one couple, who would develop into a great nation. And through this man and his descendants and particularly one descendant, his seed will come blessing, salvation blessings, not only for the descendants of Abraham the Jew, but for all the families of the earth. And we as gentiles have entered into the blessings of that provision, the Abrahamic Covenant elaborated in the new covenant. Remember, Jesus, remember every time we partake of the communion of this cup is the new covenant, elaboration of salvation blessings for all people. We haven’t replaced Israel. We are simply entered into the provisions of the covenant God made with Abraham that provided for non-Jews. But that doesn’t cancel the provision that same covenant it was made for the Jew. Praise God for his sovereign plan.

Let’s pray together. Thank you Lord for the unfolding of your word, its fullness, Lord in all the takes place, we see Your hand. That is reminder to us that three 3,000 years after your servant Abraham walked this earth. You’re in the process of keeping your word. You have provided blessings in salvation through the seed of Abraham and you will ultimately bring to completion fulfillment every single detail of the covenant you have committed yourself to complete. We praise you for in Christ’s name, amen.