Bible Study Week 3
Part 2
The Time of the Patriarchs
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Abraham
As in the days of Noah, God looked upon the earth and found a man with whom He could make a covenant. This man had come from Ur of the Chaldees with his father, Terah. The mahns name was Abram. The Lord told Abram to leave his country, his kindred, and his fathers house to journey to a land that God would show him. The Lord promised, "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:2-3).
Abram obeyed the Lord and left his home in Haran when he was seventy-five years old. He took his wife Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, and they traveled to the land of Canaan.
When the Lord called Abram, he had no children. Part of God's promise was the He would make of Abram a great nation. This promise was subsequently fulfilled, as seen in Deuteronomy 4:6; I Kings 3:8-9, and Joshua 21:43-45.
Ishmael
The days passed, however, without any physical sign that God was keeping His promise. Finally, as human beings often do, Abram and Sarai decided to take matters into their own hands. Sarai, who had an Egyptian handmade named Hagar, said unto Abram, "Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her" (Genesis 16:2) Abram acted on his wife's counsel, which was according to the custom of the time, and Ishmael was born of this union.
By trying to help God out because they could see no visible sign of His promise coming to pass, Abram and Sarai brought many sorrows to their family. Ishmael and their son, Isaac, would have many conflicts. The seeds were sown for conflict between the Arabs and the Jews, nations who sprang from these two men.
>>> It might be easy to judge Abraham and Sarai since their customs are so unlike ours, but how have you seen people today try to things their own way instead of waiting and following Gods plan?
Scripture reminds us that God's ways are above ours. We also know that He operates beyond the human boundaries of time. Waiting on His timeline can make us impatient at times. Yet when we trust that He wants what is best for us, we recognize the value of doing things His way.
God's Covenant with Abraham
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly" (Genesis 17:1-2). As Abram fell on his face before God, the Lord continued to talk with him. God renewed His promise to make him the father of many nations and changed his name to Abraham. Abram means "high father"; Abraham means "father of a multitude." He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah. Sarai means "princess"; Sarah means "my princess." Then God gave a token of His covenant. He said, "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token betwixt me and you" (Genesis 17:10-11)
Abraham took his son Ishmael with all the male members of his household, and they were all circumcised the same day in obedience to God's Word.
Separation
Strife developed between the herdmen of Abrahams cattle and those of Lot. The problem was that both Abraham and Lot were very rich, with many flocks, herds, and tents, and the land simply was not able to bear them.
Abraham said to Lot, "Let there be no strife. I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right, then I will go to the left" (Genesis 13:8-9).
Lots Choice
Abraham was very gracious in allowing his nephew to make the first choice. Lot observed the well watered plain of Jordan and chose that for himself. He then journeyed east, separating himself from Abraham and pitching his tent in the direction of Sodom. This proved to be a mistake for Lot, for the people of Sodom were wicked and terrible sinners in the Lords eyes (Genesis 13:13). It is always dangerous to go in the direction of sin.
Judgment against Sin
God observed the mounting wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah, where Abraham's nephew, Lot, lived with his family. The Lord appeared to Abraham and informed him that the cities would be destroyed.
Abraham, knowing that his relatives lived in the doomed city of Sodom, sought the Lord to spare the city. He agreed to do so, if only ten righteous people could be found. But, sadly, Sodom and Gomorrah were so wicked that not even ten righteous people could be located (Genesis 18).
Angels of Mercy
The angels visited Lot and removed him, his wife, and two unmarried daughters from the city. God sent angels of mercy to Sodom that day. The prayers of Abraham did not save the cities, but they did save Lot. Lot was blessed to have an uncle who stayed close to the Lord. But Lots grievous error in moving into this wicked city took its toll. He had to leave behind daughters who had married men of Sodom. In disobedience to the angels commands, his wife looked back as they were fleeing and turned into a pillar of salt. However, Lot and his two unmarried daughters fled for their lives.
Because of the great wickedness of these cities, God destroyed them with fire and brimstone. Today they have been wiped of the face of the earth. Some Bible students believe the destruction of these cities may have been connected with the formation of the Dead Sea.
The judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah stands forever as a solemn warning to any who would violate God's Word. "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah [Gomorrah] into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly" (II Peter 2:6).
As one author noted, "The teachings of Christ are not unlike a river that flows for a long time smoothly and noiselessly between it banks and then suddenly takes the tremendous plunge of the cataract. In the utterance of Jesus about the coming of His Kingdom we have the cataract note of His preaching. The same lips which pronounced the Beatitudes and spake the quiet parables of growth and development tell of the coming of His Kingdom and the great and terrible day of the Lord."
Judgment is coming! It's time to prepare!
Isaac, the Promised Son
At last, in God's time, Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son. Abraham named the child Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old.
Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. God had kept His promise, but He was not yet finished trying Abraham's faith.
Abraham's Faith Tested
God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon on of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Genesis 22:2) What thoughts must have gone through Abraham's mind! God had promised him a son. The promise had taken many years to be fulfilled, and now God commanded him to sacrifice that son! Abraham was a man of great faith in God, however. He knew that Isaac was the promised son that God had given him. He believed that enough through Isaac God would raise up countless offspring as He had promised. He knew that, even if he offered Isaac God would raise up countless offspring as He had promised. He knew that, even if he offered Isaac to God. God was able to raise him up from the dead in order to keep His word.
As Hebrews 11:17-19 says, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure."
Abraham's Obedience
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him" (Genesis 22:3). On the third day of their journey, Abraham saw in the distance the mountain which God had commanded he offer Isaac. He told the servants to stay behind while he and Isaac went to worship.
Abrahams faith is clear in the statement that he made to his servants: "I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you" (Genesis 22:5) He believed that God had a divine purpose in the task that he had been asked to preform.
Abraham's Continuing Faith
As Abraham and Isaac traveled toward their destination, Isaac noticed they had everything but the sacrifice. He asked, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering!" Abraham responded with a statement of eternal significance: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:7-8). After the had prepared the altar, Abraham bound his son and placed him on the altar. Then Abraham stretched forth his hand with the knife to slay his son. At that moment, the angel of the Lord called, "Abraham, Abraham!"
"Here am I," he answered.
"Lay not thine hand upon the lad," said the angel, "neither do thou any thing to him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me" (Genesis 22:12).
Abraham's faith had been tested by what was dear to him, and he came through the trial victoriously. After Abraham heard the voice of the angel, he turned and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket nearby.
God had provided a sacrifice. Abrahams statement was prophetic in that many years later Jesus Christ wo was God manifest in the flesh, came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29; I Timothy 3:16).
What a marvelous thing is faith!
In the history of our country men traveled by horseback and had to cross rivers swollen by the rains. If they looked at the swirling waters around them, they would become dizzy and possibly fall from the saddle and be swept away. But if the fixed their eye upon the other bank, a tree, a large rock, or a hillside, they would ride safely through.
Similarly, in the storms of life, faith is the balance that gives calmness and victory. It is important to fix our eyes, not upon the shifting scene around us, but upon the solid rock, Jesus Christ.