In our series on Abraham, we will cover the following passages:
1. Genesis 11.27- 13.4 God Calls Abraham
2. Genesis 13.5 -14.16 Abraham Lives as an Outsider
3. Genesis 14.17-15.21 God makes an Agreement with Abraham.
4. Genesis 16.1-17.27 Abraham’s Efforts are Overturned.
5. Genesis 18.1-19.38 God Comes Near to Bless and Judge
6. Genesis 21.1-22.19 God Test Abraham’s Faith.
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INTRO
Genesis is not just a collection of unconnected life stories and genealogies. The author selected and put the material together purposely. Abraham’s life story was included because it supported the author’s intention to teach something about God. The fact that Abraham’s life takes up such a large chunk of Genesis, shows that the things Abraham experienced are rich in the teaching about God that the author intended to share.
Our task in studying Abraham’s life in the book of Genesis is more than just examining the pieces of his life so we can take some life-lessons from it. Our task is to understand how Abraham’s life sheds light on the author’s intention to teach something about God. In other words we need to be answering this question: What is the message of the book of Genesis and how does Abraham’s life make that clear?
When we speak of the author of Genesis, we mean the person who compiled and wrote it (usually accepted as Moses, though the author is not interested in identifying himself in the book). But we also understand that behind that author is the Divine Author, God. (2 Timothy 3.16. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.) The Holy Spirit was guiding the person who compiled Genesis so that it would be profitable for those who read it.
As we study Abraham’s life, we must notice how the elements of his life, like pieces of a puzzle, fit into a bigger picture, so that his whole life teaches us something very significant. (And in fact, we should also notice how Abraham’s life is a big piece in the bigger jigsaw puzzle of Genesis). This means that we won’t be treating Abraham simply as a worthy role-model of a man trying to obey God – though of course that is important. We want to know God. It is not just Abraham’s responses to God that are important for us, but what God was doing through Abraham.
As we go through the chapters in Genesis that relate Abraham’s life, we will be looking for some of the ‘big picture’ truths that are essential to our right understanding of God and our right response to him.
Here are a few of them:
· God chooses, calls and separates his people out from idolatry.
· God makes promises and we receive them by faith.
· God is righteous and won’t make room for sin.
· God is forming his very own people.
· Only God can fulfil his promises and he intervenes to make sure they come about.
God’s dealings with Abraham centre on three big promises he makes to him. These promises are what gives Abraham his personal purpose and they reveal something of God’s big plan for humanity. The three promises were:
1. God will give Abraham very many descendants.
2. God will give Abraham’s descendants land.
3. God will bless all peoples through Abraham’s offspring.
These three blessings are not just for Abraham’s satisfaction, but they represent God’s plan to bless the world through the people God will bring from Abraham and his offspring. At every step of the way in this plan, God will maintain his righteousness and people must approach him by faith. They (i.e. we) must believe that God can do what he has promised. As we study Abraham’s life we will keep meeting promises, righteousness and faith.
Study 1: Genesis 11.27-13.4 God calls Abram (Abraham)
Read the passage and perhaps use these questions to probe its meaning:
2. Get a calculator and work out how many years between Shem (11.10 ) and Abraham (11.26).
3. What did God’s call demand of Abraham?
4. What did God promise him?
5. Why do you think that God’s promises were attractive to Abraham?
6. Have you formed any opinion about Lot’s place in what has happened so far?
7. Who else in the Bible went down into Egypt?
8. What might Abraham have learned through his trip to Egypt?
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