The Promise of God To Abram - Chapter 12
Genesis 1-11 is the introduction to the Bible. Genesis 12 is the beginning to the main theme of the Bible that God will bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham.
Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT) The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. (3) I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
Stephen’s speech in Acts 7:2 help us to understand this call...
Acts 7:2-8 (NLT) This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. (3) God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ (4) So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live. (5) “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. (6) God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. (7) ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’ (8) “God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
• God’s glory appeared to Abram in such a way that left Abram no room to doubt the divine authority of this call. - 7:2-8.
• His call was given him in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.
It is interesting that he stopped in Haran (modern day Turkey) meaning “Parched land.”
Note: Because God loves us, He will not allow us to take up our rest any place short of Canaan, but will graciously repeat his call, until we are obedient.
• The name of Abram’s father (Terah) which meant “delay,” or as some scholars translate it “wait a bit.”
We all have “Haran’s” in our life and we all have “Terahs.” The waiting or delayed period is often tedious and hard.
TWO THINGS INVOLVED THIS CALL:
1- It Involved Separation From The World
1 John 2:15-17 (NLT) Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. (16) For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. (17) And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
A - This involved separation from the place he lived
Ur (in Iraq) was a center for worship of the moon god SIN.
Archeological evidence shows a well-designed, wealthy city, with houses of brick, whitewashed or plastered on the outside - many of them were two stores high.
But God told him to leave that city. Sometimes the place where we are is the reason why we are not experiencing the blessing of God.
2 Peter 2:9 (NLT) So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.
B- This involves separation from the people to whom he was attached.
God had told him to go out “from your kindred and from your father’s house.”
Matthew 10:34-37 (NLT) “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. (35) ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. (36) Your enemies will be right in your own household!’ (37) “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.
2 Corinthians 6:14 (NLT) Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?
2. It involved submission to the will of God.
He was to go to a land “that I will show you.”
A. That demanded obedience to what was known.
Hebrews 11:8-9 (NLT) It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. (9) And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
He was willing to obey God, no matter how much or how little he knew.
B. It required faith in what was not known. He didn’t even know where God was taking him.
What does it cost us to follow His call upon our lives?
Matthew 16:24-25 (NLT) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. (25) If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
THE CONSEQUENCES ABRAHAM WOULD EXPERIENCE - VV. 2-3
Genesis 12:2-3 (NLT) I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. (3) I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
It involved six things:
This is known as the Abrahamic Covenant.: (vv. 1-3).
There are at least 48 different promises given to Abram over his lifetime.
1. I will make of thee a great nation.
Remember... His wife was barren and He was childless. This is a promise God make good on in spite of their disobedience.
Lev. 26:40-45 infers this.
Leviticus 26:40-45 (NLT) “But at last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me. (41) When I have turned their hostility back on them and brought them to the land of their enemies, then at last their stubborn hearts will be humbled, and they will pay for their sins. (42) Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. (43) For the land must be abandoned to enjoy its years of Sabbath rest as it lies deserted. At last the people will pay for their sins, for they have continually rejected my regulations and despised my decrees. (44) “But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God. (45) For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.”
Aren’t you glad that God remains faithful to us inspite of us?
2. I will bless thee.
(Heb. “Salute” - root - “to bow down.”
Philippians 4:19 (NKJV) And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
3. I will make thy name great.
By deserting his country, he lost his name. “Trust me and I will make give you a greater name than ever could have had."
This is in contrast to what the people were trying to accomplish in ch. 11.
4. You will be a blessing (to others).
5. I will bless those that bless you and curse him that curses you.
6. In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
“Families” - Word could be as narrow as the immediate family and broad as the whole nation.
This reaches back to the families that were divided in ch. 11.
In Genesis 15:5 we see that Abraham descendants would be as impossible to number as the stars of the heavens.
God separated Abram from his idolatrous family in order to make him and his descendants the messianic nation which would bring salvation to the whole earth.
Galatians 3:13-14 (NLT) But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” (14) Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Let’s Focus On This Abrahamic Covenant -
Upper Line - V.2 - To The Jews - “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great.”
“Great” - heb. - gadol - This speaks of being numerous, having importance, to grow us to become great, powerful, do great things.
Bottom Line - V.3 - To All families - “ will bless those that bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
This is not a doctrine for universal salvation.
“Families” refers to all ethnic distinctions all over the world. This was totally fulfilled through Christ. All the families is the target to reach for.
God was so determined to fulfill His promise to Abraham that He makes an oath to Him.
Genesis 22:15-18 (NLT) Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. (16) “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that (17) I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. (18) And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
Hebrews 6:17-20 (NLT) God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. (18) So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. (19) This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. (20) Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Esp. v.18
Question - Do the scriptures past Genesis 12 show how God fulfilled His promise to Abraham or do they show how He was sidetracked with other things?
Answer - Many scriptural passages show how God’s children are a blessing to non-Jewish believers.
Old Testament
1- Joseph - was a blessing to the Egyptians
2- Naomi, a daughter of Abraham, was blessing to two Moabite women - Ruth and Orpha.
3. King David caused his enemies, the Philistines to believe in God.
4. King Solomon was a blessing to Sheba - Queen of the south.
5. Esther and Mordecai - they were a blessing to the whole Persian empire.
6. Elijah was a blessing to the Sidonian woman at Zarephath.
7- Elisha was a blessing to Naaman the Syrian.
8- Jonah was a blessing to the Gentiles of Ninevah.
9. Daniel and his 3 friends were a blessing to the Babylonians.
10. Ezekiel spoke God’s Word to various Gentile nations.
New Testament (notice just a few)
1. 5x’s in Galatians 3 Paul emphasizes the unbreakable connection between the Abrahamic covenant and the New Testament Gospel. 3:8; 3:13-14; 3:16; 3:19; 3:29
2. See Eph. 3:3-6; 8-9; 11
Physicists concerned with high energy physics tell us no atomic particle can be accelerated to high energies until:
• It is a charged particle to begin with.
• It is caught in the grip of a powerful magnetic field.
• The particle is moved in relation to a very long tunnel - the accelerator.
In Comparison...
• We become charged particles through our union with Christ.
• We are caught in the grip of a powerful magnetic field. This is the Holy Spirit’s power which permeates the Body of Christ.
• As we are in that magnetic field - it moves us into alignment with God’s purpose in history - and that purpose is defined by one thing - THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT.
You and I are part of a 4,000 year covenant!
GENESIS 12:4-9
Abram had to “go” in order to fulfull God’s promise.
Arrival of Abram in Canaan
Genesis 12:4-6 (NLT) So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (5) He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, (6) Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
The promised land was by no means empty. There were a number of cities with its inhabitants. The Canaanites presented many problems for the Israelites.
The cities of Shechem (v.6) and Bethel (v.8) will become important cities in our story. Abram will claim them for the Lord, Israel’s God.
Shechem was a fortified, armed city. The Canaanites were far more wicked than anything we’ve experienced so far.
When you get discouraged as to where God has placed you - remember where God placed Abram - in the middle of the Canaanites.
Genesis 12:7 (NLT) Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
God always brings promises to us. Abraham relied on the promises of God. He showed God that he trusted him by constructing an altar and calling on the name of the Lord.
Genesis 12:8-9 (NLT) After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. (9) Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.
It will be in the far south “toward the Negev” (v.9) in which Abram and his flocks will live.
It is interesting that the three sites mentioned in this passage will be the same sites that Jacob will stop on his return to Canaan from Haran in chps. 34-35.
Lordship requires obedience, and Abram obeyed.
Hebrews 11:8-15 (NLT) It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. (9) And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. (10) Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. (11) It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. (12) And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them. (13) All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. (14) Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. (15) If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.
James 2:14-26 (NLT) What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? (15) Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, (16) and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? (17) So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. (18) Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” (19) You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. (20) How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? (21) Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? (22) You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. (23) And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. (24) So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. (25) Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. (26) Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
Faith makes decisions that it doesn’t understand. Faith makes commitments, even when it doesn’t know where it’s going.
Always remember that obstacles will come your way. This passage shows us that obstacles are there for our instruction.
THIS PASSAGE SHOWS US THREE TYPES OF DIFFICULTIES WE MIGHT FACE:
1) The Difficulties That We Have No Control Over - V.10.
“There was a famine in the land.”
Genesis 12:10 (NLT) At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner.
In this case, Abram did what he thought he should do - he went to Egypt.
This was all part of God’s plan so that Abram might learn some lessons in life. God wanted to take the “old” stuff out of Abram, clean him up.
2) The Difficulty Of Personal Obedience - Vv. 11-13
Genesis 12:11-14 (NLT) As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. (12) When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ (13) So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.” (14) And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone spoke of Sarai’s beauty.
In Eastern countries, a man with a beautiful wife was not safe. The beauty of his wife may cost him his life.
Instead of trusting God in this situation - he took things into his own hands.
Keep in mind that Sarai is 65 years old here. She didn’t die till she was 127. Her fair skin was a big contrast to the dusty Egyptians.
3) The Difficulty Of Possible Defeat And Disgrace - Vv .14-20
Genesis 12:14-20 (NLT) And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone spoke of Sarai’s beauty. (15) When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. (16) Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. (17) But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. (18) So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. “What have you done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? (19) Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!” (20) Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions.
This is a passage of failure. We all encounter it, even Abram.
God intervened by getting Pharoah’s attention - vv. 17-18.
V. 20 - “and sent them away” - he dismissed them. Heb. - “Anashim” means “a number of men.”
Pharaoh recognized that he had been “reproved by God” -
God protects those that are His:
Psalms 105:14-15 (NKJV) He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, (15) Saying, "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm."
