Intro:
1. George Bernard Shaw observed, "If the other planets are inhabited, then they must be using the earth, for their insane asylum."
2. We have just got started in this book - and what a mess we have seen so far:
Forbidden fruit loving Adam and Eve...
Killer Cain...
Have a blast while you last humanity...
Little ole wine drinking Noah...
Haughty Ham...
Nutty Nimrod...
And it doesnt get any better as we continue on our study!
3. The Flaky Family of Abraham.
Trans:God began working through the Human race and found them uncooperative; so now He narrows His focus through the Hebrew race - beginning with a man called Abram. Gen. 11:24-32
I. FIRST, THEIR PAGAN FAMILY BELIEFS. 11:24-28B
A. The Seed-line. 24-27
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot - lets begin by identifying the characters.
Te-rah is a descendant of Shem and the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran's son Lot is thus Abram's nephew.
Sarah is, Abram's wife and half-sister - they had the same father, but different mothers (Gen. 10:12).
Nahor Abram's brother, had great granddaughters named Rachel and Leah, they would become the wives of Abraham's grandson Jacob.
Trans: The coming Messiah, as promised in Gen. 3:15, was the only hope for Fallen man.
Today that Messiah has come - He is the only hope for mankind! We no longer have to wait for Him; go to a certain place to find Him; He is a prayer away.
James A. Pike died in 1969. His death was dramatic and tragic. James was researching a new book on the historical Jesus. He decided to go to Jerusalem, to walk again where Jesus walked.
While driving in the desert on a hot August afternoon, he and his wife became lost. Mrs. Pike finally got help, but it was too late for her husband. He was dead.
A writer for Time reported, "What irony, that Pike should perish in the wilderness of the Judean desert, looking for Jesus."
A friend, commented, "Yes, and to think he could have found Him in California!"
You don't have to wait for and go somewhere, you can find the Messiah this morning, right here in Bentonville Ar!
B. The Seedy Linage.
Ur of the Chaldeans - this is close to where we fought in Desert Storm, about 75 miles north of the Kuwait border. It is in the southeast corner of modern Iraq.
Ur was no hick town!
Richards, "Ur was dominated by dominated by a giant three-stage Ziggurat [ZIG-guh-rat], reaching some 70 feet above the flat plain below.
On it were shrines to Nun-nar, the city's god. The city was enclosed by walls, some 30 feet high, which protected not only the city, but two harbors.
Among the more spectacular finds from Ur's early period, are beautifully worked gold jewelry and objects; gold inlaid musical instruments; and colorful mosaics illustrating civil and military life.
In addition, a number of clay tablets were recovered, including a Sumerian dictionary and a mathematical text recording cube roots. There were also business records, which show that the people of Ur were actively involved in international trade."
Willmington, "Preceeding the time of Abraham, it was the most magnificent city in all the world; a center of manufacturing, farming, and shipping...The god Nan-nar, who was the moon-god, and his wife Nin-gal were the main gods."
Abram's family were the original Moonies! They worshipped the moon...
*Josh. 24:2-3, 14.
"2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. Joshua 24:2-3
"Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! Joshua 24:14
Philips, "Abram's family, including Abram himself, were poly-the-is-tic idolaters. Their names come right out of the cult of moon worship.
Te-rah's name is related to the word yā-rē-ah, "moon" and ye-rah, "lunar month." Sarai is the equivalent to the Ak-ka-dian sar-ra-tu, "queen," and was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin.
Mil-cah is the same as the goddess Mal-kâ-tu, a title of Ish-tar, daughter of the moon god.
As a moon worshiper, Abram had stood atop the zig-gu-rat's star-gazing platform on night watches and offered his [worship] obeisance."
*Isa. 51:1-2
"1 "Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. 2 Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him." Isaiah 51:1-2 (NKJV)
Abraham came from a pagan pit!
*Ezk. 16:2-6
"2 "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: "Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. 6 "And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Ezekiel 16:2-6 (NKJV)
We shall see in Gen. 31 how far reaching the effects of idolatry are in Rachel's life, as she steals the house-hold idol, when they fled from Laban.
Trans:God did not choose Abram because of his godliness! God didnt choose us because of our godliness either! We should all be humble and grateful for God's sheer grace!
1 Cor. 1:26-29; 6:11/Eph.2:1-3/Ro.6:17...
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me." Psalm 51:5 (NKJV)
In the second century, Celsus, an adversary of Christianity, complained: "Jesus Christ came into the world to make the most horrible and dreadful society; for He calls sinners, and not the righteous, so that the body He came to assemble is a body of [degenerates] profligates, separated from good people, among whom they before were mixed. He has rejected all the good, and collected all the bad."
Probably the most famous work of the great Michelangelo is David which stands in Florence, Italy. One can only marvel when one looks at the flawless and lifelike nature of the statue.
Many people assumed that the rock from which it was hewn must also have been flawless in form. But what people do not realize is that the marble which Michelangelo chose had a large flaw in it. It was left in the quarry and passed over by many as useless.
Yet only Michelangelo could see its potential and chose it to be the foundation for his masterpiece. All believers are like that stone flawed and imperfect but saved by God's grace.
II. FURTHERMORE, THEIR PAINFUL BREAVEMENT. 28
And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans - they experienced a death in the family.
Death is a reminder that the best of us, are sinners at best! Ro.6:23
"The soul who sins shall die..." Ezk. 18:20a
Every family sooner or later must face death - it is a fact of sin!
A mayor in Brazil, Da Silva was seeking to make its citizens get adequate health care and solve the problem of a lack of burial space.
He proposed that a fine or jail time for the family of those who had family members who died too young.
But old man death continues to claim it's victims! We never know when or who.
Like the man who went in for his annual checkup. His doctor called him a few days later. He said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you - you have only 48 hrs to live!
The man said, "Wow! That is bad news."
Then the doctor siad, "I'm afraid I have even worse news for you."
The man said, "What could be worse then having only 48 hours to live!" The doctor said, "I've been trying to get ahold since yesterday!"
III. THIRDLY, THE PERPLEXINGLY BARREN WOMAN IN THE FAMILY. 30
Sarai [SAY righ] was barren - this was especially hard on Abram. In those days names were significant. Abram means "Exaulted father!"
Can you imagine - "I my name is Exaulted father." Oh, how many children do you have? None!
ISBE, "...among oriental peoples generally, barrenness, was a woman and her family's greatest misfortune. The highest sanction of religion and patriotism was the "fruit of the womb." It was essential for the perpetuaqtion of the tribe and its religion."
Remember Abram must have a son to perpetuate the seed-line.
Every family experiences sorrow, problem, and fruitlessness.
But to this Barren couple would come the great promise of God, in fact God would use their barreness as a background for his miraculous power.
When we are not fruitful God encourages us to bear fruit, but there is another aspect. When we are fruitful - attendance is up; meeting the budget; lost are being saved; etc. God begins his purning process! Have you ever noticed that it's just at the point where everything is going great - bam! The floor drops out!
He has to do that so we are not preoccupied with the blessing and remain stale and satisfied.
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:2 (NKJV)
Spurgeon, "This is a precious promise to one who lives for fruitfulness. At first it seems to wear a sharp aspect. Must the fruitful bough be pruned? Must the knife cut even the best and most useful? No doubt it is so, for very much of our Lord's purging work is done by means of afflictions of one kind or another.
It is not the evil but the good who have the promise of tribulation in this life. But, then, the end makes more than full amends for the painful nature of the means. If we may bring forth more fruit for our Lord, we will not mind the pruning and the loss of leafage."
IV. FOURTHLY, HIS FATHER HAD POSSESSIVE BEHAVIOR.
A. The Revelation.
God spoke to Abram while he was in Ur. Ac.7:2-3 and Gen.
12:1 "The Lord had said..."
God message was clear - (1) Leave Ur; (2) And your relatives; and (3) Go to a specific Land;
B. The Rejection.
He takes a 6-15 year detour! Why?
Anderson, "After Haran died, there were just two boys left, two sons of whom, the aging Terah probably felt more and more possessive. Then another tragedy struck, at least in the eyes of the still grieving Terah - Abram decided it was time to leave the nest! Trying to avert the tragedy, Terah must have pleaded with his son, "Abe, don't do this to me, not now, not in my old age. You and Nahor are all I've got left. If you leave, I'll probably never see you again."
Haran - is about 700 miles from Ur and some 60 miles from the Euphrates. The interesting thing is that Haran was also a place of moon worship.
Trans:This is a dysfunctional family - a possessive father; a disobedient son; a nephew Lot who was a master in the art of compromise; and that is just on the surface!
The Flaky Family of Abram is a picture of all of us; but also of God's grace - He chooses and uses loosers!
Swindoll, "When God calls individual into His vineyard, He calls sinful people. Each inadequate in themselves, weak and wayward in nature, and could pose for a portrait painted in the lyrics of the beloved hymn, "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love."
Demas "having loved this present world" forsook Paul; Gehazi, Elisha's servant, couldnt hid his materialism and gree; Davids adulterous affair, which lead to murder and hypocrasy is known to all; Isaiah admitted tha the was a "man of unclean lips"; Aaron prompted the molding of a golden calf, for the Hebrews to worship; and Samson was a notorious womanizer.
No one is immune to imperfections. None of the above, and neither you nor I!"
God in His grace puts up with us - should we not then put up with each other?
One godly man was visited by a needy stranger. An old man that need a place to stay for the night. He took him in but soon discovered the man was rude and foul mouthed - he threw him out into the street.
Later, as the godly man was prayer, and telling the Lord how terrible the man he threw out was....The Lord interruped, "My son, I have put up with that old man for over 80 years, could you not put up with him for one night?
Walter Cronkite, the famous news anchor of yesteryear said that he had a family philosophy, of what he called, "put-up-manship."
Once on a family vacation, his children were arguing over which room they would sleep in.
He explained to them, "I put up with Mommy and Mommy puts up with me and you have to put up with each other."
The best families follow the philosophy of "putupmanship." God in His grace puts up with us, therefore we should put-up-with one another.
God put up with Abram - as he went to Haran, in that he spoke to him again some 15 years later! Why not get another person?
God put up with them as they sought to work through Hagar...
Like Jonah, the word of God came to him a second time!
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
