Genesis: a 12-session study Session 5A: Abraham and the Nations Genesis 11:27-16:16

REVIEW & PREVIEW Genesis Structure Genesis 1 wide angle view of creation Genesis 2-4 close up view of Adam’s generation Genesis 5-11 wide angle view of the nations Genesis 12-50 close up view of the patriarchs of the nation of Israel, focusing on 4 generations: Terah Abram (Abraham) Ishmael/Isaac Esau/Jacob

REVIEW Genesis 4 Cain & Abel Sin spreads: Adam & Eve’s children also sin (Original Sin). Cain kills Abel. God’s punishment: The ground is cursed for Cain. He can no longer raise crops to feed himself. God’s grace: God puts a mark on Cain and declares a punishment for his death, preventing others from killing him. The birth of Seth gives hope for the future as Seth’s descendants call upon the name of the LORD.

REVIEW Genesis 5-8 Noah & The Flood Sin spreads: People’s thoughts are continually evil. The earth is filled with violence instead of the image of God. God’s punishment: God destroys the earth with The Flood. God shuts the door of the ark. God’s grace: God commands Noah to build the ark. Noah has 120 years to build the ark and to preach to people to repent. 8 people saved. Rainbow becomes a covenant sign never to flood the earth again. Noah is a type of “Adam” told to be “fruitful & multiply.”

REVIEW Genesis 9-10 Noah & His Sons (Shem, Ham, Japheth) Sin spreads: Noah gets drunk in his garden and passes out naked in his tent, an echo of Adam’s fall. Ham fails to cover his father’s nakedness. God’s punishment: Noah curses Ham’s son Canaan. The Canaanites are later enemies of Israel and are conquered by Israel. God’s grace: All of Noah’s sons were fruitful, multiplied, and increased greatly on the earth, an echo of the blessing to Adam’s family.

REVIEW Genesis 11 Tower of Babel Sin spreads: In pride, people build a tower. Rather than “filling the earth” they park in one place. The “tower” was likely a ziggurat with a shrine to a false god at the top. They failed as the “image of God.” God’s punishment: God confuses their language, so that they cannot cooperate on the project. God’s grace: People beginning collecting together in common language groups and move from there to fill the earth. Genetic migration patterns can still be traced back to the areas around Mt. Ararat, including Mesopotamia (where the tower was built).

Definitions Covenant – A binding agreement (“contract”) between two parties, typically involving a formal statement of their relationship, a list of stipulations and obligations for both parties, a list of witnesses to the agreement, and a list of curses for unfaithfulness and blessings for faithfulness to the agreement. The Old Testament is more properly understood as the old covenant, meaning the agreement established between God and his people prior to the coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the new covenant (New Testament). (Note also: covenants with Adam, Noah, & Abraham in Genesis.) Faith – Trust in or reliance upon something or someone despite a lack of concrete proof. (Faith can and often does involve trust developed through past proof or experience.) Salvation, which is purely a work of God’s grace, can be received only through faith (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 2:8–9). The writer of Hebrews calls on believers to emulate those who lived godly lives by faith (Hebrews 11).

Big Picture Genesis 11:27-16:16 God promises to bless the nations through the offspring of Abram/Abraham. (Covenant Blessing) This blessing is eventually fulfilled through the promised messiah, Jesus Christ, the direct descendant of Abraham. Israel has blessed the world in many ways. Israel has more Nobel Prize winners per capita than the U.S., France, and Germany. The cell phone was developed in Israel. Israel has been blessed in many ways. Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st Century with a net gain of trees, even though it is 60% desert!

The Generations of Terah Genesis 11:27-32 The phrase “these are the generations of” starts new sections in Genesis. Terah is Abram’s father. Terah begins the journey to Canaan, but settles partway in Haran, northern Mesopotamia. (Now part of Turkey and called “Eskiharran” or “Old Harran”.) Terah took Abram, Abram’s wife Sarai, Terah’s grandson Lot (Abram’s nephew). Since Haran, Lot’s father, had died back in Ur, they may simply have named the place they settled after Haran.

“Go from your country…” Genesis 12:1-3 1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Ironies in God’s promise to Abram In Gen 11:4, God opposed those who built the Tower of Babel and desired to make their name great. But, God chose to make Abram’s name great. God promises to make Abram a great nation, but Sarai is barren and childless. God called Abram to the land of Canaan, instead of calling him to fill the earth. (Although, in the history of Israel, they are several times removed from Canaan, eventually dispersed throughout the world, and regathered to the same place again starting in 1948.)

Faithful Abram heads for Canaan Genesis 12:4-9 At 75 years of age, Abram takes his family. Abram leaves Haran with his wife Sarai and nephew Lot (Haran’s son). God confirms his promise by appearing to Abram, “to your offspring I will give this land.” Abram builds altars at the places where he experiences God. Once place he calls Bethel (House of God). There is no central temple. The inheritance of Canaan by Abram’s descendants foreshadows the inheritance of the earth by the believers in Christ.

Terah travels to Haran Abram travels to Canaan (Shechem)

Famine, Faithlessness, & Faithfulness Genesis 12:11-20 In famine, Abram goes to Egypt for food. God’s promise is to give Abram Canaan, not Egypt. Later, a famine also drives Jacob (Israel) to go to Egypt. In fear, Abram says his wife Sarai is his “sister.” It’s only a half-truth. They have the same father but not the same mother. God’s promise is to make Abram a great nation. Pharaoh takes Sarai for his wife. God causes plagues, a judgment to prevent Pharaoh from keeping Sarah. Later, Abram’s descendants are slaves in Egypt, and God uses plagues to bring them out. In faithfulness, Abram returns to the same spot in Canaan where he was at the beginning.

Abram & Lot, Abram faithful again Genesis 13:1-14:16 After return from “exile” in Egypt, Abram demonstrates faithfulness by giving his nephew Lot the first choice of the land. Abram trusts God to give him a good land. Abram demonstrates faithfulness again when the local kings go to war and Lot is taken captive, Abram goes to rescue Lot. Abram trusts God to give him the victory when trouble comes to his extended family.

God promises. Abram builds altar. Again. Genesis 13:14-18 14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.  16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

DISCUSSION Why are covenant and faith important? Where did Terah intend to go with his family? Where did Terah actually settle? This place became an important crossroads and commercial center in the ancient near east. After the Tower of Babel, why is God’s call of Abram so unexpected and ironic? Why does Abram build altars? How is Abram unfaithful in Egypt? How is Abram faithful to God at other times?