1. God’s Promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3)

2.   Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3)  Repeated & expanded (Gen. 13:14-17; 15:8-21; 17:3-8; 22:17-18)  Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4)  Jacob (Gen. 28:13-15) God’s Promise to Abraham

3.   Posterity / Lineage (Seed)  Gen. 12:2 – “I will make you a great nation”  Gen. 13:16; 15:2, 5  Relationship / Covenant (Blessing)  Gen. 12:1-3 – relationship implied  Gen. 17:7  Land  Gen. 12:1  Gen. 13:15, 17  Kings  Gen. 12:2  Gen. 17:6; Sarah (Gen. 17:16) God’s Promise to Abraham

4.   Posterity / Lineage (Seed)  Gen. 12-50 – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 12 sons  Relationship / Covenant (Blessing)  Exodus & Leviticus  Land  Num. 21-36; Deuteronomy; Joshua  Josh. 21:43-45  Kings  Judges  Samuel & Kings Fulfillment of God’s Promise

5.  Posterity / Lineage (Seed)  God’s promise  Gen. 12:4 – Abraham was 75 years old when God made the promise  Gen. 21:5 – Abraham was 100 years old when God finally began to fulfill his promise  Hagar incident (Gen. 16:1-4a)  Sarai despised Hagar (Gen. 16:4b)  Sarai’s problem with Abraham (Gen. 16:5)  Conflict between Ishmael and Isaac (Gen. 16:11-12) Man’s Attempts to Fulfill God’s Promises

6.  Relationship / Covenant (Blessing)  God’s promise  Ex. 24:3-8 – approx. 400 years after initial promise  Moses disappears on the brink of fulfillment  Golden calf incident (Ex. 32)  LORD (YHWH) (Ex. 32:4b, 5)  The golden calf incident is more than mere idolatry. It is a human effort to initiate a covenant with YHWH. Man’s Attempts to Fulfill God’s Promises

7. God’s Covenant (Ex. 24) Man’s Attempt (Ex. 32) who brought you out of Egypt 24:3; 20:232:4, 8 rose early in the morning 24:432:6 built an altar24:432:5 burnt offering & peace offerings (bulls) 24:4-532:6 eating & drinking24:1132:6 Contributions25:1-7 (tabernacle)32:2-3

8.  Relationship / Covenant (Blessing)  God’s promise  Ex. 24:3-8 – approx. 400 years after initial promise  Moses disappears on the brink of fulfillment  Golden calf incident (Ex. 32)  LORD (YHWH) (Ex. 32:4b, 5)  The golden calf incident is more than mere idolatry. It is a human effort to initiate a covenant with YHWH. Man’s Attempts to Fulfill God’s Promises

9.  Land  History  Num 13:1-24 – 12 spies sent into the land  Num 13:25-33 – 10 spies gave a bad report (vs. 30-31)  *Num. 13:31 – 14:1 – the people stop believing  *Num. 14:24 – Caleb’s redeeming quality is belief  Num 14:20-38 – Condemnation (vs. 22-23, 34)  Num. 14:39-42, 44-45 Man’s Attempts to Fulfill God’s Promises

10.  Kings  After approx. 800 years since God’s promise  1 Sam 8:1, 3-7  cf. 1 Sam. 12:12; 10:19  Consequences (Saul)  Was not able to banish the Philistines  Spiritually bankrupt (1 Sam 13:8-13) – offered a burnt offering (v. 14)  1 Sam 15 – Saul’s disobedience with the Amalekites  1 Sam 19 – tried to murder David  1 Sam 28 – consulted a medium (witch at En-dor) Man’s Attempts to Fulfill God’s Promises

11.  Message  God’s people have established a pattern of not trusting God to do what he said he was going to do in his own time and in his own ways  When man attempts to fulfill God’s promises…  He ALWAYS fails  There are ALWAYS tragic consequences Man’s Attempts to Fulfill God’s Promises