1. Genesis Week 5 – Abraham… and the Nations “Now the Lord said…go to the land I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation…and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Gen 12:1-3 Text: Gen 11:27-16:16

2. Shem (Son of Noah) 10 Generation from Noah was Abraham

3. Terah’s Descendants Descendent of Married to Ancestor of Jesus in Red

4. Macro to Micro  Shift from nations to single man (Abram)  Nations not lost but blessed via him  Covenant  Based on God, not Abram’s faithfulness  God’s plan to use Abram’s faith and him  Big picture theme: All nations will be blessed through Abram by the blessing of the messiah.

5. Reflection & Discussion  Gen 12:1-3 – What are the three promises?  Great Nation  Great Name  Lineage (Seed) - All Nations Blessed  Irony of God’s promise  Compare “Great Name” to Tower of Babel  Unity/Diversity  Many for one purpose/one for one purpose  Working against God/working for God  Settling in one place/Migration  Conclusion: God will accomplish His desires as he wishes and in his time, now our own.

6. Reflection & Discussion  12:4-9 – faithFULness.  How does God confirm his promise?  12:10-20 – faithLESSness.  Does this jeopardize God’s promise?  Does God intervene? How?  13:1-14:16 – faithFULness.  Allows Lot to choose.  How does God confirm his promise?

7. Reflection & Discussion  14:17-24 – faithFULness.  King of Salem & King of Sodom  How is Abram’s faith demonstrated?  15:6 – faithLESSness  Believed unto righteousness  Jewish emphasis on sacrifice of Isaac  Christian emphasis on trust in God’s promise  Rom 4:1-25  Gal 3:1-9  Focus is on God’s Promise in spite of faithlessness

8. Reflection & Discussion  15:7-21 – Weird Sacrificial Scene  Abram wanted assurances  Split sacrifices was a covenant  Both parties passed between them  Smoking Fire Pot represents God  Did Abram pass through? Why/Why not?  What is the implication?

9. Gospel Glimpses  What do all these scenes indicate to us about God’s promises to us?  What are some of these promises?  750 with 250 unique benefits  21 of the 26 Books of the NT  Can our faithLESSness nullify God’s promises?  Can our faithless prevent us from having access to God’s promises?

10. Whole-Bible Connection  3:15 – Offspring of woman crushes the head of the offspring of the serpent  12:3 – In you (Abram) all families of the earth will be blessed  NT Claims  Jews claim to be Abram’s seed  Jesus says calls them offspring of the devil (John 8:39-44)  Paul clarifies  “offspring” is by faith (Gal 3:7-9)  “offspring” is singular referring to Christ (Gal 3:16)

11. Theology  God of Abraham – Constant references  Ex 3:16, 1 Chr 29:18, Acts 3:13, Gen 26:24, Mark 12:26, Luke 20:37  Theme: God keeps his promises QUESTIONS

12. Toward Next Week  Week 6  Descendants of Noah  Promises  Faithfulness/Faithlessness Contrast  Promises Fulfilled - Gen 17:1-22:24