October 14 – The Call of Abram

 

 

Sunday School Lesson

October 14

The Call of Abram

 

Devotional Reading: Hebrews 11:4–10

Background Scripture: Genesis 9–12

 

Genesis 10:1

1. Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

Genesis 11:10, 27, 31, 32

 

10. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood.

 

27. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

 

31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

 

32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

 

 

Genesis 12:1–4

1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

 

2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

 

3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

 

4. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

 

Key Verses

I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

—Genesis 12:2, 3

 

Lesson Aims

After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:

 

1. Explain the purpose of the genealogical tables in Genesis.

 

2. Describe the purpose and terms of Abram’s covenant with God.

 

3. Describe his or her role in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram (Abraham).

 

Lesson Outline

Introduction

 

1. The Family Tree

 

1. Lesson Context

 

1. Legacy (Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27)

 

1. Line of Noah (v. 1)

 

1. Line of Shem (v. 10)

 

1. Line of Terah (v. 27)

 

1. Journey (Genesis 11:31, 32)

 

1. Departure from Ur (v. 31a)

 

1. Sojourn in Haran (v. 31b)

 

1. Death of Terah (v. 32)

 

III. Promise (Genesis 12:1–4)

 

1. Call to Be Blessed (vv. 1–3)

Searching for Something Better

 

1. Departure at 75 (v. 4)

Daddy, Are We There Yet?

 

Conclusion

 

1. Inheriting a Legacy

 

1. Leaving a Legacy

 

 

1. Prayer

 

1. Thought to Remember

 

HOW TO SAY IT

Arphaxad	Ar-fax-add.
Babel	Bay-bul.
Chaldees	Kal-deez.
Euphrates	You-fray-teez.
Haran	Hair-un.
Japheth	Jay-feth.
Nahor	Nay-hor.
Nimrod	Nim-rod.
Sarai	Seh-rye.
suzerain	soo-zuh-rin.
Terah	Tair-uh.
Ur	Er.
vassal	vas-uhl.

Introduction

1. The Family Tree

Documenting one’s family tree used to involve days of searching through family albums and old courthouse records. Now various websites place historical records at our fingertips. For $99, one such site promises a personal genetic profile from a saliva sample. The site also promises to help you connect with long-lost relatives whose DNA matches yours in some way. Clearly these services have hit a nerve: one reports 2.5 million monthly subscribers and 3 million total customers!

 

Our ancestry is interesting to us because our family tree gives us a sense of our roots. Individuals and groups identify themselves and understand how they are like and unlike others by appealing to the past. For example, my mother’s parents are Coxes and Wallaces. The former are descendants of horse thieves from the English town of Bath, who were given the choice of going to prison or emigrating to the American colonies. The latter are descendants of the Scottish reformer William Wallace (of Braveheart fame), who fought for the freedom of his people. While these people lived generations ago, knowing who they are and what they did gives our children a sense of where they came from—but that’s a double-edged sword!

 

1. Lesson Context

Our lessons this quarter focus on the themes of creation, God’s identity as Creator, and the role human beings play in God’s fulfillment of His promises across generations. Last week we looked at God’s covenant with Noah, a person of outstanding faith in an era of wickedness (Genesis 6:1–6). Because Noah was faithful, he was granted a special role in God’s renewal of the world following the great flood (6:7, 8, 18–22).

 

Genesis 10, a chapter often referred to as the Table of Nations, provides a lineage of Noah’s descendants. The Tower of Babel event caused the various clans to scatter, resulting in social separation and corresponding isolation. As part of this process, Shem’s descendants gradually settled in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Iran), where Abram (Abraham) was born (11:27–32).

 

While passages like Genesis 10 may seem tedious to modern readers, genealogies were extremely significant to ancient people groups. Tribal societies preserve records of ancestors to establish distinct identities for themselves and for the other clans with which they interact. These social identities, in turn, served as the basis for claims to land ownership, political and military alliances, channels of trade, patterns of intermarriage, and common religious observances.

 

1. Legacy

(Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27)

1. Line of Noah (v. 1)
2. Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

 

Genesis 10 opens and closes with verses that bracket the genealogies between them and reveal their purpose. Verses 1 and 32 both refer to the chapter as a record of the sons of Noah … after the flood,and verse 32 states that these lines of descent and the geographical distribution of the respective clans ultimately produce “nations” (people groups living in specific territories) that Abram and the patriarchs encounter later.

The chapter rehearses the genealogies of Noah’s three sons, beginning with Japheth, who seems least influential of the three in history. Next comes Ham and then Shem, the latter being our next focus.

What Do You Think? How will the renewed realization that we all descend from the “sons of Noah” affect your participation in global evangelism?   Digging Deeper What negative influences from your ancestral heritage and/or cultural traditions will you need to guard against, lest they hinder global evangelism?

1. Line of Shem (v. 10)
2. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood.

 

The Tower of Babel incident of Genesis 11:1–9 is tied to the genealogical table of chapter 10 by the reference to Nimrod, a grandson of Noah’s son Ham, at 10:8–12. The Babel narrative serves to explain what has preceded and what will follow by connecting the development of distinct nations and cultures to the corresponding distribution of languages. Following this story, the author resumes the account of the line of Noah’s son Shem.

 

The list in Genesis 11 shows that God’s earlier promise in 3:15—that Eve’s “seed” would bruise the head of the serpent, an allusion to Christ’s victory on the cross—ultimately could not be stopped by the chaos following Babel. Even though Noah’s descendants are scattered and divided, God’s purpose to redeem His creation through a chosen line is not compromised.

 

1. Line of Terah (v. 27)
2. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

 

Now we see why the author focuses on Shem: it is his line that leads to Terah, the father of Abram.

 

1. Journey

(Genesis 11:31, 32)

1. Departure from Ur (v. 31a)

31a. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan.

 

Terah’s clan had settled in the city of Ur (Genesis 11:28)—likely located in southern Mesopotamia at the mouth of the Euphrates River by the Persian Gulf (in modern Iraq). Modern archaeological research has revealed that this was among the most advanced civilizations in antiquity, with a well-developed legal and political system and a strong economy. Ur was a major trade center, and its archaeological remains are impressive for the sophistication of its buildings and infrastructure. The city was one of the wealthiest in the world at the time Abram was born there.

 

Some think that Abram received his initial call from God to leave home while still in Ur. They base their conclusion on Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7; and especially Acts 7:2, 3.

 

On the other hand, Genesis 12:1–4 (in the context of 11:31, 32,) suggests that God appeared to Abram in the town of Haran. And 12:1 refers specifically to Abram’s need to leave his “father’s house,” which he proceeds to do by leaving Haran with only Lot and the respective families. A trip from Ur would not be entirely consistent with this command, since Abram’s father, Terah, left Ur with him. Perhaps God had already appeared to Abram in Ur and then came to him again after his father died (11:32).

 

A command to depart from Ur would be consistent with the larger story line of God’s creation and re-creation that runs through the early chapters of Genesis. After the creation was ruined by sin (Genesis 6:1–7), God worked through Noah’s family to renew the world following the flood. While God had intended for humans to spread out and populate the earth (1:28; 9:1, 7), various clans attempted to stay together and build a large city, including the Tower of Babel (11:4).

 

God foiled this plan by scattering them (Genesis 11:5–9). Generations later, however, major cities like Ur emerged, with advanced political and economic systems and religions with a multitude of deities (see Joshua 24:2). Another solution to human rebellion was needed.

 

1. Sojourn in Haran (v. 31b)

31b. And they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

 

After leaving Ur, Terah decides to stop in Haran, a town that later becomes a major stop on the caravan trade network. Haran is located in what is now southern Turkey, near the border of Syria. While this appears to be an indirect route from Ur to Canaan, it reflects the practice of traveling northwest around the Syrian desert and then southwest near the Mediterranean coast.

 

1. Death of Terah (v. 32)
2. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Terah’s death leaves Abram, apparently the oldest of his children (Genesis 11:26, 27), as the head of the clan.

What Do You Think? What lessons did you learn from a period of life when it seemed that you were just marking time at an in-between “Haran”?   Digging Deeper How did God use that experience to prepare you for now? What parts of that experience are usable by others? Why?

III. Promise

(Genesis 12:1–4)

1. Call to Be Blessed (vv. 1–3)
2. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.

 

As in the days of Noah, God chooses to break the cycle of rebellion by working through an individual: Abram. He is to leave the post-Babel population centers and journey to a new land of promise.

 

As with Noah following the flood (Genesis 9:8–17), Abram’s commission emphasizes God’s ongoing plan to re-create people as a way of preserving a faithful “seed” that will undo the work of Satan (3:15). Also as with Noah, God accomplishes this purpose by entering into a covenant, or contract, with an individual of outstanding faithfulness, someone who will pass the promise through the line of his descendants.

 

God’s covenant with Abram is patterned after ancient suzerain-vassal treaties. In these arrangements, a great king declared sovereignty over a weaker subject king and demanded absolute loyalty in exchange for military protection and overall security. The terms of these agreements could be extended across generations, provided that the vassal king’s heirs agreed to fulfill the conditions of obedience. Covenants of this kind were typical of ancient empires such as Egypt and Assyria, which ruled vast regions through local client kings.

 

In the present case, the supreme sovereign, God, offers a local tribal leader, Abram, blessings in exchange for obedience to God’s unilateral terms. These terms in the verse before us are that Abram must leave everything—including his country, his kindred (ethnic/tribal group), and even some of his more immediate relatives (his father’s house)—and undertake a journey to an unspecified location. God’s terms suggest that this is a permanent migration; there is no indication that Abram will ever return to his homeland.

 

2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.

God continues by stating the benefits of the covenant. First, the promise that God will produce through Abram a great nation means that Abram will have many descendants. Moreover, they will form a distinct and influential people group (see also Genesis 15:5; 17:2–4). This aspect of God’s promise is notable in that Abram’s wife, Sarai, has been unable to conceive children to this point in time (11:30). This problem will become a driving theme in Abram’s story (15:1–8; 16:1–6; 17:15–18; 18:9–15).

 

The benefits of the covenant require supernatural intervention, a reality that will further demonstrate God’s power to fulfill His plans and purposes. The term great nation further implies what will be stated explicitly later: Abram is leaving his current homeland to occupy a new territory, Canaan, which will belong to his descendants (Genesis 12:7; 13:14–17; 15:7; 17:8).

 

The remaining benefits to Abram emerge from the first. I will bless thee stresses the divine protection Abram will enjoy as he travels and as his influence expands. Further, even though he has no children as of yet, the size of Abram’s clan will expand his reputation and renown (thy name great) dramatically.

 

Abram and his descendants will also bless others, not only in the political and economic sense but also, and more particularly, through their witness to the faithfulness of the one true God.

 

3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

More benefits that will proceed from God’s covenant are revealed. The first implies that God will relate to other nations as those nations choose to relate to the nation that is to come from Abram. Those who ally themselves with God’s people will be rewarded for doing so, but those who stand in opposition will be fighting against God. Such language is again typical of suzerain treaties, where the great king pledges to send aid and military support to defend the vassal king’s homeland.

 

Another benefit reflects God’s ultimate purpose: all people groups will ultimately be blessed somehow. What is unknown to Abram is known to us: that blessing is Christ (see Acts 3:25, 26; Galatians 3:8). Abram’s descendants will thus serve to fulfill God’s original plan to create a world that Satan cannot destroy (Genesis 3:15; 6:18; 9:1, 9).

What Do You Think? In what specific ways can you help your church be a blessing to those outside its walls?   Digging Deeper What does the connection between Abraham’s obedience and his being a blessing have to say about your obligations?

Searching for Something Better

In search of a better life, my ancestors made their way from the British Isles to the Appalachian Mountains and then to southwestern Missouri. Several generations lived there before my grandfather and his growing family moved, first to Idaho and then to California. So I like to joke about descending from a long line of very distinguished hillbillies!

 

My family was simply part of a population shift that had begun more than a century earlier. America’s great western migration began in earnest in the nineteenth century. In 1800, 10 percent of Americans lived west of the Appalachians; by 1825, 30 percent did!

 

The impetus for migration was varied: for some, it was escape from the crowded cities of the East; for others, it was commerce, land for homesteading, and the prospect of a better life—enhanced by the discovery of gold in the West. What Theodore Roosevelt called “the great leap Westward” continued into the twentieth century, as Americans collectively and individually sought to implement the “manifest destiny” mantra of the nineteenth century regarding that westward expansion.

 

It may be that some of those same interests caused Abram to perk up his ears when God called him to move west from Ur and then Haran. But for Abram, there was more. That something more was faith—faith that God would deliver on a glorious promise. And because of Abram’s faith, we all are beneficiaries! Who will your faith benefit today?

—C. R. B.

1. Departure at 75 (v. 4)
2. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

 

Apparently without hesitation, Abram sets out for Canaan (Genesis 12:5). This trip is the start of a nomadic existence, with Abram moving his family members, servants, and livestock from place to place while receiving no specific indication from God that the land through which he travels will belong to him in his own lifetime. The author of Hebrews refers to Abraham (Abram’s later name) as a model of faithfulness because he departed without knowing where he was going and lived as an alien in a land not his own (Hebrews 11:8–10).

What Do You Think? How should the factor of Abraham’s age when called affect your reaction to modern culture’s view of “retirement age,” if at all? Why?   Digging Deeper Explain which elements of these passages are relevant and irrelevant to your answer: Exodus 4:13 (relating to Deuteronomy 29:5; 34:7); Numbers 8:23–26; 2 Samuel 19:32; 1 Kings 11:4; Psalms 71:18; 92:14; Luke 13:6–9

Daddy, Are We There Yet?

It’s the beginning of a long-anticipated vacation trip. Weeks of planning have gone into the coming excursion. Finally, the day has come for the journey to begin. The bags are packed and loaded into the family’s SUV. The smaller children are strapped into their car seats. Dad, Mom, and the older children are buckled in, and the vacation starts. An hour later, teenaged Sally is totally engrossed in social media on her smartphone. Already bored, 5-year-old Johnny asks, “Daddy, are we there yet?” What parent hasn’t heard this question?

 

On Abram’s journey from Haran to Canaan, he didn’t have to deal with teenagers isolating themselves from the family adventure or with bored little ones wishing the destination had been reached. He was not troubled by holiday traffic at favorite tourist spots. However, he also did not have the advantages we modern travelers have. Unlike us, he had no maps, paper or electronic. He had neither campgrounds with civilized amenities nor roadside motels offering “all the comforts of home, including WiFi.” In fact, he didn’t even know where he was going!

 

All Abram knew was that God was calling him on the trip of a lifetime. It required that he set aside his fears of the unknown and trust in the wisdom and power of God to lead and protect him and his family. Does that sound like God’s call for our lives?

—C. R. B.

Conclusion

1. Inheriting a Legacy

For Christians, the Old Testament genealogies are significant because they demonstrate how Jesus fits into God’s grand plan of salvation. The detailed records of Christ’s lineage in Matthew 1:1–17 and Luke 3:23–38 demonstrate His connection with David, Abraham, Noah, and Adam. Genesis 11:10–26 is summarized in Luke 3:34–36; Genesis 11:31–12:1 is cited in Stephen’s speech in Acts 7:2–4; Genesis 12:3 is quoted by Paul in Galatians 3:8; Genesis 12:1–15 is alluded to in Hebrews 11:8–10 to portray Abraham as a model of faithfulness.

 

As we modern readers struggle to pronounce the ancient Hebrew names in these passages, let us not overlook what the Bible authors strive to show. They show us how God’s purposes are fulfilled from creation through the flood through Abraham and Israel and, ultimately, in Christ. That’s the legacy Christians inherit. It is a legacy pointing to eternal life.

1. Leaving a Legacy

The decisions of parents can dramatically affect their descendants, sometimes for generations. These impacts are sometimes referred to as “generational curses.” A more biblically accurate term might be “generational consequences.”

 

This principle is reflected most explicitly in Exodus 20:5, which states that God visits the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of their descendants. Later generations used this to blame their ancestors for the suffering of descendants (Ezekiel 18:2). But God does not punish the innocent (Jeremiah 31:29, 30; Ezekiel 18:4). Even so, children and grandchildren suffer natural consequences of ancestral sins. They also are likely to imitate the sinful behaviors of older family members. When people worship idols, no one can be surprised when their children and grandchildren grow up to do the same.

 

One is reminded of the scene from the movie A Christmas Story, in which 9-year-old Ralphie utters a bad word and his mother demands to know who taught him to say such a thing. Ralphie blames one of the neighbor kids, when in fact he actually learned it from his father.

 

The world portrayed in the early chapters of Genesis is one in which parents trained their children to be experts in evil. But just as parents can leave a legacy of sinfulness for their children, they can also leave a legacy of faith that will last through the generations.

 

God planned for people to teach their children to love Him. The lineage of Noah to Shem to Abraham shows this system working at its best: faithful people passing truth down through generations in the midst of a dark world. Their commitment has become our blessing in Christ.

What Do You Think? What steps can you take to ensure the legacy of Christ in your family?   Digging Deeper Considering passages such as Matthew 3:9, 10; 1 Timothy 1:3, 4; and Titus 3:9, what guardrails should you put in place to prevent legacy-building from taking a wrong turn?

1. Prayer

Lord, help us find our place in Your plan to save the world, being faithful in the legacy we leave. We pray for this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

1. Thought to Remember

“Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.”

 

 

Kid’s Corner

God’s Promises Fulfilled Forever

October 14, 2018

Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27, 31, 32; 12:1-4

Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27, 31, 32; 12:1-4

(Genesis 10:1) Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.

Chapter 10 of Genesis presents the genealogy of Noah’s three sons prior to chapter 11 that describes the tower of Babel and the scattering of people according to their different languages. From Noah to Abram (Abraham), the family of Noah became seventy nations and millions of people. Abraham descended from Shem. The words “Semite” and “Semitic” are derived from Shem and refer to those who speak Semitic languages, especially Arabic and Hebrew – “Semitic” does not apply just to Israelites or Jews. Therefore, technically, to be antisemitic would refer to being prejudiced against both Arabs and Jews. The Christian faith is not antisemitic. As we learned in a previous commentary in this lesson series, Abraham could have easily known both Noah and Shem because of their long lives and the fact that Abraham was one of their direct descendants.

(Genesis 11:10) These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;

Shem lived 500 years after the birth of his son Arphaxad. Arphaxad was the grandfather of Eber, from which we get the name Hebrew. Then, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, and Abraham descended from Eber. Since Peleg means “division” – “for in his days the earth was divided” (Genesis 10:25), the name probably means that the scattering of people according to their languages happened near the time of his birth (Genesis 11:1-9).

(Genesis 11:27) Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot.

Terah was the son of Nahor and he named one of his sons Nahor. Terah was 70 years old with Abram (Abraham) was born. Terah did not worship the LORD, and that may be one of the reasons the LORD called Abram to leave Haran and go to Canaan (see Joshua 24:2). His son, Nahor, was the grandfather of Rebekah (see Genesis 24:15). Abraham sent his servant to the city of Nahor to find a wife for his son Isaac.

(Genesis 11:31) Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.

Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans. After his death, Terah took Lot, the son of Haran, Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah) and left for Canaan. Lot would continue Haran’s branch of the family. Nahor and his family remained in Ur. When Abram was 75 years old, he took Sarai and Lot to Canaan, leaving Terah in Haran. Lot was an orphan. If Abram did not have children, his nephew Lot could have received an inheritance from Abram. Later, Abraham and Lot separated, and Lot went to live in Sodom and Gomorrah.

(Genesis 11:32) The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

Despite the fact that Terah’s life overlapped the lives of Noah and Shem, Terah turned from the LORD and worshiped idols. Tradition says Terah also made idols. Perhaps to protect Abram and his family from turning away from the LORD to idol worship, in His providence, the LORD called Abram, (Sarai and Lot) to go to the land of Canaan. Terah died in Haran at the age of 205. After the great flood, the lifespan of people decreased.

(Genesis 12:1) Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;

God did not change Abram’s name to Abraham until Genesis 17:5. Just as we leave the world behind to follow Jesus Christ in the Kingdom He promised, Abram had to leave his known world behind to go where God would lead him. God taught him how to totally trust in Him for all his needs and future. God also taught him to obey Him always. Abram went to a better land, just as our going to heaven is going to the better place that Jesus has prepared for His followers. The new life and the new world that God has promised through Jesus Christ will be better too.

(Genesis 12:2) And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;

God gave Abram good reasons to obey Him by telling him what He would do when Abram left his old world behind. Abram did not know how long he would need to wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled or how God would keep them. Abram simply trusted God and obeyed. Abram’s faith, though not as mature as it would become, tells us something about Abram’s character when God called him.

(Genesis 12:3) And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Abram would bless others by his faith and obedience. He blessed his nephew, Lot, by giving him sheep and land and later rescuing him from captivity. He blessed the world through many of his descendants, especially Jesus the Messiah. God would bless him, and though we do not learn if any cursed or abused Abram directly, his descendants suffered at the hands of evil people, and God has punished many of those who cursed them. Some especially cursed Jesus, and some still do so.

(Genesis 12:4) So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

We are never too old to begin obeying God, though we might have served God better in the strength of our youth. We do not know how much Abram knew about the LORD, but he most probably had the opportunity to learn about the LORD directly from Noah or Shem. We do not know how long he obeyed the LORD before he was seventy-five years old, but the LORD had good reasons for choosing Abram, just as the LORD had good reasons for choosing Noah. After he left Haran, Abram had to wait twenty-five years for the birth of the son God promised (Isaac), and he lived for one hundred and seventy-five years (see Genesis 21:5 and Genesis 25:7). He lived thirty years less than his father Terah. We do not know how long we will need to wait for God to keep some of His promises to us and others or how many years the Lord will enable us to serve Him.

 

 

God’s Promises Fulfilled Forever

October 14, 2018

Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27, 31, 32; 12:1-4

 

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).

 

At the age of seventy-five, Abraham proved that it is never too late to believe God’s promises and obey God. The life of Abraham and the history of Israel, even over the last 3,000 years, prove that when God makes a promise, God keeps it. God promised that if Abraham acted in faith and left for the land of Canaan that his descendants would become a great nation. We only need to look at Israel in the time of King David and King Solomon to know that God kept His promise. When Israel fell on hard times or when the Israelites and Judeans were carried off into exile after King Solomon’s death, it was only because God had to punish them; for example, King Solomon had led his nation into disobedience and idolatry. Still, in 1948, Israel became a great nation again. In addition to accumulating great wealth, God blessed Abraham by giving him and Sarah a son when Abraham was 100 years old. But the greatest blessings of all were when Abraham spent time with God, and God told him what He planned. Imagine, we have had the whole Bible for almost 2000 years and the Old Testament for much longer, and every promise to Abraham has been realized even to this day! Abraham is considered an important leader in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Abraham was a great blessing through his descendant Jesus the Messiah. For 2000 years, Jesus has saved and continues to save his people from their sins, revealing the true God, giving them eternal life, and bringing blessings to untold millions.

 

Thinking Further

God’s Promises Fulfilled Forever

October 14, 2018

Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27, 31, 32; 12:1-4

 

1. Who left Ur of the Chaldeans?

 

 

2. Where did they stop?

 

 

3. Who went to the land of Canaan?

 

 

4. Why did they go there?

 

 

5. What did God say about blessing and cursing?

 

Questions for Discussion and Thinking Further

 

1. Who left Ur of the Chaldeans? Terah, Abram, Sarai, Lot.

 

2. Where did they stop? Haran

 

3. Who went to the land of Canaan? Abram, Sarai, and Lot

 

4. Why did they go there? God said, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”

 

5. What did God say about blessing and cursing? “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

 

 

Word Search

God’s Promises Fulfilled Forever

October 14, 2018

Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27, 31, 32; 12:1-4

 

C W T E X A Y A X Z W O A T H

H P L I D W R O C S P B V A N

J D O O L F B P S C R F R E Z

U N L E B Q H E H A O A V S C

B Y P Q I T L X M A N U R A H

Z H G U F B W O I Q X L N A L

L O F S K T L A F T M A R T G

A N Y A C O J I G Y A E D W U

Y G S R T E T F D N T I S Z C

X R L A X D N A T I O N E Y J

D E F I C H A L D E A N S V E

M S Q E F N A H O R J U I B S

K R H T B X K R G Q E D J G U

A U D C V E A C F O P I F R S

J C R U I O J X P G R Y Q V M

 

Account

Flood

Arphaxad

Terah

Abram

Nahor

Haran

Lot

Sarai

Ur

Chaldeans

Canaan

Nation

Bless

Curse

 

 

True and False Test

God’s Promises Fulfilled Forever

October 14, 2018

Genesis 10:1; 11:10, 27, 31, 32; 12:1-4

 

Circle the true or false answers. Correct the false statements by restating them.

 

1. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Jasper. True or False

 

2. Shem’s family line became the most important of the three. True or False

 

3. Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. True or False

 

4. Abram’s uncle was Lot. True or False

 

5. Nahor died in Ur. True or False

 

6. Ur was an important city of the Chaldeans. True or False

 

7. Terah left with his family to go to Canaan. True or False

 

8. Abram decided they should all settle in Haran. True or False

 

9. When God told Abram to go, he went. True or False

 

10. God kept all his promises to Abram, and we are blessed through him.

True or False

 

True and False Test Answers

1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
6. True
7. True
8. False
9. True

10True

 

 

Prayer

Lord, help us find our place in Your plan to save the world, being faithful in the legacy we leave. We pray for this in Jesus’ name. Am