Genesis Lesson #24

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GENESIS 12:1-10
LESSON #24
THE GRADUAL GROWTH OF FAITH

• MEMORY VERSE: GALATIANS 3:9

• READ GENESIS 12:1-10
• WHO WAS ABRAHAM?
• ABRAHAM IS THE FIRST SO-CALLED “PATRIARCH” MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. THE WORD “PATRIARCH” MEANS = “A FATHER WHO RULES”.
• ABRAHAM IS ALSO THE FIRST PERSON IN THE BIBLE TO BE CALLED A “HEBREW”. (GEN 14:13)
• ABRAHAM IS ALSO CALLED A PROPHET (GEN 20:7) MEANING HE WAS “CALLED BY GOD” FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE.
• ABRAHAM IS CALLED THE FATHER OF MANY NATIONS. (GEN 17:4)
• BY CHRISTIANS, ABRAHAM IS CALLED THE FATHER OF FAITH (ROM 4:11 HEB 11:8-10)
• GOD’S SECOND CALL TO ABRAHAM IN HARAN
• BECAUSE ABRAHAM DID NOT FULLY OBEY GOD’S FIRST CALL IN UR. GOD SPOKE TO ABRAHAM, CALLING HIM A SECOND TIME.
• GOD BEGINS TO GIVE ABRAHAM A COVENANT LITTLE BY LITTLE.
• ABRAHAM OBEYED, TAKING SARAH AND LOT, AND NUMEROUS HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS AND SLAVES. GOD REVEALS THE DESTINATION. IT IS CALLED CANAAN. (5)
• GOD REVEALS HIS PLAN TO ABRAHAM STEP BY STEP, BUT ONLY AFTER ABRAHAM HAS OBEYED THE FIRST STEP DOES GOD REVEAL THE NEXT STEP. FAITH IS A CONSTANT RELIANCE AND A FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE.
• ABRAHAM GOES THROUGH THE CITY OF DAMASCUS (IN SYRIA) WHERE HE ADDS A MAN BY THE NAME OF ELIEZER TO HIS HOUSEHOLD. (GEN 15:2)
• THE CITY OF SHECHEM
• ABRAHAM STOPS IN SHECHEM. GOD APPEARS TO HIM THERE AND BEGINS TO GIVE HIM A COVENANT. (6-7)
• THIS IS THE SECOND APPEARANCE OF GOD TO ABRAHAM. REMEMBER THAT HE APPEARED TO ABRAHAM IN UR. (ACT 7:2)
• ABRAHAM SAW THE “GOD OF GLORY” (JESUS CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS AT THE SECOND COMING) (SEE ALSO JOH 8:56).
• ABRAHAM BUILDS AN ALTAR TO GOD (6-7)
• ABRAHAM OFTEN BUILDS AN ALTAR TO GOD IN PLACES WHERE HE HAD AN UNUSUAL SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
• THE CITY HAD A LONG HISTORY OF BEING THE CENTER OF CANAANITE WORSHIP OF OTHER GODS.
• SHECHEM MEANS = “SHOULDER”, THE PLACE OF STRENGTH UNDER THE OAK OF MOREH, WHICH MEANS = “INSTRUCTION”.
• THE SIGNIFICANCE:
• IT IS WHEN WE SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM THE WORLD AND WALK IN THE PATH GOD HAS MARKED OUT FOR US THAT WE REACH THE PLACE WHERE WE FIND STRENGTH.
• GOD APPEARS TO ABRAHAM HERE AND ADDS TO THE COVENANT HE BEGAN TO GIVE HIM IN HARAN.
• IN MANY INSTANCES IN THE BIBLE THE CITY OF SHECHEM WAS A PLACE OF DECISION BETWEEN FOLLOWING GOD AND FOLLOWING FALSE RELIGION, CHOOSING THE TRUE OR THE FALSE.
• SOME EXAMPLES:
• JOSHUA RENEWED THE COVENANT WITH GOD TWICE HERE. (JOS 8:30-35 JOS 24)
• IN THE TIME OF KINGS, ISRAEL REJECTED THE RIGHTFUL KING TO SUCCEED SOLOMON AND SPLIT THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL IN TWO. (1KI 12:1-19 2CHR 10:1-11)
• JESUS MET THE WOMAN AT THE WELL HERE, INSTRUCTING HER TO CHOOSE THE TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD. (JOH 4)
• THE ENEMY IN THE LAND (6)
• THE DESCENDANTS FROM THE LINE OF CAIN POSESSED THE LAND — UNGODLY PEOPLE.
• THE CITY OF BETHEL (8)
• BETHEL MEANS = “HOUSE OF GOD” WHILE HAI MEANS = “A HEAP OF RUIN”
• ABRAHAM PITCHES HIS TENT BETWEEN THE TWO.
• THE SIGNIFICANCE:
• THE BELIEVER DWELLS CONSTANTLY BETWEEN TWO CHOICES, CHOOSING GOD WHICH LEADS TO WORSHIP OR CHOOSING THE WORLD WHICH LEADS TO RUIN.
• ABRAHAM CONTINUED TO CHOOSE GOD FOR HE BUILT ANOTHER ALTAR AND WORSHIPPED GOD HERE.
• IN MANY INSTANCES IN THE BIBLE, THE CITY OF BETHEL IS A STARTING POINT OF THE REALIZATION OF WHO GOD IS. IT IS A PLACE OF RE-DEDICATION TO GOD WHERE ONE DOES HIS FIRST WORKS OVER AGAIN. (REV 2:5)
• SOME EXAMPLES:
• ABRAHAM RETURN ED HERE AFTER WANDERING FROM GOD IN EGYPT. (GEN 13:3)
• THIS IS WHERE GOD APPEARS TO JACOB, RETURN ING FROM HIS WANDERINGS BACK TO THE PROMISE LAND. (GEN 31:13, 35:7)
• ABRAHAM’S FAILURE AT FAITH
• REMEMBER THAT GOD FIRST CALLED ABRAHAM IN UR. ABRAHAM IS TOLD OF A LAND THAT GOD WILL SHOW HIM. FIVE YEARS LATER, HE CALLS HIM AGAIN IN HARAN AND REVEALS TO HIM THAT THE LAND OF CANAAN IS HIS DESTINY. DESPITE ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE AND INITIAL COMMITMENT, HE SOON FALTERS IN HIS FAITH.
• VERSES 6 AND 9 SAYS ABRAHAM PASSED “THROUGH” THE LAND HEADING FOR THE NEGEV.
• VERSE 10 SAYS THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND, SO HE WENT TO EGYPT, COMPLETELY LEAVING THE PROMISE LAND.
• EGYPT IN THE BIBLE IS ALWAYS A SYMBOL OF WORLDLINESS.
• REMEMBER THAT WHENEVER GOD GIVES A COVENANT, THERE IS ALWAYS A TEST TO FOLLOW. THE TEST GIVEN TO ABRAHAM WAS THE FAMINE IN THE LAND.
• THE FOURTH DISPENSATION: THE AGE OF PROMISE
• THE FOURTH COVENANT: THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

• THIS IS A DISPENSATION OF GRACE.
• THE COVENANT IS UNCONDITIONAL AND UNILATERAL.
• GOD WILL FULFILL HIS PART REGARDLESS OF MAN FULFILLING HIS PART.

• THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
  GEN 12:2-3, 7 GEN 13:15-17 GEN 15:1, 5-6
  GEN 17:1-11 GEN 22:17-18

GOD’S PROMISES	MAN’S RESPONSIBILITIES
MATERIAL BLESSINGS: -A GREAT NATION -A LAND -PHYSICAL DESCENDANTS -A KING (JESUS)	FAITH (HEB 11:1 ROM 10:7 JAM 1:6-7 HEB 12:2)
SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS: -A REWARD -A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A PERSONAL GOD -A MISSION AND A MINISTRY (JESUS) -THROUGH ABRAHAM, ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED WITH SPIRITUAL DESCENDANTS HE WILL POSSESS THE GATE OF HIS ENEMIES (AUTHORITY OVER SATAN)	WALK BEFORE GOD
PHYSICAL BLESSINGS: GOD WILL BE SHIELD OF PROTECTION -BLESSINGS AND CURSES: -BLESSING TO ABRAHAM -BLESSING TO THOSE WHO BLESS HIM -CURSE TO THOSE WHO CURSE HIM -HEALING	BE PERFECT (MATURE, WITHOUT BLEMISH)
GOD WILL SET ABRAHAM APART -A FAMOUS NAME -A NEW NAME	CIRCUMCISION (COL 2:11)
	OBEDIENCE

• THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT: CIRCUMCISION
• THE LIFE SPAN DURING THIS DISPENSATION: 100-200 YRS.
• COVENANT DURATION: THROUGHOUT ALL TIME AND ETERNITY

• READ GEN 12:2-3, 7 GEN 13:15-17 GEN 15:1, 5-6 GEN 17:1-11 GEN 22:17-18
• NOTICE IN GEN 12:7, GOD SAYS “UNTO THY SEED”. REMEMBER THAT THE FIRST PROMISE TO HUMAN “SEED” WAS TO ADAM AND EVE IN GEN 3:15. NOW THE “SEED” OF THE WOMAN IN GEN 3:15 IS CARRIED IN THE “SEED” OF ABRAHAM.
• THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVER:
• READ ROM 4:1-5, 9-13, 23-25
• MAIN POINTS:
• ABRAHAM WAS SAVED BY FAITH IN GOD, NOT BY KEEPING THE LAW OF MOSES.
• ABRAHAM WAS SAVED BEFORE HE WAS CIRCUMCISED.
• CIRCUMCISION WAS A SEAL OF THE COVENANT NOT A MEANS OF SALVATION.
• ABRAHAM, THEREFORE, IS THE FATHER OF ALL WHO ARE BELIEVERS EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT CIRCUMCISED.
• THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT SPOKEN TO ABRAHAM WAS TO BE FULFILLED IN JESUS CHRIST.
• READ GAL 3:6-9,16,26-29
• MAIN POINTS:
• ABRAHAM WAS SAVED BY FAITH IN GOD.
• THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH ARE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM.
• THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH ARE BLESSED BY THE PROMISES GIVEN TO ABRAHAM.
• THE PROMISES WERE MADE TO ABRAHAM AND ABRAHAM’S SEED.
• THE SEED OF ABRAHAM IS CHRIST, SO THE PROMISES WERE MADE TO JESUS CHRIST.
• IF WE BELONG TO JESUS CHRIST, THEN WE ARE HEIRS OF THE PROMISES GIVEN TO ABRAHAM.

• HOMEWORK
  GEN 12:11-20

THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FOR CORRECTION

• APPLICATION OF GEN 12:1-10
• WE LEARNED THE PROMISES THAT GOD GAVE TO ABRAHAM.
• WE LEARNED THAT BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST INHERIT THESE PROMISES BY FAITH.
• HOW DOES THIS INFORMATION CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
• WHICH OF THE PROMISES GIVEN TO ABRAHAM WOULD FULFILL A SPECIFIC NEED IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW?
• HOW CAN YOU BEGIN TO TRUST GOD BY FAITH FOR THE ANSWER TO YOUR SPECIFIC NEED?
• PREPARATION OF GEN 12:11-20
• READ GEN 12:11-20
• CONSIDER ABRAHAM’S AND SARAH’S MARITAL RELATIONSHIP (A RELATIONSHIP WHERE BOTH ARE BELIEVERS IN GOD).
• EVALUATE IT ACCORDING TO EPH 5:22-33.
• IF YOU WERE IN SARAH’S SHOES, WHAT WOULD YOUR ACTIONS BE? BE SPECIFIC!
• MEMORY VERSE: EPH 5:33