Genesis2-1

Abraham was the first man in the Bible to be specifically called by God. He is THE example of the man of faith in the Bible. As we follow him through from the time of his calling to his death in old age, we will see a man who:

- is very ordinary

- was willing to come when God called

- was very limited in his initial understanding of God

- made mistakes

- got into difficulties

- was rescued by God

Does that sound like you? Well that's why Abraham is such a good person to study. After that we will see that:

- God continued to encourage him

- he still made a mess of things

- God kept on with him

- God enabled him to receive His promise

- he gradually becomes a man who can place his entire future unconditionally in God's hands as his relationship with the Lord deepens.

B. Lessons for Us:

Abraham's story brings us great hope and great challenge. We need both the encouragement and the stimulus to take us on to become the people that God wants us to be, first and foremost a people of faith. If you let the story of Abraham touch you, you'll never be the same again!

PART 1 : "A New Life"

In this first Part try not to take for granted the things you read, for the calling and obedience of Abram is something quite remarkable. How many of us would up and leave our home town and go out to a place we've never been before, simply because we sense we've heard from the one true God, a God we're not even very sure about! Pray that you will catch a sense of the wonder of this story.

Chapter: Genesis 11

Passage: Genesis 11:26-32

A. Find Out:

1. Who was Abram's father? v.26

2. Who was Abram's nephew? (son of brother) v.27

3. Who became Abram's wife? v.29

4. What was she NOT able to do? v.30

5. Where did Terah set out to go to? v.31

6. Where instead did he settle? v.31

B. Think :

1. This must have been an unhappy family. What unhappy things

happened in this passage?

2. What stopped Abram's father reaching his original destination?

3. How do you think Abram would have felt about not being able to carry

on the family name?

C. Comment :

First consider Abram's family situation. Terah, Abram's father, leaves home to start out for a new home in Canaan (v.31). "Home" had unhappy associations. First his youngest son dies (v.28), then his eldest son doesn't appear to be able to have any family (v.30), so he leaves. Abram had already received God's calling (see Acts 7:2) so perhaps Terah willingly went along with what Abram presumably suggested.

On the way they come to the town of Haran and there Terah stops (v.31c). Why? Perhaps it reminded him of his dead son, and that sapped his determination to reach the new land. Perhaps it was familiar idol worship like "home" (see Joshua 24:2). Whatever it was, there he stayed and there he died (an alternative text suggests he was 145 years old when he died). He never reached his goal. Abram, honouring his father, remains there with him until his death. It is said that our earliest years are the formative years and in that case the upsets of the family may be part of the cause for Abram's future uncertainties, and in that we are probably all very similar to Abram.

D. Application?

1. Will we be loyal to our calling, to be what God calls us to be & go where

He calls us to go?

2. Do we allow things to distract us so that we don't achieve our goals?

Chapter: Genesis 12

Passage: Genesis 12:1-3

A. Find Out:

1. When had the Lord spoken to Abram? see Acts 7:2-4

2. Where did He say Abram should leave? v.1b

3. Where was Abram to go? v.1c

4. Of what did God say He would make Abram? v.2

5. Who did God say He would bless? v.3a

6. Who will be blessed through Abram? v.3b

B. Think :

1. What had Abram to do before God would be able to bless the

     world?

2. What do you think at that moment was the most important

     part of God's words as Abram saw it? (look back to 11:30 )

3. What part of this passage might hint that Jesus, who came

     from this family, would be the blessing?

C. Comment :

God's first recorded words to Abram were a call to leave all his security and go to a place of God's choosing that he did not yet know (v.1). Not only that, the Lord promised him that He would make him into a nation (v.2) that would be famous and which would bless the whole world (v.3). The thought of having children might have been the one thing that helped Abram to respond.

Of course we now know that Jesus eventually came out of Abram's family and it was Jesus who is the blessing to ALL peoples. However Abram himself is also our example of THE man of faith who responded to God's word and DID what God said. THAT is faith! (see Hebrews 11:8-10 / Romans 4:3)

In the New Testament this man, again and again, despite his failings, is held up as the classic example of faith, and faith is the all-important ingredient that the Lord looks for as the measure of our response to Him (see Hebrews 11:6). As we follow his story we will see his faith fluctuating but it is always there. He went!

D. Application :

1. One ordinary man was going to affect the whole world. We can similarly

affect the world if we will be people of faith who obey God.

2. Ask the Lord for YOUR life to be used by Him to affect and bless

other people's lives.

Chapter: Genesis 12

Passage: Genesis 12:4-9

A. Find Out:

1. How old was Abram when he left Haran ? v.4

2. Where did he set off for? v.5

3. Who did he take with him? v.5

4. Where did the Lord meet Abram? v.6

5. What promise did the Lord give Abram there? v.7

6. What did Abram do in response? v.7

B. Think :

1. What indications are there that they had been in Haran a long

time?

2. Why would it have been difficult for Abram to leave?

3. What do you think particularly encouraged Abram in God's

word?

C. Comment :

We easily read the word, "So Abram left as the Lord had told him", (v.4) but that could not have been easy for him. He has been there a long time and accumulated much wealth and many memories. It is also the place where his father is buried. Yes it is difficult to leave such a place, but this man who becomes THE example of faith, goes at the behest of the unseen God.

Some time after he entered the land, the Lord speaks to him again (v.7a). God decides when He will speak and sometimes He allows us to go on a while before we hear from Him. He simply confirms that this IS the land He had spoken about previously - and then nothing more.

Abram is on his own in the place of the Lord's appointing. How will he act? He builds an altar (v.7b) in response to his encounter with the Lord, and when he moves on he builds another (v.8), a sign of worship and submission to God. From the outset this man of faith is also a worshipper, the two go together.

D. Application?

1. Ask the Lord to help your love for Him to grow and grow as you go

    through these studies, that your faith may flow out of love.

2. As Christians we are called to walk by faith and not by sight (see 2

    Corinthians 5:7), but faith comes by hearing (see Romans 10:17) so ask

    the Lord to help you to hear more through His Word and Spirit.

Chapter: Genesis 12

Passage: Genesis 12:10-16

A. Find Out:

1. Why did Abram go down to Egypt ? v.10b

2. What was he afraid would happen to him? v.12

3. So what did he want Sarai to pretend to be? v.13

4. What did he hope would happen as a result? v.13

5. What happened to her in Egypt ? v.15

6. What happened to Abram? v.16

B. Think :

1. Why does he leave the land he has just been promised by the Lord?

2. What sort of man does Abram appear in this passage?

3. What do you think he has yet to learn?

C. Comment :

If we had any romantic ideas about Abram, today's reading should dispel them! Abram shows us his frailty and humanity. He has just been promised the land by God but circumstances indicate it is not a pleasant place to be in at the moment (v.10). Abram's response is not to ask the Lord about it, because he doesn't seem to have that sort of relationship with the Lord yet. Instead he runs to Egypt where, presumably, the famine doesn't exist. Once in Egypt he again shows his insecurity and lack of trust in the Lord. He shows himself to be unbelieving and self reliant as he schemes with Sarai his wife for their protection (v.11-13). (Imagine what Sarai must have felt about this!) It is clear that his relationship with the Lord is still in its very early days.

We could say "Abram failed" in coping with the two situations that confronted him, but let's realise that he is called by God and merely because HE fails, God doesn't give up on him. The same applies to us! Having a relationship with the Lord is a learning and growing process. We have much to learn and it's going to take time! We may have high times (e.g. Genesis 12:4) but we will also have low points. God loves us at both the high points and low points of our lives!

D. Application?

1. The "L-Plates" are up for Abram. Recognise we are learners also.

2. Thank Him for the wonder of these truths. Ask Him to help them

become the basis in you to bring security.

Chapter: Genesis 12

Passage: Genesis 12:16-20

A. Find Out:

1. How did Pharaoh treat Abram? v.16

2. How was this seen? v.16

3. What did the Lord do to Pharaoh? v.17

4. Why? v.17

5. What had he done with her? v.19

6. What did he now do with Abram? v.20

B. Think :

1. What does this passage tell us about what God thinks about

     Sarai?

2. What does this passage tell us about the sort of person Sarai

     was?

3. What do you think this passage teaches us about God when you

     consider God's non-action against Abram?

C. Comment :

In Egypt Sarai allowed herself to be taken into the king's palace (v.15), there presumably to be prepared to become one of his wives, while Abram stayed out in the country and became prosperous (v.16). God does not allow the situation to carry on however, and brought serious illnesses on those in the palace (v.17). Pharaoh eventually realises that this all started when Sarai arrived, presumably questions her and finds she is Abram's wife. He then sends them on their way with all their possessions (v.18-20).

This tells us lots about those involved. Abram we spoke about yesterday. Sarai is remarkable in her obedience to her husband (read 1 Peter 3:5,6). Pharaoh is remarkable in his response once he realises the true situation. The Lord is even more remarkable in the way He DOESN'T chide Abram.

You and I might have said strong words to him about his lack of faith but the Lord seems to accept that Abram is a very young believer and accepts him LIKE HE IS! Why? Perhaps because He knows Abram's potential - what he will become.

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord that He loves you and accepts you AS YOU ARE, and

that He knows your potential.

2. Abram kept quiet when he had a great opportunity to be God's witness

- because of fear. Let God's strong love overcome all fear in you.

RECAP - "A New Life" - Genesis Chapters 11:26 - 12:20

SUMMARY :

In this first group of 5 studies we have seen :

- Abram's wife not being able to have children

- Terah, Abram & Sarai leaving for Canaan

- His father stopping at Haran & settling there

- the Lord calling Abram to go on to Canaan

- God promising Abram many descendants

- Abram going to Canaan & God promising him it

- Abram taking his family to Egypt

- Abram getting Sarai to pretend to be his sister

- Sarai taken into the Palace by Pharaoh

- God dealing with Pharaoh and Abram & Sarai leaving Egypt

COMMENT:

Abram's family seem to have a sense of calling but it is left to Abram to fulfil it. He hears the Lord and goes. After Noah, he is the first real man of faith in the Bible who steps out to do what God says. His faith is very young and thus insecure and he has yet to learn many things about the Lord, but in the meantime the Lord looks after him!

LESSONS?

1. We're not to be distracted from achieving God's goals in life for us.

2. We are to be prepared to be people of faith, a people who can affect the world.

3. Living with the Lord is a learning experience where we may fail.

4. The Lord loves us despite our failures

PRAY :

Thank the Lord for Abram's example and ask for help for your faith to grow.

PART 2 : "Settling In"

Having just deserted his inheritance, watch Abram return to the land and start again. Watch particularly for the things that the Lord tells him about his future. Try not to take for granted a man who was able to hear God and eventually respond to Him.