Book of Genesis - Ch. 12, Vs. 1-20 (07/23/2000)

Turn to the book of Genesis, the 11th chapter, where we begin with verse 27 today.

We're just beginning the story with Abraham, presently known as Abram.

These are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahar, and Haran, and Haran begat

Lot. Haran died before his father

Terah in the land of Nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. So Haran never did leave the country, and Abram and Nahar took them wives.

The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahar's wife,

Melchah, daughter of Haran, father of Melchah, and the father of Ishkar.

Now the father of Melchah was who? Is anybody here?

Father of Melchah, Haran.

Haran had a daughter by the name of Melchah. He also had, who else,

Lot, son by the name of Lot. So that made Lot and Melchah brother and sister, right?

And Nahar was Lot's uncle, right? What did that make

Nahar's wife? To Lot.

Lot had a sister by the name of Melchah. She married

Nahar. Nahar was Lot's uncle. What?

You've heard the story of my own grandpa? Well, there was quite a bit of that, and we'll find it more as we go through.

But Sarai was barren. She had no child. Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son.

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 into Haran and dwelt there.

In the days of Terah, 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Now, at this point in the Bible, if you want to make a note, we are halfway through the time span that the entire

Bible covers, and we're way back at the twelfth chapter of Genesis.

The closer we get to Revelation, the more writing it takes to explain. Now, the first verse.

Now the Lord had said unto Abram. David, what's that mean? First verse.

Now the Lord had said unto Abram. No. What's that tell us?

When? All right. So there is a call that we do not have the recording.

Evidently, he had spoken to Abram before, and Abram's father honored the call and started.

He died, and now they're at the city of Haran.

And the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country from thy kindred, from thy father's house unto a land that I will show you.

So, right here, Abram's supposed to do what, Diane?

Is that all? Where else?

What else? Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred.

Bill, that means what? That's right.

He's supposed to leave everybody else behind. He's supposed to go, he and his immediate family. He doesn't do this because he cares a lot for his nephew,

Lot. And Lot is without a father. So, even though his uncle is his father now, but he's going to take

Lot with him. And we know that it was ordained of God, and Abram did it because he wanted to.

Get thee out of thy country, from thy kindred, from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show you.

Now, there's certain things Abram's supposed to do. Russell, he's supposed to leave his country.

So, let's just play like, if David will allow me to use that term, play like that you're told of God now to leave.

You have to leave the country. You're to leave all your people, your friends, your relatives, everybody except your family.

The place where you were born, the place where you've lived for the last 75 years is how old

Abram was. You're going to a place where you've never been.

And the Lord said, I will tell you where it is, but not at this time. You will know when it's proper time for you to know.

So, we see here that when we come to our Lord, we come with the same instructions.

We may not stay in familiar surroundings. We may have to change.

We may be sent to a land which we know not of. Just as Abram was told that he could not do the

Lord's work with anything that he had, he had to leave it all.

I think too many times, too many people come with what they consider to be right and proper and try to offer that to the

Lord to be used. You can't do that. When we come to the

Lord, it's with nothing. No matter how talented we are, we come with nothing.

Let him assign. So, we come empty -handed. He will see that we're supplied and fitted for our task.

We may think we know what it is, but we don't. Verse two, and I will make of thee a great nation.

Now, there's the first promise. And I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing.

Now, jot it down someplace in your memory bank that Abram's been told this.

He believed him to leave. Let's see if he believes this. And I will bless thee that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.

And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. All families of the earth.

Why do you suppose that the Lord did not tell Abram more about where he was going?

Bill? All right.

Can you find any other reason? All right.

Greg, can you expand upon that any? You're afraid.

You're not afraid. Okay. Well, there's faith as well.

Exactly the same reason we must operate on faith. See, if we knew what tomorrow held, it wouldn't take any faith.

But he said, what about the just, Charlotte? Shall live by faith. Shall live by faith.

Shall is imperative. There's no other way you can do it. So all the living we do is by faith.

Well, Abram was to be held responsible for his own decisions.

If Abram had known what was ordained from him, he could not have been judged for his thoughts.

So the same with us. We're judged for our thoughts. Why do we not know what and where we're going?

The answer for the very same reason. Romans 117, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the just shall live by faith. David in Romans 117, turn over there and help me.

I want to know more about is revealed from faith to faith.

It means that you're given a gift of faith.

You're saved, you're given a gift of faith. But you don't know how to utilize it.

When we say we grow in faith, sometimes we think that means we get more faith. But I think it probably means that we learn to utilize the faith that God gave us on our path in this life.

So, it says that if you reveal faith to faith, it means that you grow in Christian law.

It means that God prepared you. You're all living things He has for your purpose.

It is faith in faith. You're living by faith the whole time, but you're utilizing it more and more often.

To us it may seem like we have more faith. It seems like it grows.

The use of it grows, not the quantity of faith. Galatians 3 .11

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God.

It is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Hebrews 10 .38

Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

The promise that we find in these two verses is the hub of the entire Bible. The center around which all the rest of the

Bible turns. Now we're getting ready to outline the promised land, it's called, or the land of Canaan.

The Lord gives to Abram and to his seed, his descendants, over 300 ,000 square miles.

The most that they have ever occupied is 20 ,000 square miles.

Now it's true they've occupied several times, but it's never been at any one time more than 20 ,000 square miles.

So therefore they have never occupied all of the land, but they shall.

As we get close to the millennium, to the second coming, they shall occupy all of the land that's given to them.

It's theirs, they just have not occupied it yet. Why do you suppose

God moved Abram out of his homeland? Why couldn't he do the same thing right where he was?

Bill? I think he didn't make it easy for Abram.

So did the removal of temptations related to his former lifestyle and family.

Okay. This serving of other gods, that was the country in which Abram grew up.

He grew up in the atmosphere of human sacrifice. It was abhorred by him.

And later in his life we're going to see that he was called upon to offer a human sacrifice.

That went against everything that he believed. He knew at the time he was 75 that that was wrong.

Abram's life was divided into three 75 year periods. Now Genesis 12, four.

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. And Lot went with him.

And Abram was 75 years old when they departed out of Haran. And Abram took

Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all of their substance that they had gathered. And the souls that they had gotten in Haran.

Notice that. And the souls that they had accumulated or gotten while they were in Haran.

And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. And into the land of Canaan they came.

So we find at this early time in Abram's life, we find that he's very, very rich.

The excavations in the area of Ur has turned up clay tablets that had been used for commerce.

And a lot of them had Abram's name signed to them. So he was in business. And at this time now, as he begins to move, he has perhaps as many as 1 ,000 souls in his house.

For which he is responsible. He must see that they have clothing, food, shelter, everything.

So, David, we start out with Abram with a great, great company of people.

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sycam. Sycam.

Unto the plain of Moriah. And the Canaanite was then in the land. Why do you suppose it was mentioned that the

Canaanite was living in this land? David?

All right. Now I want you to understand right here on the beginning, Canaan is not a picture of heaven.

It's a picture of this world in which we live. We are in the world.

But just as Abram were to have opposition. And they had opposition all the way through.

Even though the Lord told Abram that all of this land belonged to him and his descendants forever.

He and they will have to fight for it. And do we not fight every day? We also must fight every day.

Our adversary is the world system under Satan. Seven.

And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land.

And there built he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him.

The Lord said, This is it, Abram. This is the land that I have prepared for you, for all of those who shall come after you.

In the phrase, The Lord appeared unto Abram. How do we know that this was

Jesus pre -incarnate? Clarence?

How do we know when it says, The Lord appeared unto Abram. How do we know that was

Jesus pre -incarnate? Well, that's good.

Can somebody add something? All right.

Not only can no man see God. But man's in a sinful body and they cannot exist in the presence of the

Father. So we know that any appearance of God on earth has got to be

Jesus Christ pre -incarnate. Because he, Russell, did walk in the presence of sinful man.

Yes. Verse 8. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel.

Bethel means house of bread. And pitched his tent, having

Bethel on the west, Haii on the east. And there he built an altar unto the

Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. So David, even at this early time in the history of man,

Abram knew to approach the Heavenly Father through a mediator, which was the

Lord. Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

And there was a famine in the land. The first recorded famine in history. And Abram went down into Egypt.

Sojourned there, for the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass.

This always means that we don't know how much time, Greg, but there was time that went by.

When he was come down near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarah, his wife,

Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. But notice he did not say,

I know the Lord said he would protect me and care for me and guide me. And I know he's going to preserve me because I know

I'm going to have a son. He didn't say any of that. He says,

I just know you're a beautiful woman. Therefore, it shall come to pass when the Egyptians shall see you, that they shall say, this is his wife.

And they'll kill me. But they'll save you alive. Now, Russell, who is

Abram thinking about? Abram, this great man of God, gives us a little hope, doesn't it?

He thought what? Yes.

Back in verse 7, And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land, and so on and so forth.

So we have the promise. Here, Egypt represents the world.

Did, is Abram going to lie? When he says, tell everybody you're my sister.

In verse 13, So I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee.

Soul and life are the same now, that I will still be alive. Did he lie?

So is a half lie. Greg, did he lie?

What is a lie, Greg? Clarify your false statement.

All right. It can be a true statement, but it can be presented as though it would mislead.

So anything is stated to mislead someone. It was true that she was his sister, half -sister.

But he didn't say that in order to get them to know that.

He said it to keep himself alive. Now, the lie he put in Sarah's mouth was a great sin in itself.

It indicated a lack of what in God? Faith. Right. We are to live so that when death comes, we may embrace it like a friend and not an enemy.

All right? No, I just have to say something. That counselor was just saying a little white lie. What is a little white lie?

Who do you suppose invented the white lie? Man. Man. Why? To make excuses.

Justify himself. Partial truth is worse than a whole lie.

Remember that. Revelation 3 .15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.

I would thou wert cold or hot, not mediocre. Many trust

God for their souls and eternity, who do not trust in him for their bodies and daily circumstances.

To him who follows God fully in simplicity of faith, everything must ultimately succeed.

14. And it came to pass that when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman, that she was very fair.

The princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

Can you think of another incident where something similar happened later on in another book in the

Old Testament? I'm thinking of Esther.

You're supposed to know what I'm thinking. And he entreated

Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep, and oxen, and hasses, and men's servants, maid's servants, she -asses, and camels.

The Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah, Abram's wife.

Now, doesn't that seem a little strange to you, Virg, that here's Abram actually living under a lie, and yet his net worth is being added to by the

Lord? Yeah, but that was a prophecy. Pharaoh called

Abram and said,

What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was your wife?

Why saidst thou she is my sister, so I might have taken her to me to be wife? Now, therefore, behold thy wife, take her and go.

Get out of here. It's a sad thing, isn't it, when believers to do that for which they are justly reproved by wicked people.

I think lots of times the world knows better what we're supposed to do than we do. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away and his wife and all that he had.

And he had much, much more than he had when he came. Well, next week we'll take the next lap of his journey,

God willing. Well, this has been a good day for me.

I don't know about you. Let's stand, and Russell, would you dismiss us today?