Abraham A Man of Faith:
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Introduction: Who Is Abram?
Introduction: Who Is Abram?
Who is Abraham?
Why is Abraham so revered throughout the scriptures in both Old Testament and New Testament?
What lessons can be learned from the life of Abraham?
These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 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. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Who is Abraham?
Abraham is the son of Terah. Terah was the son of Nahor, who was the Great (7x) grandson of Shem, Shem was the son of Noah. Eight or nine generations from Noah, we see that Abraham enters the picture in the Old Testament writings.
Noah was a hero of faith. He had a relationship with God and is considered to be one of the first prophets of the Bible. Nine generations passed from Noah to Abraham.
The scriptures declare that Noah lived approximately 950 years and then he died.
When we consider the amount of years that man’s life expectancy was, we realize that quite a few years may have elapsed before Abraham was born. We see starting with Noah’s son Shem that Shem lived for approximately 600 years. With the birth of each generation, the life expectancy drops.
What factors into life expectancy? In today’s society, available healthcare, genetics, living conditions, hygiene, and diet factor into life expectancy.
So why or how was it possible for Noah to live 950 years old? There was not a lot of sickness back then for one. There was not a lot of pollution, and other factors as far as genetics played a huge factor. However, the scriptures is clear on the fact that as time continued, mankind grew steeper and steeper into sin. I believe that this played a very large part in mankind’s life expectancy becoming lower and lower with each passing generation.
Abraham was born of Terah, in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. Abraham had two other brothers by the name of Nahor and Haran. Haran, evidently died a pre-mature death:
And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Yes, unfortunately, Nahor married his niece Milcah (Milcah was Haran’s daughter). We have to remember, there is no law yet. The law was given to Moses by God and if you remember the law forbid marriage of close of kin (Lev 18:7-18, 20:11-21).
One of the most important facts about Abram is listed in verse 30:
But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
They tried, but they were unable to have children. I mean they tried for many years and Sarai’s body was unable to conceive. This would become a point of tension throughout Abram’s story, because they tried for many years up past the age of child-bearing which is usually between mid 40’s to 50’s and they couldn’t have a child. But now, 40-50 years later......this point of tension would resurface.
The scriptures declare that one day Terah took his son Abram, Abram’s wife Sarai, and his grandson Lot (Haran’s son....the one that died prematurely) and moved out of Ur and relocated to Haran. Terah, had planned to move to Canaan, but they ended up settling in Haran where Terah lived for 205 years and died while he was still in Haran.
Terah had plans, but then he became stationary, he became stagnate and comfortable and did not follow through on his desire to relocate to Canaan.
God Calls Abram
God Calls Abram
I want to draw your attention to something very important. If you would notice between the time of Noah and the time of Abram, that nothing is said about anyone worshipping God. We know that Noah worshipped God, but after Noah, it says nothing of Noah’s sons worshipping God. It says nothing of Noah’s descendants worshipping God. It is almost as if God gets placed on the back burner.
So what is happening in between the time of Noah and Abram?
Let’s fast forward to Genesis 24:2-4
And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
Why does Abraham tell his servant to swear by the Lord, that he’d make sure his son Issac doesn’t take a wife from the Canaanite people? ANS: Because their religion was incompatible with what he believed.
Between the time of Noah and Abram, humanity began to stray away from the one true God and began to worship and serve idol gods. Now what I find is interesting is the fact that when Abraham’s servant finds what he calls a suitable wife for Issac, we find that Rebekah’s brother Laban (Rebekah’s care taker) worshipped all types of idols.
I believe that between the time of Noah and Abram that mankind, leaves behind the worship of one singular God (monotheism) and began to worship many false deities (poly-theism). Each region, began to create their own gods. Sometimes, these gods would be the same gods regionally but they went by different names.
Egypt developed their belief system, the Chaldeans developed their belief system. The Arkkadians, the Canaanites, and many other nations, strayed from the worshipping of the one true God to belief in many gods.
Matter fact the scriptures record this:
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
But what makes Abram so important, is that it is through Abram that God, the only God, the one true God reveals himself and his purpose for mankind. It is through Abram, that the reintroduction of the one true God is implemented. Last fast forward to the present day. So the world goes from the belief in multiple gods to our present time in which 3 of the main religions in the world: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity have the belief in one singular God.
There is another thing that I need to point out. It wasn’t until Terah died, that Abram and his family was able to go forward. Now we pointed out the fact earlier that Terah and his family worshipped other gods. Matter of fact Nahor (Abram’s grandfather) named his son Terah after the moon god of Ur. It wasn’t until after Terah died that Abram was able to go forward. It wasn’t until after Terah died, that God spoke to Abram and told Abram “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.”
Big Point:
There may be things in your life that need to die.....before you can move forward to where God would have you to be. When God calls, you are going to have to leave some things behind. Family may not be able to go where God is taking you, friends may not be able to go where God is taking you.
Let’s deal with the text:
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: 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: 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.
God, seemingly out of no where calls Abram and gives instructions for Abram to follow. The instructions are:
Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family.
Go to the land that I will show you.
Two simple instructions right? Yes....or so it seems.
By following God’s instructions, God makes promises to Abram:
I will make you into a great nation.
I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.
All the families on earth will be blessed through you.
Now, these four things are called the Abrahamic Covenant:
I will make you into a great nation.
I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.
All the families on earth will be blessed through you.
Now lets read Genesis 12:4-6
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. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Okay let’s consider the details:
Abraham is 75 years old when he departs out of Haran. To us, that is considered to be old. God basically tells this senior man “pack up your house and all your belongings and start walking, and I’ll tell you where to go and when you will arrive.”
For most of us, it is a chore to walk from one end of the block to another. Much less, packing up all your belongings on top of walking. Wasn’t no Uhaul available, you couldn’t call Varsity and have someone pack up your stuff for you and then pay them to move it and then unpack it. Abram at 75 years old, begins to pack up his stuff and then starts walking towards the land which God was going to show him.
It took faith, for Abram to do this, and it wasn’t something easy. Sometimes, in order for you to achieve great things in life, it takes faith and great struggle.
My daughter has a strong desire to play bass. I coach her and I tell her, that if you want to achieve then you have to put forth an effort. You have to sacrifice and put forth effort. You have to set aside time, and work at your craft and practice and discipline yourself.
Many of us want to be blessed by God, but then we put forth minimum effort, and then expect big blessings to come from God. No!!!! You have to first have faith!!! Faith will propel you to obedience. Faith will propel you to sacrifice.....even when you might not understand what God is saying or trying to do.
Abram, could have stayed in his comfort zone. That’s why some of us aren’t being blessed like we should, because we are stuck in our comfort zone. We’ve developed the Terah Syndrome, you are stuck.....you’re wheels are spinning. God is trying to lead you to the promise land, but now you’ve got real comfortable.
From a salvation stand-point. Don’t become like Terah, on your way to the promise-land, but then you get comfortable with doing you. You come to church and you are on auto-pilot. You are just here, that’s it. You are benefitting, you are not growing, you here the word but don’t apply the word, you here the word but there is no change. You’re like Terah, you made it out of Ur (repented, baptized, got the Holy Ghost) but now your wheels are just spinning, and you are putting forth minimal effort.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Then Hebrews says:
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
If Abram simply heard the word but did not respond, he would have died in the same place as his father. He would’ve died and not achieved anything, he would have died and just been another name in the Bible.
But because Abram heard the word of God and then obeyed the word of God, the blessings of God came upon him, and not just him only, it came upon him and his family!!!
Watch what happens when Abram hears and then acts upon what he hears with faith:
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
Abram, has packed up, he left Haran and passes through Sichem unto the plain of Moreh. Moses makes a point to insert “the Canaanite was then in the land.”
Look at verse 9:
“And the LORD appeared unto Abram.” Do you see that? I’m not talking about another human, the scriptures says “THE LORD APPEARED UNTO ABRAM”
Abram did what the Lord told him to do and the Lord showed up. If you just follow instructions, if you just obey what God tells you to do, God is going to show up! I know sometimes it might be a struggle, I know sometimes your flesh isn’t gonna want to do it, I know that it may not be easy, but if you stretch out in faith and obey God’s word......God is going to show up! Does not matter where you are, it does not matter what you are going through.....Abram was going through the land, he was going through the plain and God showed up!
Now, why does the LORD show up? The Lord shows up to reaffirm to Abram what he said he was going to do for him. Maybe Abram was unsure about what he was doing. He just packed up and started relocating his family. I’m sure, that he family is probably asking him “Where are we going?” and his reply is “I don’t know, the Lord told me to just move, just walk, and I’ll show you where to go.”
Do you know how ludicrous that might sound to someone who doesn’t believe? Someone tonight, the Lord might have told you to do this.....and you believed and obey, but now you’re having second thoughts. Well, the Lord gave me a word to give you.....He says “I am with you”.
The Lord showed up to reaffirm and assure Abram of the promise he made to him. God tells Abram in verse 7:
“Unto thy seed will I give this land.”
Now what is so amazing about this, is this is the same land that his father Terah wanted to move to. But God says, I’m going to do something much more than help you to move here, I’m going to give you this land to your descendants.
What was so special about this land that Terah had plans and desires to move here?
Well, when the 10 spies went into the land of Canaan to spy out the land, they reported back that the land flowed with milk and honey (Numbers 13). It was a land of possibility, it was a land of produce, it was a rich land in which the inhabitants could be rich and productive. There was ample room there for livestock, for farming and agriculture, for the building of homes for their families.
God said, I’m going to give it to your descendants. If you just obey God, God not only will make it right for you, God will see to it that your family is taken care of.
The Lord shows up and after the Lord shows up and reaffirms his promise to Abram, the Bible says that Abram builds an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD who had appeared to him.
He builds an altar as a reminder of the encounter he has with God
He builds an altar as a reminder of the promise that God made to him about this promised-land.
He builds an altar as an outward sign of the inner gratitude and appreciate that he has toward God because, God did not have to promise him anything. God could have chosen someone else. See when you think it is suppose to be you, when you feel entitled you won’t show no appreciation. But when you realize it could have been someone else, when you realize God didn’t have to do it but he did, when you realize you wasn’t deserving of the blessings of God, but God in his rich mercy and grace blessed you......IT WILL CAUSE YOU TO WORSHIP GOD!!!!
END LESSON FOR TONIGHT:
Next week we will resume back with Genesis 12:10.
Part 2: God is with Abram.
Part 2: God is with Abram.
Tonight’s lesson deals with Abram finding himself in a bit of a bind.
THE NAME CHANGE ABRAM to ABRAHAM.
The name Abram means “the Father is exalted”. That was the name given to Abram from his parents. Now remember that his parents possibly did not have a relationship with the one true God Elohim. Most likely, Abram’s parents participated in the worshipping of regional gods of Ur. Abram’s name probably reflects the worship or acknowledgement of the moon god of Ur.
God changes Abram’s name from Abram to Abraham. Although it seems on the surface that there is not much of a difference between the two, there is a huge difference. Abraham means “father of multitudes” which is a quite fitting name for Abram, because God made a promise to Abram that he would be the father of many. The name Abraham gives praise to God as being the promise-keeper.