Genesis 11:10-32 – 12:1-20

 

Genesis 11:10-32 – Genealogy of Abram

 

Verses 10-26 show the genealogy of Shem.  His line will eventually be part of the Messianic line – see Luke 3.  Verses 27-32 show the genealogy of Terah, the father of Abram.  Abram (his name is changed to Abraham in Genesis 17) was chosen by God to be the father of the Jewish nation. 

Abram is the central figure of Genesis and maybe the most important figure in the Bible aside from Jesus.  He is the father of all believers.  God often refers to Himself as the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob.  Abram is the father of the Jewish nation and holds an important place in heaven.  God chose Abraham and used him in His plan of salvation for the human race.  God made special promises to Abram and his family.

Genesis 12:1-3 – God Calls Abram

God had a plan for Abram and his descendants.  God told Abram to leave his county, his people and his father’s household and go to the land where He will show him.  Abram lived in a world of pagans where they worshipped the moon god.  The people did not choose to submit to the true living God.  I am sure Abram asked himself, “Why Me?”  God was asking a lot of Abram, but provided him with much more.  God’s command had no explanations, but many promises.  Abram did find God’s will as God revealed it to him.

We live in a world today just like the world of Abram.  We worship all kinds of things instead of the one true living God.  We have no excuse for not worshiping Him.  Rom. 1:20 – “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse”.

God made seven promises to Abram:  1. He would be blessed; 2. He would be made into a great nation; 3. His name would be blesses; 4. He would be a blessing; 5. God would bless those who blessed Abram; 6. All the people on the earth would be blessed through Abram; 7. God promised that whoever curses Abram, God will curse.  We know God fulfilled all His promises despite Abram’s failures.  He blessed him and made his name great.  We are still reading and talking about him today.  We are all blessed because of Abram for through him came the promised Messiah, Jesus.

God’s blessings on people and countries are true today.  A nation that stands up for the Jewish people is blessed.  This is one reason why the United States has been so blessed.  Nations like Rome fell after destroying Jerusalem, Spain was reduced to fifth-rate nation after the Inquisition against the Jews and Hitler’s Germany went down because of its anti-Semitism. (Barnhouse)

Asking Abram to leave his country is a symbol for us of separating us from the world.  It challenges us to put God in front of all else.  How do you do that? – by making God the greatest desire of your heart.

What is the deepest desire of your heart?

Is God in it? 

What is God asking you to do today?

Are you hesitant to answer God’s call because you are afraid?

Are you trusting God in it?

Genesis 12:4-9 – Abram Obeys and Follows God

Abram didn’t know how all these promises were going to happen, but he trusted God completely.  He said “yes” to a radical change in his life.  He had no idea where they were going.  He was 75 years old and had no sons.  So how would God bless his descendants?  He didn’t have any sons and he and his wife were too old to have any.  He didn’t question God.  He just trusted and obeyed. 

So Abram left his country and took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, his possessions and the some of the people of Haran.  We will learn that Lot would not be a blessing to Abram.  He would be nothing but trouble and inconvenience.  Abram became a witness to his wife and family and the others by obeying God.  God guided them to Canaan.  God appeared to Abram and reminded him of His promise (Gen 12:7).  We can assume this was God in the Person of Jesus Christ, because John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” Abram pitched a tent and built an altar to the Lord.  He called on God for guidance, worshipped God and preached about God.

Christians today also build altars to the Lord.  Our alters are meeting with God when we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, when we submit to God as living sacrifices, and when we offer the sacrifice of praise and worship to our Almighty God. 

Abram never lived in a house, only a tent.  He had no permanent dwelling place.  We are like tent-dwellers.  We are pilgrims of this earth.  This is not our home.  Our permanent dwelling place is in heaven, not on earth.  Too many people want to build big houses and wealth thinking it will make them happy.

How does God’s call affect those who are committed to Christ? 

Matt. 4:18-22 – they left everything and followed Him

Matt. 8:22 – we are to be more concerned with the living

Mark 8:34-36 – we are to deny self and follow Him

Luke 14:26-33 – we are to love Jesus more than anyone else no matter the cost

1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 2:15-17 – we are to declare His promises and we are not to love the world

 

Does God promise rewards to everyone who follow Him?  Yes.

Eph. 1:3 – we have every spiritual blessing in Christ

Eph. 1:18 – we have the riches of His glorious inheritance

Eph. 2:6-7 – we are raised up with Christ and are sealed with Him in heaven

1 Cor. 2:9-10 – God reveals what he has for us through His Spirit

Psalm 16:5-6, 11 – we have a secure and delightful inheritance.  We have joy in His presence and eternal pleasures.

Saving faith is believing in the gospel and what God says, having a heart response to the person of God, and a commitment to God.  Abram’s obedience to God revealed his heart.

What does your daily response show you about your heart?

Does your response show you are wholeheartedly committed to God?

What kind of intimacy with God will you experience if you moved forward?

How have you grown closer to God through obedience?

What do you know about God because you chose to believe what He says?

Are you building altars of devotion and surrender?

Genesis 12:10-20 –Abram’s Fear VS Faith

The Bible teaches that a life of faith is full of obstacles.  It’s how we handle them that show our true faith.  God tested Abram’s faith.  In Gen. 12:1-3 God was testing Abram to leave his home.  So I think the famine in Gen. 12:10 was also a test.  Faith is always tested.  God strengthen us through blessings and hardships.  God’s purpose in testing our faith is to purify it.  Even though Abram trusted God, he made some serious mistakes.  He was not perfect. 

There was a severe famine in the land so Abram went to Egypt.  Abram wasn’t wrong for wanting to protect his family.  He was wrong when he didn’t trust that God would take care of him so he took matters into his own hands.  Fear and panic took over.  He told his wife, Sarai to say she was his sister.  Because she was beautiful, he was afraid the Egyptians would not treat him fairly and even kill him.  He didn’t lead his wife to pray, but to lie.  When the Pharaoh saw that Sarai was very beautiful, he took her to his palace to be his wife.  Abram was rewarded well for her sake and he became very wealthy. 

Lying is a sin and sin has consequences.  God brought diseases to the Pharaoh and his house because adultery is a sin.  When the Pharaoh found out that Sarai was Abram’s wife, he was very angry and sent Abram and Sarai away (Gen. 12:18-20).  Abram knew he was wrong.  He could have built an altar, which would have been a better witness to the Egyptians than lying.  God gave mercy to Abram and protected Sarai.  Abram returned where he had first built an altar and he called on the name of the Lord.  He went back to God.  He failed, but God did not fail him.  God didn’t call back His promises.

Do you think your little white lies are a good witness to others?

When has your lying caused consequences to others?

What do you do when you mess up?

Do you go back to God and ask for forgiveness?

 

Principles: 

God’s plan involved Abram and it involves you.

God’s truth is greater than what we feel or fear.

True faith chooses to trust God when life gets scary.

Each step of faith impacts our intimacy with God and witness to others.

How have you set a good example for your family when you’re put in a trying situation?

How have you taken things into your own hands and not trusted God?

How has fear made you react when life gets scary?

Do you stop and build an altar?

How is it hard for you to live the Christian life?

These verses tell us how we can continue in our Christian life.

Col. 1:23 – we continue in faith

Col. 2:6-7 – we continue to live in Jesus

Heb. 6:1 – we become mature in Christ

Heb. 10:35-38 – we don’t throw away our confidence and persevere

1 Peter 2:2 – we crave pure spiritual nourishment

Join me here next week as we continue our study of Genesis -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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Genesis 9:18-29; 10-11:1-9

 

 Genesis 9:18-29 – The Curse

Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.  Ham was the father of Canaan.  From these three sons came the nations as we know it.  Their descendants are listed in the table of nations in Genesis 10. 

After the flood, Noah became a farmer.  He planted a vineyard and drank some wine.  He became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.  He was probably not use to drinking wine and didn’t intend to get drunk.  His son, Ham saw his nakedness and told his brothers, Shem and Japheth.  Ham probably made fun of Noah.  He gossiped and stirred up distention instead of promoting love as mentioned in Proverbs 6:16-19 and 17:9.  These passages in Proverbs apply to us, too.  We should not stir up distention with gossip.  We should not be quick to point out the faults of others.  Shem and Japheth had more love for their father than Ham.  They covered Noah so others would not see his nakedness.  “Honor your father and your mother” – Ex.20:12.  They did just that.  They honored their father.

It seems our culture loves to ridicule, gossip and call each other degrading names.  Sometime the gossip is unintentional.  Some Christians gossip calling it a prayer request.  We need to check our motives. 

 Do you participate in gossip at work or at church?

Are you quick to point out the fault of others?

When Noah found out what they had done, he cursed Canaan.  Canaan was the son of Ham.  He said Canaan would be the lowest of slaves to Shem.  He blessed Japheth saying God would extent his territory and would live in the tents of Shem meaning he would share in the all blessings of Shem.  Shem’s descendants were the people that God chose.  Abraham and the people of Israel were among his descendants.  Jesus would come from this line. 

Did you notice that Noah blessed God for what Shem did, instead of Shem?  “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!” – Gen. 9:26.  This is a great lesson for us.  We should give God the credit and praise not the person who did the good works.  God is the author of our good works.

Canaan did nothing wrong so why didn’t Noah curse Ham instead of his son Canaan?  We are not told what actually happened, but it must have been pretty bad.  The words “Noah found out what they had done to him” may indicate more happened that what we are told.  Maybe Canaan was involved in some way.  Perhaps the curse was not directed to Canaan personally, but rather to his descendants.  The incident must have been bad enough for his line to be cursed.  If you are a loving parent, wouldn’t it be much harder to see your child suffer for something you’ve done? 

Noah’s actions show the foolishness of drunkenness.  There are several scriptures warning against drunkenness.   Here are just a few.  “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.” – Prov. 20:1.  “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” – Prov. 23:20-21.

Drinking is not a sin in itself, but drunkenness is clearly a sin.  Alcohol is a depressant.  It loosens people and they lose self-control, wisdom, balance, judgment and even consciousness.  Many drunks become victims of abuse.  Many are involved in date-rape situations.  Statistics say half of all rapes involve alcohol.  

Principles:

Avoid drunkenness and gossip which can lead to sin.

Show honor to your parents.

Give God the credit for the good works you do. 

Genesis 10 – Table of Nations

Chapter 10 tells the origin of the nations of the world.  We see that God is a God of details.  He is sovereign over all the nations.  It shows everyone on earth is descended from Noah and his wife.  God made us one big family.  It provides us with the knowledge of who we are and where we came from.  It provides us with an understanding of the relationship between Israel and all the people of the world.  We are different in languages, cultures, and locations, but we still are the image of God.  It shows that God never intended for there to be a one world government.  Verse 25 tells us the earth was divided.  How did it become divided?  That’s where chapter 11 comes in.  

In chapter 9 we learned about Ham and how he dishonored his father Noah and how God punished Ham’s son Canaan for Ham’s sin.  In chapter 10 we see the birth of a troublemaker, Nimrod.  Nimrod was the grandson of Ham.  “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord” - Gen. 10:9, meaning he was “against the Lord”.  His name means “rebel”.  He was a mighty warrior and hunter.  He wasn’t a hunter of animals, but a hunter of men.  His kingdoms were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh.  We learn in Revelation 17-19 that Babylon was a government powered by Satan.  Nimrod was associated with the Towel of Babel, maybe even was the leader.  1 Chron. 1:10 says he was a mighty warrior on the earth. 

Genesis 11 –Tower of Babel 

After the flood God told Noah and his family to replenish the earth.  Their descendants spoke one language and migrated eastward to Shinar which is also known as Babylon. (Gen. 11:2)  They became proud and decided to build a city and a tower to heaven so they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the earth. – Gen 11:4.  This was probably headed up by Nimrod.  This was pride at its fullest!   

Today people continue to disobey God in many ways.  They are full of pride and love themselves.  They don’t love God.  They don’t think of others.   They are selfish and unforgiving.  They have no self-control.  They are lustful, liars, murders, and thieves.  They use others to get what they want.  They want power and fame at all costs.  They simply don’t obey God’s commandments found in Exodus 20. 

“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, of lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Have nothing to do with them.  They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” – 1 Tim. 3:2-7.

God saw what they were doing and said, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” – Gen. 11:7.  Notice the “us” in this verse which is a reference to the Trinity.  The people were building this city and this tower to bring honor to themselves, not to honor God.  Maybe they didn’t trust God’s promise never destroy the earth by water again.  God judges those who rebel against Him.  He put a stop to this.  He confused their language so they wouldn’t understand each other.  The word Babel means confused.  God scattered them all over the earth and they stopped building the tower. – Gen. 11:8 

God came down and inspected their work and He will inspect our work as well.  He will inspect our motives behind our service for Him.  He looks at our hearts.  He’s concerned why we do what we do.  Is it to gain praise of men?  Are you doing it for the glory of God or yourself?  “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” – 1 Peter 5:5.

What “tower” are you building?

Do you think you know better than God?

Are you a prideful person?

What is your attitude towards God?

Do you trust in His promises?

Do you rebel against God and what He says in His Word?

Are things in your life confusing?  

Decide right now to follow God and obey Him.  It’s OK to have possessions, but we should not use them to give us a sense of worth or even identity.  We can enjoy the blessings God has given us, but we should always give the credit to God.

People can’t make themselves great.  Only God can make people great.  People think they are great and powerful, but God is in control.  God showed how great He is by stopping the towel.  People try to reach God through many ways - the giving of their money, their good works, or by church attendance.  There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6.  “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12 

How are you trying to reach God?

Are you trying to reach Him in your own way and not the way He has given you?  

 

Principles:

The desire for personal recognition fuels disobedience to God.

God sets a limit on wickedness. 

Join me here next week as we continue our study of Genesis -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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