Genesis 11:10-12:4 Failure Doesn t Define the Man G ene Getz says the following in his introduction to his book on Abraham: Paul penned the words Consider Abraham, in his letter to the Galatian Christians (Gal. 3:6, NIV). And with these words, this first-century apostle was saying that Abraham stands out as one of the greatest Old Testament examples for New Testament Christians. In the midst of other Old Testament greats, Abraham emerges as a man who desired more than anything else to discover and to do God s will. But Abraham was also a man who suffered all the ambivalent feelings and mixed emotions that every human experiences even the twentieth-century Christian. Though his great desire was to obey God, he sometimes disobeyed. He wanted to trust God, yet at times he doubted. Sometimes he stepped out boldly by faith; at other times he drew back in fear. His motives were usually right, but sometimes he used wrong methods. On one occasion he made a mistake so serious that it affected the course of human history. And though Sarah, his wife, was generally very loyal to him, at times she made it very difficult for Abraham to obey God completely. Yes, Abraham stands out in Scripture as a normal human being. He made mistakes like all of us. But his direction was always one way. His eyes were on God and Jesus Christ! This world was not his real home. He passed one of the greatest tests ever experienced by man, and his reputation in the pagan world was beyond reproach. In perspective, his pilgrimage on earth stands out dramatically as a dynamic example to all peoples of the earth. Even with limited knowledge about God and His ways, Abraham discovered God s will and desired to walk in it. From Abraham s life story emerges dynamic principles that will assist every Christian living in the world today to discover and to do God s will. His Old Testament walk is dramatically alive with New Testament truth. He lived in a culture far removed form ours, yet his basic struggles and victories are alive with supra-cultural lessons. Though he lived thousands of years ago, he still speaks authoritatively to every twentieth-century child of God. 1 So, we have left the story of creation, the events of the fall, the flood, and the failure. We move on to the history that initially leads to Israel and as we move beyond Genesis, the Messiah s two comings. Now we move on to the beginning of that story. It is a history of people. VI. The Patriarchs Chapter 11:11-Chapter 50 A. Introduction 1. Overview 2. Prologue Chapter 11:10-32 B. Abraham Chapters 12-24 1. Introduction 2. Abraham s Calling Chapter 12 a. God s Call Verses 1-4 1 Getz, Gene A., Abraham: Trials & Triumphs, Regal Books, Glendale, CA, 1976, p. 4-5.
A. Introduction: Here is a breakdown of the 39 Chapters which make up the history of our Fathers. 1. Overview: Outline: Chapters 12-24 are an account of Abraham. Chapters 24-27 tell us of Isaac. Chapters 28-36 recount the story of Jacob. Genesis ends with Chapters 37-50 and the history of Joseph. a. People: The main personalities of the Patriarchal age are: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Job. For the record of Job you need to read his own account, which is generally accepted as taking place sometime during this same period. Also remember Joseph isn t counted among the Patriarchal Fathers. Wilmington considers Abraham to be the second of the seven greatest men of history: Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, John the Baptizer, Peter and Paul. 2 b. The focus: here changes from universal to specific. It traces the rise of the Hebrew people, although the nation Israel doesn t appear as such in Genesis. It is the line of Shem that is traced through history, through Abraham to Judah to David to, eventually, Christ. c. The Time: Unlike the first ten chapters which covered an unknown, but significantly long period of time, the balance of the book only presents some 350 years. d. The Biographer: Moses first turns to a biography of Abraham, the father of Judaism, and through Abraham, Christianity and Islam. Abraham is know by more peoples of the world than any other single individual. 2. Prologue: But first, we must once again consider the Godly line. Therefore, we pick up at verse 10 of Chapter eleven with the line of Shem Verses 10-25: Note, here is seen the humanity s rapidly shrinking lifespan. Shem lived to be 600 years old. But by the time we get to Nahor, father of Terah, he lived only 148 years. Although this is significantly longer than our lives, by the lifespan of his predecessors it was a very short time indeed. Along similar lines Bush notes: And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. That is began to beget; he was seventy years old before he had any children, and then had three sons one after another. But these sons are not set down in the order of their birth; for though Abram is first named it does not follow that he was the first born, any more than Shem s being first named among the sons of Noah, Gen 9.18, proves him to have been the eldest of them. In both cases the youngest stands first on the gourd of superior dignity. By comparing ver. 32 of this chapter with 12.4, it is obvious that Abraham was born, not when Terah was 70, but when he was 130 years old, which was 350 years after the flood, 3 Leupold notes an interesting pattern, if one assumes there are no missing links in the Genesis genealogies: We see at this point how very few links there actually were in the chain of tradition from Adam to Abraham. For since Adam lived to the time of Methuselah (or Lamech), and Methuselah lived to the 2 Willmington, Dr. H.L., Willmington s Guide to the Bible, Tyndale House, Wheaton, IL, 1981, p. 36. 3 Bush, George, Notes on Genesis, Klock & Klock Christian Publishers, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 1981, p. 188. ) 136 (
time of Shem, and Shem lived to the time of Jacob, the original truth which Adam possessed was transmitted through but three links of the chain till it came into Jacob s possession. 4 Verses 26-30: In this section we are introduced to Abram and his bothers. Haran is the father of Lot. He apparently died fairly young. His father Terah outlived him. Abram and Nahor both marry, Abram marrying Sarai, who was barren. Abram s name can mean either the exalted father or the exalted one is my father. Sarai means princess. He barrenness is mentioned because it will have so much effect on what is to come. By the way, she is the half sister of Abram. Terah s family was basically idolaters. Joshua said to all the people. this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods (Joshua 24:2). The family picks up stakes and moves out of Ur, to move to Canaan but only make it to Haran. While Moses doesn t tell us the reason for the move, it was because Abram was obedient to God and obviously convinced the family do leave Ur. Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. Leave your country and your people. God said, and go to the land I will show you. So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living (Acts 7:2-4). And so the family is stuck in Haran. By the way, Haran means delay. Apparently God didn t speak to Abram again until the death of his father. B. Abraham: 1. Introduction: Before we proceed, I d like to make some introductory remarks regarding Abraham. Keep this information in mind as we go through the story of his life. The following is adapted from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1979 edition, and the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. 5 6 a. Name: Abram, found in 11:26-17:4 as already note probably means either the father is exalted or the exalted one is my father. Abraham, found in the balance of the account is understood to mean, father of multitudes. b. Career: Abram, descendant of Shem and son of Terah became the ancestor of the Hebrew and a number of other peoples. The path of his travels was from Haran, to Shechem, Bethel and down into Egypt. While in Egypt, Abram got into trouble by intimating that Sarai was his sister, which was only half true. How may times we get into trouble by trying to avoid it in inappropriate ways? 4 Willmington, p. 396. 5 Bromiley, Geoffrey, W., general editor, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids, MI, 1979. 6 Tenney, Merrill C., general editor, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1980. ) 137 (
From Egypt, Abram returned to Bethel and finally separated from his nephew Lot. Because he had no children of his own he chose a house slave and steward, Eliezor as his heir. But, at the urging of Sarai, he had a son, Ishmael, by Hagar. Between this account and the birth of Isaac is the recording of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was some thirty years after Isaac s birth that God calls Abraham to sacrifice his son. With the death of Sarah, Abraham marries Keturnah. He has additional children the progenitors of the Dedanites and Midianites. Abraham also arainged for Isaac s marriage. Abraham died at the age of 175. c. The Period of Abraham: It is generally assumed that Abraham was born sometime between 2070 and 1960 bc. He was thought to have migrated early in the 19th century BC. d. The Geographical Context: Abraham s journeys run from the Persian Gulf, (Ur) through the Fertile Crescent to the Nile of Egypt, though his main place of residence was the land of Canaan. This was the route of merchant caravans, envoys and others who traveled back and forth to Egypt and Mesopotamia. This same route was also used for sending for brides from distant lands, making marriage arrangements, as was the case for Isaac. e. Religion of Abraham: Of primary significance from our perspective is Abraham as the progenitor of the Israelites. These people were the fulfillment of many of the promises given to Abraham. - those who followed after the God of Abraham. He was the father not only of Israel, but the Levitic priesthood, the Messiah, and is the spiritual father of all believers. Coming from a people who were polytheists, he received the call of the one true God and accepted it. He had contact with the Christophony, the pre-incarnate Christ, his own descendent, his own God. Abraham believed God. He was known as the friend of God. He was a man of prayer. He is to serve as an example to us of the spiritual Christian. Paul in Galatians 3:6 said: Consider Abraham and that is what we are going to do over the coming weeks. But let s get started right now. 2. Abraham s Calling: a. God s Call: As we ve already seen, in Acts, Abram s first contact with God is not recorded by Moses. The movement of the family from Ur was directed by God. But God s call was only partially obeyed at this point. Abram left Ur, but took his entire family with him, including his father. As a result he remained in Haran until his father s death. It is at this point that God again contacts Abram. He was probably 60 when he first left Ur and it was probably about 15 years later that his father died. It seems from 11:31 that Terah ruled over Abram until his death for it is Terah that is said to have lead Abram out of Ur. Now with this death, Abram becomes head of the family, ready to take up the task that the Lord set him. ) 138 (
We know from verse 4 that God is speaking to Abram in Haran, therefore this is the second time God has had contact with him. Some commentators hold that in verses 1-3 Moses goes back and fills in the details of the first call. This is possible, but it is also possible that what we have here is the account of the second call. Now Abram is called a second time. He is again instructed to leave his home, this time Haran. He is to depart from his family and his father s house (inheritance?) to a land that God would give him. Verse 1: There are two major reasons for the necessity of Abram leaving hearth and home. 1. As a demonstration of faith and dependency on the Lord. 2. the environment from which he had come including his family had been one of idolatry. As a consequence he was in serious danger of continued negative influence. When one is saved, when one repents, one must turn from the old way of life. Too often, as believers, we try to hang on to those things from our life that keep us from God s will. Like Abram, we are committed to obedience, but it is only partial and until these stumbling blocks are removed, the Lord isn t always able to use us fully. Can you think of any examples of this truth? By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Abram moved at the Lord s direction, believing in His promises without seeing the results. Verses 2-3: Here are the promises which God made to Abram. 1. God promises to make Abram a great nation. The word, here in the singular, is probably best understood here as specifically referring to Israel. Keep in min, while this was a major promise, a nation from one man, it is even more spectacular in that we have already been told back in 11:30 that Abram s wife Sarai was barren. In the sense of national greatness, this promise was fulfilled in the days of David and Solomon, when Israel was at its height. By the way, keep in mind that even at its height, Israel never occupied all the land God had promised. 2. God promises Abram personal blessing. The blessing to Abram is the fulfillment of all God s promises, a family and his own relationship with God. 3. God promises to make Abram s name great. It was great through the nations, peoples, faith, etc., all which descended from him, making him one of the best known men of all history. More importantly though is the greatness of his name through Christ and on into the church. ) 139 (
4. Keep in mind verse 1b which says that at the head of these promises was the promise of a land, a home for him and his descendants and a nation that was to come from him. 5. Those whom God blesses become a blessing to others by their walk and their influence on the lives of others. Abram certainly is a blessing to us by his very example of being a man of faith. And through Israel came the blessing of God s word, the Messiah and the gospel. 6. He receives the promise of blessing and cursing. This is usually understood as applying to the nation Israel and is supported by God s dealings with the Jewish people throughout history. Note: While it may not be possible to apply it to national Israel today, it is certainly appropriate to apply it to the Jewish people. And if one desires to apply it to the state of Israel, blessing them doesn t mean supporting all that they do, even that which is contrary to God s standards. This promise relates to the fact that Abram and later Israel are God s representatives on earth and to act against them in this capacity is to act against God Himself. 7. The final promise is that all mankind will be blessed through Abram and this certainly is intended to be fulfilled specifically through the Messiah. Those who had been divided will now finally be united in the Messiah. Consider Abraham: He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: All nations will be blessed through you. So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith (Galatians 3:6-9). So the account of Abraham is an record of faith, failure, repentance and finally success, a success grounded in faith in God and obedience to His call. Failures don t define the man. Sins don t define the person. In faith we are God s children, guiltless, forgiven, in process. ) 140 (
Genesis 11:10-12:4 Failure Doesn t Define the Man VI. The Patriarchs Chapter 11:11-Chapter 50 A. Introduction 1. Overview 2. Prologue Chapter 11:10-32 B. Abraham Chapters 12-24 1. Introduction 2. Abraham s Calling Chapter 12 a. God s Call Verses 1-4 A. Introduction: 1. Overview: Outline: a. People: b. The focus: c. The Time: d. The Biographer: 2. Prologue: Verses 10-25:
Verses 26-30: (Joshua 24:2; Acts 7:2-4) B. Abraham: 1. Introduction: a. Name: b. Career: c. The Period of Abraham: d. The Geographical Context: e. Religion of Abraham: ) 2 (
2. Abraham s Calling: a. God s Call: Verse 1: (Hebrews 11:8) Verses 2-3: Note: (Galatians 3:6-9) ) 3 (