CONCEPT: God calls the weak and unassuming to fulfill His
plan
Abram’s background:
o Terah (a descendant of Noah) has three sons: Abram,
Nahor, and Haran.
o Abram and his nephew Lot (son of Haran, who died
young) are raised together by Terah. They travel from
Ur to the town of Haran.
o Abram was not a “promising” candidate for fulfilling
God’s plan of salvation:
He was 75 years old at the beginning of his calling
He was a nomad- no land that was his own
He had no heirs to support him
He held no special political position
God calls Abram (Gen 12:1-3) to leave his home and go to the
land of Canaan. God makes three promises to Abram: land,
kingship, and worldwide blessing through him.
o Land and a nation (fulfilled in the covenant with Moses)
o Kingship and a name (fulfilled in the covenant with
David)
o Blessing for all nations (fulfilled in the covenant with
Jesus Christ)
CONCEPT: God favors those who choose to belong to Him
In Egypt: (Read Gen 12:10-20)
o Abram takes a “detour” with his caravan into Egypt to
survive a famine.
o In Egypt, Abram permits Sarai to be taken into Pharoh’s
household as Abram’s “sister.”
o Pharaoh’s household is punished with plagues because
of what Pharaoh intended to do with Sarai.
Departure from Lot (Read Gen 13:5-18)
o Abram and Lot’s herds were so blessed that they
couldn’t remain together on the same land.
o Abram permits Lot to choose land for himself; Lot
chooses what appears most “like Egypt.”
o Though Abram is left with the land of Canaan, God
promises to him “all the land to the north and south, east
and west.”
CONCEPT: the LORD is more powerful than any other gods
Read Gen 14: 17-23: After a battle, Abram meets with 4 kings.
Melchizedek, the king of Salem (“peace”), blesses Abram.
This is an expression of Abram’s blessedness among men, as
well as the LORD’s unique position among other gods.
Melchizedek is unique in that
o He uses bread and wine; most priests used animals
o He is called a “priest of God Most High”, meaning he
receives his authority from God; most priests were titled
after men
o He invokes God as the creator of heaven and earth; other
priests invoked gods as makers of parts of creation
CONCEPT: God guarantees his promised blessings with vows
Promise #1: Land and a Nation
o Abram’s concern: (Read Gen 15:1-3) In order to have a
nation, Abram needed an heir. His wife, Sarai, was
barren (unable to conceive a child). Abram and Sarai
were concerned that the promise wouldn’t be fulfilled.
o God’s assurance: (Read Gen 15:4-6 and 15:9-18) God
guarantees the promised blessing by making the promise
again and sealing it with a vow (an oath)
Gen 15:4-6: your own son shall be your heir; your
descendents shall be as numerous as the stars; to
your descendents I give this land
Gen 15:18: animal sacrifice (“if I fail, may I be as
these animals!”)
Vow-making in the Old Testament
vows in the OT were never simply a matter of words. Vows
involved physical “signs” of the people swearing, and “curses” for
breaking the vow.
A vow-making ritual often involved a demonstration of the curse
on the physical sign as the words of the vow were recited.
God swears a vow to Abram by cutting animals (the sign) in half
and burning them in sacrifice (the curse). This amounted to
saying, “if I don’t fulfill my vow, may I be split in half and
consumed, like these animals.”
Promise #2: Kingship and a Name
o Abram’s concern: Sarai is childless and old, so she and
Abram decide to “have a child” through Sarai’s servant,
Hagar. Ishmael is born from Hagar and Abram. God
makes a great nation of Ishmael (the Arabs), but tells
Abram that Ishmael is not the heir through whom the
blessings will come.
o God’s assurance: when Ishmael is 13, God promises
Abram a son from Sara. The promise is made (Gen 17:1-
8) and sealed with a vow (Gen 17:9-14)
Spiritual meaning of Read Gen 17:1-8: You shall be
circumcision: the father of a multitude of
nations… kings shall come
Rejection (cutting from your line. Your name
away) of idolatry shall no longer be Abram but
Abraham, “father of a
Permanent
multitude.”
dedication to God
Read Gen 17:15-16: Sarai will
bear a son; her name shall no
longer be Sarai but Sarah,
“queen”.
Read Gen 17:9-14: God vows his fidelity to those who bear the
sign of the covenant (circumcision)- they will be “his people”
(cf. 1 Macc 1:11-15; 57-63)
CONCEPT: God is faithful to His promises
Read Gen 18:1-15.
Abraham and Sarah welcome
three visitors with selfless Names and Name Changes
hospitality
The visitors bear God’s in the Old Testament, the
message and presence (v. 13 meaning of a person’s name
identifies them with the LORD) described something they did or
something they were called to
Sarah, who is beyond child-
do.
bearing age, laughs at the
promise of a son. When the Abraham: father of a multitude
son is born, he is named Sarah: queen (royal mother)
Isaac: laughter
“Isaac,” meaning “laugher.”
Read Gen 17:19-20: God will A name change is always
fulfill his promises through significant:
Isaac, NOT through Ishmael, o The person receives a new
position or calling
though God still blesses
o Only God can change a
Ishmael
name
CONCEPT: the unfaithful are cut off from the covenant
blessings
In Sodom and Gomorrah, people were unashamedly
unfaithful to the marriage covenant. Homosexuality and rape
of strangers was a common practice- a profanation of the
marriage covenant (CCC 2357-9)
Read Gen 18:21-33:
o Abraham “argues” with God over the fate of the cities.
Abram models intercessory prayer.
o The lesson from this “argument” isn’t that God is open
to changing His mind, but that His concern is for His
people is worked out through the prayers of faithful men.
Read Gen 19:15-22: God permits the faithful in the city (Lot
and his family) to escape to a nearby cave, provided that they
“don’t look back.” Lot’s wife looks back (symbolic of
“longing for the pleasure of sin”) and turns into a pillar of salt.
Read Gen 19:31-38: Lot’s daughters are unfaithful to the
marriage covenant in yet another way: incest- they trick their
father into bearing their children, whose descendents (the
Moabites and Ammonites) become staunch enemies of
Abraham.
Promise 3#: Universal Blessings
o Read Gen 22:1-14. Abraham’s concern: Abraham was
told to sacrifice his only true son, Isaac, as a token of his
devotion to God. Abraham’s faith in God leads him to
the very point of sacrifice, when God intervenes.
o Read Gen 22: 15-18. God’s assurance: having seen
Abraham’s faithfulness, God repeats the promise to
Abraham again and makes a vow
Gen 22:15-17: by your descendants shall all the
nations of the earth bless themselves.
Gen 22:15: “by myself I swear” [“by so-and-so I
swear” was a vow formula, “so-and-so” being a
person who would guarantee the faithfulness of the
speaker. God can swear only by himself, since no
one is greater. God, hence, promises himself as a
guarantee.]
CONCEPT: fidelity to the covenant is fidelity to God
Read Gen 24:1-9: Abraham is concerned that Isaac marry a
woman of his kin, NOT a Cannanite woman. (Marrying a
Cannanite woman would mean “marrying” the gods of the
Cannanites- this would be infidelity to the Lord’s covenant.)
Read Gen 24:10-33; 59-67: Abraham’s servant meets
Rebekah, who is kindred (granddaughter of
Abraham’s brother). Laban, Rebekah’s brother,
gives Rebekah to the servant for Isaac.
Read Gen 25:11: God is faithful to Isaac, as
He was to Abraham.
Reflection and Discussion
1. On callings: In what situations do people use “weakness” as an
excuse not to act? When is this (or is it not) a reasonable excuse?
2. On name changing: If God were to change your name as a sign to
what you think He is calling you to, what would that name be?
3. On sacrifice and vows: What kind of “guarantee” do we seek (or
have) that people will fulfill their promises?