Genesis 18 NLT
17 “Should I hide my plan
from Abraham?” the LORD asked.
18 “For Abraham will
certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth
will be blessed through him.
19 I have singled him out so
that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the LORD by
doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have
promised.”
The
month of June is Family month at Church on the Rock. The next three Sunday
mornings our Adult Sunday School classes will focus on aspects of the Family.
The topic this coming Sunday will be Marriage; the following Sunday –
Parenting; and the last Sunday in June the topic will be Blended Families.
Either you or someone you know has a family and the information gained in these
classes will become valuable tools both to use and to share with others. I
encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities.
This
evening we are going to begin a study of the life of one of the most prolific
characters in the Bible, Abraham, who is often called the father of our faith.
To begin our study let’s go to the New Testament Book of Romans, chapter 4, and
hear the Apostle Paul expound on this great man.
Romans 4 NLT
1 Abraham was, humanly speaking,
the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right
with God?
2 If his good deeds had made
him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was
not God’s way.
3 For the Scriptures tell us,
“Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
4 When people work, their
wages are not a gift, but something they have earned.
5 But people are counted as
righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who
forgives sinners.
What
did Abraham discover about being right with God? The Apostle Paul continues to
expound on the life and faith of Abraham. Before we hear more from Paul, let’s
do a brief survey of this man named Abraham by going back to the first time we
see his name mentioned in the Bible. Perhaps it will help broaden our
understanding concerning the things Paul will mention further along in the 4th
chapter of Romans.
Genesis 11:26 And Terah lived
seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
This
verse is situated at the end of a long line of names in the genealogy of Shem,
one of the three sons of Noah. Some scholarly studies of the scriptures
indicate that Abraham, given the name of Abram at birth, was born 292 years
after the flood which coincides with 1948 years after God created Adam. We
cannot know for certain and there are varied opinions as to the exact year
Abraham was born but no one disagrees that Abraham was a direct descendant of
Shem, the son of Noah. After the ark landed on the mountains of Ararat, Shem’s
descendants moved south along the Euphrates River to the fertile land known as
Ur of the Chaldees. This is where Abraham was born.
Acts 7
2 This was Stephen’s
reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our
ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.
3 God told him, ‘Leave
your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show
you.’
4 So Abraham left the
land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God
brought him here to the land where you now live.
God
spoke to Abraham while he was living in Ur and told him to leave his family and
travel to a land God was going to give to him and his descendants. Abraham
evidently did not leave immediately. (Acts 7:2-5) It seems after Abraham’s
eldest brother died in Ur that Abraham’s father decided to go along with
Abraham as well as several other members of the family. This was not what God
told Abraham to do. Abraham was most likely about 50 years old.
Abraham’s
father, Terah, which means delay, became the leader of the group by default and
led the family, along with Abraham and Sarai, Abraham’s wife, not to the
promised land of Canaan but rather to the city of Haran along the Syrian and
Turkish border along the Euphrates, in the Ararat Mountain range, probably
close to where Noah’s ark had landed almost 400 years earlier.
Genesis 11:31 One day Terah took
his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his
grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans.
He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled
there.
The
scriptures indicate that Abraham may have lived in Haran for perhaps 20 to 25
years with his father and his family. However, after his father died, (Terah =
delay), God spoke once again to Abraham. Guess what God said? The very same
thing God said to him 25 years earlier …
(Verse
by Verse)
Genesis 12 NLT
1 The LORD had said to Abram,
“Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to
the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a
great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing
to others.
3 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.”
4 So Abram departed as the
LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old
when he left Haran.
5 He took his wife, Sarai,
his nephew Lot, and all his wealth — his livestock and all the people
he had taken into his household at Haran — and headed for the land of
Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan,
6 Abram traveled through the
land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that
time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
7 Then the LORD appeared to
Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an
altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 After that, Abram traveled
south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to
the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped
the LORD.
9 Then Abram continued
traveling south by stages toward the Negev.
This
evening we have discovered and confirmed that Abraham found out:
1.
God calls greatness out of obscurity.
a. There were perhaps
15 million people on planet earth then.
b. We do not know how
many God called, we do know who said yes.
2.
We may delay the will of God but we cannot change it.
a. God may change the
man but not the plan.
b. Children of Israel
in Exodus; Young Rich Ruler/Zacchaeus
3.
God is the God of another chance.
a. As long as there is
life, there is always something we can do.
b. God calls and
corrects with grace and mercy …
c. God has a plan and
He needs help – He fills willing vessels …
