Abraham: A hero of faith that struggled to trust the Lord.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Key take away: God blesses those who believe and trust in Him and his Word.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Abraham’s life of obedience and struggles.
1. God calls Abram and Abram obeys.
1. God calls Abram and Abram obeys.
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
a. Selected Abram
b. Abram responded to his calling.
c. Abram obeyed even in his old age, 75 years old.
d. Abram left to go to Canaan.
2. Abram lies to Pharaoh and Abram’s faithlessness demonstrated.
2. Abram lies to Pharaoh and Abram’s faithlessness demonstrated.
10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,
12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”
14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.”
20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
a. Abram feared for his life.
v 11-12
b. Abram instructed Sarai to lie.
v 13
c. Abram receives gain for his lie.
v 16
d. God judges Pharaoh’s wrong doing
(taking Sarai as his own)
3. Abram receives a promise from God.
3. Abram receives a promise from God.
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
a. It was a promise of greatness.
v 14-15
b. It was a promise of offspring.
v 16
c. It was a promise of victory.
v 17
d. It was a call to obedience.
v 17-18
4. King Melchizedek blesses Abram after a victorious battle.
4. King Melchizedek blesses Abram after a victorious battle.
17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
a. Abram was victorious in battle.
v 17
b. Abram received a blessing from Melchizedek.
vv 18-20
1- Melchizedek is a priest of God
2- Melchizedek recognizes Abram’s special calling.
c. Abram provides Melchizedek with a tithe offering.
5. Abram believes God’s promise.
5. Abram believes God’s promise.
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
a. God promises to protect Abram.
v 1
b. God promises to provide Abram with offspring.
v 4-5
c. God counts Abram’s belief as righteousness.
v 6
6. Abram and Sarai faithlessness demonstrated.
6. Abram and Sarai faithlessness demonstrated.
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
a. Sarai lost hope in having a child.
v 2
b. Abram listened to Sarai instead of God.
v 2
c. Abram mistakenly takes Hagar has his second wife.
v 3
d. Hagar conceives a son for Abram.
v 4, 15
Abram was 86 years old when Ishmael is born, 11 years have now passed since called out of his homeland.
7. God reestablishes his covenant with Abram.
7. God reestablishes his covenant with Abram.
Genesis 17
a. After 13 years, God reestablishes his covenant with Abram.
vv 1-2
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”
b. God promises Abram will give birth to multiple nations.
v 4
4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
c. God gives Abram a new name, Abraham.
v 5
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
d. God gives a physical covenant to Abraham.
9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
e. God gives a new name to Sarai, Sarah
v 15
15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
f. God promises a child through Sarah
v 16
16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
g. Abraham’s unbelief demonstrated.
v 17-19
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”
19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
8. The Lord promises the coming of Isaac.
8. The Lord promises the coming of Isaac.
9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”
10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
a. Sarah will give birth in a year.
v 10
b. Sarah was beyond childbearing years.
v 11-12
c. Sarah laughs at the Lord’s prophesy.
v 13, 15
d. The Lord declares there is nothing too hard for God.
v 14
9. Abraham pleads to God on Sodom’s behalf.
9. Abraham pleads to God on Sodom’s behalf.
Genesis 18:22-33; 19:29
a. Abraham asks if God will destroy the city if fifty is found righteous in the city.
v 22-25
b. God agrees to spare Sodom if fifty are found righteous.
v 26
c. Abraham pleads with God to spare the city down to 10 with the Lord agreeing with each plead.
v 27-32
d. God spares Lot because of Abraham.
29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
10. Abraham again lies about his relationship with Sarah.
10. Abraham again lies about his relationship with Sarah.
Genesis 20
a. Abraham lies about Sarah being his sister.
v 1-2
b. God warns Abimelech that Sarah is Abraham’s wife.
v 3-7
c. Abraham prays on Abimelech’s behalf.
v 8-18
11. God’s promise of a son realized.
11. God’s promise of a son realized.
1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
a. Sarah gives birth to a son.
v 1-4
b. Abraham circumcises Isaac on the 8th day as God commanded.
v 4
c. Abraham waited 25 years for God’s promised offspring.
v 5
12. God’s final test for Abraham.
12. God’s final test for Abraham.
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven
16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
20 Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”
23 (Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
a. God requested Abraham to sacrifice his only son.
- a for-shadowing of God’s sacrifice of Jesus for the World.
- God did not recognize Ishmael as a legitimate son.
v 2
b. Abraham trusts God to provide a sacrifice.
v 14
c. God blesses Abraham because of his faith.
v 15-18
He didn’t withhold his son.
Application:
Things we learn from Abraham:
God blesses those who believe and trust him.
2. Believers are not alone in their struggle to live righteously in all areas of their life.
3. Believers are not alone in struggling to consistently trust in the Lord.
4. God patiently encourages his saints to be sanctified in him.
5. God has a genuine love for his children.