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Genesis 12:4-14
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  • Genesis 12:4-14

    Good morning Saints and Happy Lord’s Day!
    We are picking up this morning with the story of Abram as we study God’s plan of redemption for mankind. We don’t have an genealogy's this morning, but remember that Abram was from the line of Shem, one of the son’s of Noah that was on the Ark. Part of the saved remnant from the flood. God will always preserve His remnant.
    We are picking up in the 4th verse for our study, but let’s read the first 3 verses, as it is there that we see Abram’s marching orders. God’s will for his life. Verse 1
    Genesis 12:1–3 LSB
    1 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go forth from your land, And from your kin And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
    Let’s pray...
    Picking up in verse 4
    Genesis 12:4–5 LSB
    4 So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go forth to the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
    At first glance this appears to be success. I mean you might look at verses 4 & 5 and think he hasn’t done anything yet, he is not the father of a great nation yet, there has been no testing of his faith on Mount Moriah. But remember success is in obedience, and he was the Father of a great nation because God said it was so. Again, as we look at the verse it appears that God said, and Abram did. He told him to move and he moved, but notice what else this says...
    Abram did as God had spoken to him...and! And what? And Lot went with him...why is that a problem?
    Genesis 12:1 LSB
    1 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go forth from your land, And from your kin And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;
    Lot wasn’t to go with Him. So although Abram went forth, he went forth in only partial obedience...What’s another way of saying partial obedience? Disobedience...Lot never becomes a blessing in the life of Abram, but rather becomes a burden and a hardship as we will see as the story unfolds.
    Genesis 12:6–9 LSB
    6 And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to Yahweh who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and called upon the name of Yahweh. 9 And Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.
    One of the things that you will see in the life of Abram is this repeated pattern, always worship first. He entered the land of Canaan and traveled as far as Shechem and the Lord appeared to Abram there so he built an altar. He proceeds east from there, pitched his tent on the mountain on the east of Bethel and he builds and altar to Yahweh...
    Genesis 12:10 LSB
    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.
    Now this is a troubling verse. God told Abram to go into the land, and Abram trusted God and went into the land. Once he was there he discovers that there is famine in the land, so he leaves the land. He trusts God enough to go, but then when there is difficulty, determines his own solution. We will see this trait magnified to a much greater degree in Lot. Being lead by prosperity, rather than God.
    Go to the land that I will show you, not to one you determine to be a better place.
    We will see there are consequences again for Abram’s partial obedience...
    Genesis 12:11–13 LSB
    11 And it happened as he drew near to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Now behold, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance; 12 and it will be when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”
    Sarai at this point in time is believed to be approximately 65 years young and apparently a real looker. Contemporary cultures could learn much from these older cultures concerning their standards of beauty compared to what is sought after today.
    Again, Abram is in a place that he should not be, and rather than trust God, tells his wife to lie and follow his plan. We will see here though that God shows him and Sarai grace and mercy and bails them out. Sadly, although this is the first occurrence, it is not the last.
    Genesis 12:14–15 LSB
    14 Now it happened when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
    Had God not been in complete control, this certainly could have disrupted God’s plan of the Redeemer coming through Abram and Sarai.
    Genesis 12:16 LSB
    16 Therefore he treated Abram well because of her; and sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels came into his possession.
    Now she does get released, but fellas, can you imagine when he got her back...she looks around at everything. Abram, where’d you get the donkeys, oh I got them in the trade...but notice what else he got besides the animals...male and female servants...let’s fast forward a little for just a second to see another consequence of partial obedience, rather than experiencing God’s perfect will for your life.
    Genesis 16:1 LSB
    1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian servant-woman whose name was Hagar.
    When and where do you think Sarai obtained an Egyptian servant-woman named Hagar??? If only Abram just trusted that God would provide for him in the land that He led him to.
    Back to chapter 12, vs. 17
    Genesis 12:17–20 LSB
    17 But Yahweh struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 Then 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 myself as a wife? So now, here is your wife, take her and go.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away with his wife and all that belonged to him.
    The great Abram gets rebuked by a pagan, Egyptian Pharaoh, and rightly so!
    God bails him out not because he deserved it, but because God made him a promise, a promise that was not dependent upon Abram, it was dependent upon God and He is faithful and true.
    So the promise is restated.
    Genesis 13:1–4 LSB
    1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him. 2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. 3 And he went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called upon the name of Yahweh.
    ljkjk
    Genesis 13:5–7 LSB
    5 Now Lot, who was going with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 And the land could not sustain them while living together, for their possessions were so abundant that they were not able to live together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were living then in the land.
    Again we see the partial obedience has a cost. There is division as a result of bringing Lot, which he was commanded not to do, and those living in the land witness the disputes between those who worship this other God.
    Genesis 13:8–9 LSB
    8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. 9 “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”
    This is actually kind of odd. This was a very patriarchal society. So this was only an act of great generosity of Abram. It should have been Lot coming to Abram to seek peace, to take a loss. I think as modern day Americans this level of respect for the elders in the family is literally a foreign concept. Our culture today is very much me, myself and I. I’ve got to take care of me and my own, at any cost.
    So Lot is being a major punk here.
    Genesis 13:10–13 LSB
    10 Then Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. 11 So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived in the cities of the valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were evil and sinners, exceedingly so, against Yahweh.
    A a pastor, I have seen this pattern of Lot, repeated far too many times. Families move away, new jobs, new house, new community, at the prospect of prosperity, with no regard to the cost to them and their family spiritually.
    Times are tough in Canaan, Abram packs up his tent and goes to Egypt, at tremendous cost. There was gain as well, but at too great of a cost.
    Here, Lot chooses the valley of Jordan and moves his tents to Sodom where the men are evil, sinners against Yahweh...yeah but, it is the land of opportunity, but at what cost?
    How often to people move for their job, with no regard for whether or not there is a good church there, or the strength of the Christian community, when really those are the things that should determine where we are living. Where has God called us to go.
    Genesis 13:14–15 LSB
    14 And Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your seed forever.
    Lift up your eyes and see what the Lord is showing you. Abram made the generous offer to give Lot whatever area he wanted, but here God says all that you see belongs to you and your seed forever.
    That is why Israel has the land that they do today and will have more of that land restored, because God said it belongs to them. Our president and others think they are the ones deciding what Israel is entitled to, or what land they will have, God gave them the land. No other nation on earth, including our own can say that.
    Genesis 13:16 LSB
    16 “And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your seed can also be numbered.
    I love the declarations that God makes. He knows not impossible, He knows it not...He is God. Consider that church. When God determines His will He does not calculate it, limit it, or change it based upon circumstances. He doesn’t look at your life or mine and say, well that’s too big a mess, or they went too far this time, what am I going to do with that? He simply declares it and does it.
    Genesis 13:17–18 LSB
    17 “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” 18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to Yahweh.
    Again, he sets up a meeting place with God and worships. Mamre was a person and this place was named after him, but the name means vision, and Hebron, the place this land was within means communion. So Mamre would be like Old Town, within Penobscot County, but the picture here, is that Abram has returned to the land, he is without Lot, and is once again walking in obedience to the Lord with vision, and walking in communion with the Lord as He leads him.
    If there were ever a time and a place appropriate for a no kings rally, check out the opening of chapter 14...and just to give you some understanding before a muddle a bunch of names, what you have here is like I just mentioned with Mamre being a place within Hebron.
    There are four kings of the cities in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah and they come and rebel against the larger confederation of kings of nations ruling over them. Don’t picture your map or globe as you would today. There was no Israel before Abram becomes Abraham. Israel did not concur and take over another country. The surrounding countries did not exist as they do today, there were a whole bunch of little independent areas. it would be as if our states were not just independent, but we had a King of Old Town, another of Orono, Milford would have a king, even Alton.
    Genesis 14:1–3 LSB
    1 And it happened in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
    That’s another place you pilgrims going to Israel will get to see and swim in. The Dead Sea.
    Verses 4 through 9 give a little of the detail of the building drama that leads to this rebellion, feel free to try to read that out loud in front of a mirror at home. I will pick up in verse 10
    Genesis 14:10 LSB
    10 now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits—and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them; but those who remained behind fled to the hill country.
    In the original language here there is repetition of the word pits, emphasizing the abundance of them.
    Genesis 14:11–14 LSB
    11 Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply and departed. 12 They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed; now he was living in Sodom. 13 Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was dwelling by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were in a covenant with Abram. 14 So Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, and he led out his trained men, born in his house, 318 in number, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
    So here again, partial obedience results in consequences. Abram was to leave his kin, but he brings lot with him, and now as a man of honor he has to align himself with the five kings so he can form an army and rescue Lot.
    Dan today is one of the places that we will go, there is actually a state park there, and as you get to the northern most area in the park we will sit in a place where there is an old pagan worship site and we will be looking at a fence in a valley just below us that is the border area between Israel and Lebanon. Here he rescues Lot.
    Genesis 14:15–16 LSB
    15 And he divided his men against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 And he brought back all the possessions, and he also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions and also the women and the people.
    What a wake up call for Lot! His pursuit of wealth and prosperity without regard for the cost on his own soul, or the consequences to his family nearly here destroys him. God is merciful. He blesses Abram, who is walking in faith and communion with God and allows him to rescue his nephew, and I wish we could then say Lot lived happily ever after following in the example of the Patriarch, of his family, Abram.
    Sadly, we will see that Lot returns right back to sin city. It is so easy to see the folly of others when we hear stories like this. God gave him a warning, allowed him to experience a little fear, maybe some pain even as a wake-up call, only Lot hits snooze. We would never do that, would we gang? Has God tried to give you a wake up call? Go ahead and consider it for a moment.
    The last time you experienced hardship, or pain, or your plans weren’t working out, or a bunch of kings came and took you hostage and carried you and your belongings off, did you consider why? Did you ask God if He was trying to get your attention, to show you what you weren’t seeing on your own, to give you His vision, to restore communion with Him, that you would walk in His will, in His way, so that you could experience the blessing of being in His perfect will.
    What was your last wake-up call? For some of you the Holy Spirit is reminding you right now, speaking into your heart, yeah, that is who that is. I imagine, only because I have been in this exact same place, there are others that hit snooze some time ago, and none of this is even registering right now. Well the Holy Spirit would say, wake up!
    I have a dog, that you guys have heard some about. Hank the Tank, a title he earned as a puppy when he plowed into the side of my leg, breaking my knee. He’s been on a little diet since then. Well Hank has become a very, very smart dog...except in this one particular area, maybe your dog shares this trait. Every once in a while, we will come home and there will be evidence that he has eaten something that he shouldn’t have.
    I know what your thinking...like we will find trash on the ground, or an empty box of chocolates, that’s not it...it’s more like where is the couch? Did you let someone borrow my truck? Big things are just gone, no not that bad. But we know what’s coming right? What ever dogs eat that is not intended to be eaten generally comes out the same way that it went in...what does the bible say...
    Proverbs 26:11 LSB
    11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.
    Whatever that is inside the dogs belly that is so bad, so toxic to them, that their body will not allow it to remain inside, as soon as that thing comes up that made them feel so terrible that they had to arch their backs and hurl, if you don’t physically block them, they will go right back to that poison pile for more...Do you know anyone like that? IF not a dog, maybe a person. That just keeps returning to the place of pain. The very thing that is harming them, is what continues to draw them?
    Learn the lesson here from Lot and repent and return to Jesus.
    Let’s finish this, now for this last chapter I really wish we were in growth groups right now so we could explore this next Character a little bit, as we don’t learn much about him here, but this is our introduction.
    Genesis 14:17–18 LSB
    17 Then after he came back from striking down 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; now he was a priest of God Most High.
    So understand what is happening here. Abram is returning in a battle weary condition. Whenever we have great victories, the enemy of our soul shows up with temptation and that is the case that we have here. The king of Sodom goes out to meet Abram upon his return to make a deal with him, but this other King, Melchizedek intercedes and ministers to Abram, making him strong for the battle before him.
    We only have a couple of verses here about this character Melchizedek. His name had tremendous meaning. We don’t really know if Melchizedek is a name or a title, but it means King of Righteousness...well that has a ring to it, he is spoken of as king of Salem, Salem means Peace, the King of Righteousness, the prince of peace, wait, I know Him...he brings out bread and wine to minister to Abram, yes common staples in the culture, but also instrumental in the celebration of both passover and communion.
    Finally it says, he was a priest of God Most High...before Aaron.
    Genesis 14:19–20 LSB
    19 Then he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then he gave him a tenth of all.
    Abram pays a tithe to Melchizedek. We will talk more about this guy...not today but if you want some further study he is mentioned again in
    Psalm 110:4 LSB
    4 Yahweh has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
    And then the writer of Hebrews takes several chapters, beginning at the very end of chapter 4 to explain all of this.
    It is an interesting study… to discover who Melchizedek is. A couple of teaser verses...
    Hebrews 7:1–3 LSB
    1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest continually.
    King of Righteousness, King of Peace. Some say He is a type of Christ, others read this and believe He is what we call a Christophany, a pre-incarnate, or pre Bethlehem appearance of Jesus. Jesus did not begin to exist when He was born to Mary, He is eternal, has always been, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life. I won’t tell you today what I think...you could probably ask someone in my growth group, or a School of ministry student, we’ve talked about this.
    Genesis 14:21–24 LSB
    21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me, but take the possessions for yourself.” 22 Then Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to Yahweh God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you would not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 “I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”
    Pretty generous response I think of Abram, he could have said, you lost it all bub, you want it, come take it.
    Abram has been ministered to and refreshed by Melchizedek, he is strong for the temptation...who is not at times tempted by wealth and prosperity? I know what Lot would have said to that offer. But he had raised his hand to Yahweh God Most High.
    Is God first in your life. Is your dependence upon him alone? Is he leading you into an area that your uncertain about. Is your hesitancy to obey fear of provision? He alone is faithful.
    Grace and Peace

        • Genesis 12:1–3LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:4–5LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:1–2LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:6–9LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:10LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:11–13LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:14–15LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:16LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 16:1LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 12:17–20LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 13:1–4LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 13:5–7LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 13:8–9LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 13:10–13LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 13:14–15LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 13:16LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 13:17–18LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 14:1–3LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 14:10LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 14:11–14LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 14:15–16LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Proverbs 26:11LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 14:17–18LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 14:19–20LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Psalm 110:4LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Hebrews 7:1–3LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

        • Genesis 14:21–24LGCYSTNDRDBBLSB

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