03-Genesis 10-30
Jan. 10, 2009
We begin this week after the flood when the descendants of Noah migrated southeast from the Mountains of Ararat, which is located in present day Turkey, to the plain of Shinar near what is now the city of Babylon in Iraq. Mankind stayed together, against God’s wishes, under the control of Nimrod, a descendent of Ham, and built a city and a tower in defiance of God. God saw what was happening and went down and caused each family group to speak a different language and not be able to communicate with each other. God’s will was done when the people were scattered throughout the whole Earth and no longer together. This stopped the city and the tower from being completed. The Bible, in Chapter 12 now narrows down to the call of Abram out of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram was a young man who grew up in a prosperous, sophisticated, idol worshipping center located in what is now southern Iraq. God spoke to Abram and told him to get up and leave his home and family and go to a place He would show him. God said He would make of Abram a great nation, that He would bless him, and that he would be a blessing. He also said that his enemies would be cursed, and that through him all the families of the Earth would be blessed. The last part is being fulfilled today when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts. Abram did as God directed and traveled to the land of Canaan. When he and his family reached the Oak of Moreh, near present day Nablus, in the West Bank region of Israel, God appeared to Abram and told him that He would give this land to him and to his descendants. Abram continued south until he reached Bethel. He stopped and built an altar to the Lord, and called upon His name. Abram continued his travels south, and because of a famine in the land he continued on into Egypt. After a time in Egypt he returned to Bethel and settled there. Chapter 13 begins with the Abrams return from Egypt and a serious conflict over land resources between his herdsmen, and the herdsmen of his nephew Lot. The two large families needed to separate. Abram gave Lot first choice on where to live. Lot chose what looked good to his eyes and settled in the cities of the fertile valley near the Dead Sea. Abram then moved south and settled in the Plain of Mamre, which is present day Hebron. God again told him that this land was his. Chapter 14 begins with Lot being taken captive during a war between Kings in the valley he had settled in. His uncle Abram heard of this and took 318 men born of his house and defeated the Kings and set Lot free. He received a blessing from the King of Salem named Melchizedek, an unknown man, and a picture of Jesus Christ, and gave him a tithe of the spoils from the battle. In Chapter 15 the Lord came to Abram in a vision and told him in Genesis 15:1 “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.” Abram questioned God about his lack of an heir, and the Lord again told him of a son that would become his heir, and reminded him of His promise. Abram believed the Lord and it was counted to him for righteousness. By this belief he was saved. God then had Abram gather up animals for a sacrifice, and array the animals as outlined in the text in the manner that was used in those days to seal a covenant between men. God then put Abram to sleep, possibly even to death, and made His covenant with Himself so that it was not dependent on Abram to keep the promise. God then told Abram the geographic boundaries of the Promised Land, and foretold of Israel’s future slavery in Egypt. Abram and his wife, Sarai, became tired of waiting on God to fulfill His promise for an heir. In Chapter 16 Sarai, as was the custom in that day, offered to Abram her servant, Hagar the Egyptian, as a wife to provide him with a son. Abram accepted Sarai’s offer and made Hagar his wife. Hagar’s conception caused Sarai to be angered and jealous of her that she did conceive, even though it was originally her idea. Sarai treated Hagar, with Abram’s blessing, so badly that she fled away from them. God spoke to Hagar and told her to return to her masters. He remembered His promise to Abram’s descendents and told her that her son would be blessed. He also told her to name the boy Ishmael. This act of disobedience by Abram has greatly hurt his chosen descendants today. Ishmael became the father of the Arab people, the Muslims, who Israel is still fighting with today. When Abram was 99 years old God appeared to him and reaffirmed His covenant with him. At this time God also changed Abrams name to Abraham, the father of many nations. God instituted the practice of circumcision as a sign of the covenant. This is similar to the rainbow God used as a sign to Noah after the flood. God also changed Abraham’s wife Sarai’s name to Sarah to mark the occasion. God also told Abraham that Sarah would have a son at 90 years old and would call him Isaac. Chapter 18 begins the account of the Gods destruction of the cities of the valley where his nephew Lot had settled. Abraham was visited by three men as he sat at his tent door in the Oaks of Mamre. Abraham did not recognize his visitors but gave them the customary hospitality that was given to strangers in that time. He did not realize immediately his visitors were two angels and the pre-incarnate Christ! The Lord spoke to Sarah and told her that she would give birth to a son. Sarah laughed to herself in disbelief, but the Lord heard and asked her if anything is too difficult for the Lord. The other purpose of this visit was to destroy the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, and also the other cities of the valley near the Dead Sea. The people of these cities were wicked and worldly. The abomination of homosexuality was Gods reason for the destruction. The Lord stayed behind with Abraham while he bargained for the cities and his nephew Lot. The men of the city of Sodom acted towards the two angels as expected. This forced the angels to remove Lot and his family from the city. They were told to flee and not look back. Lot’s wife disobeyed and was turned into a pillar of salt. The angels destroyed the cities with fire and brimstone. Lot’s trouble was not yet over. He had talked the angels into sparing the small city of Zoar. He went there to settle with the two daughters that were left of his family. He became afraid of what the people of Zoar would think of him and his family and fled the city and hid in a mountain cave. His two daughters, using the worldly “wisdom” they learned from life in Sodom, decided to get Lot drunk and have incest with him to give their family an heir. Both daughters conceived and Lot became the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites. These two peoples would become a problem for God’s chosen people in the future. The Bible now turns to the story of Abraham’s promised heir Isaac. In Chapter 21 Isaac was born to Sarah at the appointed time. After he was weaned Sarah caught his older brother Ishmael mocking him. Sarah wanted Abraham to banish Ishmael and his mother Hagar from their household. God allowed Sarah’s wish and told Abraham to listen to his wife and banish them. God also let Abraham know that it was through his son Isaac his descendents would be named. Abraham banished Ishmael and his mother, but the Lord remembered His promise to Hagar, and rescued them and blessed Ishmael. Time passed and in Chapter 22 the Lord tested Abraham. He told him to take his son, his only son and go to the land of Moriah, the site of the temple mount in Jerusalem today, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering to the Lord on the mountain there. Abraham did as he was told believing that God would allow his son to return alive. This act was a picture of what God would do for all of us with His Son Jesus at Calvary. Abraham prepared Isaac for sacrifice, bound him to the altar, and lifted his knife over him, but at the last minute God provided a substitute, a ram trapped in the nearby brush for the sacrifice. He then reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham. By Chapter 24 Abraham was old and wanted to make sure his son Isaac would have a wife of his own people, not a daughter of the Canaanites. He sent his chief servant Eliezer of Damascus to the land of his brother Nahor which is near Haran. Eliezer devised a unique way to tell if a woman was the proper choice for a wife for Isaac. He stopped and prayed for God to show him the proper wife. This was done by having the woman draw water for him and all his camels at the city well. This was unique because it took a great deal of effort to draw that much extra water for a stranger during an already full day of work. Rebekah, Abraham’s niece, the daughter of his brother Nahor did this, and also met all of Abraham’s requirements. Eliezer went with Rebekah and met her family including her brother Laban who will come up later. He told them of Abraham’s plan, received their blessing and returned to Isaac with his new wife. Isaac married Rebekah and inherited all that belonged to his father when Abraham died. Isaac buried his father with Rebekah in a cave located in present day Hebron. In the middle of Chapter 25 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife Rebekah for a son because she was barren. His prayer was answered and she conceived twins. The twin boys struggle in her womb before birth caused Rebekah to ask the Lord why. He told her that two opposite people were in her womb and that they would separate and that the older twin would serve the younger. Esau was the firstborn and became a hunter. Jacob was next and became a peaceful man. Esau rejected the things of the Lord and sold his birthright to his brother for a bowl of lentil soup. The birthright consisted of a double portion of his father’s wealth, but more important it was for the spiritual leadership of the family. In Chapter 26 another famine came upon the Land of Canaan similar to the one that caused Abraham and his family to go to Egypt in Chapter 12. The Lord told Isaac not to go to Egypt as his father did. The Lord also transferred His covenant with Abraham to Isaac at this time. Isaac lied to the ruler of the land about the status of his wife. He called her his sister as his father Abraham did with Sarah many years before. The ruler sent them away but continued to have conflicts with them over water and wells. The two groups separated and Isaac was blessed. Esau then disappointed his parents and married two women who were Hittites, against his parent’s wishes. Time passed and Isaac became old, blind, and near death. It was time to bless his sons with their inheritance. Jacob and his mother, Rebekah planned a scheme to have Jacob receive the blessing of the firstborn. This rightfully belonged to Esau and it was to Esau Isaac planned to give the blessing. Isaac enjoyed a stew made from the game that his son Esau hunted, and sent him for it before his blessing. Rebekah overheard them and while Esau was hunting she had Jacob gather the ingredients for Esau’s stew from the flock. She prepared the stew and disguised Jacob as his brother. Jacob brought the stew to his father and deceived him into blessing him as if he were Esau. Esau soon returned and both father and son realized what Jacob been done. Isaac’s blessing was legally binding and could not be reversed even by him. Isaac could only repeat to his son Esau what God had told his mother before his birth that he would serve Jacob. Esau was furious and planned from that day to kill his brother. Rebekah found out what Esau planned to do and wanted to have Jacob flee to Haran, the land of her brother Laban. By Chapter 28 Isaac had been convinced by Rebekah to send Jacob to Laban to find a wife. Isaac blessed Jacob and told him of God’s promise then sent him away. Esau in defiance to his family went to Ishmael’s territory and married into his people. Jacob left for Haran, but along the way he stopped and had a dream. The dream was of a ladder that sat on the ground and reached into heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending on it. This dream is explained by the Lord Jesus to His disciples in John 1:51 “And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” God at the time of this dream reaffirmed His covenant to Jacob. After this, Jacob promised to return to the Lord a tenth of all the Lord gave him. In Chapter 29 Jacob continued his journey and arrived in Haran. When he arrived he fell in love at first sight with Laban’s daughter Rachel. Jacob offered to serve Laban seven years as a price for his daughter Rachel. Laban, a better deceiver than Jacob, then tricked him into marrying his firstborn daughter, Leah instead of Rachel. Leah was not as desirable as Rachel and had not yet married. Laban deceived Jacob into seven years of service for Leah and an additional seven years for Rachel. Jacob through jealousy and pride between his wives and their servants ended up with eleven sons and one daughter. After he finished his years of service to Laban he went to him and told him he wished to return with his family to the land of his father. Laban realized that God’s blessing on Jacob’s life had greatly increased his own personal wealth during the fourteen years that Jacob was his servant. He did not want Jacob to leave and change what he believed was his good fortune. Laban offered Jacob the chance to name his wage to stay with him. Jacob offered to stay and take care of Laban’s flocks. Jacob convinced Laban to separate his flocks and give to him all the striped, speckled and black lambs. Laban agreed because he thought he was getting the better bargain. The lambs Jacob wanted Laban considered inferior. God helped Jacob to selectively breed the flocks to produce an abundance of the striped, speckled and black lambs. Jacob’s flocks increased while Laban’s flocks dwindled. Jacob became very prosperous. We will continue with Jacob’s story next week in Chapter 31. Look into the lives of his sons, and then finish up the Book of Genesis with the story of Jacob’s favorite son Joseph.