God's Promises To Abram

REVIEW

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, sin entered the world. The Seed, Christ, was promised in Genesis 3:15, meaning we have hope because Jesus will come and crush Satan. In Genesis 4–6, through the story of Cain and Abel, the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent continued to battle. In Genesis 7–9, God chose Noah’s family to survive the flood. Afterward, God told them to be fruitful and multiply. But Ham, who became the father of Canaan, went wrong, creating division in the family. Noah cursed Ham but blessed Shem, who was in the lineage of Abram.

TEACHING

Genesis 11:27–29: Following the record of Shem’s lineage (v. 10), Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. So Abram, as one of Terah’s three sons, was in the lineage of Shem (v. 27). Haran died in his native land while his father, Terah, was still alive (v. 28). Abram’s wife was Sarai. Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran (Nahor married his niece). Before his death, Haran had three children: Milcah, Iscah, and Lot. In verse 29, Abram married his half-sister, Sarai, daughter of Terah by another wife (Genesis 20:12).

Genesis 11:30: Sarai was barren. Now this was important because the Seed had been passed down from Adam to Seth to Noah to Shem to Terah (Luke 3:23–38). Interestingly, this whole family worshipped the moon god. The name Terah could literally mean “moon.” These people didn’t have a background in the Lord.

Genesis 11:31: Terah took Lot, Abram, and Sarai and headed to the land of Canaan. But on the way there, they settled in Haran instead. They didn’t even make it to their goal. Have you ever been called to something and stopped before you got there? I think the church is hearing constantly from the Holy Spirit, but when we’re asked to do something, we’d rather stop in our “Harans” because it’s more comfortable. It feels more right to be comfortable in Haran rather than to do something radical. But God knew there was something special with the young man Abram, whose family worshipped a moon god. For some reason, God elected Abram for a special call in his life. God has a special plan for your future! You have to be OK with the fact that He’s chosen you to do this. That’s a part of the Seed.

God chose Abram to carry out the Seed that began in Genesis 3:15. God knew Abram was a man of faith. Hebrews 11 is known as the Heroes of Faith. In this chapter, most heroes got one verse. Moses got six verses. But Abram got 12 verses; he truly is the Father of Faith. Abram became the father of three religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Genesis 12: Inthis chapter, we’re going to learn about faith and that despite our flaws, God can use us. As a matter of fact, we’re going to see that Abram messed up at times. Second Timothy 2:13 is the reminder, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” God will bring His plan to fruition, even if we’re faithless.

Genesis 12:1–3: How does this little nugget of treasure in Genesis 12:1–3 paint a picture of the Messiah? After Abram’s father Terah died, God told Abram to leave his father’s house and go to the land God would show him. In Genesis 11, Terah originally headed for the land of Canaan; maybe that was part of Abram’s calling. But they stopped short. When Terah died, Abram was released, and God called him to go. Verse 2 records God’s promise to Abram to make his name great. Abram, who possibly grew up worshipping the moon god, suddenly heard from God! In verse 3, God promised that the people on earth would be blessed through Abram. Remember the Seed? The Seed went from Shem all the way to Terah, and then it continued to Abram.

One man, Abram, would see seven things radically lived out—maybe in his lifetime or maybe after. He was promised:

1. You will be given land. God promised Abram in Genesis 12:7: “I will give this land to your offspring.” That land was Canaan, where the descendants of Ham, the cursed son, lived. There would be hostility when Abram went into this land (Hebrew 11:8–10; Genesis 12:1–3).

• Abram built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him (v. 7). I believe this was the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to Abram before He was born in Bethlehem.
• How do we know that this was the pre-incarnate Christ? It can’t be 100 percent proven, but in Genesis 17 and

Genesis 18, Jesus showed up to Abraham. Every time Abram encountered Him, the relationship grew.

Exodus 33:20 says, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” This verse refers to God the Father (Exodus 33:12-23; John 1:18). I believe that over and over in the Old Testament, God the Son showed up. We can’t prove it for sure, but in John 8:56, Jesus said, “Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.”

You will become a great nation. Abram’s wife was barren, but God promised to make him into a great nation. Hebrews 11:12 explains: “Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.”

Your name will be great. Look at Genesis 23:6. Eventually, you know what happened? Abram was buried amongst the kings.

You will be blessed. God promised Abram His favor for his lifetime. Psalm 30:5: “For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime.” Abram was a friend of God. Three different times, Abraham was called a friend of God (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). For every single one of you who has the Seed, Christ, in you, you are a friend of God! This blessing came because Abram was obedient. Genesis 22:17–18: “I will indeed bless you . . . because you have obeyed My command.” That’s the challenge in the church today! You want to be blessed? Be obedient.

You will be a blessing. People interacted with Abram, and they were blessed because of it. Psalm 1:3 states: “He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” I think this was a picture of Abram. The fruit from Abram was a blessing to others. Our fruit is a blessing to others.

Bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. Pharaoh took Sarai as his wife, and his whole household was cursed. Abimilech took Sarai as his wife, and the same thing happened to him (Genesis 20). Don’t mess with Abram and his people!

Every time the American presidency has made a decision against Israel, something bad has happened to America. For example, as depicted in the movie The Perfect Storm, as soon as President Bush made a decision about how to work with Israel and the settlements in the land, the perfect storm came and actually took out his vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Every time we’ve decided to take land away from Israel or made a decision against Israel, something bad has come to America and/or its leaders. Genesis 12:3 is still relevant today! Please don’t compromise the land and the people of Israel!

All peoples will be blessed. Abram received the Seed. The Seed went from Shem, eventually to Terah, and then to Abram. Remember, the people of Japheth were blessed through Shem and would “dwell in the tents of Shem” (Genesis 9:27). They would be grafted in and blessed through Abram. Ultimately, this blessing comes through one person: All the peoples of the earth will be blessed through the Messiah (Galatians 3:16–19a).

CLOSING

The promise in Genesis 12:1–3 eventually points to Christ…all because of Abram’s faith, despite his flaws, our Messiah came to earth. And whether you believe it or not, that very Seed, possibly Christ Himself, came and spoke that very promise to Abram! It happened because Abram overcame his fear and went by faith. C. S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”¹

Abram continued to go to where God called him, and God continued to unfold the promise. I believe Abram 100 percent knew he was meant for another place. Scripture tells us so in Hebrews 11:8–10. And because of that, all of us—Jews and Gentiles—have the opportunity to be blessed through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.