10 October 25, 2015, Genesis 15, Abraham

Genesis 15

Abraham

October 25, 2015

First Baptist Church

Jackson, Mississippi

USA

What’s the number one thing?

The Glory of God!

http://www.nmnewsandviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/glory-of-God.jpg

1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV 31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of

God.

October Memory Verse:

Colossians 3:14 NIV 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect

unity.

Please Pray For: The Pastor Search Committee

Ross Aven Rodney DePriest

Laurel Ditto Susan Lindsay

Chris Maddux Joe Young

Paul Moak, Jr. (Chairman)

Share your faith with one person each month and build a relationship with them,

so they will not only become a disciple –but a disciple maker themselves.

How have you seen God at work during the week?

Resources:

• Genesis Chapters 1-15, J. Vernon McGee

• Our Covenant God, Kay Arthur

• The Dennison Forum on Truth and Culture—Cultural Commentary, Jim

Dennison

Terah Family Tree:

Terah begat Abram when Terah was 70

• He also begat Haran and Nahor

• Haran was Lot’s father and Haran died before his father Terah

Grand Canyon in Genesis

First 11 chapters—2000 years

Rest of Bible 2,000 years

350 years Genesis Chapters 12-50

Genesis Chapters 1-11

Events

• Creation

• Fall

• Flood

• Tower of Babel

Genesis Chapters 12-50

People

• Abram—Abraham

• Isaac

• Jacob—Israel

• Joseph

Abraham

Famous—3 great religions of the world go back to Abraham

• Judaism—Christianity—Islam

Review

Genesis 12:1-3

• God speaks to Abram for the 1st time (speaks to him 7 times) and tells him

to leave the land.

• Why?

• Joshua 24:2 says “Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old

time, even Terah, the Father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and

they served other gods.”

Abram’s Travels

Genesis 12:1-3

3 Fold Promise

• Land—Occupied up to 30,000 square miles—was actually promised

300,000 square miles

• Nation

• Blessing—thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee

and curse them that curse thee and in thee shall all families of the earth

be blessed.

Review

Genesis 12:4-7

• Abram departed Haran and entered Canaan.

• Abram was 75 years old.

• God appeared to Abram a second time in verse 7 and repeated promise

of the land.

Review

Genesis 12:10-20

• As a result of a famine Abram left Canaan and went to Egypt.

• Notice God did not tell Abram to leave.

• Abram lied about his relationship with his wife Sarai.

• God did not appear to Abram during this period.

• However as Chapter 13 begins and Abram returns to Canaan it is obvious

that God has blessed him because it says Abram was very rich.

Abram’s Travels—Egypt

Review—Genesis 13-Abram and Lot separate

In Genesis 13:14-17, God appears to Abram for a 3rd time and reaffirms promise

of land “and will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a

man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be

numbered.”

Review—Chapter 14-Abram saves Lot

• Amaraphel King of Shinar was Hamurabbi.

• Kings of East made war with Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah—this is a

historical fact.

• Abram refuses to take any of the booty—this was so that no one could say

they made Abram rich.

Review—Chapter 14—Melchizedek

• Brought forth bread and wine.

• Blessed Abram.

• Abram gave him tithes.

• Melchizedek was mentioned 3 times (Gen. 14, Psalm 110:4, and Hebrews).

Genesis 15

Theme:

• God’s revelation of Himself as shield and reward.

• Abraham’s faith.

• God’s covenant with Abraham.

Genesis 15:1 1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying,

Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

• God appears to Abram for the 4th time—I am thy shield and great reward

Genesis 15:2-3 2 And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and

the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold,

to me thou has given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

• Abram replies that he is still childless—as if God needed reminding—

however Abram brought this to God’s attention—have you ever had that

thing that was bothering you? Did you take it to God? Lay it at His feet.

Cultural Commentary, Jim Dennison

Pray:

• Boldly

• Specifically

• Consistently

• Expectantly

Genesis 15:4 4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be

thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine

heir.

• God told Abram he would have a child.

Genesis 15:5 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell

the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed

be

• God said Abram’s seed would outnumber the stars—Abraham actually

had 2 seeds.

1. The physical seed—the nation of Israel.

2. The spiritual seed—the Church established by Jesus.

Genesis 15:6 6 And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.

• This is one of the greatest statements in the Bible—Abram believed in the

LORD—that’s all he did—Believe.

• This should put to rest the argument over a works based faith.

• Abraham did nothing—no work, no effort, he just believed!!!

Genesis 15:7-8 7 And He said unto him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the

Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

8 And he said, “LORD God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

• God says He brought Abram out of Ur to give him this land and Abram

asks “how shall I know?”.

• This makes me a little nervous but remember Abram has just said I believe

and that settled the issue.

• The question is how will I know?

• A simple question.

Genesis 15:9-10 9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female

goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 Then he

brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed

each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.

• God tells Abram to get some specific animals which Abram did and he cut

the animals in two and placed the pieces opposite of each other.

Genesis 15:11 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them

away.

• Abram chased away the buzzards.

Genesis 15:12-15 12 Now when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and

behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram:

“Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not

theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.” 14 “And

also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with

great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you

shall be buried at a good old age.” 16 “But in the fourth generation they shall

return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

• As the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram and God told

Abram about the time of the Israelites in Egypt and their deliverance.

Genesis 15:17 17 And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, that

behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed

between those pieces.

• When the sun went down a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed

between the pieces of cut animals.

Genesis 15:18-21 18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your

descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the

River Euphrates— 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the

Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the

Jebusites.”

In Scripture we see two different types of covenants that God makes with men.

Some are unconditional covenants, which God will keep regardless of man’s

actions. Others are conditional in that man must obey the terms of the covenant

in order to receive the promises related to it.

• Adamic

• Noahic

• Abrahamic

• Palestinian

• Mosaic

• Davidic

• New

Adamic Covenant

• The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts: the Edenic

Covenant (innocence) and the Adamic Covenant (grace) (Genesis 3:16-

19). The Edenic Covenant is found in Genesis 1:26-30; 2:16-17. The Edenic

Covenant outlined man’s responsibility toward creation and God’s

directive regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The

Adamic Covenant included the curses pronounced against mankind for

the sin of Adam and Eve, as well as God’s provision for that sin (Genesis

3:15).

Noahic Covenant

• The Noahic Covenant was an unconditional covenant between God and

Noah (specifically) and humanity (generally). After the Flood, God

promised humanity that He would never again destroy all life on earth with

a Flood (see Genesis chapter 9). God gave the rainbow as the sign of the

covenant, a promise that the entire earth would never again flood and a

reminder that God can and will judge sin (2 Peter 2:5).

Abrahamic Covenant

• Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3, 6-7; 13:14-17; 15; 17:1-14; 22:15-18).

In this covenant, God promised many things to Abraham. He personally

promised that He would make Abraham’s name great (Genesis 12:2), that

Abraham would have numerous physical descendants (Genesis 13:16),

and that he would be the father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4-5).

God also made promises regarding a nation called Israel. In fact, the

geographical boundaries of the Abrahamic Covenant are laid out on

more than one occasion in the book of Genesis (12:7; 13:14-15; 15:18-21).

Another provision in the Abrahamic Covenant is that the families of the

world will be blessed through the physical line of Abraham (Genesis

12:3; 22:18). This is a reference to the Messiah, who would come from the

line of Abraham.

Palestinian Covenant

• Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). The Palestinian Covenant, or

Land Covenant, amplifies the land aspect that was detailed in the

Abrahamic Covenant. According to the terms of this covenant, if the

people disobeyed, God would cause them to be scattered around the

world (Deuteronomy 30:3-4), but He would eventually restore the nation

(verse 5). When the nation is restored, then they will obey Him perfectly

(verse 8), and God will cause them to prosper (verse 9).

Mosaic Covenant

• Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 11; et al.). The Mosaic Covenant was a

conditional covenant that either brought God's direct blessing for

obedience or God's direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of

Israel. Part of the Mosaic Covenant was the Ten Commandments (Exodus

20) and the rest of the Law, which contained over 600 commands—

roughly 300 positive and 300 negative. The history books of the Old

Testament (Joshua–Esther) detail how Israel succeeded at obeying the

Law or how Israel failed miserably at obeying the Law. Deuteronomy

11:26-28 details the blessing/cursing motif.

Davidic Covenant

• Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16). The Davidic Covenant amplifies the

“seed” aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises to David in this

passage are significant. God promised that David's lineage would last

forever and that his kingdom would never pass away permanently (verse

16). Obviously, the Davidic throne has not been in place at all times. There

will be a time, however, when someone from the line of David will again sit

on the throne and rule as king. This future king is Jesus (Luke 1:32-33).

New Covenant

• New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The New Covenant is a covenant

made first with the nation of Israel and, ultimately, with all mankind. In the

New Covenant, God promises to forgive sin, and there will be a universal

knowledge of the Lord. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses

(Matthew 5:17) and create a new covenant between God and His people.

Now that we are under the New Covenant, both Jews and Gentiles can be

free from the penalty of the Law. We are now given the opportunity to

receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Our Covenant God, Kay Arthur

• In Genesis 15:18 when it says the LORD “made a covenant,” the phrase in

Hebrew is karath beriyth.

• In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for covenant is beriyth

(pronounced “ber-eeth”).

• The word beriyth…is a compact (…made by passing between pieces of

flesh)

• A beriyth between God and man it is a covenant accompanied by signs,

sacrifices, and a solemn oath that sealed the relationship with promises of

blessing for keeping the covenant and curses for breaking it.

• The history of this Hebrew word beriyth (as scholars piece it together)

offers further insight.

• The general opinion is that the word is derived from the Hebrew verb

barah, “to cut,” and therefore contains a reminder of the ceremony we

just looked at in Genesis 15.

• Let’s look at a word combination that illumines the meaning of making a

covenant.

• Usually when we read in our English translations of the Old Testament

about someone “making a covenant,” the phrase includes the two

Hebrew words karath and beriyth.

• The verb karath in this expression literally means “to cut off, cut down, fell,

cut or make.”

• So to “make a covenant” is literally to “cut covenant.”

Our Covenant God, Kay Arthur

• Every time you read through the Word and see the phrase “made a

covenant,” remember that a covenant was cut; there was shedding of

blood.

• “In such a covenant the one passing through the pieces pledged his

faithfulness to the covenant. If that faithfulness was broken, he called

death upon himself, or the same fate which befell the animals.”

• God the Father obligated Himself unconditionally to cut a covenant on

behalf of you and me that would be sealed by the indwelling of the Holy

Spirit.

• Abram does nothing but observe the commitment of God to His promise.

• Everything God does is based on covenant.

• Covenant was a pledge to death. A pledge born of love. A pledge cut in

blood. This is the root of covenant.

• “When God enters into a covenantal relationship with men, he sovereignly

institutes a life-and-death bond. A covenant is a bond in blood, or a bond

of life and death, sovereignly administered.”

• To make a covenant is to take a walk into death.

• Covenant is serious business and not to be taken lightly.

• What is man’s response to God’s gift of a covenant relationship?

• When you enter into this covenant relationship you will be a changed

person.

• We should continually seek to grow to be more like Jesus.

Cultural Commentary, Jim Dennison

• First, admit that you need to be made more holy. Face the fact that the

timbers of your house are termite-infested with sin, that your walls are

stained with the mold of disobedience to God's word and will.

• Second, ask the Master Carpenter to remove what you cannot. Invite the

Holy Spirit to bring to your mind anything in your life that displeases God,

and confess all that comes to your thoughts. Do this at the start of every

day.

• Third, invite the Spirit to take control of your attitudes, thoughts, words and

actions (Ephesians 5:18). Ask him to manifest the character of Christ in

you. Then stay submitted to him all through the day. When you face a

decision, pray for his guidance. When you are tempted, pray for his

strength. When you fail, pray for his forgiveness and restoration. Stay

connected to the Source of your sanctification.

• Fourth, believe that God is answering your prayer. You may not be able to

see him at work, but he is. Sanctification is a lifelong process. Moment by

moment and day by day, God is transforming your life "to be conformed

to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29).

The Plan of Hope & Salvation

John 3:16 NKJV 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever

believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 14:6 NKJV 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through Me.”

Romans 3:23 NKJV 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23a NKJV 23a For the wages of sin is death,

Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.

Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to

pay the penalty for our sins.

The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second death explained in

Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV 8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,

sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with

fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Romans 5:8 NKJV 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Romans 6:23b NKJV 23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Revelation 21:7 NKJV 7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be

My son.”

Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus as our Savior.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that

God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one

believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto

salvation.

Romans 10:13 NKJV 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

If you have questions or would like to know more, please, contact First Baptist

Church Jackson at 601-949-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/