The Life of Abraham #1: Abram Meets God
CCEA
School of Discipleship
March
16, 2025
Introduction
About me
I’ve been married for 46 years to Debby Cathers. I have three sons and four grandchildren.
I’m a musician – my Bachelor’s degree at CSUF was
in Music
My Master’s degree at Biola/Talbot was in Bible
Exposition
I’ve known Pastor Bob since grad school, over 40 years. I used to sit behind him in Church History at
Talbot.
I’ve been teaching the Bible over 40 years as a youth pastor, assistant
pastor, and 25 of those years as Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fullerton.
In 2020 I handed the church to one of my protégés, and in 2022 I stepped
away from CC Fullerton to let my team run things without the old man looking
over their shoulder.
I currently teach a Greek-soon-to-be-Hebrew class to a small online group
of young senior pastors.
I’ve written a book – you can find it on Amazon.
I am so very grateful for this opportunity to teach this class.
About our class
We’ll be drawing most of our material from the Bible, specifically Genesis
12-25.
I will tend to teach mostly from the New King James Bible, simply because
that’s what I’ve taught from for about twenty years. You can use any version in
class to mark up and make notes in. Please bring your paper Bibles to
class. I want you to mark them up.
We will be doing a little bit of memorizing in this class.
For this class I’d like for us to memorize Hebrews 11:6, 8-10 (that’s a
little different from the syllabus, sorry)
And we will have a reading assignment each week from Charles Swindoll’s
book: “Abraham – One Nomad’s Amazing Journey Of Faith”
I will only require you to read the one assigned chapter I give you each
week, but that only will cover seven of the twenty chapters in the book. If you want to be reading the entire book,
there’s a list in the syllabus that will show what extra chapters you can read
each week to make it through the book and keep in synch with my teaching.
As you might have seen in the email I sent out last week, I will be making
video recordings each week of our class and posting them to YouTube. If you have to miss
class for any reason, I’d appreciate it if you would let me know, then watch
the video on YouTube, email me the answers to the quiz, and you’ll get full
credit for that class, including attendance. I will send out an email each week
on Monday that will give you a link to the YouTube video as well as have my
full notes attached.
I would like to encourage you to be sure to get to
class on time since I will usually start right at 3pm in
order to get all the material in each week. Be
sure to sign in and also make a namebadge
for yourself.
Abram Meets God
Abram vs. Abraham
I know you signed up for a class on Abraham, but he was originally known as
“Abram”.
God will change his name from Abram (which means “exalted father”) to
Abraham (“father of a multitude”) in Genesis 17:5.
Genesis 11
After the flood
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard this before: “Abraham was the father of
monotheism” (the belief in one God)
I remember hearing this back in high school history classes as well as
college classes.
The problem I have is that Abraham didn’t “invent” or “father” monotheism.
Monotheism has existed since God created man. Abraham just went back to the
truth.
I want to take you back in time to the days after Noah’s flood.
Everyone on the earth was wiped out except for Noah and his family.
The earth would be repopulated from the three sons
of Noah.
You can see a listing of the nations of the world coming from Noah in
Genesis 10.
In Genesis 11:10-26, we have the specific lineage that connects Noah’s son
Shem to Abram.
In this genealogy we are given how old a man was when his son was born as
well as how long he lived after that.
If you add up the numbers, you find that Abram was born 297 years after the
flood of Noah.
Noah lived 350 years after the flood (Gen. 9:28)
Shem lived 500 years after the flood (Gen. 11:11)
Another way to put it is like this.
Abram was 53 years old when Noah died.
Because Abram only lived to be 175 years old when he died…
Shem outlived Abram by 28 years.
The world likes to think that Abram “invented” a religion that only
worships one God, but keep in mind, there is nothing original about it.
Noah and Shem worshipped one God.
They knew who had caused the flood.
But from the flood to the time that Abram was born, the world had once
again plunged into idolatry like before the flood, even though Noah and Shem
were still alive to testify of who the one true God was.
Genesis 11 ends with Abram’s immediate family.
Show “Terah’s Family” slide
We are given the genealogy of Abram’s father Terah. (vs. 27-30)
:27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Haran begot Lot.
:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the
Chaldeans.
:29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,
and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of
Milcah and the father of Iscah.
:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
:31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran,
and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with
them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to
Haran and dwelt there.
:32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in
Haran.
It’s at the death of Terah that God speaks.
Genesis 12
:1-9 God’s promise to Abram
:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your
father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram:
Abram – means“exalted father”.
God will change his name from Abram to Abraham (“father of a multitude”) in
Genesis 17.
:1 Get out of your country … from your father's house
Genesis 11:31 made it sound like it was Terah’s idea to move from Ur to
Haran, now we see that the move was because of God speaking to Abram.
(show map)
Abram was originally from “Ur of the Chaldeans”, a famous, powerful, and
wealthy city on the Euphrates River, about 175 miles southeast of Babylon (in
modern Iraq). One source said that Ur
was where they first invented the bathtub.
Joshua tells us that Abram’s father, Terah, served other gods (Josh. 24:2)
while at Ur. Ur was known for its
worship of the Sumerian moon god named “Sin” or sometimes “Nanna” (like the English
Sheepdog from Peter Pan??).
Archaeologists have uncovered a ziggurat from this time built for Sin that
towers 70 feet over the desert.
Originally, Abram left Ur with a group led by his father, Terah. When they left Ur, they went northwest along
the River Euphrates about 600 miles to the city of Haran (in modern Turkey). To
make things more confusing, Haran is ALSO the name of Abram’s dead brother and
the father of Lot.
It’s interesting to note that Haran was also known for its worship of the
moon god Sin.
Eventually Abram will make his way south to Shechem, about 400 miles
southwest.
In the New Testament, Stephen tells us that the original call to leave came
to Abram in Ur, not Haran.
(Acts 7:2–4 NKJV) —2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before
he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your
country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran.
And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which
you now dwell.
It seems that when God originally called Abram, Terah was willing to go
along and so Terah led the group as far as Haran where Terah wanted to settle
down.
If you are reading through the rest of Genesis, you will
see Abraham’s relatives making trips back to Haran to fetch new wives.
But Haran wasn’t the promised land.
And it seems that Abram got stuck for awhile in Haran.
It’s not until Abram’s father Terah dies, that God reiterated the
original call to leave and go to a land God would show him.
Terah understood part of Abram’s call, but for some reason he was unwilling
to go all the way.
Terah’s name can be translated “delay”. It seems that Terah became a “delay” in God’s
plans for Abram.
Lesson
God doesn’t give up
God spoke to Abram while he was in Ur, and God said “Go”. God promised to lead Abram to a special
place. It won’t be until Abram arrives
in the land of Canaan that God will say, “This is the place”.
But along the way, Abram got sidetracked.
He got stuck in Haran. He got
“delayed”.
I don’t know how long it was in between the time that God first called
Abram while he was living in Ur until the time when God called again to him at
Haran, but it had to have been some time since they had to have traveled 600
miles, and apparently they had settled down in Haran until Terah died. One commentator suggested it was 25 years
between Abram’s first call in Ur and his second call in Haran.
I find it incredibly gracious of God to not give up on Abram.
Is there something that God has asked you to do? Have you been sidetracked? Maybe today God would want to remind you of
your calling.
Quiz Alert!!
Lesson
Leaving the old life
God’s call often requires us to make a choice between people and God. Jesus said,
(Matthew
10:37 NKJV) He who loves father or mother more than Me is
not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy
of Me.
It seems important for God to tell Abram to leave his
“father’s house”. He needed to leave
behind this house that worshipped the moon god.
Yahweh wanted Abram to follow Him.
God’s call requires us to leave the old life behind.
(Matthew
16:24 NKJV) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone
desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow Me.
I wonder if sometimes we don’t quite take this serious
enough. I know there are times when I’m
not sure I do.
Play “Playing Dead” video
At times we “pretend” to be serious, to “play dead” to
sin, but we’re only pretending.
God doesn’t want you to be a half-hearted disciple who only goes part of
the way with Him. God wants us to be serious, completely serious about
following Him.
A drug addict that leaves a stash of drugs just in case they really need it
is going to find that they “really need it”.
But if they get rid of that stash and don’t make it easy to go back to the old life, they have a better chance of moving forward.
:1 To a land that I will show you
Lesson
Go
God doesn’t say where they were going, He just says, “Go”
One of our memory verses will be:
(Hebrews
11:8 NKJV) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go
out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not
knowing where he was going.
Sometimes the “go” comes before the “where”.
We want to know all the details of the trip before we go. We want to feel comfortable. But God often doesn’t give us the details
because He wants us to trust Him.
In 1994, when we were struggling with whether or not
to leave the comfort of being an assistant pastor at Calvary Anaheim and plant
a church in Fullerton, this verse in Hebrews was the one that God used to push
us out the door. I wanted to know what
was up ahead. I wanted to have written
guarantees that everything was going to be okay. But the Sunday before we made up our minds, I
was teaching on a Sunday night in Hebrews 11:8, and God reminded me that I
didn’t need to have a written guarantee.
I had His command to go. So we gave our notice
at Calvary Anaheim and two months later we started the church
in Fullerton at the YMCA.
You can only change the direction of a car when it’s moving.
If you’re looking for God’s direction in your life and you aren’t sure what
He wants you to do, perhaps you need to just start moving. Maybe do the last thing God asked you to
do. Maybe just start serving. I hear
there might be openings in the Children’s ministry.
:2 I will make you a
great nation; I will bless you And make your name
great; And you shall be a blessing.
:3 I will bless those who
bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed.”
:2 I will make you a great nation;
This promise is fulfilled in the nation of Israel. Even though several other nations will also
come from Abraham, the promise of the blessing of God would go from Abraham to
Isaac, and Isaac to Jacob/Israel.
:3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him
who curses you;
This is one reason why we ought to “bless” and pray for the nation of
Israel.
Do you want God to bless you? Bless
Israel.
:3 And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
There would be something coming from Abram that would not just bless his
own descendants, but the entire world.
This is the promise of a Messiah, a Savior.
Paul wrote,
(Galatians 3:8–9
NLT) —8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God
would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God
proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will
be blessed through you.” 9 So all who put their faith in Christ
share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
Illustration
William Engebretsen from Nebraska writes, “For three years, we had a sheep
ranch in western Nebraska. Each year, we sheared some sheep, sold some, and
butchered a few lambs for leg-of-lamb for our family and our cattle-raising
relatives. In 1990, we moved to Indiana, so I could attend seminary.
One Sunday, my three-year-old son Ian was learning about the Good Shepherd in
his class. “Ian, your dad was a shepherd,” the teacher said. “What did he do
with the little lambs?” She expected to hear about the care and protection I
provided them. “He kills them and cuts off their heads,” was Ian’s blunt reply.
The teacher was dumbstruck. Later, I “sheepishly” suggested that next time she
could tie it in with Jesus’ role as the sacrificial Lamb.”
We might think that God blessing the world through Abram might mean
something nice like Abram winning the lottery and sharing his winnings with
everyone. In reality,
God blessed the world through the slaughter of a lamb.
God saw that we had a terminal disease – you and I are sinners
and our sin is taking us to hell. And
God loved you and I so much that He allowed His own Son to die a horrible death
on the cross and take the penalty for our sins.
And it’s this same Son, a descendant of Abram, that opens
up heaven for us if we’ll only trust him.
God has blessed the world through Abram.
:4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him.
And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
:5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their
possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in
Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So
they came to the land of Canaan.
:5 Sarai – Saray –
“princess”; she too will get a new name from God, “Sarah” which means
“noblewoman”. Her name change takes
place at Gen. 17:15.
:6 Abram passed through
the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And
the Canaanites were then in the land.
:6 Shechem
(see map)
Shechem is 360 miles southwest of Haran.
Play Shechem map video
It’s the city located in the valley between Mount
Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
Many things take place at Shechem in Bible times.
Today it is known as the city of Nablus (a Palestinian name)
:6 terebinth tree – ‘elown – terebinth (which is a tree that terpentine is made from)
Other translations are “oak tree” (NLT, NAS), “great tree” (NIV).
You could simply translate the Hebrew here something like this: “Abram
passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as Elon Moreh.
There is a small town on top of Mount Moreh called “Elon Moreh” (in other
words, we know where this place was)
(show pic)
Here’s a view from Mount Gerizim, looking across at Elon Moreh.
:6 Canaanites
The same people that Joshua would one day would be
conquering.
The Canaanites were known to have had pagan shrines in groves of oak trees.
Abram has left his pagan family to follow God. And he’s arrived in the land of the pagan,
idolatrous Canaanites.
:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will
give this land.” And there he built an altar to the
LORD, who had appeared to him.
It isn’t until they get to Shechem that God says
“this is the place”.
This is the place where he didn’t know he was going to.
Abram’s response?
:7 he built an altar to the LORD
This is the second time that the word “altar” is used in Scripture. The first dates back to
the time just after the flood when Noah built an altar.
(Genesis 8:20–21
NKJV) —20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean
animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled
a soothing aroma. Then the Lord
said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake,
although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will
I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
The world had been destroyed. The
only living things left were Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark.
It was quite an act of faith for Noah to take and sacrifice animals, when
the world needed to be repopulated.
We will see a hint of Noah’s sacrifice when we get to
Genesis 21 and Abraham is asked to sacrifice his only son Isaac.
What’s an “altar” used for?
The word for “altar” (mizbeah) comes from
the root word for “sacrifice” (zabah)
There are quite a few types of sacrifices in the Old Testament.
It may be a sacrifice for forgiveness of sin.
I am asking God to forgive my sin.
I sacrifice an animal that is taking my place, dying to
pay the price for my sin.
It may be a sacrifice for consecration.
I am giving myself to God, to follow Him.
The animal on the altar is like me, giving myself
completely to God, the fire consuming all of me.
Paul wrote about presenting our bodies as a “living
sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1-2)
It may be a sacrifice of thanksgiving (probably like Noah’s)
In the book of Leviticus these were part of what were
called “peace” offerings, where an animal is slain and we all sit down for a
barbeque dinner with God.
We aren’t told what Abram’s motive was in building this
altar, though it could be “thanksgiving” since God has told him that he has
finally “arrived” in the land God was leading him to.
In the Tabernacle there was even an “altar” of “incense”. Animals weren’t sacrificed there, but incense
was burnt.
It was a place of prayer, with the incense rising up like our prayers rising to God.
We call this “intercession”, where we are praying for
specific things.
An altar is a place where I connect with God.
Abram will build four altars as he moves around the land of Canaan (we see
two today)
Shechem (here)
(Genesis
12:7 NKJV) Then the Lord
appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And
there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Bethel
(Genesis
12:8 NKJV) And he moved from there to the mountain east of
Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the
east; there he built an altar to the Lord
and called on the name of the Lord.
He will visit the altar at Bethel later on…
(Genesis
13:3–4 NKJV) —3 And he went on his journey from the
South 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 at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
Hebron
(Genesis
13:18 NKJV) Then Abram moved his tent,
and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in
Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.
Moriah
(Genesis
22:9 NKJV) Then they came to the place of which God had
told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he
bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
Here is the clearest and earliest example in the Old
Testament of what we call “substitutionary sacrifice”.
Lesson
Devotions
God longs for us to connect with Him, yet you no longer need a physical
“altar” to do it.
Jesus was talking to a woman at a well right outside of Shechem (where
Abram is now). The woman was a Samaritan, a group who worshipped God on Mount
Gerizim (which overlooks Shechem)
(John 4:21–24 NKJV)
—21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you
will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the
Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Worship no longer requires a special “place”.
Worship comes through the Spirit in your heart. I like to think of our “heart” becoming the
new “altar”.
Worship must also be wrapped in truth about God (as
opposed to the twisted Samaritan religion).
I think we ought to be spending time with God every day in a time that we
set aside for God.
One of the elements of our devotions ought to be in reading God’s word, and listening to Him speak through it.
The other element in our devotion time ought to be at the altar, where we
are concerned about things like:
Forgiveness
Consecration
Thanksgiving
Intercession
:8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched
his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to
the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
:8 Bethel –
See map video
(Bethel and Ai)
He moves another 20 miles further south of Shechem.
Some of you might recognize the name Ai from Wednesday nights and Joshua 8,
as Bob has been teaching through the conquest of Canaan.
Abram settles between Bethel and Ai.
:8 pitched his tent
Even though God promised to give him the land, he will be a wandering
nomad.
Abram would be known as a man of great wealth. And yet after he left Haran, he never owned a
home. He just lived in tents.
(Hebrews 11:13
NKJV) These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
It’s not wrong to own a home. But
keep a light touch on the things of this world.
Don’t hold on to them too tightly.
Heaven is the place we’re headed.
Abram knew that his real home was in heaven. Heaven is where Abram wanted to settle down.
I find it interesting that at the time of Jesus, when a righteous person
died, their soul went to paradise, a place referred to as “Abraham’s Bosom”.
:8 he built an altar to the LORD
Again, he worships God and sacrifice is implied.
This was the second altar that Abram built in the land of Canaan.
:8 and called on the name of the LORD
Or, “called on the name of Yahweh”
I think for the sake of time we will talk about this concept a little more in depth next week when we look at Genesis 13.
The first time we see this phrase in the Bible is when Adam’s grandson
Enosh is born:
(Genesis
4:26 NKJV) And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and
he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.
We will see Abram do this several more times:
(Genesis
12:8 NKJV) And he moved from there to the mountain east of
Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the
east; there he built an altar to the Lord
and called on the name of the Lord.
(Genesis
13:4 NKJV) to the place of the altar which he had made
there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
(Genesis
21:33 NKJV) Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in
Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
Joel would write,
(Joel 2:32 NKJV) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be
saved. For in Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord
calls.
Joel says that if you “call on the name of Yahweh”, you will be saved.
Peter would quote this verse in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts
2:21-22) along with the signs that were happening.
(Acts
2:21–22 NKJV) —21 And it shall come to pass That whoever
calls on the name of the Lord Shall be
saved.’ 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested
by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your
midst, as you yourselves also know—
Peter connected this “calling on the name of the Lord to
calling on Jesus to be saved.
Paul would also connect this to salvation through Jesus Christ.
(Romans 10:9 ESV) because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Some will teach that Paul is contrasting the Roman issue
of saying “Caesar is Lord” to saying that Jesus is Lord, but I think that’s the
wrong connection.
In the passage, Paul clearly connects it to the prophecy
in Joel like Peter did.
(Romans
10:12–13 ESV) —12 For there is no distinction between
Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all
who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved.”
:9 So Abram journeyed,
going on still toward the South.
12:10-20 Abram goes to Egypt
:10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to
dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
What do you do when a crisis hits?
Part of me can’t find fault with Abram.
He’s just taking care of his family.
But when you see what happens on this trip to Egypt, I can’t help but think
that he might have made a mistake in going.
Swindoll’s second chapter is about this passage of Scripture and is called
“When the Faithful Fail”
- Abraham – One Nomad’s Amazing Journey of Faith
:11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said
to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful
countenance.
:11 beautiful countenance
The Hebrew here means “beautiful to look at”
Keep in mind, she’s at least 65 years old at this time.
Even though we could make a point that Abram is not trusting God here, there
is a principle to learn.
Abram is a man who sees his wife as a beautiful woman.
Lesson
Beautiful wife
He doesn’t just “think” she’s nice on the eyes, we’ll see he’s so convinced
of her beauty that he’s afraid for his own life because of what the
unprincipled Egyptians might do to him in order to get
her!
Husbands, is your wife beautiful?
If not, perhaps it’s not her fault.
Perhaps it’s yours.
In our world, we too often learn about marriage from the wrong sources,
like TV.
My generation grew up watching Archie and Edith Bunker in
the TV sitcom “All in the Family”
One of Archie’s favorite “pet names” for Edith was
“dingbat”. Not exactly a nice thing to call your wife.
Play First “Dingbat” video
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BI1xjbgLn5M
I hope none of you call your wives “dingbat”. Even with a little “sweetheart” in it.
(Ephesians 5:25–27
NKJV) —25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and
gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse
her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He
might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Read this carefully gentlemen. This
tells us to imitate Jesus in loving our wives.
This tells us that when Jesus loves His bride, she becomes more
beautiful.
A godly husband’s love for his wife ought to be a sort of “beauty spa”,
resulting in her being “glorious”, with “no spot or wrinkle”.
How does a husband do this?
1. Lay down your life
You may not have the opportunity to jump in front of a
bullet to save your wife, but how about the opportunity to do the kinds of
things for her that put her first?
(Philippians
2:3–4 NKJV) —3 Let nothing be
done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each
esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of
you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of
others.
2. Wash with your words
Some of you might look at the text and think this means
reading the Bible to her every day, and I must stay that is an excellent thing
to do.
But the Bible is Jesus’ word.
Husbands ought to wash their
wives in their word.
What kinds of words come out of your mouth? Do they wash her? Do they cleanse her? Do
they beautify?
(Ephesians 4:29 NLT) Don’t use foul or abusive language.
Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an
encouragement to those who hear them.
Some men have the idea that if their wife would look a little nicer, they
might love them a little more.
God’s Word says that if you love them a little more, they
will look a little nicer.
Now after this romantical lesson about loving your wife, Abram is going to
do a stupid thing…as he says…
:12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will
say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
Because the Egyptians respected marriage, they wouldn’t just steal Sarai,
they’d kill Abraham first.
:13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be
well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”
It doesn’t sound like Abram is willing to “lay down his life” for his wife,
does it?
Technically Sarai was Abram’s sister, his half-sister. They had the same father but different
mothers (Gen. 20:12).
:14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the
woman, that she was very beautiful.
:15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And
the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
:16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys,
male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
Pharaoh gave Abram presents in exchange for his “sister”. I wonder if Abram
is thinking about now, “Well, it looks like my plan is working out okay!”
:17 But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because
of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
God would one day send plagues on Egypt to get the nation of Israel out of
Egypt.
Here’s a foreshadowing – God sends plagues to get Abram out of Egypt.
We aren’t told what kind of “plagues” hit Pharaoh and his house.
It’s pretty sad when an unbeliever has to suffer because of our sin.
:18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me?
Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
We aren’t told specifically how Pharaoh found out they were married.
:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife.
Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
:20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away,
with his wife and all that he had.
:13 Please say you are my sister
Lesson
Abram stumbles
The “father of faith” displays a lack of faith.
Look at what this lack of faith does:
He’s telling a half-truth about Sarai.
He’s putting his wife in danger to protect himself, yet Jesus’ example is
for a husband to lay down his life for his wife.
His conduct results in some sort of “plague” affecting Pharaoh and his
household, resulting in Pharaoh kicking Abram out the door. Instead of Abram’s conduct being a light to
the unbeliever, he’s brought a curse.
When they leave Egypt, it’s not without consequences. Abram has sowed seeds that he will reap from for the rest of his life. It seems they picked up a souvenir from their
visit, a treat for Sarai, some help around the house. They return to the Promised Land with a
maidservant named Hagar (Gen. 16).
While Abram stumbles…
Lesson
Sarai submits
We live in a society where women are often more able to take charge of
things than the men around them.
Illustration
A butcher writes, “One of the busiest times for a meat-department manager
in a supermarket occurs when there is a sale on particular
cuts. When we put cross-rib roasts on sale one day the result was
predictable. I’d bring out a cart of roasts and before I could get them on
display, women customers were jostling for their share. Three times I returned
with a cart of roasts and three times they were gone before I got to the
counter. The fourth time out I noticed
that a man who had quietly been watching began to approach my cart. He elbowed
his way in, pushing and shoving, and finally grasped a roast. Before he could
retreat from the crush, an irate woman glared at him and said, “Sir, how about
being a gentleman!” The fellow turned
and said, “Ma’am, for twenty minutes I’ve been a gentleman, now I’m going to be
a lady!” And with that he smiled, took his roast and walked away.”
Sarah is held up in the New Testament as an example for Christian women to
follow.
(1 Peter 3:5–6
NKJV) —5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in
God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are
if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.
She isn’t an example just because she called Abraham “lord”. She is an example of a woman who submitted to
her husband, even when he was a knucklehead, doing a stupid thing. How did I
come to that conclusion?
Look at the context of how Peter talks about Sarah’s example:
(1 Peter 3:1–2
NKJV) —1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even
if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the
conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste
conduct accompanied by fear.
Gals, I know it’s hard to know just how far to go with
this “submission” thing, but look at Sarai’s
example. God did take care of her. God did teach Abram a lesson. It wasn’t Sarai’s words that taught Abram, it
was Pharaoh’s rebuke.
Gals, don’t be quick to dismiss the value of
submission.
Give God a chance to teach your husband.
Submission is such a hard thing to learn.
But it’s something all of us need to learn, both men and women.
(Ephesians 5:18–21
NKJV) —18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be
filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the
Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the
fear of God.
This is an interesting passage in the Greek. The first
verse contains two “imperatives”, two commands:
Don’t get drunk
Be filled with the Spirit (I’m just going to focus on this
one)
Then it’s followed by five “participles” (words ending in
-ing)
Speaking, singing, “psalming” (making melody), thanking,
and … submitting.
The way the Greek grammar works is like this,
When you are “filled with the Spirit” (imperative), then
five things happen as a result,
Speaking, singing, “psalming” (making melody), thanking,
and … submitting.
Yes, ladies, the next verse is aimed at you, about wives
submitting to your husbands, but that follows what we all need to do,
“submit to one another in the fear of God”.
Women and men, if you are desiring to live a life of being filled
with the Spirit, don’t neglect what the Spirit is wanting to produce in your
life, including this work of “submission”.
We ALL could learn a thing or two
from Sarah.
Quiz
From the lecture (10pts):
1. ____________ the old life (Leaving)
Homework
Assignment:
Read Swindoll: Chapter 3: A Decision That Led
to a Disaster
(Optional reading: Swindoll Intro, Chapters 1-4)
Memorize Hebrews 11:6 (note, this is a change from the syllabus!)
(Hebrews
11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
I’ve included in my notes a sermon I came across by a very godly Scottish
preacher Robert Murray McCheyne on our passage.
This is not an assignment to read.
Just extra material if you have the time.
Blessing
Extra
The Call of Abraham
Robert Murray McCheyne
Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house,
unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and
I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed Genesis
12:1–3; Acts 7:2; Hebrews 11:8.
In these words, dear brethren, we have an account of the conversion of
Abraham. This is the record given us of the second
birth of Abraham. My dear friends, it is the second birth that will be
remembered in heaven, and not the first. You know it is common for men to keep
their birthdays. Now, the second birthday is what we will remember in heaven—it
is what we will tell the angels in glory: “Come,
hear, all ye that fear God—I’ll tell what he did for my soul” Psalm 66:16.
Let us notice from these words: (1) Abraham’s conversion; (2) Abraham’s
trial; (3) Abraham’s promise.
I. Abraham’s Conversion
“Now the Lord had said unto Abraham”;
or as Stephen says, “The God of glory
appeared unto our father Abraham.”
Let us observe first, the great sovereignty of God in the conversion of
this man. We are told by Stephen that he was in Mesopotamia at the time. It is
a beautiful country—an immense plain lying between the Tigris and the
Euphrates. We learn from the previous chapter that it was a place of great
wickedness. It was the place where Nimrod, the great robber, dwelt or, as he is
called, “the great hunter”. And it was the country where they built the tower
of Babel. It was also the land, as we are told by Jeremiah, of graven images.
It is believed by divines that it was the place where they first bowed down to
graven images. Jeremiah 50:38, “For it
is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols”.
Another remarkable fact connected with this land was,
that the very family out of which Abraham was chosen worshipped graven images.
Joshua 24:2, “And Joshua said unto all
the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other
side of the flood in old time (that is, on the other side of the Euphrates)
even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served
other gods.” Such was the country, and such the family out of which God
raised Abraham. You would have thought that God would not have come into such a
place; and, O brethren! you would have thought, least
of all, that he would have come to the house of Terah, who served other gods!
Again, you wonder why he came to Abraham. You would have thought he would have
come to Terah.
Why, then, did he take Abraham a man seventy years old spent in sin? “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in
thy sight” Matthew 11:26. When he looked down upon that great plain, why
did he come to the house of Terah, and say to Abraham, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee”? Ah, brethren, God is a
God of grace. None of you can say, “He came to me because I sought him.” How
often has God come into this place and gone into the most wicked family, and
drawn out those that were deepest down in the pit, just to show how deep his
hand could reach?
But notice who it was that converted him: “The Lord had said unto Abraham”. Stephen tells it more fully: “The God of glory appeared unto our father
Abraham.” I have no doubt that it was the same glorious person that
appeared to Jacob at the top of the ladder, and
blessed him. I have no doubt that it was the same that met with Jacob when it
said, “There wrestled a man with him
until the breaking of the day … and he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh; and he said, I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me” Genesis 32:26. I have no doubt but that it was the same that
appeared to Saul when on his way to Damascus. So, in like manner, it was the
same God of glory that appeared unto Abraham, and said, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.”
Brethren, all conversion comes from God. You might rather expect the
icebergs of the Atlantic to melt without the sun than expect a sinner’s heart
to change without God. Brethren, it was not Abraham that sought him, but the
God of glory that came to him and said, “Behold,
I stand at the door and knock. If Abraham hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me” Revelation 3:20. It
is not you that seek his face, but he that seeks you. Brethren, it is not a minister’s coming to you that will save you. Who sat under a
godlier minister than Judas? Yet he got no grace by it.
But, further, it is said “the God of
glory appeared unto him”. This is what Christ says: “Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad” John
8:56. I do not pretend to say how much was revealed to him. It is curious to
remark how much Christ reveals himself to some. “The first time,” said one,
“that I remember of ever tasting of the sweetness and blessedness of the gospel
was in reading these words: “Now, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible,
the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and
ever. Amen.” Never words of Scripture appeared to me like these words; they
came into my soul with such power and tenderness, and I longed to possess such
a being as my God.” Such was the experience of one of the most eminent saints
that ever lived. It perhaps was such that Abraham got, and that made him leave
his father’s house. And, brethren, it is the same truth that will convert a
soul now. You may be moved with fear, as Noah was, but you must be drawn by
love. I believe that never a soul was converted without a sight of the God of
glory.
I have just one observation more on this part of the subject, and that is
the almighty power by which it was done. You will see this very evidently shown
in Isaiah 41:2, “Who raised up the
righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before
him, and made him rule over kings?” etc. Notice also what is said in
chapter 51:1, 2,
Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord; look unto
the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for I called him alone and blessed him, and increased him.
Now, in these two passages you will notice that God says it was he himself
that called Abraham. And observe the words used are
very remarkable I found him like a rock, yet I melted the rock. God found him fallen down to graven images, and he called him to his foot.
My dear friends, this is the way God does with every soul whom he converts. God
finds you like a rock; yet of these stones he raises up children to Abraham.
This is my only hope of those of you who are
unconverted. I have no hope of the words of man; but I would trust in God my
hope is in his Word. He that raised up the righteous man is
able to call you, and make you willing in the day of his power.
II. Abraham’s Trial
“Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show
thee.” The trial of Abraham was twofold: First, he was tried in what he was
to leave; Second, in that he did not know where he was to go.
(1) In what he was to leave. “Get
thee out of thy country.” One’s country is dear to him. The Greenlander
loves his icy region, and the Arab loves his sterile sand, and we love our own
brown hills. But God said to Abraham, “Get
thee out of thy country.” And every man loves his kindred. We do not like
to bid those we love farewell. “Will strangers care
for them? Will strangers be kind to them?” are thoughts that occur to our mind.
Yet this was God’s command to Abraham “Get
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred.” But the worst was yet to
come “Out of thy father’s house”. We
love our father’s house. Our father’s house is dear to us. I do not envy the
man that does not love his father’s house. Yet God said, “Get thee out of thy father’s house.”
(2) But there was a second trial. He did not know where he was to go. “Unto a land
that I will show thee.” What kind of a land is it,
Lord? “I will show thee.” Will the people be kind? “I will show thee.” Was it
north, east, south or west? He did not know. “He went out not knowing whither he went.”“Get thee unto a land that I will show thee.”
Who can tell the deep anxiety that appeared in Abraham’s countenance and tossed
in his bosom, as he walked before his father’s house that night
he got the command to go? Ah! brethren, this is what every converted soul has
to undergo: “Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house.” I will tell
you what you will have to leave, if you will follow Christ.
First, you must leave the esteem of your friends. I do not say you should
leave your father’s house bodily. God forbid! But you
must leave their esteem. Perhaps they loved you as a friend, as a wife, as a
husband; but the more they loved you they will now
hate you the more. The mother hates the viper that stung her child; so will they hate you. Do not be surprised at this. “If any man will not leave father and
mother and all, for my sake and the gospel, he cannot be my disciple” Luke
14:26; Mark 10:29. Brethren, do not think I am telling you stories. If the God
of glory appears to you, you will find it true.
Another thing is, you will have to leave the
company of the ungodly. I do not say, if you are in an ungodly family you are to leave it. No, but you are not to mix with
ungodly families.
Another thing you will have to leave is your idols. Abraham did this. You
must break your idols in pieces. “Come out from among them” 2 Corinthians 6:17. “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father’s house.”
And, O brethren! you must
leave them for an unseen Saviour and an unseen
heaven. Remember you must walk with an unseen Saviour.
Some of you will say, What will be given
me? He will give you joy and peace. Remember also, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he
shall appear we shall be like him” 1 John 3:2.
III. Abraham’s Promise
“And I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a
blessing; And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the
earth be blessed”verses 2–3. We have here six blessings
following one another.
(1) “I will make thee a great
nation.” God was taking him out of a great nation; but he said, “I will
make of thee a great nation.” So he says to all that
he calls, “I will make you one of a righteous nation”—“I
will make of thee a great nation.”
(2) “I will bless thee.” God did
not tell him where he was going, what enemies he would meet with, what trials
he would encounter, yet he said, “I will bless thee.” This is what God says to
you If you are willing to leave all for Christ, “I will bless thee”. Perhaps
your friends will curse thee, but “I will bless thee”.
(3) “I will make thy name great.”
When he went from his father’s house, he went where his name was not known;
and, perhaps, they mocked him when he went away; but God called him “my
friend”—Isaiah 41:8. So perhaps it will be with you; yet God will make thy name
great.
(4) “And thou shalt be a blessing.”
Abraham had been a curse by his example he had worshipped graven images; but
God said he would be a blessing. So he says to you, brethren, No doubt you have
been a curse no doubt you have led many to hell by your wicked example; yet I
will make thee a blessing a blessing to your children, a blessing to your wife,
a blessing to your neighbours, a blessing to the
world; the world will miss you when you die.
(5) “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee.” Abraham was to meet friends and enemies. There were some in another
land that would be kind to the stranger, and there were some that would cast
him out. “Well,” says God, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him
that curseth thee.” God is with thee, Abraham; God is
thy wall of fire. Ah, brethren! it is sweet to have God’s blessing.
(6) “In thee shall all families of
the earth be blessed.” This last promise was fulfilled when out of
Abraham’s loins Christ was born. It cannot be performed to us in the same way; but yet it can in one way. If you are Christ’s then,
wherever you are, you will be a blessing.
O brethren! if you would follow Christ, count the cost. The Lord enable you to count the cost. Amen.[1]