Genesis PART 2 (chs.

12-25)

dr. bill egner | october 14, 2018

COMING UP ... OCT 21 Gen part 3 OCT 28 Gen part 4 NOV 4 Gen part 5

GENESIS 1-11: THEOLOGICALLY

God’s work … Satan’s work …
creative destructive
blesses curses
gives life takes life
redeems corrupts
those who follow God those who play god
delivers the faithful dooms the rebellious
preserves the family line of the faithful fights against God’s chosen ones
GENESIS 1-11: GENEALOGICALLY
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth [and everything in them]. (1:1-2:3)
Whatever became of the heavens and the earth? (2:4-4:26)
Whatever became of Adam? (5:1-6:8)
Whatever became of Noah? (6:9-9:29)
Whatever became of Shem, Ham & Japheth? (10:1-11:9)
Whatever became of Shem? (11:10-26)
Abraham
LESSON THEME: Faith is living without scheming

Whatever became of …
… Terah? (11:27–25:11) --> Abraham
Abraham is the par excellence example of faith
His background
Joshua said to the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the
father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.” (Joshua 24:2)
(see “Abraham’s Migration From Ur” map, p. 4)
His conversion at 75 (see Acts 7:1-4)
A life-changing act of faith
His legacy
He started late but finished great!

(1) A Man of Faith

A model of a faithful God-follower …
A convert
A servant (what he forsook … for a tent)
A worshiper (his altars and proclamations)
A witness
A brother (pursued Lot all the way to Dan)
Withheld nothing from God (including Isaac)

Foreshadow: A Father and Son

Abraham foreshadows God the Father
The Sacrificer
Isaac foreshadows God the Son
The Sacrifice
 The whole scene foreshadows Gethsemane
Matthew 26:36-46
“Daddy, is there a ram in the thicket?”

(2) A Man with a Covenant

Types of covenants
Handshake (Ezra 10:19; Ezek 17:18)
Shoe (Ruth 4:8)
Salt (Num 18:19; Lev 2:13; 2 Chron 13:5)
Blood (Gen 15)
Implication in Genesis 15
God is putting His Own life “on the line”

The Abrahamic Covenant

The “backbone” of the Bible
Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-27
“The Offering of Abraham” by James Tissot
God made three promises to Abraham …
Land
Seed
Abrahamic
Blessing Covenant
Three characteristics …
Unilateral (Gen 15:17)
Unconditional (Gen 15:17-21) Palestinian Davidic New
Unending (Gen 17:7-8) Covenant Covenant Covenant

(see “Garden to Garden: Timeline of History” chart, Land Seed Blessing

p. 5)
Mosaic Covenant
(3) A Man of Courage and Fear
His courage
Risked himself and his men for his “brother”
Family is worth fighting for
His fear
Twice relied on a half-truth to protect himself
Either walk in faith resulting in strengthening…
… or walk in fear resulting in shame

(4) A Man With a Flaw

Struggled with self-reliance in difficult situations
Took matters into his own hands
Famines in the land
Famine in the womb
Ran ahead of God
Sarah and Hagar
At times he trusted more in his schemes than in God

Application
The self-sufficient don’t need God
The self-reliant don’t trust God
The dependent follower learns that God not only sees their circumstances, but is attentive to their prayers (e.g. Hagar)
Scheming leads to …
Loss (witness, blessing, peace); strife; heartbreak; unintended consequences (Hagar; Ishmael)
 Application: Faith is living without scheming
A Walk of Faith

Scheming By Over-Reaching

Scheming By Under-Reaching

Faith – Living Without Scheming

And so …
God chooses Abraham to be His man
A descendent of Adam; a descendent of Noah
God makes an eternal covenant with him
Giving him rights to the land, seed and blessing
Through faith – and in spite of his fears and flaws – God begins to fulfill His promises to Abraham even in his lifetime
Abraham passes on this inheritance to Isaac

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©2018 by Dr. John W. Egner unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.
garden to garden: timeline of history
“Abraham
And The
Three Angels”
by James Tissot
ABRAHAM’S OAK?
The Oak of Mamre is a
site venerated by some as
the “Oak of Abraham.”
It owes its name to an
ancient tree which seems
to be dead but has a
young sprig growing
next to it. Also called
The Oak of Abraham, it
is an ancient tree which,
in one tradition, is said
to mark the place where
Abraham entertained the
three angels or where
Abraham pitched his tent.
The Hebrew term Eloney
Mamreh of Genesis 13:18
is considered by some

“Abraham’s Counsel to Sarai”

by James Tissot
translators to be a name
of a region in Canaan;
other scholars dispute this
and suggest that it is the
reference to the terebinth
trees of Mamre. The site
is located at Khirbet es-
Sibte 1.2 miles southwest
of Mamre, historically
near Hebron.