Abraham
Memory Verse: Genesis 15:5
Life Application: God is faithful to fulfill His promises.
Bible Text:
Genesis 15:5
Genesis 12:1-3
Genesis 12:4-6
Genesis 12:7-9
Genesis 15:1-7
Genesis 16:1-4
Genesis 17:1-8
Genesis 18:10-14
Genesis 21:1-11
Abraham is considered to be one of the fathers of faith. Through studying about his life we can learn about trust and patience. God promised Abram that he would be the father of many nations, even though he was old and had no children.
Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV “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. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 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.”
When Abram was seventy-five years old God commanded him to leave his land (Ur of the Chaldeans) and go to a new land. Following God’s command, Abram and his family departed for the Canaan.
Genesis 12:4-6 NKJV “ 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. 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. 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.”
God appeared to Abram in the land of Caanaan and promised that He would give that land to his descendants. In response to God’s appearance to him and His promise, Abram built and altar and worshiped Him.
Genesis 12:7-9 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. 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. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.”
The Lord appeared to Abram a third time. This time God appeared to Abram in a vision in which He used the night sky as an example of how many children Abram would have. When Abram looked up, the whole night sky was full of stars, so many in fact that he would never be able to count them. When God made a promise, Abram believed Him. His belief in God was counted unto him as righteousness.
Genesis 16:1-4 NKJV “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.”
After ten years of waiting on God to give them a son, Abram and Sarai take matters into their own hands. At eighty-five years old Abram has a son by Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. Using a surrogate mother was acceptable on the culture they lived in, however that was not the plan that God had.
Genesis 17:1-8 NKJV “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
When Abram was ninety-nine years the Lord decided to change Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “father of many.” He also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. God told them again that they would have a son.
Genesis 18:10-14 NKJV “And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
One day three men came to see Abraham and one of the men spoke and said, “I will come back to see you at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was listening in the tent door. She started to laugh, but covered her mouth and laughed to herself because she didn’t want to be heard. She thought to herself, “How can I have a child, I’m almost one hundred years old?”
After the visitors had left, Abraham and Sarah realized that the man who had visited them was indeed God. A year later Sarah did have a son. She and Abraham named him Isaac, which means “he laughs.”
Genesis 21:1-11 NKJV “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.”
Some thirty years after Abraham was told he would be the father of many nations, God fulfilled His promise by giving to him and Sarah a son. Abraham placed his confidence and hope in God. He was promised that he would be a father of many nations, however it took many years for him to see that promise being fulfilled. During this time Abraham had to rely on his faith in God and in His Word. Even when his faith was tested.
Review
1. Abraham is considered to be one of the fathers of _______________.
2. God promised Abram that he would be the ______________ of many nations.
3. How old was Abram when God commanded him to leave his land ?
4. When the Lord appeared to Abram what did He use as an example to describe his descendants?
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5. Abram believed in God and it was counted unto him as ______________________.
6. How old was Abram when God changed his name to Abraham?
7. What did Abraham and Sara name their son?
8. How many years had passed between the time God first promised a son and when the child was born?
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