PPic: Oberon Golf Course - Links Pro Am 2006

PGA Chaplain Bible Studies

An Overview of the bible – Study 3 Genesis Ch 12 to 50.

Abram is the link that joins Genesis Chapter 11 to Chapter12. We left Genesis Chapter 11 with some degree of despair but with a realistic and disappointing assessment of humanity. With God’s call to Abram we begin a new journey of hope in the bible. It is my opinion that if you can understand the 5 promises that God gives to Abram and follow them through the bible, you can understand the whole bible. It is important to note that the call of Abram was initiated by God and is entirely because of his mercy and grace.  The point is this is God’s story, not the product of human effort.
 For memory, consider each promise a finger on your hand and a glove the overarching covenant.  God called Abram away from his homeland to start a new life and gave him 5 promises in Chapter 12: verses 1-3:

• To bless him – means wellbeing, prosperous, long life, peace, wealth, children, etc. To curse is the opposite – those who oppose Abram.
• To make his name great in the world.
• A large nation to come from him.
• A land to live in.
• A blessing to all the nations of the earth through Abram.

Notice how often and central the word blessing is used in these 3 verses and how similar this is to the Garden of Eden.

Genesis Chapters 12 to 50 provides some of the most interesting and easy to read parts of the bible. They tell the story of Abram leaving his homeland with Sarai his wife and his nephew Lot to pursue the promises God gave to him. Abram never really settles in the land God promised him, but he does become a great man in the land and his wealth is established. In fact it is surprising how difficult life is for Abram and Sarai with no children, fearing for his life and living among strangers. In this section of the bible you will discover how God’s promises to Abram are passed on to his son Isaac and then to his son Jacob. From Jacob’s 12 children the Israelite nation emerges.

• Abram - Chapter 12:1-3, 12:7, 13:14-16, 15:1-7, 15:18, 17:1-17, 18:17-19, 21:12.
• Isaac – Chapter 21:1-8, 22:15-19, 24:6-7, 26:1-5, 26:12-15, 26:23-24.
• Jacob – Chapter 28:1-4, 28:13-15, 35:9-15.
• Joseph – Chapter 39:2-3, 39:21-23, 41:37-41, 45:5-8, 45:16-18.

The significance of the change from family to nation is affirmed in God changing Jacob’s name to Israel. From Jacob on, the promises are addressed to the nation rather than an individual such as Joseph even though he was set apart and blessed by God. The Joseph story is different; but is linked through the survival of Abraham’s descendants.
The human frailty and episodes of deceit in this family surprises us, but through all the mistakes and faults of this family God keeps his promise and works out his plan. Some examples of this are:

Abram saying his wife is his sister because of fear (though she is his ½ sister); Sarai giving her maid to Abram to have a child when she cannot; Rebekah and Jacob deceiving Isaac so that Jacob received the blessing rather than Esau; Lot’s daughters sleeping and having children with their father; Laban deceiving Jacob so that he marries Leah rather than Rachael and Joseph’s brothers selling him as a slave.

It is an amazing theme how human decisions often with evil intent and God’s plan work somehow together (See Chapter 45:7-8, 50:19-20).

To the promises of God given to Abram is additional important information that are part of the covenant or agreement God has with this family.

• The importance of faith and obedience to God. (See Chapter 15: verses 1 to 6, Ch 17:1-3, and Chapter 22:1-19)
• How each of Abraham’s, Isaac and Jacob’s wives are unable to have children (See Chapters 18:verse 12, 25:21 and 29:31)
• How circumcision is a sign of the covenant God made with his people (Chapter 17: verses 9 to 11).
• The change of name from Abram to Abraham meaning “father of many”. Sarai (Abram’s wife) name likewise was changed to Sarah since she is having a baby.
• How Abraham’s other offspring apart from God’s chosen ones intermarried with other people in the land while God’s chosen one’s married women from Abraham’s and Rebekah’s family in the north. Ishmael and Esau are the 2 main examples of this and other nations emerging from Abraham, but not part of the blessings passed on.

At the end of Genesis we find Abraham’s descendants living in Egypt away from their homeland and under the yoke of the Egyptian Pharoah.  This sets the scene for the exodus event, the next study, Exodus Chapters 1 to 15.

Read ouR Bi-Monthly Newsletter

Upcoming Events

• Go to Events Page

Site by Limelight Creative