CWA Old Testament Lesson Lent 2 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Genesis 12:1-8
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and 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.
IA1 As recorded in Genesis 11 Abram, his father Terah, his nephew Lot and his wife Sarai had left their home in Ur and settled in Haran 600 miles to the northwest. Ur would be in Iraq today. Haran would be in Syria which we are hearing about all the time now. Then Abram, his wife, and his nephew moved again. This time 500 miles to the southwest into what is today Israel.
2 Why did he move? God told him to. 1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. Why? Because according to Joshua 24 the forefathers of the Israelites worshiped other gods when they lived beyond the Euphrates River. We also know that Terah worshiped the true God since Abram sent for a believing wife for his son Isaac later on. So, we have to conclude that the problem was a willingness to mix in falsehood about God with the truth about God.
3 Why did God tell him to leave? When a person is living in familiar surroundings with people you know, you tend to just go along with everything that everybody is doing. In this case, it was in regard to the truth. Cousin such and such believes this. So it must be OK. Our good friend such and such believes that. So it must be OK. I tolerate everything. It affects me. God told Abram: “Leave. Get out of there. If you hang around there much longer, pretty soon you won’t be able to tell what the truth is and what is not the truth.” Abram left.
B1 God tells us to leave. He tells us to leave when we are being subjected to teachings contrary to His Word. But we like to play superman and superwoman. “O come on, Lord. I am not that weak. I know Your truth. Nobody is going to get me to back off from Your truth. I know false teachings when I hear them. I can put myself in any circumstance. I can let myself be inundated by anything and still come out smelling like a rose.”
2 You know how God responds? “I told you to leave.” “Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.”(Rom 16:17) Teachings influence people. False teachings influence people. The devil uses false teachings to divert people from Jesus. God says, “LEAVE. Your presence where false teachings is being tolerated also indicates that you condone it and or even promote it. God doesn’t want anybody to promote or condone false teaching. It leads other people away from Jesus. “LEAVE.” LORD Jesus, help us to live by faith. Please lead us to leave as Abram did.
C1 God tells us to leave. He tells us to leave when we are being subjected to temptation to sin. But we like to play superman and superwoman. “O come on, Lord. I am not that weak. I know Your will. Nobody is going to get me to fall into sin. I know temptations when I hear them. I can put myself in any circumstance. I can let myself be inundated by all kinds of temptation and still come out smelling like a rose.”
2 You know how God responds? “I told you to leave. “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Cor 15:33. “Flee evil desires of youth.” 2 Tim 2:22 We are constantly bombarded by the devil, our sinful desires, and the sinful people around us with temptations to sin. We are incapable on our own of withstanding those attacks. We can’t ever get away from the sinful desires within us, but we can flee from circumstances that fuel our sinful desires. We can’t get away from the devil, but we can get away from the people whom the devil uses to tempt us to sin. God says: “LEAVE.” LORD Jesus, help us to live by faith. Please lead us to leave as Abram did.
IIA1 When God told Abram to leave, He gave Abram a whole string of promises. “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”(3) The repetition of the promise gives us more detail. “Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” (Gen 22:18) Abram’s offspring would provide a blessing that would benefit everybody everywhere throughout the history of the world. Jesus of Nazareth was the offspring of Abram. Through His life, death, and resurrection, He provided all people everywhere throughout history forgiveness, righteousness and eternal life. That’s what this part of the promise is about.
2 “I will make you into a great nation.”(2) Abram and Sarai were childless. Hardly a good start at being a great nation. Much later in Egypt their descendants became numerous. Later under David and Solomon they became powerful and influential. “I will bless you.” (2) Abram was one of the richest men in the area. “I will make your name great.” (2)Abram became famous. He still is. People descended from David make sure you know it. It’s a matter of pride. Anybody who studies the Bible or the Koran knows who Abram was. “You will be a blessing.”(2) God used Abram to provide benefits for people throughout his life. Abram left. That indicates he believed the promises of God. He lived by faith.
B1 God gives us a whole string of promises. He promises to forgive our sins because of Jesus’ death. He promises to take away our deserved punishment because Jesus suffered it for us. He promises to cover us with the holiness which Jesus lived for us. He promises that He will give us the eternal life which Jesus won by His resurrection. We get up every day confident that we are acceptable to God because of Jesus. Confident that we will remain acceptable to Him. Confident that we will spend eternity with the LORD because of Jesus. Why? Because the LORD had led us to believe His promises as Abram did.
2 God promises us that He is going to be with us all the time in this world. He promises to give us the strength we need to handle all the difficulties in our lives. He promises to give us the direction that we need to make right decisions in our lives. He promises to turn even the worst of circumstances in our lives to something beneficial for our relationship with Him. We get up every day confident that we are not alone. Confident that our problems won’t overwhelm us. Confident that we will make the right decisions. Confident that we will stay close to Jesus. Why? Because the LORD had led us to believe His promises as Abram did.
3 God promises that He is going to use us to accomplish His work. He promises that His Word which we speak will bring others to trust in Him. He promises that our godliness will direct others to Him. He promises that our action will do for others what they need. We get up every day confident that we can speak Law and Gospel to people when called upon to do so. Confident that we will live our godliness as a witness to Jesus. Confident that we will make use of opportunities to love others as the Lord places them before us. Why? Because the LORD had led us to believe His promises as Abram did. LORD Jesus, help us to live by faith. Please lead us to continue to believe your promises.
IIIA1 Twice in the last two sentences we have similar comments. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. ........ 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and 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. Another phrase is significant. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Abram and his people were not alone. When he did things, people who were already there were watching.
2 What tendency would a newcomer have in a situation like that? To go along with the customs and practices of the people who were already there. Don’t want to be weird. Don’t want people to look at me funny. Do whatever the Canaanites did just to fit in. Abram didn’t do that in spiritual matters. He had a different God. He approached God in a different way. He had different directions from His God than they did from theirs. So, he on his own built altars to the LORD and worshiped only Him.
B1 Christians are a minority in any society in our world today including here in the United States. That means we are significantly different from the people around us. Our being different automatically calls attention to ourselves. That is a good thing. People are watching us. That is a good thing. When we take time every week to worship Jesus, people notice because not many people do that. It indicates to others how important Jesus is to us.
2 Christians are a minority in any society in our world today including here in the United States. That means we are surrounded by all kinds of other views of spirituality as Abram was in Canaan. We are tempted to go along with the beliefs and customs and practices of the people around us. Don’t want to be weird. Don’t want people to look at me funny. Do whatever everybody else does just to fit in.
C1 But we don’t. Why not? We have a different God. We worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit God. We worship Jesus of Nazareth who is really God and also really human and lived and died and rose to give us forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life. We believe He is the only God who exists. We only worship Him. Nobody else. Not to be snobbish. Not to be condescending. Out of love. We want others to know who the true God is.
2 We don’t do what everybody else does just to fit in. Why not? We approach our God in a totally different way than they do. We don’t approach God because we “have done our best to do our duty to God to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” We are sinners. That approach would never work. We don’t have a relationship with God because we have made an intellectual decision to let Him into our lives. We are by nature dead. We don’t have the ability to make that kind of a decision on our own. We don’t approach God on the basis of some mandated spiritual activity. That doesn’t work. All our outwardly righteous acts are tainted with sin. We can only approach God and have a relationship with Him because of Jesus. We can’t be dishonest and act as if we are approaching God in the same way that others do. So, we will build our own altar and worship Jesus. Not to be snobbish. Not to be condescending. Out of love. We want others to know that Jesus is the only way to be right with God.
3 We don’t do what everybody else does just to fit in. Why not? Because our God has given us directions and perspectives about life that are totally different from what everybody else thinks and does. So we insist on only doing things God’s way. Not to be snobbish. Not to be condescending. Out of love. We want others to know that only if we continue in Jesus’ teachings are we really His disciples. LORD Jesus, help us to live by faith. Please lead us to continue to only worship You.