I think that some of Abraham's reason for lying about Sarah was due to his understanding of the promise God had made to him about multiplying his seed. So he must have thought it was best lie rather than die (which would have cut off the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham). God did not make a promise to Sarah, but to Abraham. So it was through his seed that nations would be blessed.
If you read a bit further on you will see that Eve does not become Adams 'subordinate ' until Genesis Ch 3 V 16 . I hope you are not offended by me , a 'subordinate' answering this question for you .
Even the people back in the days of Abraham seemed to be so wicked. Killing Abraham to take Sarai. I suppose there has always been evil throughout the entire history of the world.
With the words GOG and MAGOG the Scripture reffers to nations living very far away from Israel probably to the extreme north. Some theologists indentify those nations with the land that is now Russia. Correct? False?
Chaper 38: "Son of man, set thy face against Gog the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal and prophesy against him. And say, thus saith the Lord God; behold I am against thee O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.."
.chief prince? Does that not sound like Scripture using the same term for an angelic creature? Michael, prince of Persia. I believe Satan has more than one prince, quite possibly hundreds.
"And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army..all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya...Gomer and all his bands; the house f Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many peoples with thee."
"After many days thou shall be visited: in the later years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel which have been always waste: but is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them."
"Thou shall ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and many people with thee." This word, band, bands has the meaning of "wings of an army". What does that say to you? Like a 'cloud' to cover the land. Aircaft?
If we break this down to what we might think is a thought and word to how we talk today, God is putting thought and deed into the mind of the great leader of a nation straight north of Israel. Who is directly north of Israel? First of the larger, Turkey, then north of the Black Sea is Ukraine, further northward is Russia. Consider this fact, there are over 25 million Muslims in Russia. The largest Muslim population in Europe reside in Russia according to Wikipedia. How many in the Russian military? More than
In Genesis chapters 12 to 50, there is only one Covenant, that God made with Abram.
Genesis 12:1-3, the Covenant made. But of this Covenant, several 'expansions' to it were made to fully express it. And they are:
Genesis 15:18, God ratifies that Covenant in a national perspective.
Genesis 17:4-6,16, God ratifies that Covenant in an international perspective.
Genesis 17:7, God ratifies that Covenant as an Everlasting Covenant.
Genesis 17:10-14, God ratifies that Covenant by an act of circumcision (also in Stephen's message in Acts 7:8).
So, if you're thinking of these 'aspects' of the Covenant, then one can see & appreciate several Covenants. However, I believe most would deduce that only one Covenant was made with Abram, which composed of these four separate parts of the One.
Unandus, is your question in regards to Genesis 12:1-3? This is generally taken as the Abrahamic Covenant - a Covenant promising that from him a great nation would be established, that Abraham's name would be held in great importance & esteem, and all the Earth would be blessed from that nation. Unfortunately, the last promise has not been fully realized yet & will be in the future Millenium, but in Christ great blessing & redemption has been afforded to all who come to Him.
This passage shows Abram's wanderings from Haran to Caanan and then to Egypt in the rest of the chapter due to the famine mentioned in verse 10. At this time Abraham committed the first of two errors in concealing the identity of his wife (in the second he called her his half-sister which was technically true). The result of this was the same; God's covenantal marriage bond perhaps was accentuated with the fact that this was a Prophet's wife; who was to be part of great blessings in God's overall plans for the future of His people. Self protection was the motivation here; however clearly Abraham was lacking proper trust in God's faithfulness to complete His promises; which of course repeated later on with the aforementioned same mistake; as well as being convinced to listen to the voice of His wife to sleep with Hagar when the promised offspring wasn't yet produced by Sarah. She even laughed at the Angel (likely Christ Himself) when she was near 90 and Abraham even older at the prediction of a child being born in a year to them. This part of his journey also was part of the process eventually separating him from Lot who barely escaped from the "favorable" dwellingplace he settled as compared with Abraham. Although the beginning of the chapter doesn't mention a covenant; clearly God's Word is enough to ensure a done deal with His own progeny being blessed; as well as the whole earth eventually through the Messiah (the true children or spiritual offspring of Abraham).
On the mountain Abraham was to sacrifice his son is the same mountain Jesus Christ was crucified. Hence, the statement, "GOD will provide the lamb for the sacrifice." Omnipotent omnipresent and the almighty GOD.
Hello Wayne. There are various applications for the use of 'Lord' in the Bible. When you see it capitalized (LORD) as in Genesis 2:4, it conveys to us the meaning, that only Almighty God is referred to here. The Jewish use of Jehovah (YHWH, which is the tetragrammaton of Yahweh), signifies that God, the Eternal, Self-Existent One is spoken of. Of course, Jews won't write or speak this Name, lest they do so incorrectly & offend God. So, in English, you may see it written as G_d, or HaShem (= the Name).
Then you will see the words 'Lord' or 'lord' in the Bible. For 'Lord': the word is 'Adonai', which is also the Name attributed to God & this means, 'master, lord, sovereign'. And sometimes, you can see both of the above together, as in Genesis 15:2: "And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me...", where Lord is not capitalized but God is.
And 'lord' is also seen, as in Genesis 31:35 from the root, 'adoni', used mainly with mankind. And this word can mean: master, lord, sir, even husband, in an older usage.
Hope this helps as you see these words being used throughout Scriptures - and yet, other names have been applied to God, especially compound names which describe the Character or Activity of God.
I reviewed all of the comments in this section and they prompted a few thoughts I'd like to share.
Abraham traveled from Ur to Haran with his father Terah, brother Nahor, nephew Lot, niece Milkah, half-sister/wife Sarah, and servants.
He left his father and brother and their families in Haran and headed to the land God was leading him to. God said to leave his kin and go. I think he took everyone God wanted him to take with him. There is nothing in the text that states that Lot should not have gone with him. He was probably Lot's custodial parent after Haran's death, so Lot was a member of his immediate family.
Interesting how Abraham set up his altar in Bethel. Was this the same place that Jacob wrestled with God, perhaps?
Yet he still traveled south from there. Perhaps he needed to "wander" some to graze his flocks and, perhaps, God hadn't told him to set up a permanent camp/residence yet. It seems there were other events that needed to happen first. I don't know if he had ever been to Egypt before. God felt that Abraham needed to experience Egypt before he takes possession of the promised land area. Maybe the leaders of Egypt needed to know who Abraham was and about the God of Abraham. Everything was going along according to God's plan and Abraham was obedient.
It is interesting that Abraham went up a hill or mountain to offer sacrifices. In previous times inn Shinar, under Nimrod, people preferred to live in the plain and build their own "mountains" to worship their idols. Something to think about. The altars of the Israelites cut not be of cut stones (man-designed) and they did not build temples with images of their God enshrined on top of these like the pagans. God does not want our place of worship to be man-made or idolaterous. (sp?). Thus, we are his Temple and He lives in us as a Spirit. Can't make an idol of that, can we! God made us, formed us in our mother's womb. We are his dwelling place, all God created!
Sarai did not have a wife with Pharaoh because when God told Abram he will give him a child within a year Sarai had laughed at that thought because she has not beared a child up until that point. Abram was not a coward in my eyes for lying on his wife but he knew the wickedness he faced so he ended up saving his and possibly even Sarai's
It may seem that Abram lied about his wife but he did not. There was not a punishment given, as a matter of fact, Abram was given many animals and many servants. Sarai was Abrams half-sister so there was no lie;
Genesis 20:12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
We must understand that at this time, at that point, the Law had not been given. The lifespan and human genetics were different than they are today. Having kids with close relatives was to repopulate the land. If we recall after the flood there were only eight people, so people married their cousins, half-sisters and many had more than one wife. All the earth at this time served strange gods and God took him out of this land
Joshua 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
Back then if someone wanted the property of someone, especially a King or Pharaoh, they would merely wipe out the person and take it, because it was only the strong-will survive world, and women were considered property.
Whether Abram did this out of fear of his life and willing to sacrifice his wife, or God instructed him and let him know it would turn out ok, it is not written. If we do the will of God, there is no guarantee we will not be harmed, for our hope is not in this world. Look at all the disciples before, many suffered greatly.
One can't be certain that Pharaoh at this point did what was unseemly to Sarai ( Genesis 12:19). It's only stated in verse 15, that she was taken into Pharaoh's house, which could mean that she was placed in a separate dwelling as part of his harem & being groomed to become his wife later on. But if she was brought straight to Pharaoh, the Word doesn't give any details of that encounter.
Romans 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law
Indeed, wickedness has been at work in the world since the Deceptive One beguiled Eve and drew Adam into disobedience to God's command.
I believe to be an evil angel of Satin's horde
Is told by God through the mouth of Ezekiel;
Chaper 38: "Son of man, set thy face against Gog the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal and prophesy against him. And say, thus saith the Lord God; behold I am against thee O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.."
.chief prince? Does that not sound like Scripture using the same term for an angelic creature? Michael, prince of Persia. I believe Satan has more than one prince, quite possibly hundreds.
"And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army..all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya...Gomer and all his bands; the house f Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many peoples with thee."
"After many days thou shall be visited: in the later years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel which have been always waste: but is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them."
"Thou shall ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and many people with thee." This word, band, bands has the meaning of "wings of an army". What does that say to you? Like a 'cloud' to cover the land. Aircaft?
If we break this down to what we might think is a thought and word to how we talk today, God is putting thought and deed into the mind of the great leader of a nation straight north of Israel. Who is directly north of Israel? First of the larger, Turkey, then north of the Black Sea is Ukraine, further northward is Russia. Consider this fact, there are over 25 million Muslims in Russia. The largest Muslim population in Europe reside in Russia according to Wikipedia. How many in the Russian military? More than
Genesis 12:1-3, the Covenant made. But of this Covenant, several 'expansions' to it were made to fully express it. And they are:
Genesis 15:18, God ratifies that Covenant in a national perspective.
Genesis 17:4-6,16, God ratifies that Covenant in an international perspective.
Genesis 17:7, God ratifies that Covenant as an Everlasting Covenant.
Genesis 17:10-14, God ratifies that Covenant by an act of circumcision (also in Stephen's message in Acts 7:8).
So, if you're thinking of these 'aspects' of the Covenant, then one can see & appreciate several Covenants. However, I believe most would deduce that only one Covenant was made with Abram, which composed of these four separate parts of the One.
Where are you? Let me know how to pray for you.
God has put you on my heart for a few days. Email me.
Then you will see the words 'Lord' or 'lord' in the Bible. For 'Lord': the word is 'Adonai', which is also the Name attributed to God & this means, 'master, lord, sovereign'. And sometimes, you can see both of the above together, as in Genesis 15:2: "And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me...", where Lord is not capitalized but God is.
And 'lord' is also seen, as in Genesis 31:35 from the root, 'adoni', used mainly with mankind. And this word can mean: master, lord, sir, even husband, in an older usage.
Hope this helps as you see these words being used throughout Scriptures - and yet, other names have been applied to God, especially compound names which describe the Character or Activity of God.
I reviewed all of the comments in this section and they prompted a few thoughts I'd like to share.
Abraham traveled from Ur to Haran with his father Terah, brother Nahor, nephew Lot, niece Milkah, half-sister/wife Sarah, and servants.
He left his father and brother and their families in Haran and headed to the land God was leading him to. God said to leave his kin and go. I think he took everyone God wanted him to take with him. There is nothing in the text that states that Lot should not have gone with him. He was probably Lot's custodial parent after Haran's death, so Lot was a member of his immediate family.
Interesting how Abraham set up his altar in Bethel. Was this the same place that Jacob wrestled with God, perhaps?
Yet he still traveled south from there. Perhaps he needed to "wander" some to graze his flocks and, perhaps, God hadn't told him to set up a permanent camp/residence yet. It seems there were other events that needed to happen first. I don't know if he had ever been to Egypt before. God felt that Abraham needed to experience Egypt before he takes possession of the promised land area. Maybe the leaders of Egypt needed to know who Abraham was and about the God of Abraham. Everything was going along according to God's plan and Abraham was obedient.
It is interesting that Abraham went up a hill or mountain to offer sacrifices. In previous times inn Shinar, under Nimrod, people preferred to live in the plain and build their own "mountains" to worship their idols. Something to think about. The altars of the Israelites cut not be of cut stones (man-designed) and they did not build temples with images of their God enshrined on top of these like the pagans. God does not want our place of worship to be man-made or idolaterous. (sp?). Thus, we are his Temple and He lives in us as a Spirit. Can't make an idol of that, can we! God made us, formed us in our mother's womb. We are his dwelling place, all God created!
It may seem that Abram lied about his wife but he did not. There was not a punishment given, as a matter of fact, Abram was given many animals and many servants. Sarai was Abrams half-sister so there was no lie;
Genesis 20:12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
We must understand that at this time, at that point, the Law had not been given. The lifespan and human genetics were different than they are today. Having kids with close relatives was to repopulate the land. If we recall after the flood there were only eight people, so people married their cousins, half-sisters and many had more than one wife. All the earth at this time served strange gods and God took him out of this land
Joshua 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
Back then if someone wanted the property of someone, especially a King or Pharaoh, they would merely wipe out the person and take it, because it was only the strong-will survive world, and women were considered property.
Whether Abram did this out of fear of his life and willing to sacrifice his wife, or God instructed him and let him know it would turn out ok, it is not written. If we do the will of God, there is no guarantee we will not be harmed, for our hope is not in this world. Look at all the disciples before, many suffered greatly.
God bless, Ron