AGAIN ABRAHAM WAS NOT HONEST BUT GOD ...

PROCLAMATION

“And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country … and sojourned in Gerar.  And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister; and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.”  Genesis 20:1-2 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After seeing the dense smoke rising from the plain where Sodom and Gomorrah once stood, (Genesis 19:27-28) Abraham left the region and moved on into Gerar. Again Abraham feared for his life, so he told the officials there that his wife Sarah was his sister and the king took her for himself. (Genesis 20:1-2)  But God spoke to the king in a dream and told him that he and all that belonged to him would die if he touched Sarah. (Genesis 20:3-7)  The next morning the king told all of his officials what had happened.  Then he returned Sarah to Abraham, untouched, along with sheep, cattle, male and female slaves, and one thousand shekels of silver.  Abraham prayed for the king and his people and God removed the curse which He had placed upon them. (Genesis 20:17-18)

 

APPLICATION

Even though Abraham and Sarah had been dishonest again, (Genesis 12:10-16) The Lord God still protected and blessed them.  We do not have to be perfect Christians in order to receive God’s blessings and protection.  Believers who obey The Word of God will receive God’s blessings including protection and provision, grace and mercy, and a host of other blessings. (Deuteronomy 28:1-8)  He will shelter us under His wings, (Psalm 91:4) and He will keep our enemies from causing us any hurt, harm, or problems.  When we mess up, we should fess up, then get up and get back on the right path.

DO NOT LOOK BACK LONGING FOR THE PAST SINFUL LIFE

PROCLAMATION

“Then The Lord rained  upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from The Lord out of heaven; And He overthrew those cities … and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.  But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”  Genesis 19:24-26 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After dining with Abraham, the two angels who had been with The Lord left and went to Sodom. (Genesis 18:22)  When they arrived at Sodom, Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city and he urged them to go to his house and tarry there. (Genesis 19:1-2)  Initially they refused but eventually they agreed to go with him.  He prepared a meal for them and they ate.  Before they went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the house and called out to Lot to bring the two men out so that they could have sex with them. (Genesis 19:3-5)  Lot went outside to the men and offered them his two virgin daughters but they refused them.  The two angels pulled Lot back into the house and caused all of the men outside of the house to be blind. (Genesis 19:6-11)  The two angels told Lot that they were going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19:12)  Lot was told to take his wife and two daughters and get out of the city and go to the mountains. (Genesis 19:15)  They were told by one of the angels of The Lord to: “Flee for you lives!  Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!” (Genesis 19:17)  When they reached safety in the city of Zoar, the destruction of the cities began.  The Lord God rained down fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot’s wife turned and looked back, and as she looked back she was changed into a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:23-26)  

 

APPLICATION

There has been much speculation as to why Lot’s wife looked back.  Regardless of the reason why she did it, she disobeyed the angel of The Lord and was punished immediately.  Once we are saved, we are not to go back to our old sinful ways, or wish for them, or look back longing for them.  Jesus, The Christ, said that no one who takes up the work of God and looks back longingly is worthy of the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)  We are to learn from past mistakes and do better, and not long to return to our past life.  We should not value our past so much so that we ruin our future.

WHEN THE WICKED ARE DESTROYED THE RIGHTEOUS WILL BE SPARED

PROCLAMATION

“And Abraham drew near, and said, ‘Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?  Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city … Peradventure ten shall be found there.’  And He said, ‘I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.’ ”  Genesis 18:23-32 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.   After God made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:10-11) and promised him that Sarah would bear him a son and he will be called Isaac, (Genesis 17:17-19) Abraham and all of the males in his household were circumcised. (Genesis 17:24-27)  Then The Lord appeared to Abraham as one of three men. (Genesis 18:1-2)  Abraham asked if he could fix them something to eat before they went on their way. (Genesis 18:3-8)  As they ate, they asked about his wife Sarah and said that she would bear him a son. (Genesis 18:9-15)  When they got up to leave, The Lord told him that the sins of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah were so great that He was going to destroy the cities. (Genesis 18:16-20)  This is when Abraham questioned The Lord regarding sparing the lives of the righteous living among the wicked. (Genesis 18:22-32)  As The Lord conversed with Abraham, the two men with Him turned away and went towards Sodom. (Genesis 18:22)

 

APPLICATION

The Lord God destroyed the whole earth but spared Noah and his family. (Hebrews 11:7)  Here He told Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but He would spare the righteous there, namely Lot and his family. (Genesis 19:15-16)  He said that if there were ten righteous people there, He would spare the cities for their sakes. (Genesis 18:32)  Even when surrounded by wickedness and corruption, a child of God should maintain his faith and Christian walk.  Just because we live in a sinful world does not mean that we have to participate in their sins.  By maintaining good Christian behavior and obeying God’s Holy Word, we will find grace and favor in the eyes of The Lord and thereby be spared the wrath of God which will come to those unbelievers who are doing evil. 

 

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION

PROCLAMATION

“And God said unto Abraham … This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised … and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you.”  Genesis 17:9-11 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  When Abram was ninety-nine years old, The Lord God appeared to him.  God told him to be faithful and blameless.  He said that He would make a covenant with him and that he would be the father of many nations. (Genesis 17:1-4)  The Lord changed his name from Abram to Abraham and said that he would be very fruitful and that he would be the father of many kings. (Genesis 17:5-6)  Again God said that He would give Abraham and his seed the land of Canaan. (Genesis 15:7 and 17:8)  Then He said that Abraham and his seed after him must keep His covenant. (Genesis 17:7-9)  The covenant was that every male in his household and in the nation must be circumcised.  Every newborn male must be circumcised when he is eight days old. (Genesis 17:10-13)  Anyone in the nation that is not circumcised is to be cut off from the people for breaking the covenant. (Genesis 17:14)  Then The Lord God changed Abraham’s wife’s name from Sarai to Sarah.  And He said that He would bless her with a son at the age of ninety. (Genesis 17:15-21)  After God finished speaking to him, Abraham took his thirteen year son Ishmael and all of the men in his household and they all got circumcised. (Genesis 17:22-27)

 

APPLICATION

Today there are a lot of non-Jewish men and a lot of non-Christian men who have been circumcised.  Many mothers have their infant sons circumcised and there a quite a few adult males who get circumcised.  I have heard non-believers say that it was done for preventive health reasons.  However, the act of circumcision was instituted as a token reminder of the covenant between The Lord God and Abraham and his seed. (Genesis 17:10-11)  Physical circumcision will not save a non-believer.  One must undergo circumcision of the heart in order to be saved. (Romans 2:29)  If our heart and our spirit are not right, then the physical circumcision of the flesh will not matter.  If we believe, then we are God’s people; if we do not then we are not.

ABRAM'S FIRST BORN SON

PROCLAMATION

“So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.  Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.”  Genesis 16:15-16 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Sarai, Abram’s wife, had bore him no children.  So Sarai told Abram to sleep with her Egyptian slave Hagar and maybe they could build a family through her. (Genesis 16:1-2)  Abram slept with Hagar and she conceived.  However, when she learned that she was pregnant she began to despise Sarai. (Genesis 16:3-5)  This upset Sarai and she complained to Abram.  He said that Hagar was her slave, and she could do with her as she pleased.  Then Sarai began to mistreat Hagar, so much so until Hagar fled from her. (Genesis 16:5-6)  The angel of The Lord found Hagar in the desert and told her to go back to her mistress.  He said that she would have a son and she was to name him Ishmael. (Genesis 16:7-14)  Hagar returned to Sarai and bore Abram a son and he was called Ishmael. (Genesis 16:15)

 

APPLICATION

The Lord God sees our suffering and He hears our cries.  His response to our afflictions may not be the good news that we desired.  Here the slave Hagar was told to go back to Sarai who had mistreated her.  She was also told that every man would be against her son and that he would live in hostility. (Genesis 16:9-12)  This is not what any mother wants to hear.  We are told that God hears our cries and our prayers. (Psalm 34:17, Proverbs 15:29, John 9:31, and 1 John 5:14)  Our problem is that sometimes the answer to our prayers is “No” or “Not now.”  Some of the time we ask for things which are not consistent with the will of God.  Sometimes we bring our suffering upon ourselves.  After she found out that she was pregnant, Hagar was not very nice to Sarai. (Genesis 16:4)  His first born son was the result of Abram trying to help God out instead of being patient and waiting on The Lord.  God always keeps His promises.  His time frame is not the same as ours.  We need to learn to wait on The Lord. ( Psalm 27:14, Psalm 37:34, and Proverbs 20:22)  “… Wait, I say, on The Lord.” (Psalm 27:14)

CREDITED WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS

PROCLAMATION

“… Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be.  And he believed in The Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness.”  Genesis 15:5-6 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After Abram had rescued Lot and recovered his possessions, (Genesis 14:13-16) The Word of The Lord came to him in a vision. (Genesis 15:1)  The Lord told Abram, who was old and childless, that he would have a son to be his heir. (Genesis 15:2-4)  Then He told Abram that his seed would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. (Genesis 15:5)  Because Abram believed in The Lord, righteousness was credited to him. (Genesis 15:6)  Abram was a good man but he had sinned and lied to Pharaoh saying that his wife Sarai was his sister. (Genesis 12:10-16)  He was not perfect, but God attributed righteousness to him.  The Lord God told him that He brought him out of Ur to Canaan, the land that He was going to inherit. (Genesis 15:7)  But Abram questioned Him, so God had him to prepare a sacrifice and caused a deep sleep to come upon him.  Then He told him that his seed would be afflicted and enslaved for four hundred years, and after four generations they would return and inherit the land. (Genesis 15:8-21)

 

APPLICATION

The Lord God is faithful and just, (1 John 1:9) and He knows that we are a sinful people. (Romans 3:23)  He does not expect us to be perfect.  He wants us to humble ourselves and pray and seek Him and turn from our wicked ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)  If we do that then He will credit us with righteousness as He did Abraham. (Genesis 15:6)  God keeps His promises.  He promised Abram a son even though he was an old man. (Genesis 15:4)  Abram was already seventy-five years old when he left his father’s house (Genesis 12:4) and he was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5)  The Lord also promised Abram that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan, but only after being enslaved for four hundred years.  Moses led them out of captivity in Egypt (Exodus 12:41) and into the wilderness, and Joshua led them out of the wilderness across the Jordan river into Canaan. (Joshua 3:1-17)  The Lord God will keep His promises.  It is just up to us to do our part and obey His commands.  Righteousness is credited not earned.

DO NOT TAKE PAYMENT FROM THE ENEMY

PROCLAMATION

“And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto The Lord, The Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take … any thing that is thine, least thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich; Save only that which the young men have eaten …”  Genesis 14:22-24 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After Lot separated from Abram, he resided in an area near Sodom.  There was a war between the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the four kings to the east who prevailed against them.  The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah including Lot and his possessions. (Genesis 14:1-12)  When Abram heard what had happened to Lot, he gathered 318 of his men and went and rescued Lot and recovered all of his possessions. (Genesis 14:13-16)  The king of Sodom offered the possessions to Abram, but he refused them.  He said that he would not take anything from him so that he could never say that he made Abram rich. (Genesis 14:17-24)

 

APPLICATION

There are a number of reasons for not taking any form of payment from the enemy.  He may feel that he owns you, or that he has bought your loyalty.  However, the main reason is that it would appear to others that the two of you are in some kind of partnership with each other.  The Bible says that we are to do that which is good and right, and we are to avoid evil.  It also says that we are to avoid even the appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22)  Don’t partner with people who are doing evil.  Don’t be bought.  If we are going to do something good to help someone who is in need, then do not accept payment for doing it.  Also, do not broadcast the good deed to get public acclaim.  If we seek the glory of men then we already have our reward for the good deed. (Matthew 6:2)