Genesis Chapter 12
Covenant, promise, contract but it embodies the will and
Spirit of the most high God. A divine covenant NEVER fails and you can be certain the
Lord’s Will will be carried out at the source is the very spirit of God. Abraham is the first in a series of men in the Bible called
the patriarchs- (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).
Acts 7:2-3: And he
answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah,
the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia,
before he lived in Haran, and He
said to him, ‘Leave
your country and your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.
Acts 7:
says before Abraham (Abram) reaches Haran, that
the Lord appears to him. You see Tera Abrams father was still living therefore
he would of have been the one who decided where the family moved.
Now remember Abrams family was just as pagan in their
beliefs as the rest of the world was during this time. So Abram could not have
divorced himself from worshiping multiple gods BEFORE God called him,
otherwise Abram would have been embroiled in drama and in contention with his
entire family.
You see before Abram, Noah had been judged by god as one of
the most righteous men on earth, you see Noah was serving the Lord before the
Lord called him to build the ark, there is no such claim with Abram(Abraham).
Even Moses nobility of character is revealed to us before he is called to lead
the Hebrew people out of Egypt. ahead of
time when we see he killed an Egyptian foreman who was viciously beating a
Hebrew slave, he stands up for the Midianite women, however we only learn of
Abram’s greatness after he is called not before. What does the Lord tell Abram to do?
Genesis 12:1: Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram,“Go away from your country, And from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.
Genesis 12:1: is a command by God that requires
separation, Abram separating from his ENTIRE family. What Abram was being
called out, set apart by God to do in no way could it be accomplished by
remaining a part of a family that was into pagan worship and was not fully
serving the Lord. Abrams family had perverted the worship of God with idolatry.
Abram must leave everything that is familiar and comfortable to him in order
for the Lord to raise him up into who he has been called to be.
We see the Lord do the same with Abram in Genesis 22:2: God said, “Take now your
son, your only son [of promise], whom you love, Isaac, and go to the
region of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Once again this is about faith and obedience. Leave what is
familiar to you and go to where I tell you.
NOTE:
In both, Genesis 12:1 and Genesis 22:2 the Lord uses 3 words
to describe what Abram must let go of as in Genesis 12:1:Go away from
your country, And from your relatives, and from your father’s house, To the land which I will
show you.
Genesis 22:2:
God said, “Take now your
son, your only son [of promise], whom you love, Isaac, and go to
the region of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.
What I find interesting is 3 words are used. The
numerical value 3 in the Hebrew Alphabet is Gimel (ג) (hebrewtoday.com).What I find interesting is what Gimel represents,
which coincides with these verses.
The Sages teach that the gimel symbolizes
a rich man running after a poor man, the dalet,
to give him charity. The word "gimel" is derived from the word
"gemul", which in Hebrew means both the giving of reward as
well as the giving of punishment. In Torah,
both reward and punishment have the same ultimate aim: the rectification of the
soul to merit to receive G‑d's light to
the fullest extent.Reward and punishment imply that man is free to choose between
good and evil. (Chabad.org).
In both instances Abram had a choice to obediently walk toward the
Lord in Submission or to rebel and move away from the Lord and what he was asking and be rewarded or disobey and face
consequences of His free will decision.
There is a pattern
that continues with Abram of the Lord electing, and separating those he has
called for His work (for example, Noah).
Matthew 22:14:
For many
are called (invited, summoned), but few are chosen.”
We are witnessing the creation of a nation, by the Lord
setting 1 man apart who He foreknew would be faithful, to create a people set
apart and consecrated to Almighty God. Abram had to leave behind everything he knew in exchange for
a PROMISE from Almighty God, keep in mind there was no manifestation yet just a
PROMISE.
Genesis 12:2-3: And I will
make you a great nation, and I will bless you
[abundantly], and make your name great
(exalted, distinguished); and you shall be a blessing [a
source of great good to others]; and I will bless (do good for,
benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is,
subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has
contempt for) you. And in you all the families
(nations) of the earth will be blessed.”
The idea that one nation would be a blessing for
all other nations has no parallel
Unfortunately during the course of Jewish history
and what has transpired with the Jewish people that they have lost sight of the
fact that this was the very purpose in which the Lord created this nation and
raised up this people. One very key factor at the core of this is anti Antisemitism-throughout
history the Jewish people have so often been preoccupied with merely surviving,
they have forgotten their very mission on this earth toward humanity.
Also many Jews have abandoned Judaism for other religions.
Genesis 12:3: And I will bless (do good for,
benefit) those who bless you,
And I will curse [that is,
subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has
contempt for) you. And in you all the families
(nations) of the earth will be blessed.”
NOTE:This verse is a foundation and has held true even
into the present day. One does not have to hold a religious set of views to see
the fact that Nations who have treated the Jews favorably and even been their
allies, the United States for example, have seen throughout History prosperity
and more importantly Freedom.
Pharaoh sought to enslave the Jewish nation who had
migrated to Egypt during the time of Joseph, Ordered the killing of countless
baby boys, of which Moses was spared, and refused to let the people of God go
as if they were His possession. Egypt ended up destroyed by plagues, losing
their firstborn children and animals with the final plague, and their whole
army was destroyed when the Red sea came Crashing down on them.
Back during the medieval time of the world, Spain plunged into an economic and cultural decline after the 1492 banishment
of the Jews. In the more modern era Germany is probably one of the severest
examples of what happens when one nation attempts to curse and destroy the
Lord’s firstborn. Germany under hitler’s regime sought to outright exterminate
thew Jews in Europe and even worldwide. Because of this During World war two 7.5
MILLION Germans were killed, 2 million German women were assaulted, mostly by
Russian troops, and Germany was divided for the next 44 years.
NOTE: In present day, Germany is becoming less and less
secure as mass immigration of people who have an entire cultural and religious
set of ideals about government, women, rule of law. This problem is magnified
by the fact that German women have a very low birth rate.This all happened after Germany exterminated 6
million of God’s people.
After world War two many of the Arab Countries that
were birthed through the line of Ishmael, Abraham’s out of covenant child he
had with Hagar the Servant, who have now attempted to curse the Jews. Among these countries is a level of moral ignorance as well as spiritual ignorance that
is quite pitiful. We have seen now the squeeze more and more upon Iran for
‘threatening to blow Israel off the map.
The second part of this birth is such an
incredible promise the Lord makes to Abram. The Lord does not say Abram’s
family would be blessed through him, BUT that ALL the world’s families will be
blessed through Him, through this single act of obedience and entering into a
covenant with the Lord which births forth a nation.
This is mentioned only (3) verses after we are introduced to Abram, because the Lord knows the end from
the beginning and the beginning from the ending, he foreknew what would come
forth from Abram’s obedience. The mission of Abram and the Jewish people is
universal. There are (4)times in genesis where this theme of universal blessing
through the Jews is mentioned.
Genesis 18:17-18: The Lord said, “Shall I keep secret
from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do, since Abraham is destined to become a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?
Genesis 22:16-18: and said,
“By Myself (on the basis of Who I Am) I have sworn [an oath], declares
the Lord, that since you have done this thing and have not withheld
[from Me] your son, your only son [of promise], indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply
your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the
seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies [as
conquerors]. Through
your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have
heard and obeyed My voice.”
Genesis 26:2-4: The Lord appeared to him and
said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell
you. Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be
with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all
these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry
out the oath which
Genesis 28:13-14: And
behold, the Lord stood
above and around him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s]
father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the
land [of promise] on which you are lying. Your descendants shall be as
[countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west
and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the
earth shall be blessed through you and your ]descendants.
NOTE: The present translation of this literally says “will bless
themselves by you” not “be blessed by you” according to the Hebrew translation.
How will families of the earth bless themselves by Abram/Israel? When the
families of the earth learn how to live by the moral and spiritual laws God
reveals to Abram and his descendants, however much of the world has ignored
this fact and turned away from coming into agreement with the laws of Almighty
God and His Word, and we see the effects of that famine, pestilence, wars and
rumors of war, perversion, wickedness.
Romans 6:23:For the
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable,
overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Genesis 12.4: So Abram
departed [in faithful obedience] as the Lord had directed him; and
Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left
Haran.
This is proof that it does not matter what age you are the
lord is not done with you or operating through you for His Glory until we take
our last breath! Abram is 75 when he begins this life changing journey with the
Lord, can you imagine?
NOTE:Most people these days at 75 are retired and enjoying
their lives. However in today's world people are remaining active and vibrant
into their 80’s even 90 years old! Here is Abram at 75 put back into the workforce by
Almighty God because a nation must be birthed forth! Another Example is found in Exodus 7:7: Moses is 80 when he confronts
Pharaoh!
Isaiah
61:1-4: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good
tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me
to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to
the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of
the eyes to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord [the year of His favor]and the
day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. To grant [consolation and
joy] to those who mourn in Zion—to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem)
of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment
[expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing
spirit—that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and
magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with
God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the
ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former desolation and renew the ruined
cities, the devastation of many generations.
When the
Spirit of the Lord is upon an individual the true power of Almighty God, Age
does not matter for the anointing supersedes the limitations of the body! Sarah
Abram’s wife birthing forth Isaac, which we will get into later, is proof of
this very fact.
Genesis
12:5: Abram took Sarai his wife
and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the
people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to
the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan.
This is
not an insignificant detail that indeed Abram was a wealthy man. Few great
thinkers have been poor. These types of thinkers tend to think about the
purpose of existing, why they have been placed on this earth.
In
poverty the objective is clear, meaning day in and day out, to provide food and
shelter for them and their families, this is what consumes their thoughts and
dictates their actions. However when one does not have to worry about where
their next meal is coming from they tend to begin to broaden their thinking and
ponder greater issues. This may also be connected to an account for the fact
that hundreds of years later it was NOT a Hebrew Slave who lead the revolt
against pharaoh, it was Moses, the one Hebrew in Egypt who had been raised in a
privileged situation and educated in ways the Hebrew slaves were not. This
caused Moses to become an out of the box type of thinker. Moses was in a way
shown both sides of Egypt by the Lord, and it gave him an advantage against
pharaoh.
NOTE:We must
remember that there are good and bad individuals amongst the wealthy and
amongst the poor.
Genesis
12:6: Abram passed through the
land as far as the site of Shechem, to the [great] terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh.
Now the Canaanites
were in the land at that time.
What is
the Significance of Moreh?
A place near Shechem, known fully as אלון מורה ('elon moreh), or Oak (Of) Moreh. This is
where Abraham built an altar to YHWH right after his arrival
in Canaan and just prior to his
stay in Bethel (Genesis 12:6). The
wording of these statements and the activities they describe strongly suggest
that Abraham was not simply wandering around, but was rather on a specific
course along a network of centers of learning. The second time the oaks (plural
this time) of Moreh are mentioned is in the highly significant passage of
Deuteronomy 11:26-32, where the Lord sets before Israel a blessing (Mount
Gerizim) and a curse (Mount Ebal), beside the Oaks Of Moreh
(Deuteronomy 11:30, only here spelled מרה). (abarim-publications.com).
NOTE:It is also interesting that it
is made a point to say the Canaanites where in the land, as if they were
squatters occupying what was not theirs. Even more interesting the Lord has
Abram travel to Canaan and something very significant happens there to mark it
as Holy and consecrated unto the Lord for His people, this nation being
birthed, Israel.
Genesis
12:7: Then the Lord appeared
to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built
an altar there to [honor] the Lord who had appeared to
him.
This was
the first altar that Abram built unto the Lord signifying this was a place of
worship to the Lord, of covenant as the people of Israel over 400 years later
would arrive at their promised land, Canaan. It was planting the flag as we
should say, setting this land apart for the people of Almighty God. An altar is
a place of choice, of sacrifice. We are choosing whom we will serve, Abram had
to make a choice.
Matthew
6:24: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon.
Abram was truly choosing to serve the Lord, to lay his old life down on
the altar, forsake the pagan worship of his ancestors, and serve the One true
Living God. The Lord had to see this loyalty, this faithfulness in Abram,
before he was even called, and this is one of the reasons he was chosen.
Genesis 12:10:Now there
was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to live temporarily,
for the famine in the land was oppressive and severe.
This is
foreshadowing exactly how the nation Israel will enter Egypt, through Joseph’s
rise to power during Famine
Genesis
43:1-4: But the
hunger and destitution and starvation were
very severe and extremely distressing in the land [Canaan]. And when [the families of
Jacob’s sons] had eaten up the grain which the men had brought from Egypt,
their father said to them, Go again; buy us a little food. But Judah said to him, The
man solemnly and sternly warned us, saying, You shall not see
my face again unless your brother is with you. If you will send our
brother with us, we will go down [to Egypt] and buy you food.
Genesis
46:1-3: So Israel made his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba [a
place hallowed by sacred memories] and offered sacrifices to the God of his
father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in
visions of the night, and said, Jacob! Jacob! And he said, Here am I. And He said, I am God, the
God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will there make
of you a great nation.
Genesis 12:11-12: And when he was about to
enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, I know that you are beautiful to
behold.So when the Egyptians see
you, they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, but they will let
you live.
NOTE: Now this is interesting in Genesis 12:12-First off
the twelve letter lamed is in the Hebrew Alphabet. The
name יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisrael) Israel starts with the
letter yod, the smallest
letter, and ends with the letter lamed,
the tallest and biggest letter. This leads scholars to the idea that when
individuals from the nation of Israel start to learn they are small, but when
they finish learning, they are big and tall (spiritually, of course). However
we also see the nation starting off small with just Abraham and into present
day has grown into a great nation!
Abraham
being just one person being the yod of the beginning of this nation, even
though he has this promise from the Lord, is afraid Pharaoh will kill him in
order to take possession of Sarai his wife. Is it not interesting that this is
perhaps where the Jews Fear of Egypt harming them and their people began, with
Abram.Abram is
human, he has doubts, doubts are a part of faith for in overcoming doubt the
roots of our faith go even deeper.
NOTE: There was
this great Rabbi by the name of Emmanuel Rackman, President of Bar-Ilan
University wrote the following “Doubt is good for the human soul, its
humility…God may have had His own reasons for denying us certainty with regard
to His existence and nature. One apparent reason is that man’s certainty with
regard to anything is poison to his soul. Who knows this better than moderns
who have had to cope with dogmatic fascists, communists, and even scientists?”
In doubt
we must choose, choose whether to continue in faith with the Lord or veer off
at the nearest exit for some other dogmatic ideas that are falsely soothing us
in our distress.
The
Egyptians were a powerful pagan nation and it was not beyond them to kill to
take possession of what they wanted. Perhaps the Lord had this included to
demonstrate how revolutionary this new belief system of ethical monotheism was,
in complete Contrast to the Egyptian beliefs the Lord commanded Israel to love
the stranger in Leviticus 19:34, and Deuteronomy 10:19. The stranger was
to be protected simply because he/she was a human being, thus the discovery of
something called humanity. There does not appear to be another civilization
where their laws and beliefs include loving the stranger.
Genesis 12:13: we see the humanness of Abram full throttle when he asks Sarai
his wife to LIE to pharaoh and say that she is Abrams sister.Now there
has been much criticism of what Abram did on two counts: (1) He asked
his wife to lie. (2)He then
would be putting her smack in the middle of a situation where adultery was
almost certain to take place.
NOTE: Bible
commentators believe Abram committed a great sin by placing Sarai in a
compromising situation because of His fear of Pharaoh, however there is another
side to this. In any
situation you may have a small and finite number of choices, what were Abrams choices?
Tell the truth and risk a very high chance of being killed which would of
traumatized Sarai his wife and placed her in Egyptian bondage. In no way would
Sarai’s safety of been guaranteed had Abram been killed. This was about a one
time life saving lie and the preservation of life.
NOTE: Those who
hid the Jews during the holocaust. Maria, Countess von Maltzan, was a veterinarian
living in East Berlin at the time of her interview. She told of being raised on
an 18,000-acre estate in the Silesia region of Germany, to fabulous wealth, a
doting father and a cruel and unforgiving mother. Familial rebelliousness first drove her to become a
member of the underground in Berlin during the war. “It was easy for me to
resist Nazi authority because I had always resisted my mother’s authority,” she
said. The countess hid Jews in a secret compartment in her
sofa (among other places) and once dared an SS officer to shoot at it while her
future husband, Hans, was still was inside. (He failed to call her bluff,
thankfully.) "I was a queen on the black market all during the
war,” she recalled, “but I had to be good at it because I had so many extra
people to feed. I always said, no matter what came along, ‘I prefer to be in a
tough situation than to go to bed with a bad conscience.’”
QUESTION: Let
me ask you against a wicked regime who so sadistically wanted to slaughter
God’s people like dogs, did Maria do the right thing hiding the Jews and
bravely lying to Nazi officers?
This
is very similar to the predicament Abram was faced with, knowing if he was not
alive there would be nothing he could do to protect Sarai, so he chose this
path trusting that the Lord would honor his heart and work all things together
for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. The
Lord does similar with in the book of 1 Samuel when the Lord instructs Samuel
to go anoint the son of Jesse as King. Samuel’s initial reaction is fear.
1 Samuel 16:1-3: The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will
you grieve for Saul, when I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn
with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a
king for Myself among his sons.”But Samuel said,
“How can I go? When Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” And
the Lord said, “Take a
heifer from the herd with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the
Lord.’ You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I
will show you what you shall do [after that]; and you shall anoint for Me the
one whom I designate.”
NOTE:The
Lord’s official business supersedes answering to a corrupt leader.
Secondly Sarai would have not been considered an adulterer if pharaoh had taken her
against her will which happened more than we would like to think during that
time in history.
In
the book of Esther, Esther is taken as one of the women to be brought before
the King as some weird version of the Bachelor: we need a Queen edition was
taking place. However, Esther did not have a say. And what does Mordeai do, he
under the instruction of the Lord tells Esther to conceal or hide the fact that
she is Jewish. Her name was even changed to Esther from Hadassah to blend into
the Persian culture more.
So
They enter Egypt and right out of the gate they notice what a looker Sarai is,
she was beautiful! She is taken into Pharaoh’s palace.
Genesis
12:16:
And he treated Abram well for her sake; he
acquired sheep, oxen, he-donkeys, menservants, maidservants, she-donkeys,
and camels.
NOTE: The
favor of the Lord was upon this man!! Here we see the foreshadowing of Egypt
just handing over their possessions and wealth to the father of the Hebrew Nation!
Genesis 12:17-19: But the Lord scourged
Pharaoh and his household with serious plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.And Pharaoh called Abram
and said, What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that
she was your wife? Why did you say, She is my
sister, so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her
and get away [from here]!
NOTE: So it
turns out Abram fear was founded for pharaoh would of NEVER returned Sarai without
the plagues. Abram and Sarai did not know the Lord was going to act in this
manner however this is acting as a precedent and foreshadowing events of the plagues upon the
nation of Egypt 400 years later forcing the hand of Pharaoh and the nation of
Egypt to literally throw the Jews out of their country and handing over their
wealth while they do it. However instead of them driving just two people out,
Abram and Sarai, they would drive out a nation of millions, with Moses leading
them out!
Pharaoh
here did exactly what Pharaoh 400 years later would do. The difference? Pharaoh
in Abram’s case sent them on their way and was smart enough to know that the
hand of the lord was upon them and to let them go in peace and have that be it
done!
Pharaoh
400 years later was completely blind with power and dominance and made the lethal
mistake of going after the Jews with His entire Army, out of pride, to capture
them and force them back to Egypt as slaves. This Pharaoh paid a very
devastating price and lost not only his firstborn son but his ENTIRE Army
Thus
bringing us full circle you cannot curse what the Lord has blessed, and once it
was set in motion by the Lord
Genesis
12:3: And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is,
subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has
contempt for) you. And in you all the families
(nations) of the earth will be blessed.”
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_jkeTtydpg
