Friant so she's been a little busy. A little busy. Okay, and Lauren and Alex, welcome. All right over. Linda green. Perfect. Oh, good.
Good.
We're so glad that she brought to you welcome. Linda green. Okay. We'll get her contact info. I think that's everybody knew right all right. Do you want me to leave now? All right guys, let's let me pray over us and then we're going to jump into covenant.
All right, Father God, we just come before you tonight and steal ourselves. Lord, we ask that You would give us wisdom and insight that you would receive feel yourself and small and even in mighty ways God that we would know you a little bit better that we would understand your story and how you have written it in all of eternity and how we are part of what you have done and what you are doing and what you will be doing. And we're so honored, to be included as yours. And so Lord, we just pray that You would bless this time tonight. And we pray these things in Christ's name, Amen.
Can we have another blessing page?
Do we have another blessing? Yeah, yes. And as always, good evening. I went live on the handouts this week. So if there was a gray box that's for you to write in notes, so whatever you want to put in there, whatever you hear, that's kind of for you. If there's anything pretty in there that came from Bible project, they had a couple of study guides I stole stuff from I did find the absolute best map I could for the Fertile Crescent. So, you know, lots of fun stuff in there. But we will start on page one. And quickly I'll get confused on the page numbers because I think my notes here didn't end up matching with Yeah, I just, I'm still figuring it. I'm still learning how to do handouts and do them well, so that's my stuff. But how how overall before we get started, started started. How's all the homework and all the reading going? Is this doable? Roger, I know you have yours done by Monday night. You know, he's like I'm good. Yes, that little overview. Yeah, that was because I recorded and then click the button and it didn't save it. So I just did a quick little flyover to have something on there. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Good. Yeah, cuz when you do an hour plus sometimes it can be overwhelming. So trying to sync that, but the readings doable. I mean, is this too technical too? Academic or just okay. Or, you know, I'm curious. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, if it's eight pages, you know, usually it's about six of content, then there's some other stuff in there. So so good. Yeah, what's that? Yes. Yeah, yeah.
You can do that. If that helps you learn that's
ever you need to. Yeah, that's true. So, um, I keep forgetting to do this, but I have a running bibliography that I'll post at some point. But there's a couple of books that are helpful. This one's called How to read Genesis Tremper. Longman. Excellent. Kind of just overview of the whole book of Genesis if you're into this stuff off as this one that way y'all can check it out. There's a book by fie and steward called How to read the Old Testament book by book a guided tour that goes through the entire Old Testament, again, very helpful, kind of an outline what is in the book, that kind of stuff. They've written several books together, how to read the Bible for all worth how to read the Bible, book by book, How to Choose a translation. And so all of those are just really helpful and available and fairly economical. There's a couple of books that I think I might have quickly mentioned or referenced that do the same thing that this book is designed to do. discovering our place and the great story of Scripture that are written less academically, if you believe that and more popular. I have to once called God's big picture. I'll pull the little there's a little chart in here. And I'll include that in your handouts one of these days. But Vaughn Roberts does a great job of doing the same thing, going through the whole story of Scripture and then saying, Okay, what does this have to do with us? And so, and he's excellent. And then the I quoted them last week, cocaine and Bartholomew, the true story of the whole world finding your place in the biblical drama. I think this is revised edition. So this was a big book called The drama of Scripture, and then it became smaller and and now it's revised. So very readable has some questions in it to help you do the same thing we're kind of doing so if you're like, This is really I'm really enjoying this. I like it. And this Bible recap is just not enough. I need some more than any of these resources for what we're doing right now are great and I'll continue to pull from my library of 2000 plus and make recommendations. Or you can stop by my office anytime, and I will give you a grand tour of everything that I think is beneficial for what we're doing. Roger took a book a year ago and just now brought it back. So that was as what it's designed to do and all of these are replaceable if I let you take out of my office I can replace it so
illogical one question is many of these books because it's like, to me it's kind of mind boggling the year before
Yeah. So short answer. No. All of these are our canonical order. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, all these that I'm passing around, and that's kind of what this follows. This puts them in big chunks. The Bible recap, reading plan. Is a reading plan that's been around for quite some time. I think blue letter bible.com might have helped develop it. That is the reading plan that we're following as a church. And there's resources for that all the Bible recap resources that follow that the podcast, the books and that kind of stuff. And then all of our sermons on Sunday morning are pulling from the week's readings of that week. But that's a reading plan. Every Chronological Bible has its own plan. And what a lot of those are doing, they're kind of doing the same thing. They're lumping them together to you know, that are generally around the same time. But most Chronological Bible reading plans and chronological Bibles are designed for you to get through the whole Bible in a year one chronology it's not necessarily that they're in a chronological order, but it's just designed for us to chronologically get through it in a year. So they're all different now Bible recap tries to, you know, with how they chose to put the Bible the readings in order, are trying to flow through the story cohesively as best they can. For example, the Psalms are written throughout the history of Israel. So they're there throughout the whole story. So they're going to pull from different things and some from David some from you know, this kind of stuff. So and the same with maybe a lot of the proverbs and some of those. So that's kind of like every comp. There's multiple chronological plans. There's multiple Bible reading plans. There's multiple chronological Bibles. And then there's Bible recap, which is kind of what we're following. But for this class, we're going chapter by chapter through here, but it's all like this week, the entire church was in Genesis. In here we were reading Genesis the Bible recap was finishing up Joseph and Genesis. They just started the Exodus this week. The sermon was from Genesis all of our life groups, study Genesis, you know, except for gales I'm not sure exactly where all y'all are at but, and then like, it was just it was kind of neat to see how I how the church is kind of jumping on board and we're all talking about a lot of the same things. You know, that's kind of neat. So I don't know if that hopefully that kind of helps. A little bit, but but yeah, I'm with you. Sometimes it can be like, Yo, if you read Exodus today, now we're gonna go back and do Abraham. But next week, we're doing Exodus. So it will be kind of somewhat caught back up. So alright, so from this week's reading, what stood out to you? What was something you learned in the reading of the Bible or reading of your chapter? Page one of your notes that's a covenant at the top
want to promise, but I know you're fine. Go ahead. Well, mine was the promised land. Blessings so the good with the bad. The bad with
the good y'all see blessing and curses throughout the reading of Genesis. Yep, Alex,
I'm trying to find it real quick.
You gotta have some like on verse 14. Now he will.
When he talks about a note word, God come down. Abraham, you're saying is that everything kind of meaning? Yeah, well, I know there's three there and then the two leaves to go was there talking to the man like he's got who was actually God and man for
the first time. Yeah. What did you find the reference yet? Because you're naked. No, no. I just know yours was gonna be a very specific observation. Which I love. Those are allowed but um, going off memory here. Three men show up and and at one point, it seems like one of them is Yaqui in you know, walking among and talking to him. Right, you know. Now later, three visitors show up. And they're kind of bowed down and showed hospitality but there's not as much illusions that that there's anything divine, like so it just depends on which story and to kind of give a more definitive answer. When the Bible recap got there. I kind of spent a night researching I basically pulled from John Walton who would say I would not be comfortable supporting a this is a pre Incarnate Christ is one of the three that's there with Yahweh but there's so maybe maybe there are angels, that that are just coming from the presence of the Lord and maybe God is with them, but we can't really read it's really kind of a hard jump to read a lot of Jesus into it yet. So yeah, I found it. Yeah, yeah.
It was right after he. Sarah denies lying to her. No. laughing at him.
Yeah, which is Isaac's name, right. Laughter Yeah, yeah, it was. It was. Yeah, well, then in Genesis 19. Yes. You kind of have your way walking between as they're, as they're actually that's the first reference to covenant of cutting a covenant that he says a ceremony. So
it talks about coming down as the like fire the bowl with the fire
and everything. Yeah, Exodus Exodus gets bowl of fire, and there's a more of an emphasis on the holiness of God. That's coming.
When Mr. Peter talked about three weeks ago, about this, it really stuck out to me and then that's whatever we were doing. Last question. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, think it's good.
Isn't in any other he's sitting there in neighborhood center talking to me about pleading for Saddam. Yep. Yeah, God's got a lot more patients. Yeah,
I think you have. My understanding is you definitely have in Genesis you have a very personal God. You have a creator walking in the garden with Adam and Eve. You have and then you have this interaction with Abraham, which is kind of where we start today. It's like Genesis 12 It changes a little bit, you know, resumed went into one person. And then with the 10 of meeting that he sets up, and I think Moses has this to kind of becomes kind of tabernacle. It's very, very much like he's talking to another person. Absolutely. Exodus, it shifts a little bit. I mean, as I said, Exodus, it's like you can't look at him face to face, you know? Take your sandals off and fire and burning bush and in this pillar that's going to guide his people in the wilderness, but in numbers and stuff. So yeah, it's,
I think that's what supports like, I'm kind of hesitant to see like that he was in a human form. I think that happens with Christ. Like I think that's the only time that we really see in Scripture, like the other theophanies like the when God's manifesting Himself it's like in the burning bush in the pillar of smoke like and like when he goes before them, because even Moses it says he can't see his face like he's hovering over the mountain. So he's in God's presence, and it's almost like you know, we talked about this in Exodus, like, he can see God's sandals almost. It's like he's looking at the, the, what was it the Sapphire row, like, remember, we talked about that next to the show? And it was like, he's like, looking up and like, so it's like his view is he's looking at the bottom of heaven, and just sees the bottom of God so it's like, he doesn't see the face of God. He's just in his presence because God so big, so we don't really know what for me is so it's yeah, it's hard to Yeah.
And you know, people think, though, I mean, you know, I was reading one thing that kind of just gave a quick little one paragraph of all the time, God shows up in Genesis and just kind of summarize, this is kind of what a view of God we get, you know, and the Exodus is a little bit different, you know? Yeah, so, but those are great observations and questions, and that's what we need to see those things when you were reading through this whole big chunks. If y'all are recapping it. I learned
I learned something and if you don't know this, that's why I'm saying it if you do know this, then awesome. Ishmael and Isaac. God promises Ishmael. Great things as well as Isaac. But so Ishmael, I found out Muhammad, who is a word the well, we just went out there so their kingdom is like the Jews, the Muslims is Schmelz that top of that line, like Isaac is arch. Anyway, I just found that, that that alone that I
think I think that's my understanding, too, you know, Muhammad traces their lineage back up to Abraham also. Yeah, he tweaks the stories a little bit in the Quran. But yeah, they kind of feel like they're coming from Ishmael and Hagar.
Africans knowing and understanding this you can we can, as best as you know, Americans, we appreciate the struggle that they're having, you know, with Israel right now. Like that's that all these 1000s of years later, they're still tension and you know, you see the family lines like which is where it all for all these generations struggle
will always be there between those two situations. Because Ishmael was born first. But Isaac was the chosen one. That's right. Jacob and Esau was born first. Yeah. And then Joseph. Joseph was yeah, he was. He went from everyone hated him and ended up you know. Yeah, that's a great pattern, though. It really is. And that ought to be encouraging to us and to all people that he he doesn't always choose to use or work his plan through the superstar the most important people that you know, in fact, it's like Pharaoh is typecast as the enemy. You know, he's the most powerful person on the planet. And but yet, he's the bad guy. Right? So Jesus said something about
where they're talking about the sickness, no. In my Bible, it says, no sons of Ham is Cush, miserable and put in Canaan, but in the NIV, it says instead of misery, it's Egypt. Is that actually, is that the name of the song or is that kind of there? There's no territory. Yes, the territory the people that never hold their names down.
Yeah, kosher. Yeah, that's, that's a lot of times it's both. A lot of time it would it could be a son, and then it becomes a town or region where those people settled, you know, so and it's the same with the 12 tribes, the um, the tribe of Benjamin, and there it's a big people group that are doing that. So yeah, I think but the cush people are mentioned there and in the Table of Nations and that is Ethiopians, you know, so they're very much integrated into the people of God from early early on, you know, so which is not Egypt
I don't know Yeah, you're asking about Egypt but yeah, because in my about the king Jamie says misery and but in the NIV it says eating. Yeah.
So did those people become Egypt Egyptians? Exactly. I was
curious if that were, read it or if it was in this or I heard No. Was listened to. I thought it said something were about the about the Pharaoh was came from Aegyptus or something like that a daughter of ham. Yeah.
So that's another reason I was. Yeah. Yeah, there. That stuff is fascinating. I'm not an expert in it. I did put a link in your handouts that I mentioned last week. In your handouts today when we get to Abraham's lineage of that video of that. And that thing is that posters are super helpful to see. And the way they describe it, yes.
The Canaanites, Egyptians, the Philistines, the Hittites and the
Biblical nations descended from Noah's son. That's a good study Bible. Yeah. All right, that these go around. Yes, both ways. I circled them came up. How did y'all do that? Did y'all fly it? Did you spin it? Like I miss slotted on it?
Hey, softball that over there. I missed
all of that. I was thinking to go there and come back. Go along and Nina. Alright, any other observations or highlights or quotes?
Again, my reading this morning, and I was just amazed is two different translations of the words from like the King James all the way down to the NIV and to American Translation. I'm like, Oh my God. There's so many different words in the stand for the same Hebrew it's hard.
Right, right now they're, they're revising the New Living Translation and in some of the same guys that did the first one are involved in it, but it's a team of scholars in a room just like this going verse by verse word by word and discussing and debating it. And as they're revising the New Living Translation, yeah. One of my professors needs a Gupta is on the editorial board. So it's just it's neat to kind of see how this is what they do to come up with these translations.
Yeah, the word that no one uses wasn't because there were other translations, I You say it was a different type of wood. And so the Ark Yeah, yeah. Um,
I was like Keisha? I think it was Yeah. Because it was the same word that in Exodus, yes, yes. Yes, the
same type of
I'm not sure that's probably gonna be a translation thing. But they acacia wood is like real it's water resistant. It's
very strong point to very boy. It's crazy how
told him God told him covered up or tar you know?
That's what's helped seal it.
Yeah, there is. The Bible project guys. They've got a podcast series on the trees in the hole to the whole Old Testament. It's good and very fascinating because the trees which provide the woods you have Abraham taken Isaac got to be sacrificed with the wood and this type of wood he asked him use you know, of course we know wood from the cross. So really fascinating. Literary connections there if you want to pursue that further. Super cool. So alright, well, tonight we're talking about covenant. So there's several covenants that we're going to work through. There's usually two types of covenants. You can write this wherever you want, then I'll turn the page and there's two sided covenants where both parties have obligations we know of the law that we'll get to with Mosaic Covenant. You also have one sided unilateral covenants that basically only one party is obligated. And then you have Abraham and David So those tend to be one sided covenants like Peter preached, you know, it's just God's the only one that walked through is you know, he's, he's the one that's obligating himself to keep his promises, right. You call that unilateral or one sided or bilateral or two sided like the mosaic and yeah.
One sided or two sided? Yeah,
one sided or two sided, bilateral unilateral pass through the they basically, a good summary is the point of covenants is how to be in or maintain a close relationship with God. So all of them are kind of working out how in the world can God maintain relationships with people and the way he chooses to work through that is covenant. It's that it's relationship. It's lifestyle. It's you know, it's the early kind of hints of redemption, because he wants to have that relationship and maintain that relationship. He made a covenant with Noah, and kind of a covenant with the whole cosmos, I'm never going to destroy you again. And then he's making a covenant with Abraham. And so what I want us to do, we'll get to the nitty gritty but we see first, the page two, to a little picture of Abraham, that I drew myself for y'all. I got my pencils out and everything. No, I stole that from Bible project. But page two. Yahweh initiates his plan to rescue humanity through his covenant with the family of Abram, who I will probably refer to as Abraham. A lot of people know Abraham. So it's hard for us to say, Abraham, I'm the opposite when I translated Genesis 12 in Hebrew, I learned Abraham first and so by the time it got to Abraham I was just like, I kept writing Abraham because I couldn't add that to it you know, so, but um, I've converted now to refer to him Abraham the whole time even though his name goes change, we get that but this call of Abraham is like a burst of light. And I say that because there kind of is some connections to creation with this covenant with Abraham. You notice in Genesis 11, we left the world back in chaos. We had, you know, or also known like an exile, you had a scattering of people that they wanted to settle themselves, they wanted God to come down on their terms. They wanted to make their name great. and it just didn't have work out right. And in Genesis 12, something shifts, something changes. At the end of 11. we kind of get the lineage, so we know where Abraham fits and his dad and where it connects in it. Well, let me read this quote from Bruce Herman. The one who calls the world into being now makes his second call. This call is specific. Its object is identifiable in history. The call is addressed to aged Abraham and to bear and Sarah. The purpose of the call is to fashion an alternative community, in creation gone a raw array array, array array. I need an eye and said, to embody in human history, the Power of the Blessing. It's a hope of God that in this new family all human history can be brought to the unity and harmony intended by the one who calls. In its canonical form. Genesis is clear about two things First, the God who forms the world is the same God who creates Israel. So that's what he's doing here. It's the same guy who calls creation that calls this community to faith the same God works this powerful creative purpose and intervenes in surprising redemptive ways. The call to Sarah and Abraham has, has to do not simply with the forming of Israel, but with the reforming of creation, the transforming of the nations. So Bergman sees Genesis 12, one through three, as a second creation, a recreation where God is saying, Okay, I created the world. And we see what happened now I'm going to create a nation. I'm going to create a people a community of people that are going to be mine. These are going to be my people. So page. I have to make sure make sure page three. This is what I wanted us to focus on. So we went from reading a ton to Bible recapping all over let's look at three verses below the Lord. Well, let's let's let's get one of y'all read this is NIV I believe I'll let one of y'all read this for us.
Yeah, just this thing versus
going from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. 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. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through
we all see at least three verses a blessing and a curse a blessing and a curse.
Thank you so many
disciples that can mimic this. In
the meantime, what does it sound like?
Go and spread My Word and
told Abraham to go told us to go that's good
because people were trying to make their their name great.
And now he's saying I will. Yeah. What's the difference? Oh, yes. I think that's a very intentional contrast there Yeah. Yeah, it because now that we've already live and we're like okay, we know. They want to make their name great and gods like alright, Abraham, I'm gonna make your name great. It is it's a bad it's kind of a, I guess a little bit of a battle reversal. There's a contrast there. I think that's something that's in my observations too.
Well, I think it's always our heart. Right. I remember when Dave and I lived in Monticello. We we had a yard sale. We had all this stuff out. And there was a family that came and they were looking at stuff and they came up to pay. And I knew that they'd switch prices on stuff. Like there was I had these really nice jeans that I was selling, and they were like $3 and like she had switched it into like a 50 cent tag. on it. And so and it was one of those things where it's like they probably maybe couldn't afford it. I don't know, but it just it kind of was like I was like oh I think that price got switched or whatever. And then like as I'm doing it and talking to her like like I just felt the Spirit convicting me like, what it was like this is not right and again, I'm not saying that I'm on level with God, but you know, I think it's in that moment because it's like, if she would have said, would you take 50 cents for these I would have I wouldn't even I would be like absolutely like you want somebody you're trying to get rid of stuff. You want people to have it. But it was like it was like that stealing like that's dishonest. You know, like it just it just didn't sit right and I think of you know, moments like that with God because he said, I want to make you great and I want to be like he's like I want to bless you like even with Adam and Eve like you guys can do all of this. But I don't want you to do that. And I'm like I think it's different when God blesses us versus when we try to take it and we feel that like it for those of us that are parents, you know, you feel that with your kids. Like you might have given them permission if they would have asked but when they go seek a piece of candy and they didn't ask or whatever it is, you know, like it can be something small, but you're just like that's a character issue. Like we're you're not being humble or or submitting to authority. And so I think that's the difference. It's like, they were trying to get God to come on their terms. And that's where I think that's the nuance that we miss with Babel. You know, like where it's like it were like, I don't get it like they were trying to like, reach God and it's like, you know, and it's just sometimes like if you if you've ever visited a Church where you're like it feels like it's more about the people there like the people like like on stage like it feels like our performance. You know, I know y'all have most of you. Maybe you haven't, if you haven't, that's good. But if you've been to a church where you feel like that didn't feel about God, and there's all these people we've been in a church like that and we almost walked out but they had our babies who was just little, and she was like in nursery, and they were talking about how they had firearms, and we were like, are they gonna shoot us? Like
we walked into a church that I had missed some misinformation about anyway, that's another whole story. But you know, like, we were like, Oh, it was all about the pastor and when people were like saying Hallelujah, like it felt like they were saying Hallelujah to him and not to and I'm sure they would have never said that. But we like our spirits don't cringy and we were like, Oh, no holes. I think it's a nuance, but it's a important nuance, and God sees it and other people can't see it. I think our spirit senses that. But you know, so
here we have, you basically have God as the initiator. And it almost comes out of nowhere. You know, he's like, Okay, I'm going to zoom in on Abraham and he's like, look at how often I will is mentioned I will I will, I will I will you know, so this is very much I like God is going to do this one sided. Unilateral covenant, this is all contingent upon what God is going to do, you know? So, you know, that's, that's good. What else do y'all see in those three verses?
You guys guarantee protection?
Oh, yeah. So we're we're included in the all people on the earth. Yeah. Protection. Yeah,
guys guaranteed protection. He's just he's reassurance to Abraham. He's got to be a father of many next nations and everybody no matter what you do you as a see. Instead of it, there's no feeling.
Yeah. Yeah, I've got some. Walton John Walton also mentions he emphasizes the protection and the care coming from God. You know, other scholars call it against some royal overtones. So you have this God as the king. He's gonna take care of his people that he's creating that he's forming, that he's making great, you know, so
very costly to promise that God's promises are all through the Bible. When he says something. He's
meant to take it at face. Yeah. Yeah. And that's from 12 through the rest of the Bible. So yeah, yeah.
He the entire time he literally tells Abraham his plan. No, I'm gonna make you a great nation. You're going to have a a sign from Sarah. But also your people, your nation is going to be no curse for 400 years. They're going to sit there and be slaves for 400 years. While you're here. Don't worry though. You're gonna die. No. You're gonna die. It's like 400 years, but I'm gonna curse those people who, who hurt them also.
Yeah, he does a little tweak at the ceremony in 19. And I didn't want to just confuse us and try to look at that one too. But yeah, you're exactly right. It gives a little bit more information in it. But this the core of what it is it comes back to this right here, you know, so the I will make you let's see, I think I will make your name great. There, I guess middle of verse two. That's only used one other time in reference to David in second. Samuel. But I think it's also similar. It's like, is it to David or is it to David's kingdom and it's that covenant, he's setting up the rest of the Bible. The only thing that's made great is God's name. Never. People, never even his people. It's God that's that's great. So we're going to have to get our own set of Red Hats. Got I'm saying no one that no, no information whatsoever on why we don't know anything. About him or his character, or his identity or nothing. He just chose Yeah, well we have his backstory right so yeah, so we can make some more guesses but yeah, Abram nothing. We have zero it's and it's it is shocking, because we're in we're in one through 11 going, okay, all right. Wow. You know, we're just looking up at the stars, right? And then it's like, Hey, man, look up at the stars. That's how many descendants you're gonna have to this one. Family. One person, you know?
Well, he's a descendant of Sham
sham and para para. Para gracias. I think he is the oldest. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. But then lot lot is kind of like to see the next in line. You know? Because, but he's the cousin or what would he have? Yeah.
He says, Well, here's this nephew. You're right. Yeah. Yeah, I think he's deaf here. But again,
it's interesting. It seems like he's gonna be the one to Yeah, they're trying to he's trying to take it though a little bit. I think he's a little Yeah, but yeah, for sure.
And you see a little hints of Babel there because they wanted to stay together. And then Abraham's like, no, no, we need space like there people were. The people that were part of their clan, were fussing with each other. And it's really interesting because he was not a great guy. I mean, I don't think he's a great guy. Oh, yeah, I'm jumping ahead. But
Abraham, he messes up when you get on down the store
with his wife twice. Maybe I read that as a wife, but I'm like
it's, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we don't we don't ever get rid of the human component. You know? Yeah. Come on image of God. Let's go people. So the blessing the blessing language is also repeated five times in two verses, blessing, blessing, blessing, blessing, blessing buzzing buzzing buzzing blessing, right? There's a one cool thing if you like the little Hebrew trivia here, this will never never be on Hebrew Jeopardy, but the root word bless is almost an allusion to Abrams name. Okay, so are you ready for some Hebrew here? I'm gonna do my best the I will bless you. A bar, A bar A caca A bar, A bar, A bar a kicker? And then Abraham, I borrow a bar, bar and kicker? I'm emphasizing that it's a Ke and a Ka you know, anyway, I could probably pronounce that better in Hebrew, but it's like even in the word blessing. We hear Abraham's name. And again, that there's intentionality there you know, so it's like, when you think of Abraham you think of blessing like it's, it's in the core of, you know, who he is, which is, again, there's your Hebrew trivia for the yeah, there's more in the Hebrew. Yeah.
Right. I think they spit on each other a lot when they talked.
So now let's let's look at the blessing handout that I added to your handouts, so you can add it right after Genesis one through three. I'll make you a great nation. That word nation is the word goy means nation. It it ought to be I'll make you a great people group or Yom. But instead he uses the word boy which is super cool but right blessing handout says blessing on the top. So what I did here was I looked at all of my notes and several commentaries to say okay, if blessing is key and core to this covenant, what does that mean? And because because now if you go to also we're picking on some churches, there's some churches you go to, when they say blessing what do they mean? Oh, my god, yeah. Not just money, money that you're gonna send them. Back. If you've never heard this, just Google Joel Olsteen church pays off. They paid off their 100 million dollar facility, you know, and they're like, God's gonna return it to you. And so it's all it's all money. And so the thing is, I mean, most, most people are like, Hey, this is spiritual blessing, but really, there is material blessing in this because if you didn't, you can't survive, you know? So let's go back to the garden. You have the perfect relationship between God and man, guess what? They are protected. They have food. They have plenty of fruit. They're told to be fruitful. God is taking care of them. And then when you go through the story, how does God bless them? It's with goats. And sheep, and slaves and gold and it made it so he's he's taking care of them or putting them in a land where they can thrive so so we can't just to say, there's no money involved here. God's gonna bless you with these future blessings and heavenly blessings and spiritual blessings that you know. So in Genesis 12, if we're going to read it correctly, we've got there's got to be a material component to it and we just need to be okay with it, but it can't be all about the money right? You know, it's not just like, Abraham and his bling bling. That's not what we're getting here. So there's, there's probably this it'll probably get a little academic and technical, you know, but I kind of tried to pull some of the scholars name of, well, there's a well being and there's a piece there's a, a human prosperity of long life and wealth and harvest and children. There's there's lots of kids being born because they're being fruitful, like God commanded them in the garden. You know, I mentioned the king references of this. The king is in charge taking care of his people. There's the the opera caca in the opera, I don't know. If someone that knows linguistics or speech path you could actually probably phonetically say that better than me because up. So thinking again, life in the garden that Longman says there's a spiritual, emotional, psychological as were as well as material, so it's kind of like its blessings on all fronts. Here. Right? The story of Joseph lacks any list of blessings, which is an interesting observation, you know, blessing there's numerical fruitfulness, you know, so there's, there's the fruit of more kids and the fruit that they're able to eat, sustain life, you know, so So you have both Abraham becomes the gold standard. You know, God is the agent bringing forth these blessings, you know, so, so it's it's very much a we'll see this flesh out again through the rest of the story. How is God blessing you know, we look at it in terms of God's continuing to do things that only God can do. And he's, and he's billing these people. And there are threats. There is a slavery in Egypt, you know, Joseph brings them over and saves them from this famine. And they're like, Yay, and Pharaoh goes, whoa, wait a minute, too many of these people, let's put them to work, you know, and so enslaves them. There's also the slavery also seems to be a reference to exile of them, you know, getting kicked out of the land, that kind of stuff, you know, so, so I wanted to have a, just because Blent blessing is mentioned so often, I wanted to make sure that we kind of can see what the scholars are saying about it, you know, in their scholarly ways, right. But the what we walk away from that is it's it's very much multifaceted blessing, you know, its land sustain them and its growth and so there is stuff involved in it, but it's all it's definitely what God is doing is he's making a great nation with a great name where all people on Earth are able to receive a blessing through this, which we ultimately know is from Christ, right? The true blessing of being able to be in the presence of God is what Jesus provided for us which guess what this is Jesus is Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, great grandfather, you know. He's actually all of us. But yeah, there you go. So, all right questions so far. So there are seven components to Genesis 12, one through three that we that you see there. We walk through them, I'll make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great, you will be a blessing. I bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you and all the families on the earth will be blessed through you you know, so, so we definitely see Deval and Hayes summarize that and for they say
which is in your chapter they say it's land. So in so they're kind of going with this, this this land in less than that way its descendants. So you'll have I'm gonna give you the land. I'll show you I think this is back and this is 19 You're gonna have descendants as numerous as the stars. So this is the great nation great name. I will bless you. So there is this blessing and there's also the blessing and the cursing, depending on how you relate to Abraham. And Abraham determines if you're blessed or cursed, and that's everybody all the nations through you so so that's the four components that the ball in haste focus on so page next for minor only one pays off. I will fix that somehow. But what is God's role in this covenant?
Okay, yep, Protection provides for him, you know, gives him a LAN that fruitful personal relationship? Yeah, the relationship is huge. And yeah, and absolutely. And I think that that's why he's doing this covenant. is to provide a relationship with so I mean, what Yeah, what else is the library? He's, he's the he's the bank for the lottery. Here's your um, the source of all of these blessings. I'll spiritualize it.
God was initiated. He's had anything to do with
Yeah, yeah. I had a quote. I don't know if it's included in there. It might be in that lesson page, but it's, it's something along the lines and I may have it later. So I might need to be quiet, but it's huge human agencies a part of it. But human initiative is not. You know, it's got like God's initiating. And there is a connection with people. It's a room he's a real person and there's real people involved. I'm given a land and a name and a nation. I'm I'm working with people here. So you got a human agency, but it's initiated by God at this point. So
you don't have to be very smart. Or you don't have to be very you don't have to be strict to doing the right thing is good for him is up.
Yeah, yeah, we'll get we'll get that through the rest of the story. Right. He's human. Yeah. So what he was he was the one. Yeah, he's one sided. Yep. Yep. Yeah. So he's, it's all dependent on him. So he, he's the one that's saying, This is what I'm gonna do,
which is important because then Paul makes that connection. And we see that connection in the New Testament. That faith is by is by faith or faith like we the way that we are covenant or relationship with God is through faith. It's not anything we can do.
But when when when Abraham has mentioned in Hebrews that the way that he is mentioned in faith is that God told him to go the place I'll show you in the very next verse and like Abraham 12 seven he went, you know, that's eight, you know, that's the faith is he did it you know.
Jesus said, Come with me. Drop everything come with you.
Well, on that where I thought you were going is the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes? Yeah, the blessing lesson or the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. But I said, you know, so, the blessing language of the sermon amount, goes back to Genesis 12. one through three. Absolutely. Which goes back to Genesis one creation, life in the garden, you know, what are people's role in the Abrahamic covenant?
No
obedience was not a requirement.
Nope, that's Deuteronomy and Moses. But we think our brain does that though. Right? Yeah. Now, I would say if you want to say obedience, yes, Abraham was said go and he went, so he didn't obey. He didn't have faith, you know, so I'm not going to but the in terms of the covenant He lied, there's not an obedience component. Yes, but not in this covenant.
Later on, he tells he talks about Covenant. Now circumcision with Jesus, that was Moses and Elijah. We make circumcision an act of obedience, right? Well, we don't well, we don't have to anymore. It was a it was more of a market covenant. It was a marker. It's a mark of what the covenant that God's already initiated. This is a sign that you're a part of the covenant. Circumcision didn't do anything. It circumcision didn't put you in the covenant, nor to trust or obedience, or faith just like that, just so our brains cannot fathom on one side of covenants. We can't. Like, we always want to walk through our part and walk through those cut animals, right. And again, that's Deuteronomy that's, that's Mosaic Covenant. And this is what Paul's dealing with. He's trying to help them Hey, listen. You guys are missing it. You know, you think it's all about whatever. You think you got to do something you think you got to be circumcised, you're doing all these Jewish festivals and all this food stuff. And what you're not doing is you're not being a blessing to all nations. Like God said He was going to do through Abram, you know? So,
we're jumping ahead, but
the boxes under people's role are blank. Yeah. I tricked y'all with that one. I'll be honest. There's nothing there's absolutely nothing, nothing that we do. The Abrahamic covenant, it's 1% God will God will God will God will God will. That's the answer.
Yeah. Answers nothing.
Abraham didn't. Abraham didn't have any of that. Right? I mean, we don't. Again, go to this land and Abraham went, something happened there, you know, so maybe maybe one of the boxes you could put something but one sided covenants are 100% contingent upon, this is what God's initiating. This is what God's doing. And also, the debate is Mosaic Covenant cancelled Abrahamic but that's not what Paul says. Paul just skips right back over all this Mosaic covenant that we'll get to next week. Abrahamic
Covenant was it like they didn't think of it as law like like they didn't think of it like like this obedience. It was more instructions for life like it wasn't this put on them. It was a this is how we get to be with God. Like, like, you know,
and I think same, it's like in light of what God is doing. This is what your life looks like, but we don't do it to get into the covenant. We don't like and that's I think that's what a lot of Jews eventually they're like, Well, I'm circumcised. I'm good. It's like that's not what we set up with Abraham, you know, so. Yeah. Feel free to disagree with me and find anything to correct me. But um, it's a one sided covenant. So hard for us to we think of grace, right? We think of grace and the New Testament, and that kind of helps us, you know, what did you do to deserve God's grace? Absence thinking lately? Nothing except it I hope so. Did you receive it? Like to say you did, do you have faith in him? Aha. You know, do you worship him? I was, but what did you do to get it? Nothing. Not but now, here's the thing. None of your works got it for you. But now I've got works that I've prepared before the creation of the world for you I'm gonna start preaching so that's what we do. That's the offering plate. Page five, go to the land. I will show you so what is Abram do? He has no clue where he's going. Like he didn't get a map. He didn't get this map. You had no clue where he was going. But I gave you a map to see now I do think it's interesting and I do want y'all to help me flesh this out when we get to exile but Earth is down there south of Babylon. And Babylonia, the Chaldeans which is Babylon. So Abraham came up out of Babylon and guess what happens because the disobedient Israel they get shipped right back to Babylon. You know, it's like start over you didn't get it the first time. What's your go in exile? You know I don't know if anyone's talked about that connection. Like hey, is there any like can literary connection between the people ship off to exile out of the promised land back to where Abraham came from? Anyway, we'll get there. But he comes down through you can see, just to the left of the Arabian Desert, there's a little body of water there, right. That's the Dead Sea. So that kind of let you know where Jerusalem is going to be. Jesus is going to do his ministry on the top of that in Galilee, you know, so Damascus and Shechem Salem is Jerusalem. I think according to this map, you know, so and in Gaza. Oh my goodness, y'all pray for Gaza. It's it's really really it's, it's there. And it's it's it's not good right now. But anyway, and then Abraham, of course, we know. Hit right there. Yeah. The body of water right there.
Next so
did you see a little, tiny little thing? Just to the right of Salem? Salem is where maciza DEC is hanging out with the God Most High and He blesses Abram. And guess what? Our understanding of Christ as a high priest comes from Melchizedek. So in Jerusalem there is in Jerusalem is David but it's also Quebec and from Salem. So I've been here, but I haven't been that way. Family Tree, page six. For all of you, genealogies, genealogist, down at the bottom, you have Abraham, Hagar, Sara. So down at the bottom starts with Genesis 12 through 25. Yep, Ishmael and Isaac and Rebecca. So we're working you start at the bottom and work your way up to Esau and Jacob. And eventually, several, several kids through Jacob and his four wives. much debate in the men's Bible recap on all of these wives
to see that chapter Yeah,
yeah, he takes
sorry that Yeah, but yeah, and then Rachel the sister, right. So so I'll put the link there. I don't know if that's gonna be easy to put into your browser, but you can search YouTube just search biblical family tree and go to useful charts. They walk through this and it's very well done and then they zoom out and zoom back in. It's just, it's about a 2030 minute video, but it's fantastic goes from Abraham to Jesus. And it's just really, really neat and helpful. So, all right, turn the page on the bottom go to YouTube and search useful chart or search that biblical family tree and what you want is useful charts. And it's, it's just, it's really good. Alright, Page seven. So the covenant that God made with Abram continues through Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob wrestles with God and gets renamed to Israel, Jacob's 12 sons, which we know of as the 12 tribes that are, you know, rockin through the 12 disciples that are 12 tribes around the throne in Revelation, you know, so super significant. It all starts right here. But what this does is yes, the cabinet continues through these people, but it gives you a little bit of kind of like what Brandi was referencing of, man, that's just not pretty. It's not a pretty story, you know, it's not all hunky dory happy happy. Yay. Look at all these great people in the stuff they do you know, Abraham tries to get rid of his wife a couple of times to Barrow like, yeah, here you go. What you didn't tell me your wife. Sarah's like, Listen, I'm old. This ain't gonna happen. Here's a slave for you. Isaac gives his wife gives away his wife. Jacob. The flyer steals from Esau to get the blessing. Yeah, that's over a bowl of soup, you know, and then covers himself with hair to disguise himself. crazy stories but super fun. And then Joseph, the brothers tried to kill him. So they ship him off to slavery, which is kind of how he gets to Egypt, which is how the people get enslaved, you know, so this family is dysfunctional. I mean, there's no there's but how close is it to our families, though? Oh, my goodness. Like yes. My family is in the Bible because we this is right. You are too. Yeah, I'm not Yeah. So we talked about die, predestined in knowing things. I never talked about that. Wrong class. Yeah, I'm with you.
If that's the case, then
Jacob had to get late. And they had to do to Handmaid's Tale traps, because Rachel could even have she couldn't have she was traveling. So she could have
I didn't know the other tribes come from Leah though. It went into the hand. And then another one. I think it's just Leah and Rachel. It's just me and Rachel's kids like the handle. Is that wrong? family trees in there.
I would say your your take on these instead of saying it had to yell. I would say despite the dysfunction, God choose to be faithful to His promise through that is kind of how I look at it. If it didn't happen that way. You know, like, yeah, how could God have created 12 tribes from one wife Yes. Yeah, that's not the story we got. That's not the store we got. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, no, I think it's a real crystal. I think we're gonna get to heaven and like, there's some way that we're going to be able to have some knowledge of maybe, because it's not going to be shameful or regretful. But I think we could have seen it all out like God could have done on earth for the except for the missteps. Like he doesn't despite us
some questions here. Yeah. Well, and some of it is our western minds. It's hard for us to wrap around how the ancient world operated. And it's just different, you know, so. So page seven there. I've got a couple of notes that are not included there. But just to let you know, we have the story of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the 12 sons. So this is kind of walking us through Genesis of what's going on. But the point of these dysfunctional families is look at what God can do. And guess what he's gonna do. Because he made this promise he's gonna keep it and and this dysfunctional family becomes a great nation, you know? Yeah. And it's, it's because it's God and it's based on God and his role. So these promises and blessings that we see in Genesis 12 123, reappear four different times throughout chapters 12 and 36. You want the angelic guests before Saddam is destroying Genesis 18. When he prepares to offer Isaac as a sacrifice is 22 When God appears to Jacob and 26 When When Jacob MacArthur's Gods at Bethel and chapter 28, you have a reaffirmation or reaffirming of the promise that God gave to Abraham in chapter 12 and fleshed out in 1819, right So alright, so page nine, I'm skipping a page due to time that's the point of that one is God's roll people roll it's still God working the peoples row is just screw it up. Try to make it try to stop it. Mess it up. That seems to be what they're trying here And God's like, Nope, I'm still gonna be faithful. I mean, let's just be honest. Right. So page nine has a little bit of this covenant language. That is, is at several points throughout the story. And this comes back again your you see God saying, I will be your God, and you will be my people. You will be this great nation with a great name, because I'm your God. And this is the language of the prophets. The prophets use this kind of language to try to tell people when you've got to quit, you know, stop it. Get back to the covenant continue. To do what God is asking you to do. Because it's contingent upon God, you know, so it kind of lets us flesh out a little bit of what that promise looks like that God has been faithful to. And that's basically he's continuing to hold on to his end of the bargain, despite us trying to stop it and ruin at the best we can, you know, so that's the psalm or two of God, you know. Yeah. And in Israel still feels like they're wrestling, you know, and their whole life is a wrestling you know, this everlasting covenant announces that the promises of God will not be thwarted, not even in a world of affliction, and sorrow. So the people over and over and over and over try to mess it up. It's like they do everything wrong. And God continues to show His faithfulness. And again, to bring it in the New Testament. Christ was obedient to death, even death on a cross. It's Christ's faithfulness, that even allows us to put our faith in him at all. It allows us through the fruit of the Spirit to be faithful people. The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. And because Jesus was faithful for us on the cross, and I think our understanding of faith is based on Jesus's faithfulness ties back to He is faithful. Even though this great nation with a great name is not they get shipped back to Earth. kinda, you know. And so, that is covenant and covenant language that we're going to revisit so you got some reflection questions in your homework for next week, we'll get into Exodus. So we're gonna get into Moses. And so questions, comments, concerns
right now only through Christ but yes. Your role is still to screw it up. Can you handle
so what's it's like when we get to Rome when y'all read Romans, I mean, there's a lot of Abraham talk and Romans and, and, and it's Paul. Trying to flesh out this Genesis 12 123 is trying to what is Christ have to do with this and what do you do for us? And so I think it's, we got to know this part to know what Jesus is actually doing what he did so, alright, let me pray and then we'll be done at 730 Exactly. Nailed it. Let's pray. Father, we do and are just in complete awe of you and how faithful you are. You're faithful to your promise. Lord, you continue to bless us. You bless us with your presence, every day. You bless us by looking out for us and taking care of us. You bless us by continuing to form us into your people. The church. Lord, you are just so good to us. We know we don't deserve it. We know we're not doing anything the right way. But Lord, we want to be your people. We want you to be our God help us to see you for who you truly are. And help us to figure out what you want us to do here on your earth as our King we place things in your name, amen.
