UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
PART THREE- ABRAHAM

17 June 2001
Abraham was born around 292 years after the flood. He was the tenth generation from Noah. At his birth all the fathers in his blood line were still alive on the earth, including Noah. Genesis 11:10-28

Some years after the flood the descendants of Noah and his three sons came to the land of Shinar where they tried to build a city called Babel. Genesis 11:1-9

Noah and his wife, plus his three sons and their wives, a total of eight persons, survived the flood. (Genesis 7:7) These were not uneducated people, they had built a ship (the size of an American World War II aircraft carrier, 45,000 tons), and they were in the direct blood line of Enoch. They had a very deep knowledge of God, the creation, the fall in the Garden, and the revelations from Enoch. But a majority of the children born to these four couples were snared by the Devil and moved into idol worship.

It is interesting to see that God must have said something to Terah, because he was on his way to the land of Canaan, but instead he got stuck in Haran and died here.  Genesis 11:27-32

However, the faith in God was polluted in the blood line of Rebekah (a grand daughter to Nahor, Abrahams brother), which can be seen in the custom of having "house gods" that belonged to her brother Laban.  Genesis 31:17-34

Romans 4:13; 9:1-8  Galatians 3:7-16

The Lord moved upon Abraham, who had been born in the city of Ur. He was a Chaldean and God wanted to move him to the land of Canaan, where he was to give birth to a nation, that was to preserve the true Word of God and in later years was to give a physical body to the coming Messiah. Genesis 12:1-4; 22:14-18

That this was not a new idea can be seen in the life of Job, who lived before Abraham. Job had a commanding understanding of what had happened prior to the flood. He must have had knowledge of Enoch’s revelations because he proclaimed his faith in the coming Messiah! Job 13:15-16; 19:23-27

Abraham’s faith in God was not that great early in his life, which can be seen in Genesis 12:10-20, and Genesis 20:1-12. Fear caused him to lie!

Abraham came to understand that his salvation was to be of God, not his own works. Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:1-5

Abraham was a brave man - Genesis 14:13-24, rich, but not greedy.

At the same time unbelief made him sin greatly against Hagar - Genesis 16:1-16

When the Lord (Jesus) appeared to Abraham, he knew at once that he was in the presence of the Lord. Genesis 18:1-16; John 8:54-58

Abraham now had faith in God and was not afraid - Genesis 18:17-33

His final exam on this earth came on the mountain of Moriah - Genesis 22:1-18

Abraham wanted to make sure that his son Isaac was not going to be led astray, so he made sure that he would not marry a Canaanite woman - Genesis 24:1-9

Abraham’s and Sarah’s lives are summed up in Hebrews 11:8-19

How is your life compared with the lives of Abraham and Sarah?