Review:

• Genesis 1 – Creation
• Genesis 2 – Adam & Eve
• Genesis 3 – Fall of Man
• Genesis 4 – Cain killed Abel
• Genesis 5 – Seth
• 1 This is the document containing the family records of Adam. On the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness of God; 2 he created them male and female. When they were created, he blessed them and called them mankind.
• 3 Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. 4 Adam lived 800 years after he fathered Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 5 So Adam’s life lasted 930 years; then he died. [1]
• Genesis 6-9 – Noah’s Ark
• Genesis 11 – Tower of Babylon
• Genesis 12-15 – Abraham and Covenant
• Genesis 16 – Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael
• Genesis 17 – Circumcision covenant
• Genesis 18 – Abraham & Sarah told about birth
• Genesis 19 – Sodom & Gomorah destruction
• Genesis 21 – Birth of Isaac to Abraham & Sarah
• Genesis 22 – Sacrifice of Isaac

 
GENESIS 23
1 Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were all the years of her life. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. [2]

• Sarah is the only woman whose age at death ("127 years" old) the Scriptures record.
• She is also the only woman whose name God changed (17:15).
• Abraham buys land in Mamre to bury Sarah there.

 
A WIFE FOR ISAAC
GENESIS 24

• Covenant between Abraham & servant
• The thigh, being close to the reproductive organs, represented the continuation of Abraham's lineage and the seriousness of the promise related to his descendants.[3]
• This act of placing the hand under the thigh was a way to signify the gravity and sacredness of the oath, emphasizing the importance of the task at hand.
• Putting a hand under another's thigh was a solemn way of signifying that if the oath were violated, the children, yet unborn, would avenge the act of disloyalty.
• Abraham’s servant retrieves Rebekah as Isaac’s wife.
• Rebekah's name means "Ensnaring Beauty," and Moses commented on her beauty.
• She was Isaac's second cousin.
• Her grandfather was Abraham's brother.

62 Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev region. 63 In the early evening Isaac went out to walk in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming. 64 Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.
67 And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death.[4]
 
ABRAHAM’S DEATH
GENESIS 25
7 This is the length of Abraham’s life: 175 years. 8 He took his last breath and died at a good old age, old and contented, and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hethite. 10 This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hethites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.[5]

• Isaac would have been 75 years old, and Jacob 15, when Abraham died (v. 7; cf. 21:5; 25:26).
• Abraham lived 100 years in the Promised Land (cf. 12:4).

 
…
THE BIRTH OF JACOB AND ESAU
19 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her:
Two nations are in your womb;
two peoples will come from you and be separated.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.
24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25 The first one came out red-looking, covered with hair like a fur coat, and they named him Esau (hairy one). 26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob (El will protect). Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

• It took 20 years for Rebekah to give birth.

 
ESAU SELLS HIS BIRTHRIGHT
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

• Abraham died when the twins were 15 years old.

28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

• When one parent is partial to one child and the other parent is partial to the other child, you have trouble.
• That is exactly what took place here.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

• The "birthright" was the privilege of being chief of the tribe and head of the family (27:29).
• In Isaac's family, it entitled the bearer to the blessing of Yahweh's promises (27:4, 27-29), which included the possession of Canaan and covenant fellowship with God (28:4).

32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. 34 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.[6]

• The writer showed that the natures of the two sons were very different: they were not identical twins, obviously.
• Esau cared only for physical and material things, whereas Jacob valued the spiritual.
• Esau gave priority to the immediate satisfaction of his sensual desires, but Jacob was willing to wait for something better that God had promised for the future (cf. Heb. 12:16).

 
GENESIS 26
1 There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3 stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, 5 because Abraham listened to me and kept my mandate, my commands, my statutes, and my instructions.” 6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.[7]

• Isaac’s deception to Abimelech was similar to Abraham’s concerning Sarah… famine and all.
• Isaac kept digging wells and was blessed.

 
THE STOLEN BLESSING
GENESIS 27
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. 3 So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me. 4 Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, 7 ‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. 10 Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin. 12 Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”
13 His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”
14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

• People used the black, silk-like hair of the camel-goat of the East ("young goats," v. 16) as a substitute for human hair as late as the Roman period.

17 Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
18 When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”
And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”
He replied, “Because the Lord your God made it happen for me.”
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”
22 So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he replied, “I am.”
25 Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothes, he blessed him and said:
Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give to you--
from the dew of the sky
and from the richness of the land--
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow in worship to you.
Be master over your relatives;
may your mother’s sons bow in worship to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting. 31 He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
32 But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”
33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”
35 But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37 But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.
39 His father Isaac answered him,
Look, your dwelling place will be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of the sky above.
40 You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you rebel,
you will break his yoke from your neck.
 
ESAU’S ANGER
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43 So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44 and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides--45 until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”
46 So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?”[8]
 
GENESIS 28
1 So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl. 2 Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples. 4 May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. [9]

• Jacob ended up staying with Laban 20 years.
• As far as Genesis records, Rebekah never saw him again.
• This great story of Jacob's deception teaches that, when God's people know His will, they should not resort to deceptive, manipulative schemes to attain spiritual success, but should pursue God's will righteously.
• Every member of Isaac's family behaved in a self-centered and unprincipled manner, yet God graciously overcame their sins.
• This reminds us that His mercy is the ultimate ground of salvation (cf. Romans 5:20 - 20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more[10]).

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 5:1–5.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 23:1–2.
[3] https://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/ot/genesis/genesis.htm
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 24:62–67.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 25:7–11.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 25:19–34.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 26:1–6.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 27:1–46.
[9] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 28:1–5.
[10] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ro 5:20.

ABRAHAM’S THREE VISITORS
GENESIS 18
1 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him.

• The Angel of Yahweh and 2 other angels.

When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground, 3 and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. 8 Then Abraham took curds and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.
 
SARAH LAUGHS
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

• Similar question he asked Adam & Eve.
• “Where are you?”
• “Where’s your brother Abel?” to Cain

“There, in the tent,” he answered.

• What does “in the tent” mean?

10 The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

• It doesn’t say that she was hiding.

11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”

• Doubt?
• Cynical?
• Delight?
• Sarah denied that she had laughed either from fear of the LORD's power or from fear of offending Him.

13 But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord?

• Defending himself?
• Again, God built confidence in His word.
• If the LORD could read Sarah's thoughts, could He not also open her womb?
• Believers should never doubt God's promises, because nothing is impossible for Him.

At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.
But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”[1]

• Can you imagine that confrontation?

 
ABRAHAM’S PLEA FOR SODOM
16 The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off. 17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham? 18 Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what he promised him.”

• Words recorded by Moses

20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. 21 I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to me. If not, I will find out.”
22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are in it? 25 You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is just?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

• Just who is Abraham trying to save?
• The city? Or the righteous people?

27 Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord—even though I am dust and ashes--28 suppose the fifty righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
29 Then he spoke to him again, “Suppose forty are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it on account of forty.”
30 Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord, suppose twenty are found there?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of twenty.”
32 Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose ten are found there?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of ten.”

• Evidently, Abraham was not trying to wear God down by pressuring Him.
• Instead, he sought clarification from God as to the extent of His mercy.
• He wanted to find out just how merciful God would be in judging Sodom.
• Why did Abraham stop with 10 righteous people?
• Perhaps he had learned that the LORD would be merciful regardless of the number.
• Perhaps he thought there would be at least 10 righteous people in Sodom.
• If so, he underestimated the wickedness of the Sodomites, and perhaps, he overestimated "righteous" Lot's influence over his neighbors.

33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he departed, and Abraham returned to his place. [2]
 
THE BIRTH OF ISAAC
GENESIS 21
1 The Lord came to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him. 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”, 7 She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.” [3]
 
THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC
GENESIS 22
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

• The family test, when he had to leave his loved ones and step out to a new land.
• The famine test, when he went down into Egypt.
• The fellowship test, when Lot separated from him.
• The fight test, when he defeated the Mesopotamian kings.
• The fortune test, when he said no to Sodom's wealth.
• The fatherhood test, when Sarah got impatient with God.
• The farewell test, when Ishmael left him.

“Here I am,” he answered.
2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.
7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”
And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”
Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide, the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He replied, “Here I am.”
12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

• This is the first explicit mention in the Bible of the substitutionary sacrifice of one life for another.

14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

• Same place as the Holy of Holies.
• Where the curtain was torn on Good Friday.

15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,

• God did not withhold His only Son.

17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”
19 Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba. [4]

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 18:1–15.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 18:16–33.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 21:1–7.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 22:1–19.

Genesis 7:7 - So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters.[1]
 
Genesis 9:28-29 - Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.[2]
 

• Genesis 10 – Genealogy of Noah’s sons (Shem Ham & Japheth)

 

• Tower of Babylon – Genesis 11:1-9
• From Noah to Abraham

1. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 5:32).
2. Shem was one of Noah's sons; his lineage is traced in Genesis 11.
3. Arphaxad was Shem's son (Genesis 11:10-11).
4. Shelah was Arphaxad's son (Genesis 11:12).
5. Eber was Shelah's son (Genesis 11:14).
6. Peleg was Eber's son (Genesis 11:16).
7. Reu was Peleg's son (Genesis 11:18).
8. Serug was Reu's son (Genesis 11:20).
9. Nahor was Serug's son (Genesis 11:22).
10. Terah was Nahor's son (Genesis 11:24).
11. Abram (later named Abraham) was Terah's son (Genesis 11:26).

 

• The Bible does not provide specific details about the origin of different skin colors.
• However, it does emphasize that all humans are descended from a common ancestry, starting with Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:27) and later through Noah and his family after the flood (Genesis 9:19).
• The diversity in skin color and other physical traits can be understood as part of the genetic variation that God built into humanity.
• From a biblical perspective, the dispersion of people groups at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is a significant event that led to the spread of humanity across the earth.
• As people migrated and settled in different regions, they adapted to various environmental conditions.
• Over time, genetic variations, including those affecting skin color, became more pronounced in different populations.

 
THE CALL OF ABRAM
GENESIS 12
1 The Lord said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev. [3]

• Genesis 12:10-20 – Famine in the land
• Abram & Sarah went to Egypt
• Abram said Sarah was his sister
• Pharoah was pleased with Sarah and gave Abram food, livestock, silver & gold.
• Severe plagues came upon Pharoah and men.
• Pharoah confronted Abram about lying and sent him away… back to Canaan.

 

• Genesis 13 – Abram and Lot (nephew) had so much wealth between them, they began to argue.
• Lot took his stuff to Jordan and settled in Sodom.

 

• Genesis 14:1-16 – 5 kings of the north battled with 4 kings of the south.
• Lot ended up being captured and taken to the north
• Abram took his 318 trained men (Born in his household) and went and rescued Lot… his wife… and all the other people… and their stuff… and brought them back to their land.

 
MELCHIZEDEK’S BLESSING
Genesis 14:17-24 - After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer (ka-door-la-o-meer) and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said:
Abram is blessed by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth,
20 and blessed be God Most High
who has handed over your enemies to you.
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.” [4]
 
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
GENESIS 15:1-6
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward will be very great.
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.[5]
HAGAR AND ISHMAEL
GENESIS 16
1 Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”
6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”
11 The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. 12 This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”
13 So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?” 14 That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.[6]

COVENANT CIRCUMCISION
GENESIS 17
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. 8 And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”
9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name. 16 I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!”
19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” 22 When he finished talking with him, God withdrew from Abraham.
23 So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26 On that very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his household—whether born in his household or purchased from a foreigner—were circumcised with him. [7]
 
CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART
ROMANS 2 (NLT)
28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.[8]

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 7:7.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 9:28–29.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 12:1–9.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 14:17–24.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 15:1–6.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 16:1–16.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 17:1–27.
[8] Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Ro 2:28–29.

LIVING BY FAITH
HEBREWS 11
13 These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.

• Neither Abraham, Isaac or Jacob possessed the Promised Land to this day.
• The Jews are now back in the land… but they do not possess the land.
• They trusted God’s promise and knew they would one day have to be resurrected.

14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

• Seeking new Jerusalem.
• Dr. George Morrison, a great Scottish preacher, once said, “The important thing is not what we live in, but what we look for.”[1]

15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

• They were willing to die to wait for the promise of God.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, 18 the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac., 19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.

• The patriarchs believed in resurrection.
• Abraham knew for God’s promise to be fulfilled that God would have to resurrect Isaac if Abraham killed him.
• This should not be surprising from God because it was a foreshadowing of what He did with His Son for us.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

• We not only live victoriously but we can die victoriously.
• Isaac eventually honored the blessing of Jacob over Esau.
• Isaac knew the blessing to Jacob was irrevocable.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

• Jacob gave blessings to Ephraim & Manasseh.
• These blessings were not received until Joshua lead them into the Promised Land so these blessings were made in faith.

22 By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.

• Joseph lived most of his life in Egypt when he was sold into slavery by his brothers.
• He desired for his bones to be buried in Canaan (the Promised Land).
• This desire was made in faith because they were not in Canaan yet.

23 By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.

• Beautiful because his parents recognized that he was going to be used by God.
• It was this recognition that caused them to risk their own lives.
• King’s Edict: All Jewish boys were to be killed.
• Moses was sovereignly retrieved from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter 25 and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.

• Moses clung to his parent’s faith.
• He opted for eternal rewards rather than lavish temporary rewards.
• Remember that the Hebrew author is trying to convince the people to not return to what would seem easier for them.

26 For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.

• Symbolic to Jesus taking on humanity for the greater reward of saving the chosen in Christ.
• By acting in faith we obtain wisdom.
• Taking the easy road is not walking by faith.
• Walking by faith tells an adventuresome story.

27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.

• Moses stayed the course of pursuing God & His promises even when the people rejected Moses and wanted to return to Egypt.
• 40 years of grumbling.

28 By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites. 29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.

• It was faith that caused Moses to start the Passover and cross the Red Sea.
• Interesting that the writer focuses on Moses faith rather than him receiving and obeying the Law.
• Another way the writer was encouraging them not to return to the sacrificial system.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being marched around by the Israelites for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.

• Jerico was in the Promised Land.
• The writer skips the wilderness history because there was little faith during that period.
• Rahab assisted the Hebrew spies because she had heard about the mighty God of the Jews.
• She mothered Boaz who grandfathered David.
• Rahab, once a harlot, became King David’s great grandmother.

32 And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon (destroyed thousands of Midianites with only 300 men), Barak (destroyed the army of King Jabin including his commander), Samson (defeated the Philistines), Jephthah (delivered his people from the Ammonites), David (the only king mentioned here, was a mighty warrior who defeated many including Goliath), Samuel (a godly man who was the last OT judge, also a prophet who anointed Saul & David), and the prophets (all had character flaws but not mentioned here because there stories were triumphs of faith over the enemy), 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

• If you walk by faith, you will suffer for your faith.
• The more you become intimate with your Father, the more you walk by faith and do things differently from the world.
• You will stand out in the world.
• If we don’t stand out in this fallen world then most likely it is because we never got to know the heart of our God.

35 Women received their dead, raised to life again. Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

• When we receive our heavenly bodies

36 Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned,, they were sawed in two (tradition says this is how Isaiah died), they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

• Whether a believer dies by his enemies’ hands or is supernaturally delivered, faith is victorious over death.
• Wake up! Don’t go back to the old system.
• Live the adventure
• Yes! There will be pain & suffering.
• You won’t be the first ones to go through it!
• But we are not in this alone.
• You’ve had a cakewalk compared to the others in the past.
• Walk on… exercise your faith!

39 All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.[2]

• Pre-cross vs post-cross.
• Give me post-cross any day and every day!

Post-cross… we have been perfected!

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 319). Victor Books.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Heb 11:13–40). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

• Saving Faith is different than Everyday Faith

LIVING BY FAITH
HEBREWS 11
1 Now faith is the reality (assurance/confirmation) of what is hoped for, the proof (conviction/evidence) of what is not seen.

• Faith is determined by hope in God’s promises.
• This is different than the faith one must believe in for God to save them.
• This is not a definition of faith, but a description of what faith does and how it works.[1]
• There is a difference between believing in something and allowing what you believe to impact your behavior.
• True faith does two things:

1) It proves the unseen things exist.
2) It brings a desire – within believers – to behave in a way that lines up with what they have come to believe.

•   Many believe in salvation.
•   Few believe they have been made righteous.
•   This is the evil one’s greatest ploy to create a mediocre church today.
• This is why you hear the same message over and over. To increase your belief during the battle.
• This is why it is critical, without me “shoulding on you” to read your Bibles.
• It is your intimacy with the Father that increases your faith.
• The world fails to realize that faith is only as good as its object, and the object of our faith is God.[2]
• Faith is to a Christian what a foundation is to a house: it gives confidence and assurance that he will stand.[3]
• It didn’t take much faith for you to sit in that chair this morning… because you believed that the chair would hold you.
• The chair is not holding you because of your faith… it is holding you because of the chair’s strength.
• It’s not our faith in Jesus that sustains us every day of our life.
• It is only Jesus, in whom we trust, that sustains us.

2 For by this our ancestors were approved.

• “this” – is faith in God.
• Old Covenant believers believed that God would send the Messiah to forgive them of their sin.
• Because of this belief, they were approved/credited/commended for righteousness although they were not made righteous.
• At some point, Christians must be made righteous. When is that? Death? Judgment? Cross?
• At the cross, we were made righteous, he removed our wicked hearts and replaced them with new ones.
• Thank God you live after the cross.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

• What better way to motivate their faith than to prove how God has already answered promises in the past.
• Why wouldn’t He continue to keep His promises?
• Confirming God’s faithfulness encourages the Hebrew Christians to walk on and trust Him. Even now.
• But how encouraging is it to know that even when the physical resources that we need do not “seem” to exist, that God can reveal them in a heartbeat?
• There is a greater adventure out there when trust in the things you can’t see.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

• The writer will take us through a series of believers to show the Hebrew Christians that it was their faith in the Messiah to come that approved them righteous.
• They believed in it so much that it greatly impacted not only how they lived their lives but how they died.
• Abel made a blood sacrifice. Cain made a sacrifice from the fruit of the ground.
• Adam & Eve made the first blood sacrifice when they needed clothing.
• Bloodless sin offerings were not instituted until Lev 5:11… and those were only for the poor.
• Cain tried to reconcile with God on his own terms and it was unacceptable.
• The blood sacrifice always pointed to the cross and the offering that Jesus was to make for our sins.
• Abel was declared righteous… not made righteous.
• Long after Abel was gone… we still talk about him as a model of faith.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.

• Genesis 5:18-24 - Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived 800 years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 20 So Jared’s life lasted 962 years; then he died.
• Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. 22 And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 23 So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.[4]
• Intimacy with the creator!
• Mentioned in only a few verses but known for his relationship with God.
• The writer is saying that Enoch was so intimate with God that he didn’t even have to experience death.

6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

• It is faith… not works that pleases God. Works are a result of our faith.
• For believers, it is when we quit seeing God as a judge of sin but a giver of life and rewards.
• I’m not talking a health and prosperity Gospel here.
• I’m talking about walking by His Spirit and the moment of every breath with Him.
• It would be hard to walk intimately with a God when you think He is going to kick you in the butt every time you make a bad choice.
• What if you sin… and God says “Rusty… I dearly love you.”?
• What if you could embrace that thought…
• I’m not saying go sin so He will remind you of what He already did for you.
• I’m saying, when you realize what He did for you and continues to do for you it becomes less of a desire for you to make bad choices.
• If you see yourself as never winning this game… why try?
• If you see yourself as redeemed and forgiven, you will want to live fully in this!
• That is when real intimacy with the Father happens.
• You just wallow in His goodness.
• It is because of our faith in the object of Jesus Christ that we can walk with Him consistently.

7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

• Genesis 6:9 - These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.[5]
• “Not yet seen” – Rain and floods.
• Can you imagine the years?
• Noah was not concerned about what others thought about him.
• Now we all descendants of not only Adam… but Noah as well.
• “godly fear/in reverence” – Noah was intimate with the Father.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

• Abraham – Father of the Jewish Nation.
• Genesis 12:1-7 - The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you, 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.[6]
• Abraham left as the Lord was telling him to go… that is real faith.
• Where? Just go!
• He was looking forward to a city that has foundations with God as the builder.
• That hasn’t happened yet… but it will.
• He lived as a foreigner… just as the Hebrew Christians did… just as we do.

11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful.

• Sarah? On the heroes of faith list?
• What is she known for?
• Bearing Isaac in her old age…
• But also getting Abraham to sleep with Hagar to bear the son to Abraham named Ishmael and his descendants have harassed the Jews ever since.
• She made the list!
• She had a hard time waiting on God’s timing.
• But the core of who Sarah was believed that God was faithful.

12 Therefore, from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore.[7]

• Abraham in his old age bore a son named Isaac.
• Isaac bore Jacob (and Esau)
• Jacob had 12 sons that became the 12 tribes.
• Through the 12 tribes came the entire Jewish nation.

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 11:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 11:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 11:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 5:18–24). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 6:9). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 12:1–7). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Heb 11:1–12). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

Paul uses six different arguments to prove that God saves sinners through faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law.

1. He begins with the personal argument (Gal. 3:1–5) in which he asks the Galatians to recall their personal experience with Christ when they were saved.
2. Then he moves into the scriptural argument (Gal. 3:6–14), in which he quotes six Old Testament passages to prove his point.
3. In the logical argument (Gal. 3:15–29) he reasons with his readers on the basis of what a covenant is and how a covenant works.
4. He then presents the historical argument (Gal. 4:1–11), explaining the place of Law in the history of Israel.
5. At this point, Paul’s love for his converts comes to the surface. The result is a sentimental argument (Gal. 4:12–18) as the apostle appeals to them to remember his love and their happy relationship in days past.
6. But then Paul goes right back to his close reasoning, and concludes with the allegorical argument (Gal. 4:19–31), based on the life of Abraham and his relationships with Sarah and Hagar.

• Practical application of his doctrinal argument follows in the last two chapters.[1]

Galatians 4:21-31
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law?
 - the Galatians would be rejecting God’s gift and missing the purpose of the law altogether.[2]
22 For 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman. 23 But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise. 24 These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
Rejoice, childless woman, unable to give birth. Burst into song and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman will be many, more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.
28 Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, so also now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.” 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman.[3]

Breakdown – Genesis 12-21

Age 75— (Gen. 12:1–9) - Abraham is called by God to go to Canaan; and God promises him many descendants. Both Abraham and his wife, Sarah, wanted children, but Sarah was barren.
 - God was waiting until both of them were “as good as dead” before He would perform the miracle of sending them a son (Rom. 4:16–25).

85— (Gen. 16:1–3) - The promised son has not yet arrived, and Sarah becomes impatient. She suggests that Abraham marry Hagar, her maid, and try to have a son by her.
 - This act was legal in that society, but it was not in the will of God. Abraham followed her suggestion and married Hagar.

86— (Gen. 16:4–16) - Hagar gets pregnant and Sarah gets jealous! Things are so difficult in the home that Sarah throws Hagar out.
 - But the Lord intervenes, sends Hagar back, and promises to take care of her and her son. When Abraham is 86, the son is born, and he calls him Ishmael.


99— (Gen. 17–18) - God speaks to Abraham and promises again that he will have a son by Sarah and says to call his name Isaac.
- Later, God appears again and reaffirms the promise to Sarah as well.

100— (Gen. 21:1–7) - The son is born. They name him Isaac (“laughter”) as commanded by God.
 - But the arrival of Isaac creates a new problem in the home: Ishmael has a rival.
 - For fourteen years, Ishmael has been his father’s only son, very dear to his heart.

103— (Gen. 21:8–14) - It was customary for the Jews to wean their children at about the age of three, and to make a great occasion of it.
 - At the feast, Ishmael starts to mock Isaac and to create trouble in the home.
 - There is only one solution to the problem, and a costly one at that: Hagar and her son have to go.
 - With a broken heart, Abraham sends his son away, because this is what the Lord tells him to do.

- On the surface, this story appears to be nothing more than a tale of a family problem, but beneath the surface are meanings that carry tremendous spiritual power.
 - Abraham, the two wives, and the two sons represent spiritual realities; and their relationships teach us important lessons.[4]

- Paul begins with the two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and explains that they illustrate our two births: the physical birth that makes us sinners and the spiritual birth that makes us the children of God.

The Old Covenant
The New Covenant

Law
Grace

Hagar the slave
Sarah the freewoman

Ishmael, conceived after the flesh
Isaac, conceived miraculously

Earthly Jerusalem in bondage
Heavenly Jerusalem which
is free

Isaac illustrates the believer in several particulars.
He was born by God’s power. In fact, God deliberately waited twenty-five years before He granted Abraham and Sarah their son.
 - Isaac was “born after the Spirit” (Gal. 4:29), and, of course, the Christian is “born of the Spirit” (John 3:1–7).
 - Isaac came into the world through Abraham (who represents faith, Gal. 3:9) and Sarah (who represents grace); so that he was born “by grace … through faith” as is every true Christian (Eph. 2:8–9).

He brought joy. His name means “laughter,” and certainly he brought joy to his aged parents.
 - Salvation is an experience of joy, not only to the believer himself, but also to those around him.
He grew and was weaned (Gen. 21:8). Salvation is the beginning, not the ending.
 - After we are born, we must grow (1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:18).
 - Along with maturity comes weaning: we must lay aside “childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11).
 - How easy it is for us to hold the “toys” of our earlier Christian days and fail to lay hold of the “tools” of the mature believer.
- The child does not enjoy being weaned, but he can never become a man until it happens.

He was persecuted (Gen. 21:9). Ishmael (the flesh) caused problems for Isaac, just as our old nature causes problems for us.
 - Ishmael created no problems in the home until Isaac was born, just as our old nature creates no problems for us until the new nature enters when we trust Christ.

 - In Abraham’s home we see the same basic conflicts that we Christians face today:
Hagar versus Sarah = Law versus grace
Ishmael versus Isaac = flesh versus Spirit
It is important to note that you cannot separate these four factors.
 - The Judaizers taught that Law made the believer more spiritual, but Paul makes it clear that Law only releases the opposition of the flesh and a conflict within the believer ensues.
 - There was no Law strong enough either to change or to control Ishmael, but Isaac never needed any Law.
 - It has well been said, “The old nature knows no Law and the new nature needs no Law.”
 
Ishmael and Isaac represent the two lines of descendants that sprang from Abraham.
- According to Gen 25:13–18, Ishmael begot twelve sons who became the ancestors of the Arab tribes, which occupied the territory “from Havilah to Shur,” that is, the desert lands between Egypt and the Euphrates River.
- The birth of Ishmael was the result of the outworking of the philosophy that “God helps those who help themselves.”[5]
 - Not even in the Bible.

Having explained the significance of the two sons, Paul now turns to an explanation of the two wives, Sarah and Hagar.
 - He is illustrating the contrasts between Law and grace and is proving that the believer is not under Law but is under the loving freedom that comes through God’s grace.

 - Notice, then, the facts about Hagar that prove that the Law no longer has power over the Christian.
Hagar was Abraham’s second wife. God did not begin with Hagar; He began with Sarah.
As far as God’s dealings with men are concerned, God began with grace.
 - In Eden, God provided for Adam and Eve by grace. Even after they sinned, in His grace He provided them with coats of skins for a covering (Gen. 3:21). He did not give them laws to obey as a way of redemption; instead, He gave them a gracious promise to believe: the promise of a victorious Redeemer (Gen. 3:15).


In His relationship with Israel also, God first operated on the basis of grace, not Law.
 - His covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15) was all of grace, because Abraham was in a deep sleep when the covenant was established.
 - When God delivered Israel from Egypt, it was on the basis of grace and not Law, for the Law had not yet been given.
 - Like Hagar, Abraham’s second wife, the Law was “added” (Gal. 3:19). Hagar performed a function temporarily, and then moved off the scene, just as the Law performed a special function and then was taken away.

Hagar was a slave. Five times in this section she is called a “bondmaid” or “bondwoman” (Gal. 4:22–23, 30–31).
 - Sarah was a freewoman, and therefore her position was one of liberty; but Hagar, even though married to Abraham, was still a servant.
 - Likewise, the Law was given as a servant.
 - It served as a mirror to reveal men’s sins (Rom. 3:20) and as a monitor to control men and ultimately lead them to Christ (Gal. 3:23–25); but the Law was never meant to be a mother!

Hagar was not meant to bear a child. Abraham’s marriage to Hagar was out of the will of God; it was the result of Sarah’s and Abraham’s unbelief and impatience.
 - Hagar was trying to do what only Sarah could do, and it failed.
 - The Law cannot give life (Gal. 3:21), or righteousness (Gal. 2:21), or the gift of the Spirit (Gal. 3:2), or a spiritual inheritance (Gal. 3:18).
 - Isaac was born Abraham’s heir (Gen. 21:10), but Ishmael could not share in this inheritance.
 - The Judaizers were trying to make Hagar a mother again, while Paul was in spiritual warfare for his converts that they might become more like Christ.
 - No amount of religion or legislation can give the dead sinner life. Only Christ can do that through the Gospel.

Hagar gave birth to a slave. Ishmael was “a wild man” (Gen. 16:12), and even though he was a slave, nobody could control him, including his mother.
 - Like Ishmael, the old nature (the flesh) is at war with God, and the Law cannot change or control it.
 - By nature, the Spirit and the flesh are “contrary the one to the other” (Gal. 5:17), and no amount of religious activity is going to change the picture.
 - Whoever chooses Hagar (Law) for his mother is going to experience bondage (Gal. 4:8–11, 22–25, 30–31; 5:1). But whoever chooses Sarah (grace) for his mother is going to enjoy liberty in Christ.
 - God wants His children to be free (Gal. 5:1).

Hagar was cast out. It was Sarah who gave the order: “Cast out this bondwoman and her son” (Gen. 21:9–10), and God subsequently approved it (Gen. 21:12).
 - Ishmael had been in the home for at least seventeen years, but his stay was not to be permanent; eventually he had to be cast out.
 - There was not room in the household for Hagar and Ishmael with Sarah and Isaac; one pair had to go.

- It is impossible for Law and grace, the flesh and the Spirit, to compromise and stay together.
 - God did not ask Hagar and Ishmael to make occasional visits to the home; the break was permanent.
 - The Judaizers in Paul’s day—and in our own day—are trying to reconcile Sarah and Hagar, and Isaac and Ishmael; such reconciliation is contrary to the Word of God.
 - It is impossible to mix Law and grace, faith and works, God’s gift of righteousness and man’s attempts to earn righteousness.

Hagar was not married again. God never gave the Law to any other nation or people, including His church. For the Judaizers to impose the Law on the Galatian Christians was to oppose the very plan of God.
 - In Paul’s day, the nation of Israel was under bondage to the Law, while the church was enjoying liberty under the gracious rule of the “Jerusalem which is above” (Gal. 4:26).
 - The Judaizers wanted to “wed” Mt. Sinai and the heavenly Mt. Zion (Heb. 12:22), but to do this would be to deny what Jesus did on Mt. Calvary (Gal. 2:21). Hagar is not to be married again.

From the human point of view, it might seem cruel that God should command Abraham to send away his own son Ishmael, whom he loved very much.
 - But it was the only solution to the problem, for “the wild man” could never live with the child of promise. In a deeper sense, however, think of what it cost God when He gave His Son to bear the curse of the Law to set us free.
- Abraham’s broken heart meant Isaac’s liberty; God’s giving of His Son means our liberty in Christ.[6]

 - We must keep in mind that legalism does not mean the setting of spiritual standards; it means worshiping these standards and thinking that we are spiritual because we obey them.
 - It also means judging other believers on the basis of these standards.
 - A person can refrain from smoking, drinking, and attending theaters, for example, and still not be spiritual. The Pharisees had high standards; yet they crucified Jesus.[7]
- Legalism is one of the major problems among Christians today.
 
Galatians 4:31 - Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman.[8]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 697). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 4:21). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 4:21–31). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 709). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 338). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 709–711). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 712). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 4:31). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.