From these, the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
-They were fruitful and increased in number as God had said
-There was division of the people
Genesis 11
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech
They made bricks and planned to make a city with a tower that reached to the heavens, so to make a name for themselves.
But the Lord came down to see the city... "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them"...
"Come, let us go down and confuse their language..."
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth and they stopped building the city.
That is why it is called Babel, because their language was confused.
An account is made of the male lineage from Noah to Abram.
Abram's wife, Sarai, was barren; she had no children.
Terah, Abram's father, took Abram Sarai & Lot (Abram's nephew) towards Canaan, but whenthey came to Haran, they settled there.
Terah died in Haran aged 205.
-The whole earth spoke one language and made prideful plans without God. Even after God had shown his power and authority in Noah's ark, the people still rebel against him and go their own way.
-"But the Lord came down to see the city..." - what does this mean? Did he come down in person or just in action?
-After this it says that God said "Come, let 'US' go down..." This is a clear indication of more than one person. This is the trinity relating together. Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
-God hindered their plans by confusing their language and scattering them
-They stopped building the city
-Abram is chosen by God and highlighted in the lineage along with Sarai, his wife. Very few females are mentioned up to this point.
-You can see that God has a plan.
Genesis 12
God told Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you."
God makes a promise to Abram (great nation, blessed, blessing to others)
Abram left as the Lord told him & Lot went with his as did Sarai
They took their possessions and the people they had acquired and set out for the land of Canaan.
Again the Lord appeared to Abram with a promise, "To your offspring I will give this land" (even though the Canaanites were in the land)
Abram built an alter to the Lord
Abram went on from there and pitched his tent between Bethal and Ai
Abram built another alter there and called on the name of the Lord
Then Abram continued toward Negev
There was a severe famine in the land so Abram live din Egypt for a while
Abram asks Sarai to lie and say she is his sister because he fears for his life, he fears the Egyptians.
Pharoh's officials saw that Sarai was beautiful (as Abram had forseen) and took her to Pharoh who married her and treated Abram well because of her.
Abram acquired wealth
But the Lord inflicted serious disease on Pharoh and his household because of Sarai.
Pharoh tells Abram to leave Egypt with his wife. He got away with it and left with everything he had, including his new wealth.
-God spoke clearly to Abram
-God makes promises to Abram
-Abram was obedient to God
-Abram built alters to the Lord and called on God
-When Abram & Sarai go to Egypt, they lie to Pharoh which to me seems wrong and as if they aren't trusting God's promise, yet they still leave with everything they had.
-God punished Pharoh for the wrong even though he did it unknowlingly having been lied to.
-Pharoh doesn't appear to take revenge
Lord, you are a mystery to me, a beautiful mystery. There is nothing and nobody on earth who can be compared to you. You are great and your wonder surrounds you. You are the only holy God, sovereign and reigning over all with the whole world at your fingertips orchestrating everything for your good purposes. You are just even when we don't understand what you are doing.
Lord teach us as your church to relate to you in such a way that we each hear your voice with the same clarity that Moses, Noah and Abram did in Genesis. Will you teach us to pray in line with your will Lord and help us to take the right steps and to make wise decisions. Lead us Lord I pray. We are utterly dependent on you providing for us. The wealth of the world is no wealth at all. It will perish in no time but your wealth is what we hunger after. The precious jewels in your Word, the diamonds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control given through your Holy Spirit that we as your children all have access to. Lord thank you for blessing us so abundantly and thank you for the Bible where we have streams of living water at our fingertips, so readily available to us. Your Word is life God and I don't ever want to take that for granted. Teach me to treasure it more than I do anything of the world. Inspire me to learn and meditate on the teachings you give so that I can know you better and come to you with a clearer, more accurate picture of who you are, more able to relate to you in spirit and in truth. God you are indescribable and incomparable yet you made us in your image so that we can know you. You're amazing God! Totally amazing! Thank you for your incredible love and grace and mercy patience for us. Love you x
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