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God’s Promises To Abraham and The Testing of Abraham
God spoke to Abraham and gave him an instruction and a promise.
Genesis 12:1-4 … Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:
and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him;
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Abraham believed God, and we read,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:3
So Abram left his father’s house as God told him to do. He didn’t know exactly where to go. He just departed by “faith”, believing God said to depart.
And God spoke to Abram again …
Genesis 13:14-18 … And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.
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Sarah (Abraham’s wife) was barren. Abraham thought about how God could fulfill HIS promise since he had no children and both he and Sarah were very old … Abraham discussed this with God ...
Genesis 15:1-6 … After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And HE (God) brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and HE said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And he believed in the Lord; and HE counted it to him for righteousness.
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A woman in our little church group, is married to an unbeliever. She had a dream where her husband was reading the Bible. We rejoiced, believing God was showing her husband will be saved. But how can this be? Her husband is an engineer, very scientific, believing that which he sees with his natural eyes or that which he can prove with statistics.
Jesus once spoke of how difficult it was for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mt. 19:23-26 … Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
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The promises of God are about believing.
The apostle Paul said:
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:19
God says …
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for HE hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Heb. 13:5
Jesus says …
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matt. 6:31-34)
Can you believe what God has said to you?
Part of the key to believing and to continuing to believe is doing the following: meditating on the Word God has spoken to you day and night …
People rejoice when they hear the word, but then Satan commeth immediately and snatches the word from their hearts. Mk. 4
To keep this from happening, learn to keep that word before you day and night … build a deep root system for that Word of God to grow inside you.
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The Word comes to us by the Holy Spirit through scripture, through thoughts, through dreams …
It doesn’t matter how the Word comes, what matters is the Word.
Keep the Word before you day and night and use that Word to fight all opposing thoughts of the flesh and devil.
Joshua 1:8-9 … This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
God says, “Didn’t I give you that word?”
We must not allow the flesh to reason the word of God away nor can we allow the devil to steal that word given by God.
We have to “labor” to enter into God’s rest by focusing on that word given to us. We might have to keep it before us many days, or months, or even years. In time, it will grow strong in us and be a sure foundation for us. And we live our lives on that word, living in belief. Acting in belief. Doing in keeping with belief.
If a person comes to me saying, “I know God will heal me.” And then that person says, “Pray for me.” I know that person doesn’t really believe, because if he believed he wouldn’t be acting in unbelief by asking me to pray for that which he professes to believe but really doesn’t believe.
Genesis 16:1-4 … Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Ishmael was born.
But Ishmael was not going to be the heir. It was not going to be by Ishmael that the promise of God to Abraham would be fulfilled.
God had another plan which man couldn’t imagine.
Genesis 17:1-5 … And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before ME, and be thou perfect. And I will make MY covenant between ME and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for ME, behold, MY covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
(Abraham was going to be made “a new creature” as we are changed to “a new creature” by God after God reveals HIMSELF to us. The name change from Abram to Abraham is symbolic of this “new creation.”)
Genesis 17 …
6-22 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish MY covenant between ME and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep MY covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is MY covenant, which ye shall keep, between ME and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt ME and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and MY covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken MY covenant.
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish MY covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But MY covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
God would do that which God said HE would do. And so it is always. God always does what HE says HE will do.
God is not a man, that HE should lie … Numbers 23:19
Genesis 18:1-15 …And the Lord appeared unto him (to Abraham) in the plains of Mamre: and he (Abraham) sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him:
and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on:
for therefore are ye come to your servant.
And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife?
And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid.
And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR GOD? IS ANYTHING IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD?
God created heavens and earth and all that is therein.
How can anything be too hard for God?
This is a fundamental concept for us to grasp and hold onto.
Genesis 21:1-8 … And the Lord visited Sarah as HE had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as HE had spoken.
For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
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Genesis 22:1-19 … And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham:
and he (Abraham) said, Behold, here I am.
And HE (God) said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father:
and he (Abraham) said, Here am I, my son.
And he (Isaac) said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering:
so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he (Abraham) said, Here am I.
And he (the angel of the LORD) said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice.
So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Abraham reasoned that even when he killed Isaac, God would be able to raise Isaac from the dead. We read of this in Hebrews 11 as follows:
17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Isaac was conceived by “dead” people … since both Abraham and Sarah were as the “dead” at the ages of 100 and 90.
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And what of our faith when compared to Abraham?
It should be the same. Abraham believed God. Shouldn’t we also believe what God says to us? Faith is hearing what God says and believing what God says. What God says, we should believe God is able to perform.
We just keep the flesh and the devil from stealing God’s word as we keep God’s word before us day and night … for days, for months, or for years.
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