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1) Genesis 12:1 - 3 NKJV
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
2) Genesis 12:7
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
3) Genesis 13:14 - 17
14And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are-northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you."
4) Genesis 15:1 - 18
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
2 But Abram said, "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!"
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." 5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. 7 Then He said to him, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." 8 And he said, "Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?"
9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates
a. Vultures came down upon Abram's sacrifice. What are they symbolic of? What does that mean for us?
b. What is the horror and great darkness that Abram felt?
c. Why did Abram's descendents have to be afflicted 400 years?
d. Who represented Abram in the making of covenant with God? Why is this significant?
e. The promises that God made to Abram up to this point are underlined in the text. Please review and contemplate what they mean to us.
5) Genesis 16:1 - 4, 16
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
a. Abram and Sarai tried to bring God's promises into manifestation by their own wisdom, understanding and ability. How does this relate to our lives?
b. Abram was how old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael?
6) Genesis 17:1 - 8
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
a. How old was Abram when God changed his name to Abraham?
b. Why do you think God waited 13 years between this conversation with Abram and His last one?
c. Why do you think God told Abram to walk before Him and be blameless, and why would God say that if Abram did this God would make covenant with him?
d. Did God say that if Abram was in covenant with God that his blessing would be multiplied exceedingly?
e. Wasn't Abram already in covenant with God? Why would God ask him to be blameless to be in covenant with Him?
f. How did Abram take this news?
g. What was God's perspective on Abram's covenant with Him?
h. God changes Abram's name to Abraham and promises that he will not only be the father of many descendants but God would multiply the blessing to his being the father of many nations. What does that mean for us?
i. What does it mean for us that Abraham is promised to be exceedingly fruitful?
j. How long is this covenant in force?
k. The letter "H" in Hebrew is added to Abram's name, meaning "to see" or "behold". What did this mean for Abraham, and why is this important for us?
List of the Abrahamic Blessings (compiled by Diane Williams):
God makes me a great nation
God blesses me
God makes my name great
God makes me a blessing
God blesses those who bless me
God curses those who curse me
God is my Shield, my Exceedingly Great Reward
God multiplies me exceedingly
God makes me exceedingly fruitful
Kings shall come from me
God is my God