In this sermon, the speaker discusses the transition from the preface of Genesis to the period of the nation. He emphasizes that God's pattern is always the same: there is a call, obedience, and then revelation. The speaker also highlights the importance of responding to God's call and being obedient. The sermon then focuses on Genesis chapter 18, where the Lord appears to Abraham and Abraham shows great hospitality towards the three men. The speaker emphasizes the tradition of hospitality in old cultures and how it is seen as a major sin to not show hospitality.

This is the twelfth study in the book of Genesis conducted by Chuck Missler. The subject of this tape, Genesis chapters 12 and 13. We are tonight going to enter into the next major section of the book of Genesis. And it's going to be, I think, a very, very exciting section. Very dramatic, very mysterious, full of lots of suspense, lots of action, real people. You know, you somehow, Adam and Seth and Cain tend to be sort of abstractions to us, I think. I'm not sure we really sort of, we don't know enough about them to relate to them. But Abraham, we're going to learn a lot about. His name occurs 74 times in the New Testament alone. So we're sort of going to get to know Abraham. I mean, he's going to seem real, I think. Certainly more real than some of the other characters that we know about intellectually. I mean, we meet them in passing. But Abraham is quite a guy. But of course, the exercise we're on is not an intellectual exercise or a historical exercise or a literary exercise. We're here tonight to share a supernatural experience. And so let's petition the Lord in that regard. Heavenly Father, we just praise you that you have allowed us to gather again together to open your word and to behold Jesus Christ. We ask you, Father, for the Holy Spirit to just guide us and enlighten us and increase in us a hunger for a knowledge of these things. To the end that we might know more fully, more completely, Jesus Christ and what you would have of us. That we might more fully grasp this incredible plan of redemption which you ordained before the foundation of the world was laid. We thank you, Father, for this opportunity. We ask your blessing to his glory. Amen. The book of Genesis is often divided such that we're entering the third section. Some people take the creation and the sons of Adam as one section. They take the flood and the sons of Noah as another section. And then they get to Abraham. The call of Abraham in Genesis 12. Other scholars take the first 11 chapters of section 1. And the story of Abraham and his descendants as the next major section. But they afford themselves the liberty of taking Joseph separately. Because so much of the last part of the book is about Joseph. In any case, almost any form of structuring the book elevates chapter 12 to a pinnacle, a fulcrum, a climax, a key point. And that's where we are. Now, another way to put in perspective something else. Those of you that are driving road cars know what happens when you shift gears. And if you're watching the book of Genesis, you're going to discover we've shifted into a whole different gear when we get to Genesis 12. To dramatize that another way, the 11 chapters we've read so far cover more than 2,000 years of narrative. And Adam and Noah and the sons and all are independent of the chronological problems. It certainly is more than 2,000 years. There's only 11 chapters. The period we're now going to enter into is the period of the nation. It covers a period of only 400 years. And it's going to occupy 39 chapters. Okay? So we've just entered into a whole new scene. In fact, you can easily make the case that the 11 chapters that we've gone through are simply a preface. Not just to the rest of Genesis, but the entire Old Testament. So we've been dealing with a narrative, a revelation that is extremely condensed up until now. So we draw great inferences from very little. And our conceptions, our visualizations of what we've seen so far, obviously are in jeopardy because of the scarcity of words that describe it. We jumped to all kinds of strange conclusions. I say strange in the sense that if we really knew what happened, we probably would smile at the quaint view we have of the events of the last 11 chapters. Because it's so brief and we tend to infer on it our own experience, which is really from a whole different background. But now we're getting into Abraham. We'll call him Abram before his name is changed. But you'll probably notice that I am very unscholastic about that. I will slip and call him Abraham. Abraham's an interesting guy. He is the one man that is elevated in all the major religions on the planet Earth. I say religions, not cults and other groups. Certainly the Christians, certainly the Jews, and the Mohammedans. The world of Islam. And if you take those just in numbers of administrative claim, you have most of humanity. An incredible amount. And they all place Abraham very, very high. Abraham has the unique title in the Bible as the friend of God. Isn't that a strange title? Wouldn't you like to have that title? It's only used to one person, of Abraham. Now, we will pick up chapter 12, starting at chapter 11, verse 31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son, Abram's wife. And they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. And they came unto Haran and dwelt there. They left Ur of the Chaldeans. That's near the Persian Gulf, actually. And that's on the eastward side of the river Euphrates. And they went to Haran, which is still east of the Euphrates, but about halfway in terms of the path that the caravan routes classically took to get to the land of Canaan. They went with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. That was their intention. But they came unto Haran and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran, period, end of chapter. And most of us, when we speak of the call of Abraham, think of Genesis 12, verse 1. Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation. 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 the families of the earth be blessed. First three verses of chapter 12. Someone talks to you about the call of Abraham. You think of Genesis 12, verses 1 to 3. Wrong. Now if you take an exam in a Bible study course, I recommend you put chapter 12, verses 1 to 3 as the call of Abraham, because those grading your paper may not have the insight of another commentary that I will introduce you to in a moment. Okay? We're going to have an experience now to explore a little bit the call of Abraham, an idol-worshiping Gentile who dwelt in the Ur of the Chaldees. That's a fun way to introduce Abraham to a Jewish person. The Lord is gracious and will forgive me for my mischief, I'm sure. But let's, to get an insight into this, most of us think of Abraham as the example of the faithful. In fact, one of his titles, his valid titles, is he's the father of the faithful. Lot, his nephew, is going to contrast with him as the father of the compromisers. But that's another, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Abraham is known as the father of the faithful. And indeed, his display of faith is going to be climaxed in a few more chapters in a way that will leave you breathless before we're through with it. However, I'm going to suggest to you that Abraham is one of us, subject to the same foibles we are. And one of the interesting testimonies of inspiration of the Scripture is the candor and validity and accuracy that the writer demonstrates by including the shortcomings. We're going to discover that Abraham was not faithful at all. He blew it and blew it badly. The Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country. What was his country? Ur of the Chaldeans. Fine. And from thy kindred. Right? That means your relatives, right? You're saying so far, that's neat, right? And from thy father's house. Hmm, that's a little tougher, when you think about it. And unto a land that I will show thee. That was his instruction. Where is he living in Genesis 12, chapter 12, verse 1? In Haran, right? Let's turn to, lest you think I'm off on one of these left field junkets, which I'm often guilty of. Lest you think I'm in one of those things. Let's turn to what is probably the most reliable commentary on the Old Testament. Walter Martin, notwithstanding. That's called the New Testament. And in the New Testament, we have... Sorry, Walter. We have the most interesting commentary on the Old that I know of. And I'd like to turn to Acts, chapter 7. Acts, chapter 7, is an interesting chapter. It's where Stephen is addressing the Sanhedrin. Now, Stephen turns out to be quite a scholar. And he's recounting to this august body of scholars, some Old Testament background to make his point. We don't have time tonight to go into the points, all the different points that Stephen was going to make. However, he makes so many comments in chapter 7, that if you're a diligent student of the Torah, you frequently will find yourself coming back to chapter 7, and you'll discover that Stephen illuminates things that are not obvious from the Old Testament record, as we know it. And it's full of that sort of thing. But fortunately, we're just going to take a few verses of this, and it's Acts, chapter 7, verse 2. Stephen says, and he said, Men, brethren, and fathers hearken, the God of glory. That's an interesting phrase, by the way. Stephen uses an interesting title here, just to give you a little background. That occurs only one other place in the Bible, and that's in Psalm 29.3. Psalm 29.3, by the way, can be inferred from verse 10 of that psalm, that it's millennial, and this is a millennial title. Jesus himself, Psalm 24, is spoken of as the king of glory, a related title, not quite the same thing as we're saying here. The God of glory appeared unto our Father. We're going to discover that the appearance of God to one of the patriarchs occurs first with Abraham. It is not said of Adam or Noah. Now, maybe a small point, because we know that God walked with Adam and Noah, but it doesn't say he appeared to Adam and Noah. It's a linguistic point, maybe, but if you get into the theology of just who Christ was as a manifestation, so forth, you can jump to the conclusion that the appearance to Abraham may be that person with whom we have to do. God, our glory, appeared unto our father Abraham, when? When he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran. Now, Stephen gives us a little insight here. When did God appear to Abraham? Before he left the Ur of the Chaldeans. God said to Abram, hey, buddy, I want you out of there. I want you to leave your country. I want you to leave your kindred. I want you to leave your family, and I want you to go to a land that I will show you. What land was that? Canaan, right. What did Abraham do? He picked up his household, his father, his nephew Lot, and who knows who else, and he moved upriver a bit to a place called Haran. Before you laugh, that's what you and I do. That's what you and I do. One of the things we're going to discover as we get through the book of Genesis is God's pattern is always the same. There's a call, there's obedience, and then revelation. God reveals himself as a response to your obedience, which is a response to his call. And one of the things we all do, most of us in this room have heard the call of God. God has spoken to you through some TV pastor, through some tape you heard in your car, or through one of Chuck's sermons, or who knows what. God has called you to him, okay, and he's called you to do something. He's called you out of the Ur of the Chaldeans to the land that he will show you. And you know what most of us have done? I'm with you on this one. We've moved upriver a little bit, you know. In fact, maybe upriver quite a bit, but haven't crossed over. Okay, we've taken our things with us, you know, all those trappings and so forth. And God could not deal with Abraham until there was a funeral in his life, in this case a literal one. It was when his father died that Abraham got his gag together. One of the questions I want to ask you before the evening's over, is there a funeral that's required in your life? And I don't mean of a person. It might be a thing, an idea, a commitment, an involvement, a trapping, a vestige, an entanglement that God is calling you from. That's a question only you and he can work out, but I suggest it to you. Anyway, going on, it says in verse 2, Stephen says, The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, that's where the Ur of the Chaldeans was, before he dwelt in Iran. And he said unto him, Get thee out of thy country from thy kindred, and come unto the land which I shall show thee. Now, Stephen skips over the point I'm going to make, and obviously, ultimately, Abraham does do that. He says, Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Iran, and from there, when his father was dead, he removed into this land in which ye now dwell, and so forth. And he goes on to make his point. When did Abraham move? When his father died. You know what war means? Flame. Chaldeans means destruction. Abraham was called from the flame of destruction, okay, to the land of promise. He moved upriver to Haran. You know what the word Haran means? Parched. Desolate. Until his father died. What was his father's name? Do you know what Terah means? Delay. It means delay. Look at the margin in your Bible. You may have it. If it says Terah, you may have a footnote in your margin or wherever. The word Terah means delay. Isn't that interesting? One of the things I want you to do as we go through Genesis is recognize that the Holy Spirit deals in puns. He does. He does. And he's going to deal in some of the most interesting puns you've ever seen. Some of them will strike us as humorous. Some of us will leave you breathless before we're through the next several chapters of Genesis. But he deals in puns. The very place names are going to be significant in ways that will just leave you flabbergasted as I show you some of those later on. But even here, I want you to start getting sensitive to that when Abraham pitches his tent facing Bethel with his back to Ai, shortly we'll see. What does Bethel mean? The house of God. What does Ai mean? Place of ruin. And we'll get into more of that. So let's go back now with the insight that Stephen has given us. We'll see that Terah took Abraham, his son, verse 31 of chapter 11, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarah, his daughter-in-law, and Abraham's wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, and they came into Haran and dwelt there. Didn't quite make it, moved upriver. And that's one of the questions I'm hoping you'll ask yourself as you drive home tonight. Have you just moved upriver? Are you dwelling in Haran tonight? You've heard Chuck's sermon Sunday morning, you've gotten involved in the Bible study or two or three, what have you, but have you... Where are you living? Where are you living? Have you really entered into the land, that rest which he has for you? Or have you, like most of us have, moved upriver a little bit, left one foot in the world, got one foot in Ur of the Chaldeans, haven't really severed, you're still on the caravan route, you're up there by Haran, haven't actually crossed over the river yet even. Gone quite a ways, moved upriver, left Ur of the Chaldeans, but you're sort of between two opinions, as Elijah would say. Where are you living? Are you in Haran or are you in a new land? Verse 32, In the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. Now the Lord had said, is what your Bible probably translates. Some of the versions are different. The Hebrew grammar allow either translation to take place of the structure, either one's permissible. From the inside of other inputs, most translators will translate this, Now the Lord had said. Flew perfect, I think it's called. Unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. Abraham is reminded, if you will, of his promise, or his commitment, his calling, to leave his country completely, not just park in Haran for a while. And from his kindred, and from his father's house. And he doesn't cut it until his father dies. Now most commentators and scholars were maybe a little hard on Abraham, because many of the ones that dig into this a little bit will bring this point up. Others point out that this might have been an interim thing, where maybe Terah was old and ill and what have you, and Abraham resided there until Terah died. They were there about five or six years from a lot of interpolation we make. So it's not a trivial period of time, and yet it's not a monumental period of time. So exactly, in any case, it's certainly clear that the five or six years were delayed. They were when Abraham was intended to leave. There's another insight that you should probably have, and I'd like to get you this insight from the scripture. Let's turn to Joshua 24. Most of us like to think that Abraham was somehow part of the faithful strain. We had Shem, right? And Shem had a faithful seed, right? And all this was going to be neat. And we had... As we go through the line, we think good thoughts, right? Well, let's find out just exactly what insight we can about his religious upbringing. Joshua, some years later, in conquering the land, Joshua chapter 24, verse 2, Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Now, Joshua's quoting from the Lord here, right? Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river of old, even Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nacor. And they served, whom? Other gods. As a matter of fact, Ur of Chaldeas is famous for worshiping the moon god they called Sin. It's just a little interesting observation. Verse 3, and God says, I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac, and Jacob, and Esau, and so forth. And you'll discover the word I occurs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17. Thank you, 17 times. Interesting. Anyway, we developed this on the Joshua tapes. Those of you that want a badge of the firefighters for Christ or something can get the Joshua tapes for that. But anyway, it's interesting. The point is, we're on sound scriptural ground when we see Abraham's household. And we have no reason not to believe that Abraham wasn't part of that cultural background, that he worshipped idols. And God called him. And as a matter of fact, to sort of give you a peek ahead, hold your finger here, we'll turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. The last half of Romans 8 is something that, in fact, the whole chapter, I guess. But that's a precious chapter. You ever blew and down? I don't know if anything can happen where, as a refuge, you get by yourself and read Romans 8. And the first thing to do is to check verse 28 to make sure it's still there. Okay? Every once in a while, we act like we figure someone's gotten, you know, erased it or gotten rid of it. But I check every once in a while, and I find it's still there. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called. To them who are thee called, according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called. Whom he called, then he also justified. And whom he justified, then he also glorified. And I'll fight hard not to go on. It's very difficult to stop here and not just indulge the sweep of this chapter as it goes on. And I'll let you do that on your own. But the thing I want you to notice here, you notice these interesting things. Whom he did predestinate, then he also called. Whom he called, then he justified. Whom he justified, then he also glorified, right? Predestination, calling, justification, glorification. Four levels. We can make an outline, right? You know what Paul is doing here for you? He's outlining the book of Genesis. Abraham was predestined to become the father of the faithful. Later on we're going to discover, I think it's verse 28, or chapter, excuse me, chapter 26. We're going to discover, in Isaac shall his seed be called. We get to Jacob, I think it's about chapter 28. Jacob, if God can justify Jacob, he can justify anyone and take comfort in that. The fact that he might justify Abraham, you figure, hey, he's a pretty good guy. When you're through reading about Jacob, you'll breathe a sigh of relief because if God can justify Jacob into the kingdom, we all have a chance. And finally, the story of Joseph. This incredible story of Joseph speaking of his glory. Predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. The four steps that Paul talks about here become the outline of the patriarchs of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. So be alert to that as we go. I just thought we'd throw that in for fun. But Joshua also emphasizes that God says, I took Abraham. Didn't say allow or helped. The verb implies he grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out of there. And it wasn't easy because he clung to Haran for quite a little while until there was a funeral in his life. I have nothing against Terah, but that wasn't what God wanted Abraham to leave behind. Okay, now one interesting thing. You might turn to Hebrews chapter 11. The book of 11th chapter of Hebrews, of course, is this famous hall of faith. This chronicle of the major milestones in God's record of the faithful. And of course, it is no surprise to find... We've drawn on this already, of course, earlier, with Noah and what have you. But let's take a look at Abraham, starting at verse 8. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should, which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing where he went. Do you notice something there? It says that he was called and he obeyed. Is that true? Well, it is eventually. You notice that his delay or his disobedience or his lack of obedience is not mentioned. Do you know why? What does he promise to do? Remember your sins no more. His sins are blotted out. Isn't that neat? It does, doesn't it? You didn't know all this stuff about Abraham except inferentially. Right? Interesting, isn't it? By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Very interesting. There are two brothers, Nahor and Abraham. Nahor went and built a city. The world, I'm sure, considered him a success. He founded a whole city. Terrific. How many of you knew about Nahor? You have to really dig for that. It's in Genesis 20, I think, or someplace. Wherever it's mentioned, I've forgotten now. I've got it in my notes here. Abraham dwelt in tents. Ne'er do well wanderer, never had a place of his own. Two interesting things about Abraham. One is he dwelt in tents. He was a nomad. He was a pilgrim. Why? Because he looked for a different city. The only thing he built was what? Every place he went. Altars. Altars. The altars were permanent. His dwelling was temporary. Isn't that interesting? I think that's kind of neat. Okay. There's another idea that we might grab onto before we charge into the narrative. And that's to turn to Romans chapter 1. You get in a lot of trouble with the whole problem, the so-called heathen problem. It's talking about verse 20. Paul says, For the invisible things of him, that is, of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Who? The heathen. Are without excuse. Because, verse 21, When they knew God, and they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Now, Paul is talking here about the unbelieving heathen, generically. The whole chapter one is a very useful chapter if that's your problem and you want to get into it. But specifically, historically, what does Paul have in mind here? I submit to you, Babel. The age that God gives them up and calls Abraham to continue his plan of redemption. Because they knew not God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, nor became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish part was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made in the whole idolatry thing. And we have the final depravity that God then gives them up. God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. But he's never without a witness. So what does he call about that time or just after that? He arbitrarily, in the sovereignty of his own choice, selects an idol-worshipping Gentile down in Ur of the Chaldees, called Abraham, and calls him to leave everything behind, his family, his house, and to go to some place. He doesn't even tell him much about it. He doesn't have the benefit that some of the others have when they landed milk and honey and so forth. Hey, just someplace I'm going to show you. Come on, fella. And Abraham does, sort of. And, of course, ultimately does. So, chapter 12, verse 1, where Abraham, his father's died. And the Lord had said to Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, into a land that I will show 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. Period. On whose performance does Abraham's blessing depend? Any guesses? God's conduct entirely. God's conduct entirely. Suppose Abraham turns out to be a liar. We find that happens before the chapter is over. What does God say about that? He says, I will bless thee. Suppose Jacob, his son, becomes a crook, and a cheat, and a scoundrel. What does God say about that? He says, I will bless thee. Suppose David becomes the king that comes later. Becomes an adulterer. Or a murderer. What does God say about that? He says, I will bless thee. Suppose the nation becomes so evil that it has to be scattered among the nations for centuries. What does God say about that? I will bless thee. So the question you have to ask yourself, can man's sin make God a liar? Heavens, no. On whose faithfulness does our redemption depend? On his. Even to the point where this idea of blessing the sons of Abraham occurs in Matthew 25 where Jesus says that, well let's turn to Matthew 25, verse 40. Matthew chapter 25, verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. This is Jesus Christ sitting not on his father's throne, but on his throne of glory. His throne. And before him shall be gathered all the what? Nations. And he shall separate them one from another. People or nations? Nations. Strange idea. This is the judgment of the nations. He shall separate his sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. This is also recounted in Ezekiel 34, but let me just go on. Then shall the king say unto them, come ye, blessed of my father, and have the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and ye gave me food, and I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink, and I was a stranger, and ye took me in naked, and ye clothed me, and I was sick, and ye visited me, I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when? Saw we thee hungry, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? They're surprised. They don't say, boy, I'm glad you noticed. We worked hard on that. You know, we organized the care packages, and we really turned to, Lord. Boy, we came out on that Saturday, you know, and the gals made coffee, but boy, we worked. No, that's not what they're saying. They're stunned. What are you talking about, Lord? When did all that happen? When saw we thee hungry, and fed thee, and thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, or came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done unto me. Who are his brethren? There are a lot of views about this, but I'm going to suggest to you there are three groups of people before that throne of judgment. The sheep nations, the goat nations, and his brethren, and their nations. Who are his brethren? Jews. And if the Jews are being judged by their dispersion, that's God's problem, not ours. Then shall he say unto them that are left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, and in the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and ye gave me no food, and I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. And I was a stranger, and ye took me not in, naked, and ye clothed me not, sick, and in prison, and visited me not. And shall they also say unto him, When shall we be hungry, a thirster, a stranger, and so forth? And he says in verse 45, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it not unto one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me. And it's a pretty hairy thing, and I'll let you chew on that one a little bit. Going back though, the whole idea that's climaxed in Matthew 25 has its root in Genesis 12. I'll make thee of a great nation, I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. I will bless thee, 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. You know, if some one of us dies, the doctors come, and they have a death certificate, and they can talk a cause of death, right? They do their pathology, and they decide. Have there been nations that died? What's their cause of death? Well, the sons of Ham rebelled against Shem, and he reduced them to minor tribes, Egypt, Canaan, and the Hittites. There's a whole study on that. The Greeks totally overran Palestine, and were on the success climax, until they desecrated the temple in Jerusalem, Antiochus Epiphanes, and all of that. What happened? The Romans took over. The Greeks fell. The Romans were on their growth thing, until they killed Paul, and the four divisions under Titus Vespasian leveled the city of Jerusalem. Rome fell. Spain, who ruled a major part of the known world, became a fifth-rate power after the inquisition of the Jews. Germany, through their orgies of anti-Semitism, obviously fell. Britain declined after she broke faith with Israel. There are authors that have done a very eloquent job of trying to recount the history of man, and the rise and fall of nations, and can make a case. You have to judge the validity of the case yourself by digging into that. I'm just mentioning it as an aside, but you can see, you can chronicle the rise and fall of the major nations in recorded history, in terms of the way they treated the Jews. And so, I'll be very candid with you. When I find out that the Jews are being mistreated, and the promises are broken in Soviet Russia, I'm upset on their behalf, but in an aggregated sense, I breathe a sigh of relief, because Russia's going to get hers. And I grieve for this country, if she breaks her faith with Israel. I think she will, because I think Israel, when the Russian forces move from Iran into Israel, I think Israel stands alone. The scripture implies that, which means that we ain't there. I hope I'm wrong. But anyway, I will mention one other thing to talk about this blessing. In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. How will all the families of the earth be blessed? Well, many ways, but you might see the climax of that idea in Revelation 5, verse 9. We're before the throne of God in Revelation. And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the scroll and to open the seals, for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of what? Out of every kindred, every tongue, every people, and every nation. Isn't that interesting? Where did that all start? Well, it started before the foundation of the world was laid, and perhaps more important, God's friend, by the name of Abraham. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Okay. Now, incidentally, something else that's going to be important later, as long as we're sort of laying a background for Abraham, might turn to Galatians, chapter 3. Galatians, chapter 3, verse 8, it says, And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, the scripture foreseeing that God would justify Gentiles through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham. Do you know that Abraham knew the gospel? We're going to be stunned with that fact before we're through many more chapters here, because Abraham not only knew the gospel, he knowingly acted out a prophecy. He knowingly acted out a prophecy. A prophecy in which he was thoroughly convinced that his son would raise from the dead. Isaac's supposed to have a lot of kids, the Lord wants me to offer him on the mountain, terrific, I'll do it. I don't know how he's going to solve the problem. Isaac's supposed to have children, how can he have children if I'm going to offer him as an offering? That's God's problem, not mine. Watch and see what happens, it's going to be interesting. Abraham wasn't just naively acting out step-by-step a script, in the sense that he didn't know what was coming. He knew it was a prophecy. Where 2,000 years later, on that same hill, another father would offer his only son. Anyway, he preached the gospel before, and Abraham sang, in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then, they who are of the faith are blessed with the faithful of Abraham. The point is, the concept of the gospel is tied back to this verse. The blessing of the families of the earth is not because of some, anything other than one thing. Jesus Christ. The availability of Jesus Christ to all the families of the earth. That's what we're talking about. Okay, verse 4. So Abraham departed, verse 4, so Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. Little footnote there. That's going to be a problem later. Lot, in chapter 13, Lot and Abraham split up. They should have split up earlier. We'll find out, but in any case, Lot went with him. Abraham was 75 years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abraham took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran. And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. And into the land of Canaan they came. And Abraham passed through the land unto the yoke of Morah, and the Canaanite was then in the land. By the way, Shechem means shoulder, and Morah means instruction, which is interesting. And the Canaanite was then in the land. We're going to dwell a little more on that in a minute. And the Lord appeared unto Abraham. Now, I think this is interesting. I want you to notice the order. Abraham met his calling. He had his obedience. When he finally obeyed, then God appeared to Abraham. We tend to think it ought to be the other way around. Gee, Lord, give me that flash and vision. Visit my bed tonight, and a big ray of light, and tell me what to do, and terrific, I'll salute and go on. You've got it backwards. If he's going to do that, he'll do it after you've obeyed. The Bible's full of cases where the Lord appears. Generally, the rule is a calling, obedience, and the revelation of the Lord. It said, unto thy seed will I give this land. And there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. And he moved from there unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abraham journeyed to Bethel. A couple of just thoughts. Anyone know why the Canaanite was in the land? I'm going to suggest to you that the Canaanite, now take as my authority Genesis chapter 2 and Genesis chapter 6, where we had some spooky things going on. I'm going to suggest to you as a tentative idea for you to prove to yourself the Canaanite was in the land to block the way of the tree of life. And we'll see that occur more and more unto the climax where Joshua, Yehoshua, or in the Greek if you will, Jesus, leads his people to dispossess the land of its usurpers. It's interesting all the way through where Abraham lives in a tent. The only piece of property he has left for his own burial later on. And so he is a pilgrim in more ways than one. Well, everything looks pretty good so far. Now we get down to the nitty gritty as it were. Oh, one other thing I'd like you to notice. Did Abraham build an altar in Haran? It's interesting that we don't have an altar until there's complete separation. And you'll find that idea you don't have an altar until the separation is complete. That's a prerequisite condition. If Abraham did build an altar in Ur of the Chaldees, it's not recorded here because it's an altar of a different kind and not germane to our purpose. Now we get to this very interesting verse 10. There was a famine in the land and Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was grievous in the land. Now, most scholars make a point, feel that Abraham's moving to Egypt was a lack of faith. There's no record here that he consulted God as to what God would have him do. God had called him to Canaan. God didn't tell him to go to Egypt. However, it was perfectly natural. He's got a famine. There's no food. He's dependent upon him. He hears things are better down in Egypt so he goes down to Egypt as a response to the famine. Now, this is the man that is worshiping a God that provided manna in the wilderness, that fed the 5,000 from a couple of fish. The argument can be made that Abraham should wait on the Lord to say, gee, it's going to be interesting, Lord. How are you going to solve this problem? But that's not what he did. He went down to Egypt. What harm can that cause? Well, all kinds of things. Before he's through, he's going to be lying. He'll compromise. He'll be disobedient and he'll dishonor his name by going down to Egypt. He'll end up coming right back to where he started, the time in Egypt was wasted. This is the first time in the Scripture that the word Egypt is mentioned. And whenever you have a principle or anything like that, but there is sort of a, they call it the rule of first mention. You'll discover as you study the Bible that the first time something surfaces it's usually significant. And from that, if you take that as a departure as a study, it usually bears fruit. Egypt is first mentioned here and there is a place that we might find it interesting to summarize Egypt spiritually speaking and that's to take a look at Isaiah chapter 31. Notice that we are in Genesis. Isaiah chapter 31, woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel neither seek the Lord. Interesting, isn't it? Now, we certainly with 20-20 hindsight can look back at Abraham's sojourn in Egypt and it didn't come to much because he gained two problems there. He came away with many possessions and they'll prove to be a problem for him. He also, his wife, picked up a handmaid by the name of Hagar and so the whole saga of Ishmael and all of that starts really here. And we have that problem with us today. Interesting how a departure however well intentioned can be a problem. I'm going to suggest to you that Abraham's sojourn in Egypt is that he lost his first love. That brings back memories of seven letters to seven churches, letter to Ephesus, Revelation 2, verse 4, left his first love. What should his first love be? His Lord and being in the land that his Lord is leading him to. Was the Lord leading him to Egypt? I don't think so. Egypt is the house of slavery and we're going to see more of Egypt to enter into Egypt that he said to Sarah his wife, behold now I know that thou art fair a woman to look upon therefore it shall come to pass that when the Egyptians shall see thee that they shall say this is his wife and they shall kill me but they will save thee alive. Say I pray thee that thou art my sister that it may be well with me for thy sake and my soul shall live because of thee. Abraham is not lying. Exactly. You can get that from Genesis 20, verse 12 incidentally those of you who want to check that out that Sarah is actually, is in fact a half-sister. But it's obviously a half-truth and half-truths are lies and we see a lot of lying in the scripture. It's interesting testimony to the authenticity that David, Michael, practically everyone lies and that's just candor and directness and God before it's all over deals with it. And it came to pass that when Abraham was coming to Egypt the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair and the princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh. In other words not only the princes of Egypt get kind of intrigued with this she gets recommendations right up to the top. Pharaoh himself says hey this is pretty good action let's take a look at this. The woman was taken into Pharaoh's house and you know the scouts brother gave him sheep and oxen and he asses and men's servants and maid servants and she asses and camels. Strange order there but anyway. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh in his house with great plagues because of Sarah Abram's wife. You know it's interesting the Lord didn't bring plagues upon Abram. Isn't that interesting? The Lord brought plagues upon Pharaoh. Why? There's something else that's going on here. The Lord has a special role and it's got nothing to do with Abram and Sarah. It's got to do with you and me. And the Lord is not going to allow her womb to be contaminated by a Satan dominated king because he's got another destiny for Sarah's womb. And so he intervenes. Very interesting action and intervention on that. Pharaoh called Abram and said what is this that thou has done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Somehow, we don't know how. The plagues must have been pretty hairy. We don't have detail. But it got Pharaoh's attention and Pharaoh somehow whether it's through how we don't have insight tied together the burdens that were being laid upon him with the fact that something's wrong and that there's something unsavory about the relationship between he and Sarah and Abram. Why saidst thou she is my sister so I might have taken her as thy wife. Now therefore behold thy wife take her and go thy way. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him and they sent him away and his wife and all that he had. It's interesting how the final final rebuke of our man of God is that he's rebuked by an unbelieving king. Interesting. Interesting. One of the suggestions you might think about yourself is that it may take more faith something you may think about your calling and your challenges as God calls you is that taking on the challenge and getting there that's the glamorous part. Staying there in midst of famine or whatever else is maybe the real test more so than the going in the first place as an idea. Before we get into chapter 13 and a whole set of other subjects one issue that's in chapter 12 is a call and the call involves stepping out and separating yourself from that which the Lord would have you separate yourself from. Some things that the Lord may deem as a blessing and an adjunct and a tool to one person may be something the Lord wants another person to be separated from with a wide berth. It's his sovereignty rule. He's got to deal with you individually. certain kinds of resources can be a snare. Other people it can be a tool for the gospel and that's all very different. What one person needs to leave to fulfill his mission for the Lord may have nothing to do with somebody else's calling or it'll deal with you individually but it always involves separation and that's one of the questions I'd like you to think about tonight is whether you're in Haran I'm trusting most of you are out of the Ur of the Chaldees if not let's pray on that tonight but maybe most of us probably are in Haran or in one of its suburbs. So maybe we should cross the river and get on with it. Maybe you need a funeral in your life. There's some thing, some vestige with your old past to bury the old man. Okay, we obviously will face trials when Abraham got to Canaan it wasn't a land of milk and honey it was a time of famine and so it's God's faithfulness as we relied upon you can take a look at 1 Corinthians 10 verses 12 and 13 which promises that shall no temptation take you but such as is common to man but God is faithful and I think that would have applied to Abraham it would be awfully interesting to see what God would have done what mechanism he would have used to provide had Abraham not taken it on himself. Also I'm going to suggest you want to beware of Egypt. Egypt idiomatically represents the world. The Pharaoh of Egypt particularly under the Moses saga there represents Satan who rules that world. The world is at enmity with the Lord. The time you spent in Egypt was wasted. We're going to find out in chapter 13 right back to where he started whatever period of time he was involved we don't know how long it was was wasted. One of the things we're going to learn in the book of Genesis is that faith is not a single journey to some distant scene but it's rather a continual experience with the unseen. It's symbol is a tent it's secret is the altar. We're doing great Abraham went up out of Egypt he and his wife and all that he had and a lot with him unto the Negev. The lesson of chapter 13 I like to call it you can't backslide alone. You know Abraham drops down to Egypt so he had his little problem he's recovered, he's back he's back in fellowship and he's going to make an altar and it's all going to be neat. A couple of problems along the way Sarah picked up a handmaid called Hagar we're going to read about her a little later also Lot was with Abraham we're going to discover Lot ain't so strong. Lot is saved in my opinion and that's going to be very well developed in chapter 19 and 2 Peter tells us that very clearly and because we know he's saved from Peter's comment he becomes a very important lesson to learn those of you who are interested in prophecy and the rapture are going to learn a great deal about this in this lesson. So the point is Lot's got a problem Lot went to Egypt and developed a taste for possessions and the riches of the world and we've got a problem here. The problem isn't with Abraham it's with Lot. Where did Lot get the contamination by traipsing down to Egypt with Abraham in the first place? So one of the sobering things that bothers me as I had occasion in the past to look at chapter 13 is the recognition that you can't stumble by yourself you may stumble and you've got the resources through prayer and whatever to pick yourself up or have the Lord help you pick yourself up and all that what you fail to often perceive is other people stumble with you and they may not be picked up other people that watch the unbelievers watching now have caused to blaspheme the Lord that's even heavier so you can dwell on that a little bit anyway Abraham went up out of Egypt and he and his wife and all that he had and Lot with him went to the Negev Abraham was very rich in cattle and silver and gold from archeological evidences and other things widely held opinion among scholars archeological scholars that Abraham may have been one of the most wealthy people in the world at that time in fact when five kings are put down by four kings in some big alliance in a warfare Abraham raises an army just out of the servants that are under his household that are born under his roof like 318 of them and they go after and they free Lot now it's just a little skirmish they don't conquer all four kings but they do manage to free Lot and they come back down and restore things and as a celebration of the thing Abraham gives tithes to this strange character called Melchizedek and we'll get to that in chapter 14 he goes on his journeys from the Negev even to Bethel unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning the Holy Spirit is just coming if you're just watching you see what he's telling you right back to where he started the whole excursion was a waste of time at best between Bethel and Ai unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first and there Abraham called in the name of the Lord Lot also who went with Abraham had flocks and herds and tents and the land was not able to bear them they did not dwell together there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle and the Canaanite and the Parasite dwelt in the land why does the Holy Spirit here we've got these herdsmen fighting each other over the grazing lands and we have a little comment tucked in at the end of verse 7 and the Canaanite and the Parasite dwelt in the land who are they? what does that mean? it means they've given a lousy witness given a lousy witness you're going to fight with your Christian brother? at least do it in secret that's what it means Canaanite and Parasite dwelt in the land and Abraham said unto Lot let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee and between thy herdsmen and my herdsmen for we are brethren is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself I pray thee from me if thou wilt take the left end I'll go to the right if thou wilt depart to the right end I'll go to the left now that's kind of sneaky I think Abraham was sincere I read from the whole record that this is really his gesture you pick it and I'll respond but on the other hand if Abraham was a shrewd student of prophecies I think he was he knows he's going to get the best before it's all over anyway so neat and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of the Jordan that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah you notice now the Holy Spirit here is highlighting the fact he's saying yes this was obviously before Sodom and Gomorrah but it's also his way of saying hey that's what's coming so it was well watered even as the garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt as thou comest to Zoar then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan and Lot journeyed to the east and they separated themselves the one from the other you know it's in this area that I have to share with you a strange idea that I run into very very often a lot of writers have this idea and they point out that the eyes are Satan's portal they notice that all through the scripture when something goes bad it's always through the eyes and it starts with Eve when she saw that it was the tree to be desired it was through her eyes that she fell first John first epistle of John he writes the lust of the eyes let's speak of the lust of the ears the lust of the eyes we have in Genesis course 13.10 also in Joshua chapter 7 when Achan sees that Babylonian garment causes him to sin that whole heinous thing that occurs at the battle of Ai is because of falling through what he saw it's also you'll notice throughout the scripture that the portal so to speak of the Lord is the ear faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God and you can make a big thing of this if you want to and I'm not sure it's valid I just throw it out because it's one of those crazy things you may want to just explore or be sensitive to and try on yourself to see if it makes sense but it certainly seems that our eyes what we behold gets us into trouble okay that's what we hear especially when we hear from the Lord that saves us very interesting interesting thing and of course Genesis 13.10 is one of the passages that supports this idea Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld the plain of the Jordan he was acting by what he could see and Abraham was acting by what he could not see what is faith the evidence of things not seen right interesting idea don't know if it's valid just something I share with you possibly okay some could argue that the separation that's about to occur should have occurred back in Ur in the Chaldeans but in any case we'll move on here and so Lot chosen the plain of the Jordan and so forth Lot journeyed east they separated themselves from one from the other and Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom now Sodom of course has become infamous as what happens probably about 20 years later he lives there for a while we're going to discover Lot if we track his career he becomes an alderman he sits at the gate of Sodom so he's one of the city elders and Sodom is a pretty strange place it's no stranger than some of the ex-movies you see that describe our society today but when you describe it in Genesis 19 it sounds horrible or probably would have unless you really unless you have a subscription to Z channel or something but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly here's another thing that kind of intrigues me they were sinners before the Lord exceedingly that's an interesting idea that you might give some thought to and I'll just summarize it by giving an example David stole the virtue of Bathsheba the life of Uriah as well as the lives of a lot of other soldiers that were involved in all of that he destroyed the honor of the country and the dignity of his throne by that whole thing right yet when he repents in Psalm 51 verse 4 he says Lord against Thee against Thee only have I sinned isn't that a strange thing for him to say did he only sin against the Lord well not really he sinned against Bathsheba he sinned against you can make a long list of the various people that were injured by David's act but they're all in background compared to what David was really grieved over by having sinned before the Lord you and I cannot sin any other way what's a little thing we're just gonna you know we'll we'll just compromise this once nonsense you're doing it before the Lord David sinned before the Lord so that he had to say against Thee and Thee only have I sinned it's interesting how they describe the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners did they worship the Lord hardly I'm sure they were idolaters yet they're sinning before the Lord exceedingly and it's that it's before the Lord it's relevant because in a few chapters the Lord's gonna take some action the Lord said unto Abraham after Lot was separated from him here's the interesting thing the Lord didn't talk to Abraham like He's about to say until after Lot splits there's some things the Lord doesn't want to say to the unsaved and Jesus Christ uses that example Matthew 13 after Matthew 12 they attribute his final miracle one of the main miracles to Beelzebub that climaxes the rejection of Jesus Christ by the nation Israel from that point on He speaks only in riddles Matthew 13 says that from that day on He spoke in parables and He only spoke in parables publicly and they said why Lord in Matthew 13 He gives the answer so that they seeing won't see and hearing they won't hear they're to hide you think of parables are to illuminate that's not what Matthew 13 teaches us read it He gives the disciples seven kingdom parables He gives them publicly He interprets them privately privately almost all the parables were given publicly and when they got together privately they said hey Lord what do you mean by that the sower and the seed and the soil the Lord explains it the tares and the wheat the Lord explains it how about these others you get all those oh yeah we understand those they said so we have to guess about the other five because He didn't explain them if you're interested in that subject by the way I think we covered that material in Revelation when we get to the seven letters seven churches if you're interested you can pick up the tapes and dig into that in a more in a more tidy fashion but let's get on here after Lot was separated from the Lord said unto Abraham lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward southward eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever 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 alright arise and walk through the land and the length of it and the breadth of it for I will give it unto thee then Abraham removed his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre which is in Hebron and built there an altar to the Lord Mamre means vision Hebron is joined together a communion the place of separation becomes the place of vision in chapter 13 I think what might be more constructive by the way is for rather than take chapter 14 is to skip ahead and take chapter 19 18 and 19 let's take chapter 18 chapter 18 the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day chapter 18 verse 1 and he lift up his eyes and looked below three men stood by him and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the tent door and he bowed himself toward the ground and said my Lord interesting use of phrase if now I have found favor in thy sight pass not away I pray thee from thy servant let a little water I pray thee be fetched and wash your feet and rest yourselves into the tree and I will fetch a morsel of bread comfort ye your hearts after that you shall pass on for therefore are you come to your servant they said so do as thou hast said there is a tradition of hospitality in fact the lack of giving hospitality to people in Israel is a major sin in the old cultures many of them but you can see a tradition evidenced here that is true today even in the Islamic tribes if you are a guest of a Mohammed Islamic householder you are safe even though he knows you are committed to kill him as long as you are under his roof he will do everything he can to protect you if you are visiting the government of Algeria a communist country if you are a guest of their government no harm can come to you while you are there because they are very very serious Islamic followers it is part of the deep cultural tradition that as long as you are under their roof you are under their protection it has got nothing to do with you it has got a lot to do with them you can sense this here this almost characteristically Arabic tradition you can sense behind this Abram hastened to Sarah and said make ready quickly three measures of fine meal that phrase right here in the sixth verse is the beginning of a tradition in both Arabic as well as Jewish cultures of the three measures of meal being a fellowship offering three measures of meal being a fellowship offering in the Jewish tradition they are to be unleavened because that gets ordained in Leviticus and so forth the three measures of meal are the fellowship offering they are to be unleavened Jesus Christ in his kingdom parables in Matthew 13 says that the kingdom of heaven is like a woman who hid leaven in three measures of meal period one little verse and you've probably heard sermons preached and how that leaven is like the gospel and it's going to eventually convert the whole world nonsense that's not what Jesus Christ meant he was a rabbi leaven to a Jew was sin it was a model of sin leaven all through the Old Testament it corrupts by puffing up that's what leaven is and in the Levitical system leaven is a type or a model of sin and you got rid of it for certain things the only feast that allowed leaven in fact it was ordained was the feast of Pentecost because Pentecost prophetically spoke of the church they didn't know that but that's what we know now looking back now so leaven is spoken of by Jesus Christ twice and quoted by Paul twice in each case it speaks of evil things hypocrisy false doctrine a little leaven leaven at the whole lump is a naughty thing not a good thing now Jesus is saying the church is like a woman who hid three measures of leaven and three measures of meal and if you're a rabbinically trained you sort of gasp in horror because three measures of meal meant the fellowship offering it was supposed to be unleavened and the woman is hiding leaven in it what's it speaking of? well it's the fourth parable the fourth letter of seven churches there's a woman Jezebel and so forth you can get into that whole thing it's the introduction of false doctrine and Christ talks about that anyway three measures of meal well they make the cakes and they go through and Abraham runs to the herd verse 7 fetch the calf tender and good give it to the young men hasten to dress it took butter and milk the calf dressed and they really lay it out for these people verse 9 and they said unto them where is that Sarah thy wife and he said behold in the tent and he said I certainly will return unto thee according to thy time of life and lo Sarah thy wife shall have a son Sarah heard it in the tent door it was behind her and Sarah and Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age and it was ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women and Sarah laughed within herself saying I have become old am I to have pleasure my lord being old also cute little line and the lord said unto Abraham wherefore did Sarah laugh saying I shall I have a surety bear a child whom I am old and is anything too hard for the lord and so forth we'll get into that later but these the man rose up we're going to discover two of the men go on they have a date in chapter 19 one stays back and one stays back is the lord the two men rose up went and looked towards Sodom and Abraham went with him to bring him on the way and the lord said shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do rhetorical question in other words the lord is going to let Abraham in on it saying that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him for I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the lord and do righteousness and justice that the people go down now and see whether they have done all together according to the cry of it which has come unto me and if not I will know the men turned their faces from there and went towards Sodom and Abraham stood yet before the lord the two guys went on and there's the lord and Abraham now Abraham now indulges in one of my favorite little passages in the scripture where he if you'll excuse the expression becomes very ethnically characteristic okay he's gonna haggle he's gonna try and strike a better deal here Abraham drew near and said wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked underline that phrase in your bible wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked the New Testament is going to comment on that issue in context of this example and you're going to be very interested in that subject can the wrath of God come upon the earth while the church is still here let's find out suppose Abraham says suppose there are fifty righteous within the city wilt thou destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are in it suppose fifty people are there righteous lord that be far from thee to do after this manner to destroy the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous be should be as the wicked that be far from thee shalt thou not shall not the judge of the earth do right heck can you imagine approaching God like that notice what the lord says the lord does not challenge the basis of his argument the lord does not challenge the basis of his argument he vindicates the presumption that there are fifty righteous within the city then I will spare the place for their sakes now you and I would timidly say gee did pretty well in that one Abraham answered and said behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the lord who am but dust and ashes I mean I am but dust and ashes suppose there shall lack five of the fifty righteous wilt thou destroy all the city for the lack of five in other words suppose there is forty-five lord you know and he said if I find there forty and five I will not destroy it and he spoke with him yet again and said suppose there shall be forty found there he said I will not do it for the forty's sake Abraham says would you believe thirty no and he said unto him oh let not the lord be angry and yet and I will speak suppose there shall be thirty found there and he said I will not do it if I find thirty there and he said behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the lord suppose there shall be twenty found there and he said I will not destroy it for twenty's sake and he said oh let not the lord be angry and I will speak yet but this once one more time lord suppose ten shall be found there and he said I will not destroy it for the ten's sake and the lord went his way as soon as he had ceased talking with Abraham and Abraham returned into his place very interesting circumstance because these two angels in chapter nineteen go to Sodom and Gomorrah right and you know what happens when they get there the homosexuals of the city pound on the door and ask Lot to let them have these two visitors and Lot offers them his daughters who are virgins instead verse eight behold I have two daughters who have not known man let me I pray you bring them out unto you and do ye unto them as is good in your eyes only unto these men do nothing for therefore they came under the shadow of my roof that's a heavy trip heavy in a lot of ways that the concept of hospitality to taking a stranger under your roof would be greater than your duty to your daughters his willingness to offer his daughters rather than let these two men be molested there's a lot here that you could spend time on and they said stand back and this fellow came into sojourn he must need anyway to make a long story short the angels put up their hand they make them all blind and they all get confused and the angels intervene since our time is short let me just jump ahead and I want you to look at verse 22 haste escape here for I cannot do anything till thou be come from here the angels did not only come to get Lot out of there they couldn't go on with their mission as long as Lot was there interesting now we can be pretty hard on Lot and say well he's a jerk for being there in the first place and so forth but before we get carried away on that theme let's take a look at what Peter says in chapter 2 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter 2 Peter 2 Peter 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter 2 Peter 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter chapter 2 2 Peter so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. And as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planned, they built. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. And thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Okay? Is anything wrong by the way? Don't misunderstand. Obviously, the days of Noah and Lot were both very sinful. That's not his point. He says, you know, they ate, they drank, nothing wrong with eating and drinking. They were given in marriage, right, until Noah went in and so forth. And Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold. Anything wrong with buying and selling? They planted. Anything wrong with planting? They built? No. All he's saying is business as usual up until the end. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Verse 31, In that day let him that is upon the housetop and his staff in the house not come down to take it away. Let him also that is in the field not return. Remember Lot's wife. Lot's wife turned back. Lot's wife turned back. And we'll get into that when we really, as you pick up the chapter in a more routine. But I want to look ahead to make this other point. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it. Whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you that in that night there shall be two men in one bed. One shall be taken the other left. Two women shall be grinding together. One shall be taken the other left. Two men shall be in the field. One shall be taken the other left. Very interesting comment, like the twinkling of an eye. But we have here two men that are in one bed. One's taken the other left. When do people sleep at night, right? Two women grinding together. When did they grind? The first thing in the morning when they got up, they ground enough meal for the day. That made the bread and so forth. That was the morning chore. So when did they do that in the morning, the two women? One will be grinding, you know, one will be taken the other left. Two men shall be in the field working, right? When do the people work? Midday. In the twinkling of an eye we have two men in one bed sleeping, two women grinding in the morning, and two men working in the field in the afternoon. You want to see a dramatic testimony that the Lord Jesus Christ knew the world was round. There it is. Because in three different places in the world at that instant, that's it. Okay, and the answer, where will they go? Where are they taken? He says, unto wherever the body is there shall the eagles be gathered together. Don't be confused. Some people get this passage confused with the idea of the carrion, the birds that feast upon the carnage at Armageddon. Eagles are not birds of prey or birds of carnage or carrion. They are not. Eagles don't flock. They're always one at a time. Eagles, in the book of Revelation, the word aetos, sometimes translated angel, is an eagle. And when the angel that flies mid-heaven proclaiming the gospel, it's an eagle, not an angel. And where are the eagles gathered? Who's proclaiming the gospel? We are. Where are we gathered together? Where the body is. Whose body? Jesus Christ. That's right. It's a strange passage, but it's one that I commend to your study and let you take a concordance and go chase that. We got a little off the subject. We sort of sprung from chapter 13 into chapter 14 into the Sodom and Gomorrah glimpse and took a look at New Testament insight to it. Very, very interesting passage. We're studying the book of Genesis, the book of prophecy. We'll be getting more and more into prophecy as we go. I think we've had a brief smidgen of it tonight. Next time, as we get together, we'll pick it up at chapter 14, verse 1. And as you read chapter 14, we're going to see a war story. Five kings and four kings. There's going to be a big war. We'll see Abraham go after Lot and all those kinds of things. And you're going to discover this very strange character, Melchizedek, which would disappear from the record, except that in the Psalm 110, we have reference to him. And more important than that, perhaps, the writer to the book of Hebrews makes a whole big thing out of this guy, Melchizedek, who has no father or mother. What he means by that is it's not recorded. From a scriptural or rabbinical point of view, they're not visible. He's a very interesting guy because Abraham gives tithes to him. And the elements with which he is worshipped include bread and wine. So he's a very interesting guy. I commend your study. And if you have time to do a little extra homework, you might take a concordance or what have you and go through Psalm 110 and into Hebrews. And see, take the word Melchizedek and wrap with that a little bit. And then we'll get into chapter 15 and 16. And we'll just roll right out with it. Other than that, I'll, let's just close with a quick word prayer. Heavenly Father, we praise you for this evening. We thank you, Father, that you have called us out of the Ur of the Chaldees. We ask you, Father, to just be patient with us and just help us extricate ourselves from Haran. Help us to provide for the separation that you have called us to, that we might indeed hear your voice and see your appearing and have your will for our lives fully revealed. For we know, Father, that revelation will occur in your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.