(Genesis) Genesis 12:1-3

And we have here, in chapter 12, the call of Abraham. And we'll be following this all the way through the Word of God. Now let me read here these first three verses, because they are very important verses, if you please.

Now, will you note, 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 show thee. Now, that's number one of the things God promised to Abraham. He promised him three things, and this is the hub of the Bible.

May I say, all of it rests upon this threefold promise. And the Bible is just an unfolding, actually, of this threefold promise. God says, a land I'm going to show you, and I'm going to give it to you.

The second thing God said He's going to do, verse 2 now, chapter 12 of Genesis. 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. Well, God said He'd make His name great.

God's done pretty well there. And God said here the third thing, I'll make you a blessing. God says, I'll make you a great nation, and I'm going to make you a blessing to all mankind.

God brought from them a great nation, and it has probably the longest tenure as a nation of any people on this earth today. No one can quite match them. And then the third thing, He said to them, you're going to be a blessing.

Well, through Jesus Christ, they've been a blessing to the world. The giving of the Word of God, they've been a blessing. God's made good except that first one.

He said, I'm going to give you that land. And you look what's happening over there today. They've just got their toenails in the land, and they're holding on by their toenails.

But they don't have it. Somebody says, well, God didn't make that good. Let's don't put it like that, friend.

Why don't you be friendly toward the Bible and give God a chance? Some people don't even give Him a chance. Now, look at it like this. 4,000 years ago, God said to Abraham, three things I'm going to do for you.

Now, two-thirds of them have been made good right to the very latter. And because of disobedience, God said He wouldn't let them be in the land if they were disobedient and if they're away from Him. And they're away from Him today, by the way.

And as a result, why, they're having trouble over there. Don't say God's not making good. The fact of the matter is God's doing exactly what He said He'd do.

Now, the day will come when God will put them back in the land. When He does, it won't be a toehold. They're really going to have it all the way to the Euphrates.

They'll be up as far as the Hittite nation was and all the way down River of Egypt, which is a little river in that Arabian Desert, so that what we have here is a land they've never really occupied. At the very zenith of their power, they occupied 30,000 square miles. But that's not what God gave them.

He gave them 300,000 square miles. They've got a long ways to go, but they'll have to take it on God's terms, in God's appointed time, and the United Nations can't do anything about it, and the United States and Russia won't be able to settle the problem. You know, it's very comfortable today where I sit.

I've come to the position that God's running things, friends, and it's just nice to sit here and not be scared by the headlines in the paper and not to be disturbed by what's going on in the world. He's in control, and He's going to work it out His way.