Abram Comes to the Promised Land

Continuing a chronological Bible study, we now begin a study of Abraham:

(Genesis 12:1) Now the LORD had said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you."

Stephen told us in Acts 7:2, in the preface of the story of Abraham in the last post, that the God of glory appeared to Abram to give him this call.  It may also be of importance to note that the scripture says "the LORD had said...", indicating the appearance and call may have happened some time before this present time.  I say this because in verse 4 it says Abram left Haran, but Stephen made it a point to say that the Lord had appeared to Abram when he was in Mesopotamia, before he was in Haran. (Aha, maybe there was wisdom in the choice to put Stephen's speech before the call of Abraham in a chronological study, after all!)

(2) "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. (3) And I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Here we have God's promise to Abram, which he had to accept on faith.  Of him would be made a great nation even though he had no child.  Note that all the families of the earth will be blessed in Abraham.  It has been God's plan since the beginning to save all the world.  Abraham became the patriarch of God's people, and Jesus Christ, being a descendant of Abraham, would be the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in that all may come to God through the Messiah.

(4) So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. (5) And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went forth to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to the land of Canaan.

Abram, his wife, his nephew, and all their families and households, moved from Haran.  Again I will note that Stephen in the New Testament made it a point to tell us that Abram had received his vision from God when he was in Mesopotamia, before he was in Haran.

(6) And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. (7) And 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.

This is obviously another time that the Lord appeared to Abram.  The first time He did not tell Abram where he should go, but that He would bring him to a land, and this is it.

(8) And he moved from there to a mountain east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. (9) And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. (10) And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was grievous in the land.

Abram journeyed throughout the land of Canaan, but there was a severe famine in the land, so Abram went to Egypt for awhile.  Imagine the great faith it would have taken to leave his homeland where he had plenty of food and come to this land of severe famine.  He could have been tempted to go back toward home because of the famine, but he actually went further from his home to Egypt to spell there.  

(11) And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Behold now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look upon. (12) Therefore it will come to pass, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. (13) Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and my soul will live because of you."

It's very interesting to note that according to other scriptures that date Abram and Sarai at different times in their lives, Sarai would have been 65 at this time, and still considered a beautiful and desirable woman.  Sarai really was a half-sister to Abram, according to Biblical scholars, but he was obviously being deceitful in desiring to hide the whole truth that he was married to Sarai because he feared for his life.

(14) And it came to pass, that, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians beheld the woman, that she was very beautiful. (15) The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her before Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. (16) And he treated Abram well for her sake; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

And so it was as Abram thought; the Egyptians did find Sarai beautiful.  Pharaoh desired to have Sarai as his wife and because he did, treated her "brother" well.

(17) But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. (18) And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? (19) Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? so that I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, behold your wife; take her and go your way." (20) And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

There are no details about the plagues, but it is interesting to note that through them Pharaoh seems to have figured out on his own that Sarai was Abram's wife.  Pharaoh is rightly upset with Abram who deceived him and allowed him to bring plagues on his household, but obviously knowing the source of the plagues, he sends Abram and his wife away with no harm or injury.

(Genesis 13:1) And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. (2) And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. (3) And he went on his journey from the south even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, (4) To the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

So Abram and Sarai left Egypt, and with his nephew Lot, returned to the place where they had been before going to Egypt because of the severe famine.  He returned to the altar he had previously made, and prayed to the Lord.

(5) And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. (6) And the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. (7) And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle; and the Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelt then in the land.

We were told previously in verse 2 that Abram was very rich in gold and silver, and in cattle.  It seems that Lot also possessed a lot, so much that there was not room for both households (not with the others who also dwelt in the land), at least not without a great deal of strife.

(8) And Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brethren. (9) Is not the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left."

Because Abram wanted peace with Lot's household, he encouraged Lot to move away to another part of the land.  Even though Abram was patriarch of the family, and was the one to whom God was giving the new land, Abram gave Lot his choice of where he wanted to live, and Abram would go the opposite direction.

(10) And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar. (11) Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.

It seems that Lot had no hesitation in taking Abram up on his generous offer to allow him to take his pick of land.  "The garden of the Lord" may be the garden of Eden to which the plain of Jordan was being compared, or perhaps the meaning is that the plain of Jordan IS the garden of the Lord as it was a most excellent and well watered place, and it was being compared to Egypt.  "As you come to Zoar" refers to the plain of Jordan that is well watered everywhere till you come to Zoar; it does not refer to Egypt, as Zoar was not near Egypt.  Dr. John Gill says in his commentary that some think the plain of Jordan was the real garden of Eden, thinking the word "as" was not to be taken as a word comparing one phrase to another, but to be understood as reality.  I think that may be reading more into the verse than we can really know for certain.  We do know it was a very excellent well watered area that Lot chose for himself.

(12) Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. (13) But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

Lot chose the area of the plain near the cities, especially Sodom, and we see that he may have chosen unwisely.

(14) And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, "Lift up 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 will give it to you and your descendants forever. (16) And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also shall be numbered. (17) Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the width of it, for I will give it to you."

After Lot had moved away from Abram, the Lord appeared to Abram again (or at least spoke to him), and had him look in all directions to see fully all the land the Lord was going to give to Abram and all his descendants that would be as numerous as the particles of dust on the earth.  The Lord encouraged Abram to walk through all the land that He would be giving him.

(18) Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Abram moved from the "mountain east of Bethel...with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east", to the plain of Mamre.  This word translated as "plain" is not the same as the word used for the plain of Jordan.  This word, "elon", meaning "an oak or other strong tree, plain", probably referred to an oak grove, undoubtedly, a shady and very pleasant place in which to dwell.  Once again Abram built an altar to his Lord, ever mindful of, and no doubt, thankful to, his Lord for all His blessings upon Abram.

Job Repents and the Lord Blesses His Latter Days More Than His Beginning

Continuing a Bible study of Job:

(Job 42:1) Then Job answered the LORD, and said, (2) "I know that You can do everything, and that no thought can be withheld from You. (3) Who is he who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

Job acknowledges that God is all-powerful and has unlimited dominion.  "No thought can be withheld from You" could mean there are no secret thoughts from God, or it might mean that there is no thought of God's that He can't bring to pass.  Job quotes what God had asked about him, and admits that he spoke about things he did not understand.

(4) "Hear, I beseech you, and I will speak; I will demand of you, and you will declare to me."

The NKJV translators added the words "you said" to the second part of verse 4.  I'm not a fan of the newer translations of the Bible and now might be a good time to link to my article on why I trust KJV to be the most accurate:  "Which Version of the Truth Will You Use?"

Job may very well be quoting God, as he seemed to do in verse 3.  As John Wesley put it, "The words which God had uttered to Job by way of challenge, Job returns to him in way of submission."  It is also possible, if anything is being quoted, that Job is referring to his own request to speak directly to God and have Him answer him.  Maybe it's not a quote at all, but Job requesting the Lord hear his humble confession.  "I beseech you" is a humble "I beg of you".  "Demand" is probably not the best sense of the original word, "shaal".  I believe the better sense is one of the word's other definitions, "to ask (as a favor), beg".  So again, "I beg of you to hear me and then You will set me straight."

(5) "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. (6) Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Up to now, Job only knew God through tradition and from what he had heard and had been taught, and it was therefore imperfect information, but now having this personal contact with God, he sees his Lord much more clearly, and humbles himself before Him and repents of his sins.  There is much discussion among Biblical scholars as to whether or not Job actually saw God with his eyes.  God told Moses in Exodus 33:20, "for there shall no man see me, and live."  I believe God could take on any form He wanted and could have been visible to Job, but we really only have Job's words that now his eyes saw God, and clearly that "seeing" could mean "understanding", as when Jesus later spoke of having eyes and not seeing.  The only thing we know for fact about Job's contact with God is that God spoke to him out of a whirlwind.

(7) And so it was, that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. (8) Therefore take unto you now seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly, in that you have not spoken of Me what is right, like My servant Job."

It is very interesting when you think about all that Job and his three friends had said about God.  The friends had said many right things about God, and Job had said many wrong things, but God accepted Job, and not his friends.  Only through sacrifice and Job's praying for them, would God accept them.  Two things come to mind.  God judges the heart of men which He saw clearly all along, even if we didn't.  Immediately after God spoke, Job was overwhelmed by the conviction of guilt and repented.  There is no indication that his friends felt any differently after hearing the words of God.  Albert Barnes points out that if the matter had been left at verse 6 with Job abhorring himself and repenting in dust and ashes, the impression would have been that it was Job totally in error, and his friends were justified.  The second and perhaps most important point is that Job's friends judged Job himself.  It may not be that they said anything terribly wrong about God, but they presumed to judge Job's heart, and that is something we are commanded not to do.  We may judge actions, and are in fact told to judge fruit, but there were no evil actions of Job's for his friends to condemn.  They just assumed that he must have acted evilly if all these afflictions had come upon him.  It must be noted that God did not mention Elihu because he dealt more mercifully and truthfully with Job, not condemning him personally, but only rebuking his sinful expressions.

(9) So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD commanded them, the LORD also accepted Job. (10) And the LORD turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

When they obeyed the Lord and sacrificed to Him and had Job pray for them, the Lord accepted Job's friends, as He did Job when Job also obeyed by praying over his friends and offering their sacrifice to the Lord.  The Lord then reversed Job's situation, giving him twice as much as he had before.

(11) Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came there to him and ate food with him in his house; and they bemoaned him and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. (12) So the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

The Lord blessed Job with more possessions than he had had in his former days, using all the people in Job's circle and having them bring money and gold to him.

(13) He also had seven sons and three daughters. (14) And he called the name of the first Jemima, the name of the second Kezia, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. (15) In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

Job was also blessed with more children, and his daughters were the most beautiful women in the world.  In Job's day, it would have been uncommon for daughters to receive an inheritance when there were sons, but Job showed no partiality to his sons.  Dr. John Gill points out that this is a beautiful picture of Christ, with whom "there is neither male nor female, no difference between them, but being all children, they are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, and equally partake of the same inheritance with the saints in light."

(16) After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his sons and his sons' sons, even four generations. (17) So Job died, old and full of days.

Job lived an additional 140 years, seeing his children's children, and even his grandchildren's children, and so it was a full and blessed life.