God’s covenant
with Abraham
Genesis 12:1-3
Three Promises to Abram
2000-1900 B.C
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your
country, your people and your father's
household and go to the land I will show
you. "I will make you into a great nation and I
will bless you; I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, and whoever curses you I will
curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed
through you." (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV)
Mediterranean
Modern Day
Iraq
E
g
y
p
t
Genesis 12:1-3
Three Promises to Abram
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your
country, your people and your father's
household and (1) go to the land I will show
you. "I will make you into a great nation and I
will bless you; I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, and whoever curses you I will
curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed
through you." (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV)
Genesis 12:1-3
Three Promises to Abram
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your
country, your people and your father's
household and (1) go to the land I will show
you. "I will make you (2) into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name
great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, and whoever curses you I
will curse; and all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV)
Genesis 12:1-3
Three Promises to Abram
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your
country, your people and your father's
household and (1) go to the land I will show
you. "I will make you (2) into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name
great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, and whoever curses you I
will curse; and (3) all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3 NIV)
Genesis 12:1-3
Three Promises to Abram
(2000-1900 B.C.)
In their order of fulfillment
1. The Great Nation (1600-1450 B.C.)
2. The Land (1400 B.C.)
3. ALL NATIONS being blessed
by the offspring of Abram
Genesis 12:1-3
Three Promises to Abram
(2000-1900 B.C.)
In their order of fulfillment
1. The First two promises focused on one nation
2. However, God’s purpose had every nation in
mind
God to Abram:
And in your seed all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed”
(Genesis 22:18)
Moses
2000
B.C.
Promises to Abram
1. Great Nation
1440
B.C..
2000
A.D.
Moses
2000
B.C.
1440
B.C..
Promises to Abram
1. Great Nation
2. The Land
2000
A.D.
Moses
2000
B.C.
1440
B.C..
Promises to Abram
1. Great Nation
2. The Land
3. All Nations blessed
through the coming
of the Messiah
2000
A.D.
Abram was 65 Years Old When he
First Received the Promises
He and His wife, Sarah, were Childless
• Abram’s Plan (Genesis 15:1-3)
• God Renews the Promises
(Genesis 15:4-6)
No Children, Yet Offspring like
the Stars in Number
Genesis 15
1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a
vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your
very great reward."
2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give
me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my
estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children;
so a servant in my household will be my heir."
(NIV)
No Children, Yet Offspring like
the Stars in Number
Genesis 15
Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This
man will not be your heir, but a son coming
from your own body will be your heir." He took
him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens
and count the stars-- if indeed you can count
them." Then he said to him, "So shall your
offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and
he credited it to him as righteousness.
(Genesis 15:4-6 NIV)
A Prophecy about The Nation
Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that
your descendants will be strangers in a country not
their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated
four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they
serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with
great possessions. You, however, will go to your
fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the
fourth generation your descendants will come back
here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its
full measure." (Genesis 15:13-16 NIV)
Then the LORD
said to him,
"Know for
certain that your
descendants
will be
strangers in a
country not
their own, and
they will be
enslaved and
mistreated
four hundred
years. (Genesis
15:13-16 NIV)
Moses
1900
B.C.
1440
B.C..
Promises to Abram
1. Great Nation
2. The Land
2000
A.D.
The Nation became
Slaves in Egypt before
receiving their land
SLAVES
IN
EGYPT
FIRST
Then God
would give
them the
Promised Land
Abram was 65 Years Old When he
First Received the Promises
He and His wife, Sarah, were Childless
• Abram’s Plan (Genesis 15:1-3)
• God Renews the Promises (Genesis
15:4-6)
• Sarah’s Plan (Genesis 16)
Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born
to Sarah’s servant (Hagar)
Abram is 99 – Sarah is 90
"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the
tent," he Do
said. You
Then the
LORD said,
What
Think
they"I will surely return to
you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have
Named
Their
Child?at the entrance to the tent,
a son."
Now Sarah
was listening
which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already
LAUGHTER
old and well
advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age
of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she
thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I
now have this pleasure?" Then the LORD said to Abraham,
HEBREW
"Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child,
now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the
ISAAC
LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year
and Sarah will have a son." (Genesis 18:9-14 NIV)
Is Anything to Hard for the Lord?
…the God who gives life to the dead and calls things
that are not as though they were. Against all hope,
Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of
many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So
shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his
faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as
dead-- since he was about a hundred years old-- and
that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not
waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,
but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to
God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do
what he had promised. (Romans 4:17-21 NIV)
Is Anything to Hard for the Lord?
By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive,
even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered
Him faithful who had promised; (Hebrews 11:11 NASB)
Strife and Division in Abraham’s Family
But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian
had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to
Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son,
for that slave woman's son will never share in the
inheritance with my son Isaac." The matter distressed
Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But
God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the
boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah
tells you, because it is through Isaac that your
offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the
maidservant into a nation also, because he is your
offspring." (Genesis 21:9-13 NIV)
Abraham’s Descendants
Through Hagar
Through Sarah
Ishmael
Isaac
Arab nations came
from Ishmael – Iraq,
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Conflict
etc.
Between Arabs
Jacob & Esau
12 Sons of Jacob
Israel
and Israel is
Jacob’s name
4000 years old
Was Changed
to Israel
Jesus Christ born 1700
Years later
Abraham’s Descendants
Through Sarah
Isaac
Jacob & Esau
12 Sons of Jacob
Israel
TWO OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT SONS
Joseph
Genesis 37-50
Judah
Jesus