Genesis 17:23-27 Jew and Gentiles Were Included In The Abrahamic Covenant

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen;  Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

On the following day, Abraham was obedient and took and circumcised every male, in his household. This was done literally. However, if we take a step back and look at this short entry, we can see a model of how Israel and all believers are in the covenant. Take a look at who is included. Everyone, family and foreigner, Jew and Gentile. 

We also see that when God commands, we are to be obedient, immediately, not when we feel like it.

For future knowledge, note that Ishmael's name means, "God Listens" or "God Hears". I can't help but think that this is a reminder that even though Abraham and Sarah disobeyed God, concerning Hagar, Ishmael's mother, God still listens to true believers and fulfills his promises.

Also, if  you do a word meaning substitution, we get the message,

God Listens. The Father of Many will save everyone one born in his household and those who are bought with his money. The word for money is keceph, which means silver. Is this a hint towards the 30 pieces of silver, that Y'shua was bought with, in the betrayal transaction between Judas Iscariot and the High Priest Caiaphas.

Finally, Abraham was 99 and Ishmael was 13, which confirms that Abraham was 86 years old, when Ishmael was born, just as Genesis 16 says. Also, many Jews and historians will tell you that the tradition of Bar and Bat Mitzvah came from the middle ages. It was, in fact, here that the tradition began. This reflects the fact that in 9AD, we are told that in the Talmud, that the priest walked through the streets of Jerusalem, lamenting the lost of the power of the death penalty, taken away by the Roman Empire. This is the final sign of the Messiah coming. They cried out, "Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah and the Messiah has not come."

Little did they know that, in the town of Nazareth, a little 13 year old boy was being Bar Mizvah and becoming a son of the covenant. That little boy was Y'shua Ben Joseph, Jesus of Nazareth.

Genesis 17:16-22 Ishmael Will Be A Great Nation, But Is He The Father Of Islam?

"I will bless her; moreover, I will give you a son by her. Truly I will bless her: she will be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” At this Avraham fell on his face and laughed — he thought to himself, “Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah give birth at ninety?” Avraham said to God, “If only Yishma‘el could live in your presence!” God answered, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you are to call him Yitz’chak [laughter]. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. But as for Yishma‘el, I have heard you. I have blessed him. I will make him fruitful and give him many descendants. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Yitz’chak, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” With that, God finished speaking with Avraham and went up from him.

Here we find that God will bless Sarah and give Abraham a son. It's very important to recognize that even though Abraham and Sarah already had a son, God did not acknowledge Ishmael, as their son. This was due to Abraham and Sarai attempting to circumvent God's will, by not waiting on God to deliver on his promise and having a son by Hagar, their handmaiden. In God's eyes, Ishmael was an illegitimate son. However, God did not condemn Ishmael, he promised to make him a great nation, through 12 princes.

Most scholars now believe and support that all Arabic people are from Ishmael. Islam proudly proclaims that supposition. However, does the text and historical records support that?

The Biblical record of Ishmael gives us the names of the 12 sons, but no clue as to how they might be connected to the modern Arabic Tribes. This list is given in Genesis 25 and later repeated in I Chronicles 1:29-33.

"Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore unto Abraham: And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth, and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedmah. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns and by their encampments; twelve princes according to their nations." Genesis 25:12-16

and later repeated in I Chronicles 1:29-33.

"And these are their generations: the first-born of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael."

These sons eventually took wives, had children, and through these children, tribes were formed. These tribes made up the nations that dwelt from Havilah to Shur, and from Egypt to Assyria. The descendants of Ishmael, however, were not the sole tribes in the Arabian Desert. Other tribes emerged from other sources. Some of these, such as the tribe of Qarish, became the people of South Arabia along with others who wandered and settled in Arabia.

Islamic Apologists attempt to link Mohamed to Hadad, the eighth son of Ishmael. However, historical records show that Mohamed was born of the Qarish tribe, which were not of the Ishmael lineage. The tribe of Qarish conquered the tribe of Fihr ibn Malik, which was of the lineage of Ishmael. Therefore, there isn't any generational connection, with the sons of Abraham. Ishmael is not the Father of Islam.

As for Isaac, he was the promised legitimate son of Abraham. Isaac turns out to be the continuation of the Messianic line, that leads up to Y'shua, Jesus.

Genesis 17:15 The Spirit Of God, Given To Sarai, Counted As Righeousness

Elohim said to Avraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are not to call her Sarai, her name is to be Sarah.

Previously, God added the Hebrew letter, HEY, to Abram, making his name, Abraham. The letter, HEY, is significant, in that it means that the Breath of God, God's Spirit will dwell in him and his faithful descendants. Here we have Elohim, God, doing the same thing with Sarai, making her name Sarah. From this point on, the Spirit of God dwelled within Abraham and Sarai, making them righteous before God.

This also a rebuttal to the ones, who bring up Romans 3:10, where it says,

"As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one."

However, They fail to read the following verses, in Romans 3:10-12

"As the Tanakh puts it, "There is no one righteous, not even one! No one understands, no one seeks God, all have turned away and at the same time become useless; there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one!"

Reading Romans 3:10-12, in context, shows that those who do the opposite and seek God are righteous, leading Paul to write, in Romans 4:2-3.

For if Avraham came to be considered righteous by God because of legalistic observances, then he has something to boast about. But this is not how it is before God! For what does the Tanakh say? "Avraham put his trust in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness."

It's all about putting your trust in God and his Word. His Word manifested in Y'shua, who is the most righteous man, who was obedient and gave his life, for the payment of mankind's sins. Upon putting your trust, in the Lord, you too can have the Breath of God in you and it will be counted as righteousness unto you.

Finally, Abram, which means Exalted Father, became, Abraham, which means Exalted Father of Many, A Multitude, Nations. Sarai, which means princess, became Sarah, which means women of the nobleman. Since, Sarah is married to the nobleman, Abraham, the name Sarah has become to be interpreted as Mother of Many, A Multitude, Nations.

Genesis 17:9-14 Circumcision. The Symbol Of The Covenant

And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

Brit milah [circumcision] is sometimes referred to as the covenant of Abraham, who circumcised himself in order to become a Jew. The timing of Abraham’s act had a special two-fold significance.

1. Abraham was 48 years old when he came to know his creator. Yet he was not commanded to circumcise himself at that time and waited until he was much older–99 years of age. Why?  That answer can be found in the Mishnah. "In order not to close the door upon proselytes, however advanced in years." It doesn't matter, how old your are or what you have done, in your life, as long as you come to God.

2. The Talmud says that it is a symbol of your stepping out in faith. Actually, there is no explicit commandment in the Torah requiring circumcision for proselytes. However, in the B'rit Hadashah, the New Testament, Baptism is the new circumcision, a symbol of your leaving the old person behind, and stepping into a new life, through the Messiah, Y'shua.

As for the eighth day circumcision, it turns out, a newborn babies vitamin K and Prothrombin production, which is vital to making blood clot, thereby preventing a baby from bleeding out, occurs or maximizes, on the eighth day. An amazing tidbit of information, that shows God as the designer of us all.

If a man doesn't go through circumcision or immersion, baptism, according to the law, then where is the faith? If you aren't willing to step out and perform a simple act of obedience unto God, then what will your life, with the Messiah, be like? Circumsion or Baptism is your first step in your Walk With God.

Genesis 17:6-8 God's side of the Bilateral Agreement

I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.

The reference to "... fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. " points to the fact that God will cause Sarah and Abraham to have child, through which this covenant will play out. Also, it includes the future Messianic Jews (Christians), a fact disputed by many Jews today. However, anyone can plainly see that the Jews, alone, have not fulfilled this prophecy of nations and kings.

This covenant will be an agreement that will last forever, not until a certain time, as some "Biblical Scholars" indicate. It will include the whole of Canaan, as seen in the picture below.

However, as we will see, that the details differ a little. The possession of the land will not be linear and will depend on Abraham and his descendants faithfulness. 

Also, notice that the land promised in this agreement is different than the promised land in Genesis 15, as seen in the picture below, which will be fulfilled during the Millennial Reign of the Messiah. There are a lot of scholars, that totally miss this and combine the two, as the same.

I love the final promise. The land will be thiers and "I will be their God". That includes Jews and Messianic Jews (Christians).

Genesis 17:1-5 Abram Gets a Pretty Cool Name Change as God and Abram Makes a Bilateral Agreement.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 

Here, just shy of Abram 100th birthday, Yahweh appears to Abram. There are some that say this is an example of a contradiction in the Bible. They refer to Exodus 33:20 and John 1:18, where it says that nobody can see the face of God. However, look at the wording. It doesn't say that Abram looked at God's face. It says that God appeared to him. Since Abram didn't die, we can assume that God appeared to him, the same way that he appeared to Moses, in a way that represented God.

Also, this is the first time that God uses the name, El Shaddai, God Almighty. If you remember, there is a law of first mention, within the Jewish community. It states that the first time something shows up, it's very important to take notice. This time, I do believe that it's due to a dual reference. Abram is about to get a name change and also, his descendants do not only include the Jews, but also the Christians, encompassing all true believers.

And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 

Right off the bat, Abram recognizes something significant is about to occur. He falls to his face out of respect and reverence.

If you remember correctly, back in chapter 15, Abram saw God in a vision and God made a unilateral agreement with him. That agreement was based on the Faithfulness of God and it was never ending. This agreement is a Bilateral agreement and is based on the faithfulness of generations to come. In these verses, God begins to tell Abram the first part of the deal.

God promises to make Abram a father of many nations, not just Israel. As part of this agreement, Abram gets a name change. God adds the Hebrew letter, HEY, to his name, making it, Abraham. The name, Abraham means, The Father of Many Nations. The letter, HEY, is significant, in that it means It means that the Breath of God and God's Spirit will dwell in him and his faithful descendants.

Also, this is proclaiming that the Word of God, The Mashiach Nagai, The Messiah, The Seed of The Woman, that will crush Satan's head, will come forth, through the descendants of Abraham.

We'll go over the rest of the agreement, next time. In most agreements, it's all about the details.

Genesis 16:7-16 God Sets End Time Scenario Back On Track

Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 

There are many good scholars, that every time they see the phrase, "The Angel of the Lord.", that automatically say, it is an Old Testament appearing of Y'shua, Jesus. However, if you are well adjusted student of the Word of God, one that gets back to the original Hebrew, you will find that the words, "Now the..." are not even in the original scriptures. This is an incidence where the translators try to make the text clearer to the reader, without knowingly, or maybe knowingly, change the scriptures to match their agenda, whatever that may be. However, you and I will continue to get back to original scriptures and let the Spirit of God teach us.

With that said, here, a messenger from God, finds Hagar, by the spring, on the way to Shur. Shur means "wall". To give you perspective, Shur is a place southwest of Palestine on the eastern border or within the border of Egypt; the Israelites passed through the wilderness of Shur after crossing the Red Sea. See the map below:

Abram and Sarai is presently living somewhere near Beer-Sheba, near the southern shores of the Dead Sea. The pregnant Hagar had traveled a long way. She was definitely on her way back to her birth home, Egypt.

The angel, that stops her, asks the question, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” First of all, he says her name, her rightful position, then asks two questions, to which, he already knows the answer. Most non-believers jump on this and similar verses and say, "See....This is another inconsistency, within the Bible." or "See....This shows that God is not omniscient and doesn't really know everything, as the Bible tells us." However, it really shows their ignorance concerning local cultural idioms. Let me give an example.

When you were young and your mother, seeing that you were doing wrong, says, "What do you think you are doing?" or "What are your doing, young man?" Does it show that your mother was an idiot and didn't really know what was going on? Absolutely not. No one, in their right mind, would say that. The only ones, that would say that, are those who are not looking for the truth and have a personal agenda. Anyway, the angel is doing the same thing that your mother was doing....Getting your attention and setting your mind's eye on the truth of what you are doing. This always followed by a correction, as we see here. The angel is telling Hagar to turn around and go back to Sarai and do as she says.

You see, there were two wrongs here. Hagar shouldn't have taunted Sarai and Sarai shouldn't have treated Hagar, the way that she did. In the end, Ishmael have to be born and raised, within the house of Abraham, for God's plan to play out.

And the Angel of the Lord said to her:
“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

As  this prophecy turns out, Ishmael will be the father of the Philistines and others up to the modern Islamic State. However, we will talk about that, when we discussed Ishmael's descendants, in a future post.

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

This backs up the implied idiom, we just discussed. Hagar recognized it, testifying that God sees all. She even name a nearby well, Beer Lahai Roi, which means, well of the living One that sees me. Obediently, she does what she is told. She bares Ishmael and goes back to Sarai and Abram and sets God's plan, back on track.

Now, a parallel lineage has been set into motion to mimic the true Messianic line. It will so closely resemble the Messianic line, that it will lead many astray. However, those, who are True Believers, ones the walk with God, on a daily basis, will be able to differentiate between the two lines. Which one are you?

It doesn't matter how many times I read the scriptures, it still amazes me how God, even though he allows man to live their lives, according to their own will, still is in control of the outcome. He is a masterful strategists, who has foreseen every outcome and has set into motion his plan for the salvation of man, even man has his own sovereignty. Again, it is amazing.

Foreseeing Israel's and the worlds disobedience throughout history, God is setting up an end time scenario to corral mankind into seeing God's handiwork and move them back to God. Here, he is setting up a seed of Abram to both punish and preserve his remnant in the future mankind.

Genesis 16:4-6 Sarai Reaps What She Sowed.

So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me.” So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.

After Hagar became pregnant, with what would turn out to be Ishmael, it appears that the relationship, between Hagar and Sarai, turned sour. What most likely happened is that Hagar began taunting Sarai, because now, she would be the mother of the heir of Abram's house. In the Middle East, that equates to Sarai being a second class citizen. I'm sure that Hagar began looking at Sarai with contempt. This was not right, but unfortunately deserved, because of Sarai and Abram's sin of unfaithfulness. However, Sarai did the right thing and put it into God's hands.

As a sidebar, this does gives us an insight into the trouble our sin can get us into. If Sarai and Abram had faith in God's promise to give them an heir, then this incident wouldn't have happened. That can translate into our lives. If we are having problems, in our life, the first place we need to look for the reason is our past transgressions against God. So many times, our problems and our past sins are the cause for our present troubles. If so, stop, confess your sins to God, repent and go on. It will settle out.

In the end, it is obvious that, Abram and Sarai saw the error of their ways. However, they responded incorrectly. Sarai began treating Hagar harshly and Abram looked the other way. The result was that Hagar began to live separately from Abram and Sarai. This incident will result in future problems, which we will investigate, in a future study.

Genesis 16:1-3 Abram!!!!!! What In The World Do You Think You Are Doing????

Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

As I read this, I can't help myself from screaming at Abram. In the past two chapters, we saw Abram faithfully pursue the five kings and smite them, with a handful of men. Afterwards, he was rewarded by meeting the Word of God, in the flesh, Melchizedek and then entered into a unitlateral agreement with God, to give the land to his descendents. Now, Abram has a lack of faith moment. He listens to Sarai, instead of relying on God. It's like taking two steps forward, then one step back.

God promised Abram descendents and here, ten years later, he doesn't have any. The sad thing here is that Sarai blames God for the lack of children. Therefore, like many of us today, Abram and Sarai decided to circumvent God's Will and do it their way, and force the heir issue. Did he lack the faith, or did he think this was God's Will, since Sarai presented it to him?

The amazing thing is that regardless of our shortcomings, God's Will continues unabated. Praise God!

Genesis 15:1-21 God's Unilateral Agreement With Abram And His Descendents

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

After Abram defeated the kings in chapter 14, he was in an excited state of consciousness. That's what the Hebrew word, machazeh, translated as vision, actually means. The word means to be so centered on something that everything else fades away, a kind of tunnel vision.

I can actually see Abram praising God, for the battle he just won, and the godly example, he just portrayed to the other kings. He was literally in seventh heaven. This is where God can touch man and man can listen to the voice of God. If you praise God with all your mind heart and soul and spirit, and pray with only him in mind, you, too, can hear the voice of God.

God reaffirms that he will be Abrams protector and greatest reward in life. That is, eternal life with God.

Also, here we have the Word of God, who later manifested in the flesh, as Y'shua, Jesus. Please let me explain what it means, to be manifested in the flesh. Every time God speaks, it is a promise, that you can take to the bank. It's like cash in the hand. When you read in the Gospel of John, that the Word of God manifested in the flesh, it means that God's promise became reality. In the case of Y'shua, Jesus, he was the promised Messiah that came to be, by the word of God.

In the same way that Y'shua, Jesus, was the promised Messiah, here we also have a promise that will be manifested in the future. One day, the descendants of Abraham will occupy the land that God is about to promise Abram. Therefore, it will be said that the Word of God manifested in the nation of Israel.

But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

I just want to interject at this point that The name, Eliezer, means comforter. We'll use that later, in a few chapters, so keep it in mind.

During this time, if the master of the house did not have any children, all his possessions, including his spouse, went to his eldest servant, which was Eliezer of Damascus.

I do believe, that at this moment in time, Abram or Sarai was sterile, they were not able to have any children. However, because Abram exhibit great faith and works and truly believed God, he will be rewarded with a miracle, a son, an heir.

These type of rewards are available to us today, if we only commit ourselves wholly unto God.

Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

Some people point to this statement as and example of a Braums lack of faith. Wanting proof from God. However, I believe this is a misinterpretation. If you look at the actual Hebrew, It says,

"Amar Adonai, Yahweh, mar yada yarash.

Word for word, it says,

"Vowing, Lord Yahweh, 'Here's how you may be assured of this possession."

God is reassuring Abram of this gift of his faithfulness, by way of a covenant.

So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

God is using a form of making a covenant was very usual in Abram's contemporary culture, and thus Abram received the assurance of his inheritance by means of a ceremonial with which he was very familiar. In this type of covenant, two parties are said to cut or strike a covenant. This most solemn method of covenant, involving the severing of the bodies, was to represent the two parties; and as explained in Jeremiah 34:18-20, it sets forth the penalty of a broken covenant. It implied that the covenant-breaker would receive a destruction as complete as that which had befallen the slaughtered animals.

It was normal, that the two parties would then walk between the slaughtered animals, signifying a bilateral agreement between the two parties. However, God has a surprise for Abram.

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

First, when Abram fell into a deep sleep, God gave him a prophesy, that Abrams descendants would go to a strange land, and be kept as slaves for 400 years. For this atrocity, God will punish this nation. As a result, Abram's descendants would come out with a great abundance of wealth. However, Abram would not see this happen. He will live to a good old age. The fourth generation, spoken of here, signifies that the average lifespan of these descendants would be 100 years.

It is interesting that God mentions the iniquity of the Amorites has not been completely dealt with. As a reminder, the Amorites are descendant from Ham, son of Noah. Ham performed a great sin against his father. This is a reminder to the descendants of Abram that they will have to deal with the Amorites. And sure enough, we will see that it will be the Canaanites, descendants of the Amorites, with which the descendants of Abram will have the most trouble with.

And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Back to the covenant....Now remember Abram is in a deep sleep and typically two parties normally pass through the cut pieces of  the covenant. However, The Spirit of God, symbolized by the smoking oven and burning torch, passes through the pieces. God is making a unilateral agreement with Abram. Because of Abram's great faith, God will fulfill the requirements of this oath, covenant, by himself, even if Abram's descendants lack the faith of Abram and fall away from God, God will fulfill his promise.

Therefore, if anyone says that Israel is no more, or God is finished with Israel or the Church is the new Israel, please show them this covenant concerning the faithfulness of God. As a matter of fact, Israel has never occupied the land, promised to them by God. Hopefully, we will see the fulfillment of this covenant as depicted in the following drawing.

Genesis 14:16-24 Melchizedek, King of Salem

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.

Here we have the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar coming northward to meet up with Abram's victorious entourage. As a reminder, the map below shows the approximate locations of these cities, located south of the Dead Sea, in the valley of Siddium.

They traveled to the Valley of Shaveh, just outside of Jerusalem, to meet with them.

As a side note, Absalam erected a monument, in this valley, during his reign. The historian, Josephus, wrote that it was still there at the time of Y'shua. If this is correct, then the Valley of Shaveh is the Kidron Valley, just the east of modern day Jerusalem. Otherwise, it could be the valley, just to the south of Jersusalem, as seen in the following map.

I find it very intriguing that the meeting could have been in modern day Kidron Valley, which is directly between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, where Y'shua ascended into heaven.

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

After the return of Abram, the first king, to meet him, is Melchizedek king of Salem. We already have established that the Spirit of God has gone to great lengths to develop a word picture or model of salvation, within his Word, in order that we can stand back and see his Plan of Salvation, from Beginning to End. This is no different.

Here, out of the blue, we have this king Melchizedek arrive on the scene. If you look at the scriptures, this guy has no beginning or history. He appears here. David writes, concerning the Messiah,  in Psalms 110:4 and is not heard of, again, until Paul writes about him in the book of Hebrews, where he makes the following astonishing claim.

Let's take a quick look at his name. Melchizedek means King of Righteousness. In the this verse, he is King of Salem, which means Peace. He is also the priest of the El Elyon, the most high God. Could he an appearance of the real King of Righteousness, the King of Peace and Priest of the Most High God?

Well, it is known, in the Middle East, that a person of a greater statute gives blessings, while a person of a lessor statute gives tithes. In this verse, we see the King of Righteousness, the King of Peace, the Priest of the Most High God, give blessings to Abram, while Abram gives tithes back to Melchizedek. During this transaction, the lesser would bow or kneel to the greater.

What in the world is going on here? How can Abram, our Patriarch, be involved in having a gentile king give Most High Godly blessings to a Jewish Patriarch, while the same Jewish Patriarch give tithes back to the gentile king, with Abram on his knees. This is unheard of and is very shocking to a Jew. In the Jewish mind, there has to be something else going on here, and in fact, there is.

First of all, Abram would not have submitted himself to any gentile king. He allowed this to occur because he recognized Melchizedek as who he actually was or represented, the Word of God. I believe that this is one of two incidences that Y'shua referred to when he said, "Abraham saw my day and rejoiced in it."  Abram saw the Most High God, that day, when he look into the eyes of Melchizedek, in the same way that the apostles saw God in the eyes of the Messiah, or Moses saw God in the flaming bush.

David wrote, in his Psalm, that the Messiah, would be the same representation, of God, that Melchizedek was that day, in front of Abram. Paul put it all together when he wrote of Melchizedek, in the book of Hebrews. Was Mechizedek an Old Testament appearance of Y'shua? In the flesh, no, but in the Spirit, yes, because God's Spirit is the power behind his son, the Messiah, all the prophets, etc. Paul reveals to us that Melchizedek had no beginning or end, just like Y'shua, that Melchizedek and Abram had bread and wine, pointing to communion or the Lord Supper and Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God, modeling that a future Y'shua would fulfilled the Levitical priest-hood and established a renewed and everlasting covenant.

Finally, I love the last thing Melchizedek says, "And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand." This is a promise that you and I can take to the bank and deposit it for future assurances. Regardless of what happens in our lives, God will ultimately deliver our enemies into our hands.

Now, where Melchizedek, blessed the Most High God for the victory, in the following verse, we have the King of Sodom, try to pay homage to Abram. Notice Abram's response. He is basically saying, "Talk to the hand." :-)

And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

Abram makes a proclamation that as for Abram, and his descendants, it is by God that we are made rich, not by this world. Amen!

Genesis 14:13-16 You Just Don't Mess With The Big Dog On The Block!

And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

First of all, Abram means Glorious Father and even though he has not been renamed by God as Abraham, which means Father of Many, Abram was indeed, at the present time, the Father or leader of a very large family.

He was widely known as a Hebrew, which means, One from Beyond. He dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which means, Place of Fatness, Abundance or, most importantly, Strength.

Surviving the previous battle, came an Amorite to Abram. Amorites were the people of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan. He was a brother of Eshcol, a leader of the people around Hebron, and  brother of Aner, the chief of the Amorites. Both the Amorites and the people around Hebron were in allegiance with Abraham. They had a treaty that held each other responsible for the protection of each other.

Let's now take a step back and see what Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations has step into. Even though they had been taxing or extorting Sodom and the surrounding area for years, they failed to see that if they got into a fight with them, they would be taking on the whole surrounding region, including the one that is blessed by the Most High God, Yahweh. Ooops!

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

What is not widely known, is the fact that, that since he left the Ur of the Chaldees, Abram's family had grown into a pretty large contingent, especially since he could easily muster up 318 trained servants. Notice that Abram and his army pursued the enemy, not his neighbors.

Another thing strikes me as I read this. Abram had an armory where he stored and easily access enough weapons to arm his people. At least I was always under the illusion that Abram and his family was a small wandering group of people just trying to survive. In fact, Abram's family was indeed very large. Some estimates are around 1000 to 5000 people at this time. Most military experts state that a standing army of .1% of the population is needed for national security. This would put Abram's family at approximately 3180 people.

They pursued the invading army that took Lot, Abram's nephew, to Dan. The problem with this is the fact that a city, named Dan, did not exist at this time. Dan is the contemporary name for the ancient city of Laish. Dan appearing here in Genesis 14 have prompted some scholars to question the authorship of Genesis. However, Y'shua validated Moses as the author of Genesis many places in the B'rit Hadashah, the New Covenant or New Testament. Most likely the reason Dan appears here is that there was a scribe attempting to to make the passage more clear because Laish was not known to his contemporary readers of the Torah.

And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

I love this. Not only did Abram have an good sized army, they were quite versed in strategic warfare with a hint of gorilla warfare.  He divided his army and attacked the enemy from two fronts, at night, without night vision equipment. Talk about training. No run of the mill, ragtag, assembly of servants could do this efficiently.

They attacked them at Dan, Laish. The enemy attempted to retreat towards Damacus and Abram and pursued them to Hobah, just east of Damascus and dealt them a significant blow. Either Abram's army killed them all or delivered a major heavy blow because they never came back. Locations of this battle can be seen in the maps below. The first map shows the cities involved in this battle. The second is a local topological map of Dan, Hobah and Damascus.

And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Abram got back everything that was important. Nothing was lost in the battle. That's how   G-d works. Even though we have scars from our daily battles, nothing important is lost.

Genesis 14:8-12 A Good Old Fashion Butt Whoopin'

And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

Here we have the four ruling Mesopotamian kings coming down to meet the five rebellious kings of the Jordanian plain, in the battle of the Valley of Siddim. The valley of Siddim is the valley in which the Dead Sea resides and by the text, the battle most likely occurred on the southwest side of the Dead Sea.

And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

Soon after the battle began, it was obvious that the Jordanian kings were overmatched. The Mesopotamian kings outsmarted the ring leaders of the rebellion and cause the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah to retreat into the slimepits of the area, while the others were allow to flee to the mountains. This was a great feat since this was the home turf of the Jordanians.

And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

As spoils of war and their rightful reward, the Kings of Mesopotamia, took the riches and the food stores of Sodom and Gomorrah. I also believe that if they took only what was rightfully theirs, we probably wouldn't have heard anything about this battle. However....

And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

... they took Lot, the nephew of Abram. In the next blog entry, we will discuss how this is a great example of  "You Don't mess with the Big Dog on the Block."

Genesis 14:5-7 More Giants in the Land

And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.

If you remember back in Genesis 6, just before the flood, we saw the Sons of God come down to the Daughters of Man and have Nephylim, Giants as their offspring. In Genesis 4, it says, "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that..."

Here in Genesis 14, we have giants again, trying to make a revival. It doesn't say it here, but I feel that G-d used Chedorlaomer to cut that revival down before it gets too far along.

In our last post, we saw that Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and the king of Zoar were rebelling against Chedorlaomer and he was about to put down that rebellion. Here in Genesis 14:5-7, we have Chedorlaomer, and the kings loyal to him, head down to Sodom, Gomorrah and friends. However, they make a pitstop in order to smite or kill the Rephaims, Zuzims and the Emims. The normal reader would make their normal attempt to pronounce the Samarian name here  and travel unto the more familiar pages of the story of Abraham and Lot.

Being inquisitive reader, we know that anything that appears as wierd, in the Scriptures, normally holds a revelation or insight. This is no different. The first thing, that got my attention, was, "Why did Chedorlaomer stop to kill off the Rephaims, Zuzims and the Emims when it was the Sodomites, Gomorrahim, Admahim, Zeboiim, and Zoarim that were rebelling, not the Rephaims, Zuzims and the Emims.

My next thought was maybe they smelted them for practice before they came to the others. But, if we dig into the Hebrew, an interesting picture materializes. The Samarian names of Rephaims, Zuzims and the Emims reveal who they were.

Rephaims = Giants. Nephylim and Anakim are alternate names used in the Scriptures.
Zuzims = Roving Creatures
Emims = Terrors

Were the Sons of God up to their shenanigans again? Were the Rephaims, Zuzims and the Emims the aberrational offspring similiar what was occuring when God destroyed the world by flood in Genesis 6? If so, I can see God using Chedorlaomer and his loyal subject to cut them down. This type of thing continued to occur, even after this. Remember the Giants in the land when Joshua and Caleb spied the promise land and we can't forget Goliath, the giant brought down by David.

I leave you with these questions. Could this be going on today? What did Y'shua mean when he said, about the end times, "...as in the days of Noah? Could the end of days see these giants come back?

What do you think?

Genesis 14:1-4 A Message From God concerning Satan and his Antichrist?

"And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled "

Here we have a strange story injected by the Holy Spirit into the account of Abram. For twelve years, the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and the king of Zoar had served Chederloamer, the king of Elam. Obviously, they had enough and rebelled and met for war in the valley near the Salt Sea or the Dead Sea. This is an actual story involving a well known figure, Hammurabi.

Hammurabi is known for the set of laws called Hammurabi's Code, one of the first written codes of law in recorded history. These laws were inscribed on stone tablets standing over eight feet tall. They were found in Persia in 1901. Because of Hammurabi's reputation as a lawgiver, his depiction can be found in governmental buildings world wide.

However, what intrigues me is the possible message found in these passages. If we take the names of the kings and their kingdoms and find their meaning, we find the following:

Amraphel = "fall of the sayer of darkness"
Shinar = "Babylon"
Arioch = "one who is fierce, savage and vicious"
Ellasar = "God will chasten"
Chedorlaomer = "to bound after the harvest"
Elam = "for eternity"
Tidal = "the great son"
Goyim = "nations"
Bera = "son of evil"
Sodom = "will burn forever"
Birsha = "iniquity"
Gomorrah = "will be submersed"
Shinab = "For the Glory of the father"
Admah = "man of the earth"
Shemeber = "lifted high in arrogance, flight"
Zeboim or Zeboiim = "swift"
Bela = "destruction"
Zoar = "be no more"

Putting them in sentence form, do we find the punishment for Satan and/or the Anti-Christ?

The fall of the Sayer of Darkness, Babylon, one who is fierce and vicious will be chastened by God, to be bound after the harvest for eternity.

The Great Son of the Nations, the Son of Evil, will burn forever, because of his iniquity.

By the splendor of the Father, the man of the earth, who will is lifted up in arrogance will fly swiftly into destruction and be no more.

 In Proverbs 25:2, it is written, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter."

What do you think?

Shalom

Genesis 13:14-18 True Separation

"And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 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. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD."

Finally!!! We have Abram where G-d intended him to be, by himself. If you remember, back in Genesis 12:1, G-d told Abram to get out of his country, away from his family unto a land he would show him. However, Abram has done everything else but what G-d wanted him to do. Now we see Abram maturing to the point where he is ready to begin the next step in his relationship with G-d.

This is great example of how we respond to G-d. Instead of being where G-d wants you and me to be, we run the opposite direction. G-d wants us to be separated from the world and reliant on G-d alone. We need to ask ourselves on a daily basis, are we where G-d wants us to be?

Here we also have G-d, not only promising the land to Abram, but also to make Abram's seed more numerous than the dust of the earth. At first thought, you would think that Israel and all the Jews were his legacy. However, all the Jews from the beginning of time could not fulfill what G-d intends here. Fulfillment also includes the body of Christ. Also, Israel has never occupied the land is now showing Abram here.

In the future, we will see the Jews inhabit the land he is showing Abram. However, we will also see the complete seed of Abram, the Body of Christ, inhabit the new earth and the new Jerusalem.

Genesis 13:5-13 A Sign of Faith

And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

Even though both Abram and Lot lived a short time outside of G-ds will, they were children of G-d and were rewarded with riches. However, as we discussed back in Genesis 12, Abram was called out of Ur not his family. At that time, Abram lacked the faith to leave without his family. Now, we are seeing circumstances in Abram's life move him further in that direction. G-d wanted Abram to rely on G-d alone in order to build the faith that will build a nation.

And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

We see a major leap of faith. Abram is not only willing to separate himself from the world, but also the rest of his family. Knowing that G-d will provide no matter what, Abram allows Lot to choose the best of the land for himself. However, as we will see, Lot is about to learn the grass isn't always greener on the other side lesson.

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

Lot must have been foaming at the mouth. He thought he was getting the best of both worlds. Notice he references the garden and Egypt. This shows Lot true nature and the way G-d feels about those who try to live with one foot with G-d and one foot in the world.

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

I find it interesting that Abram ends up in a land whose name means to humble and subjegate oneself while worldly Lot ends up in a land whose name means scorched. To me, this shows that G-ds Word is always teaching us lessons on how he wants us to live our lives.

Shabbat Shalom

Genesis 13:1-4 Get Back...Get Back...Get Back To Where You Once Belong

"And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD."

Here we have Abram, Sarai and Lot returning from Eqypt, through the Negev, back to where they belong, Beth-El. Symbolically, we can say that they are returning from being in the world back to G-d and sometimes, it requires traveling through the Negev, the wilderness.

G-d knew that Abram would be faithful and return to him. Therefore, he rewarded him with great riches. G-d does the same with us. There will be times that we will run or play in the world but he knows which of his children will return. Those children will be rewarded with great riches...sometimes material...all the time spiritual.

As a side note, I find it interesting the words in which the Spirit uses. In verse one, instead of saying Abram, Sarai and Lot, he uses Abram, his wife, and Lot. A closer look at the Hebrew word, "ish-shaw', naw-sheem'", which is translated as wife reveals a message. "Ish-shaw', naw-sheem'", can also be translated as adulteress.

This shows that G-d didn't just wink at Abram transgression in Egypt but also holds Sarai accountable for adultery with Pharoah. The Haggadah and other secular sources reveal that this Pharoah was Ashwerosh or Auserra Apopi.

Whenever we play in the world, we are committing adultery. Anytime we put worldly things above G-d, he commit spiritual adultery. However, just as G-d forgave Abram and Sarai, we will forgive us of Spiritual adultery if we turn away from the world and turn to Beth-El, the House of G-d.

Shalom Aleichem

Genesis 12: 11-20 Why Did Abram Lie? Did He Lack Faith?

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou [art] a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This [is] his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou [art] my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she [was] very fair.The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

In the past few verses, we see G-d speak to Abram, call him out of his ancestrial home, gave him a promise of a new life, land, and blessing and then show him the actual land. We then see Abram head to Egypt at the first sign of trouble.

Now we have Abram talking his beautiful wife into lying for him in case someone wanted to kill him for her.

Before we go any further, Egypt is seen as symbolic for the world. This, along with the past couple of verses, should peak our interest. So far, we have G-d revealing himself to Abram, calling him to be sanctified, separated from the world. We see G-d giving the promise and at the sign of trouble, he heads where? The world not G-d.

That is so typical of us humans. G-d proves himself everyday as long as we open our eyes. He is there. Why is it that in times of despondency, we turn our backs on the only one who can help us. It's a lack of faith. I sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

We say we believe but head for the nearest tree at the first sign of rain. We need to continually rely on the promises of G-d. Was Abram faithless? No. He lacked the faith to get him through. As we will see, that will change.

I have a disagreement with a lot of people concerning faith. When we come to G-d through the Messiah, we gain the gift of the indwelling of G-d's Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to be perfect b'nai Elohim. However, we lack the faith. We see the same here with Abram. He and Sarai rather run to the world instead of relying on the promises of G-d. He was an immature believer. Unfortunately, we all go through those growing pains. Even more unfortunately, some of us never grow out of it.

And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What [is] this [that] thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she [was] thy wife? Why saidst thou, She [is] my sister? so I might have taken her to me to 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.

This blows me away. However, it does answer the questions many people have concerning others who call themselves Christian and appear to be evil. At first, Abram lied and now he's benefitting from it. Doesn't that seem so wrong? So evil? Secondly, It is such a bad testimony which will turn people away from G-d.

As in so many cases throughout our lives, we have to step back and separate the person from the actions. This is no different. Abram lacked enough faith to rely on G-d's promises but enough faith to believe and act intially on it.

Again, we are the same way. As we will see, Abram will grow in faith. That's what we have to do. G-d's is pleased when you believe in him and act upon it. However, it is necessary to grow continually. If we don't and we continually live in and rely on the world, we may still call him Lord, but don't be surprised if the Lord says, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

This would be such a tragedy because it's so easy....if we only rely on G-d and his promises.

Shalom

Genesis 12:9-10 Abrams First Mistake and Ours?

And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.

G-d told Abram that he was going to make him a great nation, a great people, a blessing to all the earth. However, at the site of a little trouble, he hightails it out of the country. What's up with that? Did Abram think that G-d was messing with him, only to lead him to a place in order to die.

Why is it that everytime we have problems in our life, we attempt to run away? Didn't Abram believe G-d? Don't we believe G-d? Didn't G-d promise to take care of Abram? Aren't those same promises ours to claim?

Then why do we also turn our backs on G-d and attempt to remedy the problems in our lives ourselves. Do we not think G-d is capable?

Unfortunately, it's human nature. However, we need to rely on G-ds nature, not our own. But, most of the time, we don't. And when we don't and we fall flat on our faces, the most important thing to do turn to G-d in these troubled times in order that our faith in him is increased.

Abram does exactly that but not before he gets himself in trouble and leaves us a bad example to follow. That, my friends, is for the next entry. I leave you with something Y'shua told us in Matthew 6:26.

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?"

G-d takes care of us, even if you don't believe it. It's all about faith. Believe it.

Shalom