#12 Genesis 11:27-15:21

After the confusion of languages at Babel men fell into crass idolatry. One of the idolatrous cultures that developed was found in Ur of the Chaldees. Situated in modern Iraq, the people there worshiped the god Nannar. Among the inhabitants of Ur was a man named Terah who was the father of one of the most significant characters in the entire Bible and his name was Abram.

God promised Abram a new land, to make a great nation of Abram, to bless him and make him a blessing to others. God Himself will curse those who curse Abram and bless those who bless him. Most important, God promised to bless all nations that had been scattered across the face of the earth through Abram.

It would be easy to assume that when God appeared to Abram that he and his family were worshipers of the true God and that they were vexed by the idolatry surrounding them, but Joshua makes it clear that this was not the case. Josh 24:2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel:'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.

But God who is rich in mercy revealed Himself to Abram and called Him out of the land of his Fathers. The first stage of the journey took them to Haran where Abram was accompanied by his father. After Terah died Abram completed his journey from Haran and entered the land of Canaan.

Abram enters Canaan from the north, living as a nomadic pilgrim. Yet we should not think of him as having only a handful with him. In 14:14 we learn that there were 318 trained warriors that had been born in his household. Based on the number of warriors some scholars have projected that the entire company was around three thousand souls.

The first thing Abram does upon entering the promised land is establish alters at Shechem and Bethel. Later he will build a third at Negev. These alters are very meaningful. They were constructed at areas of religious significance to the Canaanites. They were located at strategic places from a geographic point of view. They were revisited by Joshua during the conquest of the land. It seems clear to me, that Abram’s alter building should be understood as a symbolic conquest of Canaan. In other words, Abram was claiming Canaan as God’s. He did this by establishing right worship. These were not just places where Abram would get off to have quiet time with God. They were public centers of worship that expressed Abram’s faith in the God who promised to give him the land.

Not only does Genesis give us a preview of the conquest of Joshua, but it also prefigures the sojourn of Israel in Egypt. When a famine arose in Canaan, Abram temporarily moved his household to Egypt where he represented Sarai as his sister. This occurs multiple times in the story and its repetition is clearly important. We typically refer to this partial deception as an instance of Abram’s lack of faith. This may be true, but it is clearly not the point the author wants us to take away. Nothing is said of God’s being angry with Abram. Instead, God blesses Abram and sends plagues on Pharaoh. The episode ends with Abram and Sarai being sent away from Egypt loaded down with spoil. Just as Abrams establishing alters in Canaan symbolizes the conquest. Abram’s spoiling of Egypt prefigures Israel’s deliverance. Upon his return to Canaan, Abram returned to Bethel and worship the Lord There.

Next there is tension with the house of Lot. Abram was very rich, both with gold & silver and with herds. His nephew Lot had also prospered and the situation got to the point where the herdsmen of the two houses began striving with each other. Abram continues to demonstrate his patience and offers Lot any portion of the land he wanted. Lot chose the well watered plain of Jordan. We should understand that all of Canaan was a good land then and yet some parts more desirable than others.  The plain of Jordan was so lush it was compared to the garden of Eden. Immediately after lot grasps after the best land God promised Abram that the entire land would be his. He invited Abram to walk through the whole land. All of it would belong to his descendants who would be like the dust of the earth. To this promise Abram responds by building another alter in Mamre. Each time God promises the land Abram responds by establishing a place of worship in the land.
Chedorlaomer  was the king of Elam, which was a regional power. The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah and three other cities had to pay tribute to him, but at last they revolted resulting in a war. Chedorlaomer came and soundly defeated the cities of the plain and took away all the spoil and took many of the people captive including Lot & his household. Abram took 318 men who were warriors who grew up in his household and along with some allies attacked Chedorlaomer at night. Here we see that Abram was a competent military man who quickly yet decisively defeated a superior army. Abram was a man of faith who patiently waited for God to fulfill his promise, but he reveals here that faith knows how to act when called upon. As Abram returns from the battle He is met by Melchizedek the king of Salem called a priest of God most high with bread, wine and blessing. Abram responds to by presenting him with a tithe of the spoils (Heb 7:4). Melchizedek is a priest of God most High and king of Salem. He is declared in Hebrews to be a type of Christ. The king of Sodom then tells Abram to return the people, but to keep all the spoils for himself. But Abram refuses to keep any of it lest it should be said that the king of Sodom made Abram great. He would inherit the land and all its fullness as a gift of God, and none of it as a gift of Sodom.

After this the Lord came to Abram in a vision. This time promising him that his descendants would be as the stars of heaven and that his heir would not be Lot, nor Eliazar, but one born from his own body. Abram believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. God then confirmed all His promises by taking a self-maladictory oath. Animals were cut in two and while Abram Slept and was overcome by horror and great darkness he saw a burning torch pass between the slain animals. Some scholars believe that this is God saying that He will be cut in two and die, before He will fail to keep His promises to Abram.