Notes on Genesis 12
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show
thee:
Here is the calling of Abraham and the beginning of the unfolding of God's plan
to save men (women) from sin and reconcile them back to God. Abraham was chosen
of God to be the one to bring the Messiah (Christ) into the world.
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
This is a promise of God which will be fulfilled in full in the latter days.
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This is literally true. Those that bless and help the descendants of Abraham
(the chosen seed of promise) shall be blessed and those that curse them shall be
cursed. Too bad the Germans during the holocaust didn't see this. This promise
of God is still good. How other nations treat Israel is going to be
brought out in judgment. Here is what Jesus said about the treatment of
His brethren. I know this can apply to any believer in Jesus Christ as
well as Israel but this describes the judgment of nations rather than
individuals here so I believe it applies to Israel and most probably born again
believers in Jesus.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the
left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world:
Mat 25:35 For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in
prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee
hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed
thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave
me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not:
sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee
hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not
minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as
ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous
into life eternal.
Because of their sin against God, the Jews were driven to other nations and
persecuted severely. God will judge the nations that do this. Sometimes we take
ourselves out of God's protecting hand when we rebel against Him. The Jews
rejected the Messiah and did not recognize Him when He came. This opened the
door for Satan to persecute and attempt to destroy them because God's hand of
protection was temporarily removed. Notice though that I said temporarily. God
has plans for Israel that no man can stop. He will not forget His promise to
Abraham. Israel will not be destroyed. Israel will receive the gospel and be
saved in the end. All nations that persecuted Israel will be judged. During the
holocaust many Jews were driven from their homes, put in train boxcars and
killed. They suffered hunger, thirst, and misery that we can't really
describe. I believe the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 25 were warnings to
those nations who would do this to Israel. God knew that this was going to
happen. Although God warns Israel through the prophets what they would
suffer, He also warns the nations that do these things, what would happen to
them. Remember also that Gentile believers become adopted Israel so the
these verses may apply to the treatment given to the faithful followers of Jesus
as well as natural Israel. Notice that I rarely use the word church.
This is done on purpose because not all the so-called, church is true believers
in Jesus Christ. The so-called church has been guilty of persecuting
Israel more than secular nations.
Through Israel came Jesus Christ. Through Israel's rejection of Jesus, the
gospel went to the Gentile nations. Those that are born again by God's spirit
inherit this same promise that was given to Abraham. We become the seed of
Abraham by adoption. We never replace Israel as chosen of God but will inherit
the promises of God through faith in Jesus. We are children of the promise by
adoption. The natural branches were cut off temporarily but they will be grafted
in again. Many Jews are coming to Christ in these latter days. I rejoice in
this. The biggest mistake the churches have made for years is trying to replace
Israel and the scriptures that speak of Israel with the church. We must not do
this for that is why bible prophecy becomes hard to understand. We may excuse
this before 1948 but now we have no reason to think the church ever replaces
Israel. We may become part of Israel by faith in Christ but we never replace
Israel.
Paul warns us not to boast against the branches (Israel). Let us be thankful to
have heard the gospel and not be exalted in ourselves and think it is by our own
holiness or that we deserve the blessings of God. It is by His mercy that we
have heard and received the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Through Abraham though the whole earth is to be blessed. This is a prophecy of
the coming Messiah. This will be fulfilled in full at the second coming of Jesus
Christ. He had to coming the 1st time to make the sacrifice for sins.
Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went
with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Gen 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their
substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran;
and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan
they came.
Gen 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the
plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Abraham was a kind hearted man. Notice how he always cares for Lot just as if he
was his own son.
Gen 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I
give this land: and there built he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto
him.
No matter how we try to remove Israel from their land, God promised them the
land of Canaan. The United States, Britain or any other nation has no right to
pressure Israel to give up on inch of their land.
Gen 12:8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel,
and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there
he built an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Gen 12:9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
Gen 12:10 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.
Here is the first instance of weakness in Abraham. He was chosen of God and good
in so many ways but like many of us, we have moments of weakness. There was a
famine so Abraham sought to go into Egypt instead of trusting God. I will not
criticize him for this because we all probably would have done the same thing.
When we see Abraham's weaknesses and faults, a lot of times we can see
ourselves.
Gen 12:11 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:
Gen 12:12 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.
Gen 12:13 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.
We see fear and unbelief within Abraham similar to the same fear and unbelief we
sometimes go through as Christians. Notice that God promised, God spoke directly
to Abraham, yet Abraham experienced doubt and unbelief. God never once
removed His promise because of Abraham's failure but we shall see many
consequences come because of it.
We too suffer consequences when we fail God but God never withdraws His promise
of eternal life to those who repent of sin and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ
for salvation. We can always ask forgiveness and be renewed to God at any time.
Gen 12:14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the
Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
Gen 12:15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh:
and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Gen 12:16 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.
Gen 12:17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because
of Sarai Abram's wife.
God could not allow Sarah to be touched because she was chosen of God to bare
the line of Christ. The only child Sarah ever had was Isaac. I believe this was
done on purpose so that we know for sure the line from which the Messiah was to
come would be through Abraham and then Isaac.
Gen 12:18 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?
Gen 12:19 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.
Gen 12:20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away,
and his wife, and all that he had.
If God kept Pharaoh from touching Abraham's wife, then He would have kept
Pharaoh from harming Abraham if Abraham would have came to Egypt acknowledging
that Sarah was his wife.
Fear really gives us problems and it is not easy. We will see later that Abraham
shows courage and also becomes an intercessor for the life of His nephew, Lot.
Abraham is considerably good and kind but Abraham has moments of misgivings and
doubt just like we do. We shall see though when we study the life of Abraham
that our mistakes bring forth many troubles for us later on.