Abraham 1: Abram’s Call

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 11:27-32; 12:1-20; Hebrews 11:8-10; Acts 7:2-4; James 2:23

“Sarai, something strange just happened!  Go get my father, my brother, and my nephew and bring them to the house.  Then I’ll tell all of you about it!  Hurry!”

Abram was pacing back and forth waiting impatiently for his family to arrive.  One by one, his family members came into Abram’s home.  First, Lot arrived.  Lot was Abram’s nephew.  Abram’s brother, Haran, had passed away, leaving his only son without a father.  Abram then looked after Lot, because he didn’t have any children of his own.  I imagine Lot and his uncle Abram had always been close.  And they had an even closer relationship when Lot’s dad died.  Abram was there to help him through that hard time, when Lot was so sad.

Next, Abram’s other brother, Nahor, came into the room.  “What’s going on, Abram?  Sarai told me to come here right away, and then rushed off mumbling something about finding father!  What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you when everyone is here.  Don’t worry, though.  No one is sick or hurt” replied Abram.

After a few more minutes of pacing, Abram’s father, Terah, came in, followed by Sarai.

“Abram, what is all of this about?” asked Terah.

“Now that you are all here, I’ll tell you. God SPOKE to me!  To ME!  He came to me, and I saw Him!  He was standing before me, speaking, just like I was His friend!”

“Wow!” said Nahor.  “Sin (Su’en), the moon god spoke to you?!  Were you at the temple of the moon god when he spoke?!  I was just there worshipping him, and I didn’t see, or hear a thing!”

Abram and his family lived in Ur, a big city.  It had a giant building, called a ziggurat, that was a temple for the moon god.  We know that he is a false god, but most of the city worshiped him.  After God gave the people of the tower of Babel new languages, many of them still refused to worship Him!  Some were still worshipping themselves, trying to make themselves famous.  Some made up false gods to worship.  They were really lying to themselves, saying that the sun, moon, stars, rivers, and animals were really gods, or made by other gods.  There were still some people who had heard about the one true God, though. 

Abram answered Nahor.  “No, it wasn’t the moon god who spoke to me.  It was the Creator God!  The one who made Adam and Eve, and who protected Noah and his sons from the flood.

I’m sure Abram and his family had heard about the Creator God.  But they still worshipped the moon god now and then.  I don’t know if Abram was still worshipping the moon god when God spoke to him, but I believe he had worshipped Sin in his past.  But now, he saw and heard the true God speak!  He began to tell his family all about it.

“God said ‘Abram, leave your country, and your city, Ur.  Leave your family and your father’s house.  God to a land that I will show you.  I will bless you there, and I will make you to become a great and famous nation!  You will be a blessing to many.  I will bless the people that bless you, and I will curse the people that curse you.  In you, all of the earth will be blessed!’” 

God was making a promise to Abram!  A man who had worshipped a false god!  God had great plans from Abram, even though he wasn’t a follower of God yet!  God can use anyone He wants!  For any reason He wants!  He is God! 

He made a promise to Abram that the whole earth would be blessed in Abram.  Do you know how God would bless the world through Abram?  JESUS!  God would use Abram and his family to be the family that Jesus was born into many, many years later.  What a beautiful promise!

Abram was so excited about these words from God.  Terah, Abram’s father became very excited too!  He wanted to see how God would bless his son, Abram! 

Terah said “This is wonderful!  I want to be a part of this.  Everyone pack up your things, and let’s go to the land of Canaan.”

Nahor, Abram’s brother, didn’t want to leave.  He had a nice, comfortable home.  The city Ur had many shops, and a big temple where everyone went each evening to worship the moon.  He liked looking up into the night sky.  He liked all of the advancements that were in Ur.  Plumbing and heating!  Surely it was going to be cold and dirty in other cities.  So, he stayed behind in Ur.

Terah, Abram, Sarai, and Lot packed up their belongings, said goodbye to Nahor, and they made their way to Canaan.  It was going to be a long trip.  Canaan was a long way away!  And Terah was old.  They took their tents to set up each night for shelter.  They took their animals along for milk and meat.  And they traveled.  Not in cars, but with small wagons, animals, and on foot.

Was Abram supposed to take travel with his father and his nephew?  No!  God had told Abram to leave his family.  He was supposed to leave his father’s house.  Abram was only half obeying God when he left.  I’m sure it must have been hard to think about leaving all of his family.  He loved them very much.  Abram had faith in God, but his faith wasn’t perfect.  Do you think God can use people with faith, even if their faith isn’t perfect?  He can!  God is very merciful to us all.  He forgives us of our failures and sins.  The Bible says Jesus died for the sins of the world!  Maybe you want to have faith in God, but sometimes you find it hard.  Sometimes you fail.  Does God still love you?  YES!  Can God still use you if you?  YES!  God can use anyone!  And He WANTS to use you!  He wants to show the world how great Jesus is, and He wants to use you!  Just as He wanted to use Abram for the same reason.  To bless the world with Jesus.  When we fail, and sin, it’s important to remember two things.  1) God still loves you, and nothing you can do will take His love from you.  2) You can confess your sins and failures to God, and He will forgive you!  The Bible tells us “If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”  When we accept Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins, he cleans us of our sins.  When we fail, even after we accept Jesus, we can go to God anytime and tell Him we are sorry for sinning.  We can be friends of God every day!  He always forgives us!

God was still going to keep His promise to Abram, too, even though Abram only half obeyed him. 

On the journey, they got to another big city called Haran.  The same name as the dead brother of Abram.  There was another big temple to the moon god there, as well.  The group of travelers stopped in Haran for a while.  Terah probably liked to visit the temple there, remembering how nice Ur was.  He probably kept worshipping Sin while he was there.  The days turned into weeks.  Terah was old and tired from the journey.  Weeks turned into months, and they were still in Haran.  Finally, Terah died in Haran.  He didn’t get to see the land God promised to Abram his son.  Now, Abram and Sarai and Lot continued the journey.  Abram was 75 years old now, and Sarai was around 65.  They had accumulated more sheep, camels, and donkeys while in Haran.  They had some more servants to help them, also.  They finally reached Canaan, after many months of travel.  The Bible tells us that God appeared to Abram again!  God spoke “I will give this land to your children.”  Abram was very excited!  He believed God would fulfill his promise, even though he didn’t have any children.  [Visual 1.3] After God appeared to Abram, he decided to build an altar to the one, True God.  This is the first altar the Bible tells us Abram made!  Abram wanted to obey God with a blood sacrifice.  Abram put His faith in the TRUE God!

Was Abram perfect?  (No!)  But Abram had faith in God. Can God use imperfect people? (Yes!)  God wants to use you!

Let’s pray and thank God for blessing the world through Abram by sending Jesus to die for sins.  Let’s ask God to help us have faith in Him, and thank Him for blessing our imperfect faith, and giving us salvation.

Abraham 2: Forgetful Faith

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 11:27-32; 12:1-20; Hebrews 11:8-10; Acts 7:2-4; James 2:23

“Sarai, this altar is for the One, True God.  We will thank Him for his promise and offer the blood sacrifice for our sins.”

Abram had left his home in Ur when God told him to leave and promised to bless the whole earth through him.  He had finally made it to Canaan, where God promised to give him all the land he could see, after a long trip that probably lasted a couple of years.  His father passed away in Haran before seeing God’s promise fulfilled, and now it was Abram, Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew.  They had many flocks of sheep and goats, and servants to help with all the work. 

“Sarai let’s not forget this place, or this altar.  It will remind me that God came to me again and promised to give all this land to our children and grandchildren.  I believe God will keep His promise.”  Abram had faith in God.  Having faith in God is believing God will keep his promises.  God promised to bless the earth by sending someone to die for sins.  Abram did not understand how that would happen, or when, but He believed God would keep His promise.

Since Abram and Lot had many sheep and goats, they had to move around a lot to make sure they had plenty of fresh grass and clean water.  This new land wasn’t quite as green as where they used to live.  The land was suffering from a famine.  The rain hadn’t fallen in quite some time.  The grass was dried up.  The streams of water got smaller and smaller.  Abram was beginning to worry.  “Uncle Abram, maybe we are going to die here!” said Lot. 

“Things are pretty bad, Lot.  I’m worried we won’t have enough food for all our herds of sheep and goats.  Maybe we should find better land to feed the sheep with.” Said Abram.  So, Abram packed up his tents, and had his servants gather all his herds, and they set out to find better land with more water.  They traveled to a place that Abram heard of in Haran.  It had a big river that kept things nice and green. 

[Visual 1.4] Lots of crops grew there, and there were big cities to buy and sell food.  He could sell some of his sheep and goats, or the milk and cheeses they made!  The land was called Egypt.  The Egyptians were happy to see the new travelers.  They saw the herds of Abram, and knew he was a rich man, and could trade some of his flocks, and they knew he would buy some of their crops! 

Was Abram supposed to leave the land God promised him?  No!  But remember, even though Abram had faith in God, his faith wasn’t always perfect.  Abram looked around him in Canaan and worried he wouldn’t have enough food for his herds and his family.  He tried to solve the problem himself, instead of praying and asking God to help him.  Do you think God could have provided enough food for Abram and his family if Abram asked God to help?  Definitely!  Sometimes we are tempted to try and fix the problems we are in, instead of asking God for help.  We forget to trust God.  We forget God keeps His promises.  We can only see the problems we have, and how difficult things can get.  If we remember God keeps His promises, and keep our mind on Him, it is much easier to trust Him when troubles come.  Like the famine.

But God was patient with Abram, just as He is patient with us!  Abram set up his tents in Egypt and lived comfortably for a while.  Whenever he and his family went to the markets to shop, he noticed something.  Everyone looked at his wife Sarai.  They whispered how pretty she was.  Abram began to worry.  He heard a rumor that even the pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had heard how beautiful his wife was!  “Sarai, whenever anyone asks who you are, tell them you are my sister.  Don’t mention being my wife.  If they find out we are married, they will kill me, and take you!”  Sarai agreed to do as Abram asked her.  She was, after all, the half-sister of Abram.   The word for father, brother, and sister in those days could also mean relative, like cousin.  Sarai was a half relative of Abram when they married.  So, one day, some of the king’s servants showed up to Abram’s tent.  “We have been sent by Pharaoh, the king!  He will trade you many cattle, sheep, donkeys, camels, and servants for Sarai.  He has heard how beautiful she is and wants to add her to his many wives.”

Abram was too afraid to say no.  He thought he would be killed if he did.  So, he said goodbye to his wife, and watched her leave with the king’s servants.  In those days, when a king took a new wife, she would live at the palace and go through a period of beauty treatments and lessons on how to treat the king.  There were many things she couldn’t do or say around the king.  She had to learn a lot of rules.  This all happened before she would officially become the king’s wife. 

Something strange was happening in the palace, though.  Each day that passed, the king noticed strange things.  I like to imagine that the palace was overrun by bugs one day!  Then everyone got sick.  Then the king’s favorite pets began to die.  The bible tells us that God was sending plagues because of Sarai!  He was protecting Sarai and making sure that she didn’t marry anyone else.  God had a plan for Sarai, just as He had a plan for Abram!  He wanted to use her to keep his promise to Abram!  The pharaoh thought long and hard about all the strange things happening.  “This all started the day I brought the sister of Abram to the palace!  I’m going to get to the bottom of this!”  He called for Abram.  After asking Abram and Sarai some questions, he finally understood. “Why didn’t you tell me about Sarai?  She is your wife!  I could have married her before it was too late!  Here, take your wife and leave!  I don’t want these plagues!  We will all leave you alone but take her and get out of here!”

Pharaoh made a command to all his servants after that: “No one touch Abram or Sarai!  Don’t take any of the animals away from him that I gave him.  We don’t want any more trouble from his God.  Just leave them alone and let them live in peace.”

God sure was merciful to Abram!  He protected Sarai and kept her from marrying another man.  He made sure no one would hurt Abram, even though Abram sinned.  God didn’t say “That’s it!  I’m done with Abram!  He isn’t good enough.  I won’t bless the earth through his family.  I’ll find someone better!”  God was patient with Abram.  He keeps his promises, even when we don’t keep ours!  God is good and perfect.  He is full of mercy.  That doesn’t mean we never have consequences for our actions.  When we do wrong, we WILL have consequences for our wrong actions.  And He will even help us when we are suffering from the consequences of our wrong actions.  He might not take the consequences away, but He will be with us through our troubles.  But God ALWAYS keeps his promises, in spite of what we do.  I’m so glad God kept his promise to forgive our sins through Jesus!

Abram decided he better get back to Canaan.  Maybe he realized he was wrong to leave the land God told him to find, and then promised him he would give it to his descendants.  He, Sarai, Lot, and this many more servants and herds of animals went back to the place where he made his altar. 

Once again, Abram made an offering to God.  He gave God the blood sacrifice.  He prayed and asked God to forgive him.  Was God faithful to forgive him?  Yes!  Once again, Abram had faith in God.  Was his faith perfect?  No!  But God keeps His promises.  He promised to send someone to die for our sins.  Jesus came, and even though Abram never knew his name, he trusted God would send him!  Do you believe God keeps His promises?  Have you trusted Jesus?  Jesus is the One God sent to die for sins!  God the Son who paid the price for all the bad things we do, say, and think that break God’s laws.  We aren’t’ perfect, but Jesus was!  He died on the cross and rose again 3 days later.  The bible says if we believe this, and tell God we believe, we can have our sins forgiven!  Forever forgiven!  God will keep His promise of this forgiveness!  Let’s pray and thank Him for keeping His promise, and blessing the whole earth with His Son, Jesus!

Abraham 3: Family Fights

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 11:27-32; 12:1-20; Hebrews 11:8-10; Acts 7:2-4; James 2:23

“Abram, the herdsmen are complaining again!” said Sarai. 

“What is it this time, Sarai?” asked Abram.

“Lot’s herdsmen are hogging all of the water!  Our sheep aren’t’ getting enough water because Lot’s shepherds won’t let our shepherds near the well!”

This wasn’t the first time Abram’s shepherds had come to complain about Lot’s shepherds.  When Abram, his wife Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, left Egypt to come back to the land God promised to Abram’s descendants, they came away from Egypt very rich.  Abram had more camels, sheep, cows, and donkeys than ever before!  And he had more servants to work for him, too!  That meant more shepherds, cattlemen, cooks, and maids and manservants than ever before!  Lot had a lot of his own animals and servants also!  The family was feeling crowded, now!  All of those people and animals meant that they needed lots of land.  And lots of water wells, too!  They had to make sure there was enough grass, garden space, and water for everyone.  Since we are in Texas, I like to think of it like this:  Abram and Lot were trying to run their own ranch on the same piece of land.  And it wasn’t working very well.

“Master Abram!  You should hear how Lot’s cattlemen talk about you!  And they take all the good land for the cattle and keep running our cattle off the good grass!  Our cattle are too scared to settle down at night!”

Soon, every day some of Abrams servants were coming to him to complain about Lot and his servants.  And the same was happening with Lot!  His servants came to him every day to complain about Abram’s servants.  I imagine one day, things became very bad among the shepherds.

“Move out of the way of this well!  We are getting water for our sheep!”

“No!  It’s our well!  It’s closes to Lot’s tent, so it’s ours!  Go find your own water!”

The shepherds began shouting and pushing.  The pushing turned into fighting!  Everyone ran to see what all of the noise was about.  When Abram arrived, tempers were hot, and tension filled the air.

“Lot, you are my family.  We should not be fighting, and our servants should not be fighting.  Especially since everyone around us are strangers, and they don’t worship the one True God!  We must work together!  For us to continue being a happy family, you and I must put space between our houses and animals.  Look out over all of this land.  Wherever you decide to live, I will live on the other side of you.  If you go left, I will go right.  If you decide you like right better, then I will go left.  I am giving the choice to you.”

Abram was being VERY generous to his nephew, Lot!  Abram was the head of the family since his father died in Haran.  The head of the family was the one who decided things in that land and that time.  And the head of the family had the right to take the nicest land!  But Abram was giving Lot the choice of even the nicest, best land! 

Lot looked around and thought about his herds and servants.  He saw off to the right side, the land was green, with rivers and a very large lake called the Dead Sea.  The left side was more brown than green.  There was a lot of sand and rocks.  It wasn’t ideal for someone with a lot of animals who had to eat grass and drink fresh water every day! 

“I will go to the right, Uncle Abram.”  Lot chose the best land for himself, even though he was younger, and it would have been easier for his aging Uncle to live on the right side.  Lot also knew that God had promised all the land to Abram and his descendants.  But perhaps he forgot about that when all he could see was what HE needed, and what HIS flocks needed.  One day, this selfish decision would cause a lot of trouble for Lot.  But Abram was trusting that God would still keep his promise to bless the earth through his family, and the promise that his children would have the land. 

Lot packed up his tents and told his herdsmen to head East, to the right.  I’m sure those herdsmen were happy to hear that!  Their job wouldn’t be so hard when it was time to find water for the flocks.  There was plenty of water everywhere in the east!  Lot set up his tent for the “ranch” and got his animals and servants all settled.  Then he looked around and saw some big cities.  He remembered Ur, where he grew up.  Ur was a big city with lots of modern advancements for that age.  He missed living in a city.  It was tiresome to always have to pack up your tent/house and move whenever the sheep ate all the grass.  You had to pack up EVERYTHING to go look for fresh grass.  Clothes, furniture, kitchen, bedrooms, and servants’ rooms and things, too!  “I’m so tired of the dust and dirt, and the continual walking around, following the animals!  I miss the city life!  Going to the market to take my wife and two daughters shopping.  I miss going to watch the races and sports competitions!  I sure do miss going to the theatre, too…” Lot thought.  The more he looked at the cities, the more he wanted to be there.  So, he moved to the city, and moved his herdsmen to work with the animals setting up another tent near one of the big cities.  That city was named Sodom.  The Bible tells us that the people of Sodom were very, very, VERY wicked, and didn’t worship the One, True God.

Lot wasn’t paying attention to that, though.  All he could see was the land, and the money it would bring him.  The land was so beautiful, it was like the garden of Eden.  Not exactly like it, but similar to how green it was, and how well the crops grew.  Lot was no longer remembering God but was only thinking of himself.  Do you know who else forgets God sometimes?  We do!  We think about our own wants, needs, and fears.  We look at everything around us and forget to look to God for our help.  Does God still love us, even when we forget Him?  Of course!  This week ask God to help you look to Him for help, even when you are tempted to look at the trouble you have, or the wants you have.  You have the Holy Spirit to help you if you have trusted in Jesus as the Son of God who died for your sins.

The day Lot left, Abram began to prepare his flocks to move to the west (the left).  That side was nothing like the garden of Eden was.  But Abram didn’t seem worried.  I imagine Sarai his wife might have been a little worried.  “Abram, why did you do that?!  You have the right to the best land!  Lot is still young.  He can make it out here in the west.  You deserve to rest at ease over in the east, with all the water and grass.  I can’t believe you did that!  You should have asked me first.  After all, I’m your wife!”

“Sarai, it will be okay.  God will take care of us!  I may be old, but I’m not on my deathbed yet!”

When the evening came, Abram was even less worried!  God spoke to him again!  This was the third time God spoke with Abram.  “Look all around you, Abram.  Look in the north, south, east, and west.  All the land you see I will give to you, and to your children, and their children.  It will be yours and your family’s forever.  I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, that’s how many there will be!”  Can you pick up a handful of sand and count each piece?  No!  There are far too many.  God was promising to give Abram so many descendants that they couldn’t even be counted!  God continued talking “Abram, get up and walk through the land.  Walk the whole length of it.  Walk the whole width of it.  It is yours, given by me.”  God wasn’t telling Abram to walk all of it right that second, because it would have taken a long time to walk, and more than one day.  But God was telling Abram to get to know the land he was given.  It was a beautiful land!  The green parts, and the dusty parts were all beautiful in their own ways.

God had told Abram that even the east was given to him.  Who had taken the east side?  Lot!  But God was reminding Abram that the promise was for him.  God would take care of Lot, because He still loved Lot and his family.  But God chose to make the promise to Abram.  Not because Abram was perfect, but because that is what GOD CHOSE!  God can do anything and bless anyone He wants.  God can use anyone He wants, also.  God wanted to use Abram, even though Abram wasn’t perfect.  God’s plan was to use Abram to send Jesus to the world.  That was God’s plan before He even created the stars, the sun, and the earth!  Isn’t God good to want to bless everyone?!  And He is good to keep His promises!

Abram finished packing with a joyful heart.  God had reminded Him of His promise, so there was no need to worry about anything.  Abram, Sarai, and their servants moved to a plain called Mamre.  When they arrived, Abram built another altar.  He made another sacrifice to God, obeying Him with a blood offering for his sins. I’m so glad Jesus was the final blood sacrifice for our sins!

Let’s pray and thank God for His goodness, and for keeping His promises.

Abraham 4 : Lot in Sin

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 14: 1-24; 2 Peter 2: 4-9

“Lot, this city is great!  We can go to the market every day to look for new dresses and shoes!” said Lot’s wife.

“I agree, wife!  It is just like Egypt and Ur in its riches!  I love being able to go to the theatre, also.” Lot replied.

“Me too, Dad!  I was just telling my sister how much I missed seeing the theatre plays while we were traveling with the herds of animals” said one of Lot’s daughters.

“Oh, but I prefer the sports games, Dad!” said his other daughter.

Lot and his family were really enjoying all of the things they could do in the city.  They spent less and less time at the tent just out of town, where all of the herds were kept, and the chores were done.  The girls especially enjoyed not having to smell the camels outside of their tent at night!  Lot decided the time had come.  It was time to buy a house in the city.  He looked at all of the cities and visited many houses for sale with his wife and daughters.  Lot especially liked one city.  Sodom.  Sodom was a big city with many opportunities to make money!  He could sell his milks and cheeses, and the blankets his servants made from the sheep’s wool.  He could make even more money than he already had!  Traveling around with his uncle Abram had made Lot a rich man!  Everywhere Abram went, Lot went.  And Abram was not poor when they left Ur several years before.  Then the pharaoh of Egypt had given Abram so many animals for Sarai!  And he shared some of them with Lot!  So, Lot’s herds of animals had grown in number, and he was not poor by any means!  Looking around at Sodom, Lot saw even more opportunity to make money, and become a very rich man, indeed!  And many important people lived in that city.  Maybe Lot would be an important man in the city someday!

So, Lot bought the best house he could afford.  Every night he lay in bed imagining all the things he would buy.  He imagined what it would be like to be a politician in the city, and to be able to make important decisions about the city.  “Thank you all for coming to the city meeting tonight!  You will all hear my plan to improve the city, as the new mayor!  I will build new, better streets, with less bumps.  I will plant trees beside the shops, so our city will be beautiful!  Crime will go down, now that I’m in charge!”  I like to think he imagined being the mayor and being the most important man in the city of Sodom.

Lot was so busy thinking about the money he would make, and the important man he would become, that he didn’t notice some very important things.

He didn’t notice that the people of Sodom were not good people.  He didn’t notice that there was no altar for the One, True God.  He didn’t notice that he never heard anyone even say God’s name!  All he noticed was when people talked about the new things they had bought, or the money they made each day in the market.

Lot believed in God, and had put his faith in God, just like Abram his uncle.  But he sure wasn’t living like he believed in God anymore.  Did you know that someone can be a Christian, but not live like they are a Christian?  This is what was happening to Lot.  Lot had stopped praying.  He stopped going to see Abram and talking about how good God had been to them.  He wasn’t thinking about God anymore, because he was just thinking about himself!  He wasn’t even really thinking about his wife and daughters anymore.  If he was thinking of them, he would never have taken them to live in such a city.  The Bible tells us that the people of Sodom were very, very wicked.  They did things that we can’t even talk about in this class, they were so bad!  Crime was terrible there, too.  People there didn’t care about anyone but themselves, and what they could get out of life.  If that meant ruining their neighbor’s lives, that was okay.  They didn’t care what happened to anyone but themselves, and how they could have pleasure.

But at first, Lot only saw the money he could make, and how happy he would be.  He hadn’t noticed how bad the people really were.  At first.  Little by little, he started noticing things, though.  He noticed how selfish his neighbor was.  It annoyed him, that his neighbor had loud parties late at night, and had loud music when Lot was trying to sleep.  His neighbor left his trash all over Lot’s yard, too! 

Lot began to notice the friends his daughters were bringing home.  They weren’t very nice friends.  They were bullies!  That bothered Lot, too. 

Lot noticed that his wife was always with a group of women.  All they did all day was talk bad and gossip about other people.  “Did you see what she was wearing?!  That dress is SO last season!” said one woman.  “Ugh!  Yes!  And she is way too short for that style.”  Said another.  “She can’t fool us!  I know for a fact that her family is poor!  But she wants to hang out with us!  NOT going to happen!!!” said another woman.

This kind of talk was also beginning to bother Lot.

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 2 that Lot was a “just man”, or a man who had put his faith in God.  Lot was a Christian.  But it also says that Lot afflicted his own soul every day, by seeing the sins of the people of Sodom.  He saw the very wicked things they did, but he still kept living there.  He wanted so much to be happy, and rich, and important.  But was Lot really happy?  No!  Deep down in his heart, he was very unhappy.  He knew it wasn’t right to live in Sodom, but he stayed anyway.  When Christians live like they are not Christians, it is impossible to be happy.  Really happy deep in your heart. It might be fun and bring you pleasure for a short time, but it never lasts.  That is because we know that sin makes God sad.  Sin is the reason Jesus, who is God the Son, had to die on the cross.  Sin separates man from God.  But Jesus paid the price so that we don’t have to be separated from God anymore!  When we put our faith in Jesus, we have the help of the Holy Spirit to resist the temptations to sin.  But we can choose to ignore the Holy Spirit.  We can choose to sin instead.  But this never, ever brings real, lasting happiness.  Even if we have a million dollars, we can’t be really happy in sin.  The Bible says in Psalm 146:5 “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.”  And in Psalm 144:15 “… happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.”  Happiness comes from our Creator, and a relationship with Him.

Lot began to be very unhappy in Sodom.  But he stayed there. 

Could Lot have prayed and asked God to help him leave?  Yes!  Even though Lot put his faith in God before, and his sins had been forgiven, Lot didn’t have a good relationship with God anymore.  Do you think God wanted a good relationship with Lot?  Even though Lot was living in sin? 

Most definitely!  God loves us very much!  The Bible tells us that God makes us a part of his family when we put our faith in Jesus.  Do your parents love you, even when you do bad things at home?  Yes!  You don’t stop being a part of their family when you do wrong things. They might discipline you, but that never stops their love for you. 

Our parents discipline us to protect us, guide us, and teach us.  Is it fun to be disciplined?  Of course not!  But the Bible says those that love us discipline us. 

God loved Lot, and he was about to discipline him in a big way.  You have to come back next week to see what happens next!

Let’s pray and ask God to help us obey Him and listen to the Holy Spirit when He is helping us say “No!” to sin.

Abraham 5: Family Rescue

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 14: 1-24

“Lot, I was looking around the house today, and thinking about all of our sheep, cows, donkeys, and camels at the farm-tent just outside the city.  Do you know what I noticed?  We are RICH!!!”

“We sure are, wife!  I never dreamed we would be so rich when we left Ur, but here we are!”

I imagine this is a conversation Lot and his wife had several times.  They just couldn’t believe how rich they had become.  And important, too!  Lot had begun to go to the town meetings, and more and more people were getting to know him.

He was getting exactly what he had wanted when his uncle Abram asked him to choose the land he wanted to live on.  He had looked at all the grass and water for his herds, and his herds had grown even bigger with so much food to eat.  He had looked at the big cities and the great promise of money they would bring him.  Now it was coming true!

And yet, Lot just could not find happiness.  All the money he got just made him want more money.  He would be happy for a few minutes when people recognized him as someone important, but the happiness would vanish just moments later when he wondered why the other people around didn’t seem to know who he was.  He was trying to find his happiness in all the wrong places.  There is not true happiness apart from God.  The longer Lot lived in Sodom, the more he forgot about God. 

But God hadn’t forgotten about Lot.  Lot had put his faith in God long ago.  Even though Lot didn’t act like he belonged to God, God remembered the faith Lot had that someone would one day come to die for his sins.  And God wanted to remind Lot that a relationship with Him was far more important than money. 

In those days, there was peace in Sodom, the next city over, called Gomorrah, and three other cities.  They had peace because they paid a king far away for protection.  The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them were full of food.  That is because there was so much green grass and rivers/lakes.  It was a great place to grow food and raise animals.  And kings from far away were always trying to control their cities so they could steal the food and the herds.  So, they kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities made a deal with a King called Chedorlaomer, who was a powerful king.  They would send food, animals, and money every year if he would protect them.  King Chedorlaomer had a condition though.  “If you don’t send me money each year, I will come and take your food, animals, and money by force!  You will pay me one way or another!”

For 12 years they enjoyed peace because they paid King Chedorlaomer.  But the kings got tired of paying him.  They decided to have a meeting.  I imagine their conversation went something like this: “We are losing a lot of money every year!  This has got to stop!” said the king of Gomorrah.  “I agree!  If we all stand up to him together, he will back off.  What is he going to do against all 5 of us and our armies!” said the king of Sodom.  “That’s right!  We aren’t paying any more, and that’s that!  If he wants to steal our food and money, just let him try!  We’ll beat him in any battle!” said another king.

So, the 5 kings of the 5 rich cities agreed.  No more payments to Chedorlaomer.

And they were feeling very good about it.  They didn’t send the payment like they had for the other 12 years.  And nothing happened.  They thought Chedorlaomer was too scared to come and take their money by force.  The kings went back to their cities and enjoyed their riches.  Then, a year later, each king began to hear rumors.  “I just got back from my business trip up north, and I passed this HUGE army on the way!  I wonder where they are going.”  The kings began to ask around if anyone knew anything about it.  They probably sent messages to the other kings asking what army was on the way, and where they were going.

They began to hear many stories.  “The army attacked the people of Ashteroth!”  I heard they killed everyone in the city called Ham.”  “They are attacking every city they pass!” 

The five kings finally figured it out.  It was Chedorlaomer!  But not just him.  He had gathered 3 more kings together and promised great riches if they would help him attack Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other 3 cities.  So now an army of 4 kings was on the way to attack them!  They called their armies together to go out to battle against Chedorlaomer’s group.   They fought hard, but Chedorlaomer had too many soldiers with him.  They were losing the battle!  The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah saw that they couldn’t win the battle, so they ran away and tried to hide!

Chedorlaomer had won!  “Army, you did a great job in battle!  We have won!  Now we will go to the 5 cities and take ALL their riches!  Go and get the animals, food, and money!  Find anything valuable and take it!  And gather the people together!  They will be our slaves!”

The army went through each city taking everything.  At Sodom, they took everything Lot had.  All his money, all his herds, and all the good food he had stored up.  Lot had nothing left.  Everything he worked for was gone.  All his dreams vanished in a day.

And now he, his family, and his servants were all slaves!  The army took them captive and forced them to go with them back to the north.  They marched alongside the army, and had to serve them, and do whatever they said.  They were prisoners and slaves.

I believe God was reminding Lot that money doesn’t last.  All the things we work for don’t last.  Herds, food, servants, power…they all go away.  Cars, cell phones, games, friends…they all go away.  But God’s promises last forever.  God’s love lasts forever.  It’s much better to serve God than to serve money and power.  God was showing His love to Lot by disciplining him.  Is it fun to be disciplined?  Of course not!  But the Bible says those that love us discipline us.  Hebrews 12:11 says: “ Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”  When we put our faith in Jesus, we become God’s children.  And God disciplines us sometimes.  That’s because He loves us and wants the best for us.  Sometimes God needs to remind us that He is in control, and that we need to follow Him, and obey Him.  When God disciplines us, it doesn’t mean we are no longer his children.  Just like with our parents.  When they punish us for a bad behavior, it doesn’t stop us from being their children.  Our parents are trying to teach us what is best.  God does the same!  He shows us what is best.  And He keeps His promises to us, discipline or no discipline.  His promise to us is that when we put our faith in Jesus, our sins are forgiven, and we are His forever!  What a BEAUTIFUL promise!

I often wonder if Lot was thinking about God’s promise as he was marching along as a slave.  I hope he was.

Back in Sodom, one of Lot’s servant had escaped capture.  He probably hid when the army came.  He saw them take Lot and his family.  He knew he had to tell Abram, Lot’s uncle.  So, he ran as fast as he could.  He ran and ran until he found Abram’s tents.  Abram was all the way on the other side of the valley.  When Abram heard what happened, he could have said “Well, Lot chose to live there.  He deserves what he got!”  But Abram didn’t say this.  He loved Lot very much.  He loved Lot’s family.  So, Abram, an old man, said “Gather my servants as quick as you can!  I will go to my neighbors to ask for help, too.  We are going after them and will bring them home.”  Abram gathered 318 servants and neighbors.  They went after the large army.  When they got close, Abram told his army of servants his plan.  “After the sun goes down, I will take half of our group, and go around to the right side.  The other half will go around to the left side.  We well them charge together and fight them!”  Chedorlaomer’s army was no small army.  They fought the armies of 5 cities and won, even though they were only 4 cities worth of army.  Abram had 318 in his army.  That is a lot of people…but that was nothing compared to the other army!!!  And Abram’s army was not really an army. [Visual D]   They weren’t used to fighting.  They took care of animals.  They probably didn’t have shields and swords like the other army.  You have to come back next week to hear what happens!

Let’s pray now and thank God for keeping His promises.  Let’s ask God to help us obey Him, and let’s thank God for disciplining us sometimes.  God is good to love us enough to discipline us!  Even though it is not fun or comfortable to be disciplines, it is for our good.  Let’s ask God to help us obey His word, so that He doesn’t need to discipline us.

Abraham 6: Abram’s Offering

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 14: 1-24; 2 Peter 2: 4-9

“After the sun goes down, I will take half of our group, and sneak around to the right side.  The other half will sneak around to the left side.  Make sure you are very quiet.  Remember.  They are not expecting us.  We well them surprise them when we charge together from each side and fight them!” Abram was giving the instructions to his small army of 318 servants and neighbors.

Chedorlaomer, the king, had a very large army.  They took slaves from the cities they conquered, including Lot and his family.  Lot, Abram’s nephew had lost everything he worked so hard for.

But Abram went after them when he heard what had happened.

Each group of the small army waited for the signal that they were in place, and they charged towards the giant army in the dark of night.

And the Bible tells us that Abram WON!   His tiny army won against a giant army!  How do you think they won?

God helped them!  There is no other way that Abram could have won that battle.  It had to be God.  Lot was reunited with his uncle.   And Abram took everything back that was stolen.  The king of Sodom heard about Abram’s victory, and went out to meet Abram to thank him.  Another king had also gone out to see Abram.  His name was Melchizedek.  Melchizedek was a king who worshiped the One, True God.  The Bible calls him the priest of the most high God.  Long before God told Moses that his brother Aaron would be the first priest of Israel, there was a man who worshiped and loved God so much that he was a priest.   When Melchizedek showed up, he brought bread and drink for Abram’s army.  He knew they were tired after such a long trip, and then a battle in the middle of the night.  King Melchizedek walked up to Abram and said “Blessed is Abram in the name of the most high God, who owns all of heaven and earth.  And blessed is the most high God who gave you the victory in the battle.”  King Melchizedek was showing Abram that God deserved to have all the credit for his victory.  And God was the one who gave Abram and Lot all of their riches, too.  I’m sure that Lot heard the King. 

Abram then gave King Melchizedek tithes of everything he had taken back from Chedorlaomer.  This is the first record we have of tithing.  Tithing is giving God back a portion of what He has given to us.  God owns everything and doesn’t need anything.  But when we tithe, we are showing God that we know it is HIM that has given us what we have.  He gives us food to eat.  He gives us clothes to wear.  He gives us every good thing we have.  Giving God back a small part of what we have is a way to thank Him.  It is a way to say “God, I don’t have anything without you.  You are a GOOD GOD!”  Abram was showing God that he knew God gave him everything.  Is it important to tithe?  Yes!  The bible tells us so.   Proverbs 3:9 says “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:” 

This means we should give the best of what we have back to God as soon as we get it.  God told the Israelites to give 10 percent of what they had to God.  We follow this example as Christians today.  This is what is called a tithe.  Anything more than the 10% we give to God is called an offering.  We are offering Him more.

When we don’t tithe, we are robbing God.

Malachi 3:8 says “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”  God is telling the Israelites that we rob God when we don’t tithe.  I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want to steal from God!  I want to honor Him and thank Him for all He has done for me!

Abram wanted to do the same, so he gave his tithe to King Melchizedek, the priest. 

Another king showed up, if you remember. Who was it?  [The king of Sodom]

The king of Sodom was happy to see Abram.  That is because Abram had all of the people Chedorlaomer and his army took out of Sodom to be slaves.  There were many people who had been separated from their families.  The king of Sodom wanted all of his people back in the city.  He knew Abram didn’t have to go rescue them, and he wanted to thank Abram.  “Abram, because you fought for us you can have all of the money and animals that you won back from Chedorlaomer.  But give me all of the people who were taken as slaves.” 

“King, I have told the most high God, the owner of heaven and earth, that I won’t take anything from you.  I won’t take a single shoelace, or even a piece of thread.  I won’t take a single thing, because I don’t want you to say “Look at Abram!  He is so rich, because of me!  I gave him everything he owns!”  The only thing that will be taken from you is the food that the men who fought have eaten.  Also, you will pay my neighbors for fighting.”

Abram didn’t want the king of Sodom to get the glory, or praise for anything he had.  He didn’t want anyone, including the king, to say “Look at Abram!  He must be the richest man around!  All because the king gave him everything he had.”  Abram wanted people to look at him and say “Look at Abram!  God sure has blessed him!” 

Sometimes we are tempted to give other people glory, or credit, for the good things we have.  Sometimes, we are tempted to take the credit for ourselves!  “Look at me!  I am so smart!  I have the best grades in school!”  or “Look at me!  I am the best singer.”  We give ourselves praise, when we should be giving GOD praise and thanks.  God is the only one who deserves praise.  Psalm 29:2 says “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

We should praise Him and thank Him!  We should honor Him with our tithes and offerings.

God is so good to us.  He promised to send Jesus to die for our sins, and He kept that promise.  He promised to forgive us when we put our faith in Jesus, and He keeps that promise, too!

Let’s pray that God will help us give our tithes to Him, and to give Him glory and praise.

Abraham 7 : Abram’s Conversation

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 14: 12-24; 15:1-6; Galatians 3; Revelations 20:11-15

“Master Abram, what a battle that was!  I can’t believe we won!”  one of Abram’s servants was amazed at how a small army of 318 could win a battle against a giant army.

But we know it was God who had won the battle with the four armies of Chedorlaomer and the other three kings.  Now, Lot and his family were rescued, and safe. 

Lot didn’t return to live near his uncle, Abram who had rescued him.  Instead, Lot went back to Sodom.  He still kept thinking about all the money he could make.  Maybe he didn’t want to go to the trouble of finding a new place to live.  He and his family were comfortable in Sodom.  They had a nice house and a nice routine all set before they were kidnapped by the armies.  Lot just wanted to get home and get back to being comfortable.

 

After the battle Abram had given an offering of 10% of all he had to God, through the priest Melchizedek.  Then he told the King of Sodom he wouldn’t take a single thing from him as payment for fighting the battle.  “I know you will tell everyone that YOU made me rich, but I know it is GOD who gave me everything.  I don’t even want a single shoelace from you.”

Now, Abram was back home again, in his tents.  I imagine He began to think about everything that had happened.  “I went to battle against the great Chedorlaomer!  We were able to surprise the army in the middle of the night…so they weren’t ready for us.  We chased them away, too!  I know God gave us the victory in that battle.  There is no other way we could have won!”

Then Abram began pacing up and down in his tent.  The more he thought, the more he worried.  It was past his bedtime.  There was no way he was going to be able to sleep well.  He kept thinking “Chedorlaomer and the other kings were driven away, and some of the men were killed by us, but we didn’t kill everyone!  What if they gather more men for their army and come attack us!  How will I be able to defend all my family and servants!  They beat all of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other three cities!  I can only gather around 318 men to defend us.  And they could sneak in in the middle of the night, just like WE did to them!  Oh, we are in big trouble!”

Abram kept thinking and pacing up and down.  The more he worried, the more things to worry about popped into his mind.  “What if they don’t come back to attack us, and we are safe from them.  What then?  I don’t live in a place that is green with plenty of water like Sodom.  What if the famine comes back?  How will I feed my servants?  I have many of them!  And how will I feed my herds of animals?  I have even more of those!  I can’t go back to Egypt…I lied to Pharaoh.  He will never let me back in.  What am I going to do then?  Maybe I should never have told the king of Sodom that I wasn’t going to take any payment for the battle…I gave up a LOT of money!”

I imagine Abram kept pacing, and thinking, and pacing.  “What about the promise God made me?  He promised I would have descendants like the dust of the earth…that many!  But I don’t have ONE SINGLE son or daughter.  And now I’m 85!  Sarai, my wife is 75!  There’s no way we can have kids!  Has God forgotten about me?”

Worry is a dangerous thing.  It is a monster that grows bigger and bigger the more we “feed it”.

And I think Abram must have been going crazy with worry by then. 

That is when God showed up again.  The Bible says God used a vision to speak to Abram this time.  A vision is like a dream, but the person is not sleeping, they are awake.

God began to speak to Abram in this vision.  “Abram don’t be afraid.  I am your shield.  I am also your great reward.”  God knew that Abram was worried about his safety.  The kings could come back at any time for revenge.  When God said, “I am your shield.”, He was letting Abram know that He was going to protect him from any danger.  Even four giant armies with trained soldiers!  When God said, “I am your great reward.”, He was telling Abram that He was better than any money he could have gotten from the king of Sodom.  God could provide everything Abram needed, even in famine.  God could provide enough for all of Abram’s servants and herds.  God was letting Abram know that there was no need to worry.  God’s words were enough, because God never breaks His promises. 

Abram had waited a long time to see God’s promise, though.  It had been about ten years since God promised to make his descendants like the dust of the Earth in number.  He probably didn’t want God’s words, so much as God’s actions.  I imagine He was tired of waiting and wanted God to do something!  The same thing happens to us, sometimes.  We go through hard times and are waiting on God to act on our behalf.  We want God to make things better, or help us not be sad, or lonely.  We don’t really want God’s words, or the Bible.  We want God to ACT and act fast!  But God’s words are always enough!  God keeps His promises.  If we have accepted his Son Jesus, He promises to always be with us, and to work everything out for our good, even when we can’t see how something can be good.

Abram was going through this exact situation.  And God knew how he felt.

“God, what are you going to do for me?  I don’t have any children.  My head servant Eliezer, who has been a servant of mine since his birth, is not my family, but he is the one who will inherit all of my possessions when I die.”  Abram was probably wondering if Eliezer would become his adopted family, and that is how God would keep His promise. 

“Eliezer will not be your family and will not inherit your possessions.  You will have a son that is your own blood…not an adopted son.”

God took Abram outside of his tent.  “Abram, look up.  See those stars in the dark night sky?  Can you count them?”  I imagine Abram began to count…but soon gave up.

God said to Abram “You can’t even count them, but you will have family just like the stars in the sky.  That’s how many descendants I will give you.”  First God promised Abram that his family would be like the dust, and now He was promising that they would be like the stars in numbers.  Can you count the stars?  No!  No one knows how many stars there are, except God.  God even knows the names of each star!  If God knows all of that (since He is the One who made them), doesn’t He have enough power to give Abram a son?  Of course!

And Abram thought “Okay.  I believe God.  He has said He will give me a son and will bless the earth through me and my family.  He has said all this land will be mine someday.  I believe He will do all of this!”  Abram put all of His trust in God, that He would keep His promises.  The Bible tells us that because Abram believed God, God counted Abram as righteous.  Abram wasn’t righteous because he earned it or did enough good things to outweigh the bad things he did.  The Bible says there is NO MAN who is righteous, not even ONE!  But because Abram put His faith in God and believed His promises, God made him righteous. 

The Bible tells us there are books in heaven where all the things we do, good and bad, are written down.  God will one day judge everyone and punish them for the bad things they do…all sin will be punished.

But there is another book, too.  It is called the Book of Life.  Everyone who puts their faith in God and Jesus will have their names written in the Book of Life.  They won’t be punished for their bad deeds, because Jesus took the punishment for sin on the cross.  Instead, they will live in heaven with God, and enjoy being with Him. 

That’s what God did with Abram.  He saw that Abram believed His words, and God erased all the sin that Abram had written under his name.  Abram had only half-obeyed God when he left Ur.  He then lied to Pharaoh.  He made lots of other mistakes, too.  But God said, “I will erase all the bad things Abram has done, and I will forgive him because of his faith in me.”

God does this for us, too!  When we put our faith in Jesus, God erases all of our sins and writes “Righteous” next to our names.  Not because we earned that forgiveness of sin.  But because of our faith in Jesus.  If you have never had your name written in the Book of Life, you can have it written there today!  Put your faith in Jesus, who died on the cross for your sins.  If you have any questions, talk to me right after class.  I will help you.

You will have to come back next week to hear how God PROVES that He will keep His promise to Abram.

Let’s thank God now for send Jesus to die for our sins, and for erasing all the bad things we have done when we put our faith in Jesus.  God is GOOD!

Abraham 8: Abram and God’s Covenant

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 15: 1-21; 15:1-6; Hebrews 6:13-18

“Look at the stars, Abram.  Can you count them?”

God was speaking to Abram in a vision, like a dream while Abram was awake.

“I can’t count them, God.  There are just too many!  I keep losing track of which ones I’ve even counted!” said Abram.

“I will give you a family that is like the number of stars.  You won’t even be able to count them!”

God was promising that Abram would have a son of his very own!  And that his family would be very, very big!  God had already promised Abram that He would bless the whole world through Abram’s family.  Abram didn’t know Jesus, yet, but Jesus would one day be a part of that great family.  God keeps His promises.

Abram believed God’s promises, and God wrote down something like [Abram: “Righteous”] in the book of Life.

God continued talking with Abram, his friend.  “I am God, who brought you out of Ur, so I could give you all this land in Canaan.”

Abram remembered when God told Abram that the land, as far as he could see and more, would be his.  But Abram was still living in tents, surrounded by people who didn’t worship the One, True God.  I imagine He was beginning to be impatient for the land to finally be his.

“God, how will I know that all this land will be mine?”

God said one more thing to Abram: “Bring me a young cow of 3 years old, a three-year old goat, a three-year old sheep, a dove, and a young pigeon.”

God didn’t say anything else that we know of for the rest of the day.

Abram already knew what to do with the animals, though.

In those days, and in that land, there was an old custom (something many people did on a regular basis).  When two people wanted to make an agreement, or a contract, they would perform a special ceremony.  They would take an animal, usually a donkey, and they would cut in in half, and set the pieces near each other.  The blood would flow out of the animal.  Ew!

The two people making the agreement would say what they were agreeing on.  For example, one man would say something like “I agree to sell you this land for $1,000, and I guarantee the land has plenty of water for your sheep.”  The second man would say “I agree to pay you $1,000 by Thursday.”  Then they would say what would happen if either one didn’t keep his end of the agreement.  “If I don’t sell you this land, or the land doesn’t have enough water for your sheep, may what happened to the donkey happen to me.  You have the right to kill me.”  And the second man would say “If I don’t pay you on time, may what happened to the donkey happen to me!”  Then they would walk through the middle of the donkey pieces, through the blood.  When they made a contract, it was very serious! 

When God told Abram to bring the animals, Abram knew what God wanted.  He wanted to make a contract with him.  So, Abram brought the animals together, he cut the animals in two, but he kept the birds whole.  He laid all the animals in a row.  Then he waited for God to begin the contract.  Abram waited, and waited.  He had spent the night talking with God, and now it was almost noon!  The sun was hot, and what do you think it was like around those dead animals?  Yuck!  The birds were starting to circle over his head!  They saw good food and wanted to eat!  Abram ran the birds away as soon as they got near the dead animals.  And he waited some more.  Abram waited all day long, and still nothing was happening.  Finally, the sun went down.  Abram fell asleep.  He started to feel very strange.  He wasn’t having a nightmare, but it sure felt like it!  Abram became very, very scared.  He found it hard to breathe!  His heart was racing!  He was still asleep, but he felt a horror!  I imagine Abram was feeling very worried long before he fell asleep.  He was going to enter into an agreement with GOD!!!  What is worse, he was sure that God was going to make him walk through the animals all by himself.  You see, when a powerful king made a contract with one of his servants, the king said his part of the agreement, something like “I will provide food for your family in return for your service.” And the servant would say his part, like “I will serve you for 4 years, and go to battle for you, if you need me.”  Then the king would stand back and make the servant walk through alone!  The king thought his word was good enough, and he didn’t have to prove it by walking through.  If the servant broke his agreement, he would be killed.  If the king broke the agreement, though, nothing would happen to him…he was the KING!  He could break any agreement he wanted!

Abram thought that he was going to have to walk through the animals all alone, like the servants did with kings.  And Abram knew he could not keep any promise to God!  He had already messed up a lot!  Abram was terrified he would make a contract with God, and be cut in half, or worse, when he broke the agreement.  He just couldn’t keep his promises to God, because he was a sinner.

When he was more scared than he had ever been, God spoke to Abram.  “You can be certain that your family will be strangers in a different land for 400 years, and they will be slaves.  But I will judge that country and bring your family out of that land with many riches.  You will not be a slave, though.  You will live and die in peace when you are very old.  When your family is saved from slavery after 400 years, they will come back here, to your land.”

God was telling Abram what would happen to his family in the future!  Where would they be slaves in the future?  Egypt!  But after that, they would return to the land God promised Abram.

After God finished talking, it became very dark.  Darker than you can imagine!  And a smoking oven appeared, along with a torch.  It was God!  God only showed Himself as fire and smoke because no man can look at God the Father.  He is too powerful and Holy!

Then, something happened that shocked Abram.  God HIMSELF walked through the dead animals and the blood!  He didn’t make Abram do it alone!  In fact, God didn’t even give Abram a chance to do it!  God knew that Abram could not keep any agreement with Him.  He knew Abram would still sin and make wrong choices.  He would keep doubting God, even though God never lies or breaks His promises.

This is a BEAUTIFUL STORY!   God was making the contract with Abram, but God was showing “I will make your family very great (and bless the earth with a Savior).  I will give you this land.  And if I break my promise, I deserve the punishment.  And I will take YOUR punishment on myself if you break our contract.”

WOW!  GOD the Creator was promising to take Abram’s punishment on Himself!

Does God lie?  No!

One day, hundreds and hundreds of years later, God would take the punishment for Abram, and for the rest of the world.  Jesus, God the Son would die on the cross for our sins.  He would be like those animals.  Torn in pieces for us!

God didn’t have to make that promise.  But He loves us SO very much.  He proved it when He sent Jesus, to be born into Abram’s family, and to die a horrible, painful death on the cross for us!  Because we can’t keep God’s laws.  It’s impossible for us.  We do, say, and think things that break His laws every day.  God knew we would need someone to keep His laws for us.  That is what Jesus did.  He never once sinned.  But He took the punishment for our sins!

If you have never accepted Jesus as God who died for your sins, you can do it today.

Tell him you know you sin and can’t keep God’s laws no matter how hard you try.  Tell Him you believe He died on the cross and rose again 3 days later.  Tell Him you accept Him.

Let’s pray now and thank God for the beautiful promises He made to Abram, and the even more beautiful way He showed that He would take our punishment.

Abraham 9: Hagar

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 16:1-16

“Abram, God promised you that you would have as many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren as the stars, right?” asked Sarai.

“Yes, dear.  He promised.”  Abram replied.

“Tell me again all about it.” Said Sarai.  She wanted every little detail of the night God took Abram outside and made the promise.  [Visual 1.6]  She was amazed at how God would even promise to take the punishment if He or Abram broke the agreement.  She was ten years older now.  Seventy-five.  Her husband was eighty-five. They weren’t just old enough to have children, they were old enough to have children who were grandparents!  Sarai just couldn’t imagine how she and Abram were going to have children.  They had never been able to have kids, and she had given up hope a long time ago.  It had always been a struggle of hers, wanting to have a baby, but never having one.  She had cried many tears, and prayed many prayers.  She begged the false gods she served in Ur for children.  They never answered.  I imagine she even begged the One, True God for children, once she and Abram began to worship Him.  And God had promised to give Abram children.  But that was a long time ago.  She could barely remember when Abram can running into the house and told her to go get his father, his brother, and his nephew so that he could tell them about his talk with God.  So Sarai began to think.  She tried to figure God’s plan out.  She knew God had promised, and believed God would keep his promise, but she didn’t know how, and she WANTED to know.  She wanted it NOW!  We all get impatient at times, don’t we?  We pray for something and want God to answer right away!  But sometimes God waits.  God has His own reasons for waiting.  Sometimes it is because we are not ready.  I think Abram and Sarai were not ready yet.  God still had to teach them many things before they could be the parents of a great nation.  It would be a very important family, after all.  God the Son would come to the earth through this family! 

So God kept waiting for the right time to give a baby to Abram.  And Sarai began to make plans.

“Abram, look at Hagar, my maid.  She looks strong and healthy.  Maybe God wants to give us a baby through Hagar.  She will have your baby, and I will adopt him!  Yes.  This is how God will give us a son.  You will marry Hagar, and I will adopt her baby.”

“WHAT?!  What was Sarai thinking????” you might ask.  And that would be a good question!

Remember when Abram got scared that there would be no food for his family, servants, and flocks because of a famine?  Where did he go?  (Egypt!) [Visual 1.4]   While in Egypt, he lied to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.  And Pharaoh took Sarai to be one of his many wives because she was so beautiful.  He gave Abram lots of animals and servants in return.  But God sent what to Pharaoh?  (Plagues)  So Pharaoh found out the truth and sent Abram away with all the animals and servants he had given him.  Hagar was probably one of these servants.  In fact, servant is a nice word for it.  The truth is that she was a slave!  Abram, the friend of God, had slaves from Egypt!

Do you think it was right for him to have slaves?  No!  Slavery is a horrible thing.  In those days, and in that land, it was common for people to have slaves.  No one looked at Abram and thought “What a horrible man!”  It was acceptable in that place and time to have slaves.  Did that make it right?  Of course not.  Abram should have set the Egyptian slaves free as soon he got them safely out of Egypt.  But Abram was a sinner, just like the rest of us.  One of the reasons I believe the Bible is because it tells the whole story about people, the good and the bad.  If I was going to start a new religion, and was making up a story because I wanted people to join my new religion, what kind of stories would I make up?  Ones with heroes who never did anything wrong!  I would want people to say “Wow!  All the people in this religion are good people.  I will join them!” 

But this is not what God does.  He didn’t want the men he used to write the Bible to only write down the good things.  The Bible is NOT about how to be a good enough person to go to heaven.  It IS about sinners, who need help getting to heaven because they keep making bad decisions and breaking God’s laws.  It is about JESUS who IS good enough, and who died on the cross as a perfect person.  Only faith in Jesus can make us clean!  I’m so glad the Bible doesn’t just have stories about perfect heroes.  It is about ONE PERFECT HERO!  JESUS!

And Abram was very imperfect.  The Bible says he listed to Sarai his wife, and did what she suggested!  He took Hagar like a second wife.  He should DEFINITELY not have done that!  And Hagar didn’t have much say in the matter.  She was a slave!  This decision was a horribly bad one, and would cause a lot of trouble in the lives of this family.  But Hagar got pregnant.  She was very excited to be having a baby.  Another custom of that time and place was that a woman who had children was seen as very important.  A woman without children was actually looked down on!  She was seen as less important!  So Hagar was excited to have a baby.

[Visual 1.7]  “People will finally respect me!” she thought.  “And look at old Sarai.  She used to give me orders as her maid, but now I’m the important wife!  Since I am pregnant, and she has never had a child, I will move up to her spot of importance.  Abram will love me more, and everyone will know how important I am now!  My husband is a rich man, so I am a rich woman!”

Hagar began to look down her nose at Sarai.  I imagine she would make little comments when she passed by.  “Oh, I can’t wait to have a baby.  I wonder what it is like to give birth.  Oh, that’s right!  You wouldn’t know what it’s like.  You have never had a baby!”  She would laugh at Sarai, too. 

For Sarai, this was unbearable!  Her slave girl was having the baby SHE was supposed to have!  And now she thought she was better than her!  Every day was worse the the day before.  Finally, she got so fed up she rushed into the tent and began accusing Abram.  “This is all your fault Abram!  You married this slave girl, and she thinks she is important now.  You made this horrible decision, and you need to fix it!  God will judge who is right, you or me!”

Wait a minute…whose idea was it in the first place?  Sarai’s idea!  But now she saw it wasn’t such a good idea after all!  Abram had also been wrong to listen to this idea.  He should have told Sarai to wait on God because it was wrong to have two wives, especially a slave wife who had no say in the matter!  But Abram was fed up with the fighting in the house now.  He said “She is your maid, do what you want with her.”  Wow!  Abram was still making wrong decisions!  He should have stood up for Hagar, admitting he was wrong, and asking God for forgiveness and help in their situation.  But he didn’t.  So Sarai did what she wanted with Hagar.  The Bible says she treated Hagar very harshly.  It doesn’t say exactly what happened, but I think it is likely that Sarai beat Hagar.  How very sad.  Hagar was heartbroken and angry and confused.  So much so that she ran away.  She decided to go back home, to Egypt.  She began walking and stopped at a well after a while to rest and drink.  This is when something wonderful happened. 

The Angel of the Lord found Hagar.  Many people believe whenever the Bible talks about the Angel of the Lord, it is Jesus, God’s Son before he took a human body to be born in Bethlehem.  Remember that he always existed with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  I believe it was Jesus, also!  God saw Hagar, and how bad things were for her.  He saw she was hurting both physically and emotionally.  God sent Jesus to speak with her and give her comfort!  “Hagar, the maid of Sarai, where are you coming from, and where are you going?” he asked.  “I’m running away from Sarai.” she said.   Jesus said “Go back to Sarai, and obey her.  Don’t worry.  I will give you a big family that can not be numbered, it will be so big.  You will have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because God heard your cries, and saw your suffering.  Your son will live free, and he will be against his family, and his family against him, but they will live in the same land.”

This gave Hagar much comfort!  God promised that she would have a blessing similar to Abram.  A big family!  Ishmael would be the father and grandfather of many people.  He would not be a slave, either!  He would be free!  This was great news, because normally a baby who was born to a slave would also become a slave.  But her son would be free!  When the Angel of the Lord was done speaking with Hagar, she said “You God see me!” or, “you notice me!”.  “I wasn’t noticing you, but you noticed me!”  Hagar saw that even though she had not been looking for God, He had been looking for her, and caring about her!  I hope that one day, Hagar put her faith in Jesus who would die for her sins.  After this, Hagar went back to live with Abram and Sarai.  It was good that she obeyed God.  God knew what was best for her.  If she left and went back to Egypt that day, she would be a runaway slave.  She would always be worried about someone catching her and taking her back.  She would worry about being punished even worse that before!  God knew she needed to be set free before she left.  So she stayed, and obeyed God.  She gave birth to a son, and called him Ishmael!

Let’s pray now, and thank God for looking for us, and caring about us, even when we aren’t looking for Him!  Isn’t He good???

Abraham 10: Visitors

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 17:1-27; 18:1-33

“Ishmael come in for dinner!” said Abram, his father.  Abram was now 99 years old and his wife, Sarai was 89.  13 years had passed since Ishmael had been born.  He was the son of Abraham and his second wife, Hagar.  I imagine things had settled down in the family by then. 

They had all learned how to live with one another, at least for a while.  Abram loved his son Ishmael very much, even though he wasn’t the son God promised him. 

In fact, God showed up to talk to Abram one more time.  It had been years since God walked through the blood of the animals to make his promise.  And He hadn’t given Abram and Sarai the son He promised yet.  I think God was wanted to wait until they were ready for their very special son.  They still needed to grow in their faith in God, so they could teach their son to trust God.

So, God wanted to remind Abram that He hadn’t forgotten His promise.  I will make you the father of a great nation, Abram.  In fact, I will even change your name to Abraham, because that means “Father of a Multitude” or “Father of many, many people.”  And your wife will have a new name, too.  She will not be Sarai anymore, but Sarah which means “Princess.” Abraham and Sarah must have been excited to think that God was really going to keep His promise!  They were learning more and more to trust Him.

One day not long after they got their new names, Abram was trying to cool off from the heat, so he was sitting at the door of his tent, hoping for a stronger breeze.  He heard a commotion and looked up.  Visitors!  Visitors were here!  In that land, and in that time, visitors were a very special thing.  No one had cars that they could hop in and drive over to their friend’s house.  Everyone was busy with their herds of animals, and with the house chores.  So, people took visitors very seriously.  In fact, the custom of that day was that you had to provide for, and protect your visitors, even if it meant giving your food and safety!  You had to protect them, even if it meant you or your family would get hurt instead!  You had to feed them, even if you had to go without food.  You had to give them a place to sleep, even if it meant you had to sleep on the floor.  They loved visitors!

So, Abraham jumped up ready to do his duty when he saw three men outside of his tent.  He ran up to meet them and bowed himself down.  This was the way the men greeted each other.  It was like our handshake.  “Welcome!  Please stay and let me make you comfortable!” said Abraham.  “I will send for some water to wash your dirty, tired feet, and you can rest under the shade of the tree over there.  I will send for some bread and make you comfortable.  After you are rested and full you can pass on your way.”

“That sounds good.  Do as you wish.” The 3 men replied.

“Sarah!  Sarah!  We have guests!  Hurry!” said Abraham when he rushed into the tent.  “Get the flour and make some bread!” 

He then told the servants to go get water and wash the visitor’s feet and give them something comfortable to sit on in the shade.

Abraham ran out the back door of the tent and ran straight to his herd of cows.  He got a young calf and got it ready for a barbeque.  When the meat and bread were ready, Abraham made a tray of the food, and put butter and milk on the tray.  It was ready!  He served his hot food to the guests right where they sat comfortably under the tree.  And Abraham stood to the side, making sure they didn’t need anything else.  Usually the servant was supposed to do that, but Abraham wanted to treat the guest right.  He could tell there was something special about them. 

When they had eaten, one of the men asked Abraham “Where is your wife, Sarah?”

Abraham must have thought this was strange.  I imagine he thought to himself “I don’t remember telling them my wife’s name…and what’s even more strange, visiting men never concern themselves with the women of the house.  They never even see them!  It’s not the way of the people in this country for the women to be in the same room as the visitors.”

“Sarah is in the tent.” Abraham said.

The visitor said, “In one year, Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son.”  Abraham must have realized who was visiting him.  It was God again!  Jesus, God the Son, had taken the form of a man, and was sitting right there talking to him!  The other two men were angels in the form of men sent by God for a very special purpose.

Sarah was nearby, even though women were never in the same room as the visiting men.  She could hear the men outside the tent, because the tent walls were fabric made of animal skins.  When she heard the man say she was going to give birth, she couldn’t help herself.  She laughed very quietly to herself!  She, and 86-year-old woman was going to give birth!  Impossible!  She thought the visitors were crazy. 

God asked Abraham “Why did Sarah laugh, and say “Will I have a child being an old lady?!”  Is there anything too hard for God?  I will truly give Sarah a son.”

Sarah heard God but didn’t realize who He was.  She had never seen Him, as God never appeared to Sarah before.  He only appeared to Abraham.  So, Sarah was nervous.  “I didn’t laugh!” she said.  She thought something bad was going to happen, so she lied.

God replied “No, you did laugh.”  Even though Sarah had laughed to herself, and not out loud, God knew exactly what she was thinking.  Now Sarah knew it was God!  He knew her thoughts!

I think God wanted Sarah to know exactly who was there, making the promise once more.  God is so good to us, even when we doubt Him, and even when we lie to Him.  He keeps His promises. 

He wanted us all to know also that we cannot lie to God.  He knows our very thoughts.  ALL of them.  If we say “I’m not that bad.  I can get to heaven” we are lying.  We aren’t just lying to ourselves, but to God!  The Bible says there is NO ONE good enough.  Romans 3:10 says “There is none righteous (good), no, not one.”  We can lie to ourselves, but we cannot lie to God.  But God is good!  When we accept that we are not good enough, but Jesus IS good enough, we can have forgiveness of sins.  I thank God for this!

Now the men were ready to go on their way.  They stood, and the two angels faced towards the city of Sodom.

Abraham stood with the men, to walk everyone down the road a little bit.  But God stopped and said “Will I hide what I’m going to do from Abraham?  Abraham will be the father of a great nation, and I will bless the whole world through his family.  And I know Abraham’s heart.  He will teach his children and servants to love and follow God.  But there is a cry coming up from Sodom and Gomorrah.  It is a cry of sin.  The sin is so bad that people are calling out for help and the calls reach up to heaven.  The people who have been hurt by the sin there have cried out, and I hear them.  I want to see if it is as bad as the cries say.”  God did not need to come to earth to see.  He knows everything, but He wanted Abraham and all of us to know that He cares about us.  He cares when we hurt.  And He cared that the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah had hurt so many people.

“I will destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah” said God.

Wait!  What about Lot?! Where was he living with his family?  In Sodom!  And God was about to destroy the whole city!

Come back next week to hear what happens.

Abraham 11: Abraham Prays

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 18:18-33; Ezekiel 16: 48-50

“I will destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah” said God.

Abraham stood there thinking for a moment. 

“Wait!  What about Lot?!  He was living with his family in Sodom!  And God was about to destroy the whole city!”

Abraham knew why God was going to destroy it.  There was no doubt.  Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities nearby were very wicked places.  The Bible does not tell us all of their wicked deeds, but it does tell us some things.  Many people think that God destroyed Sodom just for one reason.  Men were marrying men, and women were marrying women.  The Bible tells us that God made a man and a woman to be married.  This is God’s perfect plan for families.  It was and is a sin for men to marry men, and women to marry women.  That is definitely one reason God was angry with Sodom.  But that is not the only reason God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  In the book of the Bible called Ezekiel, God tells us that the people there were full of pride, only thinking of themselves.  They had even stopped giving to the poor people who were hungry and starving!  They looked at other people like they were worse, and less deserving of good things.  They thought they alone were the smartest, best, most deserving people, and they didn’t care what happened to anyone else!  Even if those people were hurt or dying!  I imagine if they saw someone lying in the middle of the road who was a bloody and crying out for help, they would have thought “Oh, I’m sure this guy deserved what he got!  I hope he dies!” and just walked on without helping.  I’m sure they saw hungry, homeless orphans in need of food and help.  Did they help them?  No.  They thought things like “Oh, this little brat needs to learn her lesson.  That’s why she’s homeless.  I’m certainly not going to give her anything.  She’ll just keep coming back for more money and food.  What a little pest she will be!  Ugh!” 

And what’s worse, the people thought in their hearts things like this: “Who’s going to punish me?  God?!  There is no God that I care about.  Let God take care of himself, and I will take care of me.  I will decide what’s best for me.  No one can tell me what’s right or wrong.  I will decide that!”  They decided not to care about God and thought God could not punish them. 

In heaven, God had heard all the cries from the hurting people, and now it was time to do something about it.  Abraham understood this.  He had heard all about Sodom and Gomorrah.  He knew what the people were like.  They were even worse than we can imagine!  But Abraham was worried.

He knew Lot was a believer who had put his faith in God, and God’s promise to send a Savior to die for the sins of the world.  [Visual 1.5]  He knew Lot wasn’t perfect, and was sometimes very selfish, but he didn’t want Lot to die.  Not only that, Abraham didn’t want Lot’s neighbors and the people in the cities to die.  What if there were more like Lot, too?  Maybe there were more people who put their faith in God.  Perhaps Lot was able to tell his friends about the promise!  [Visual 2.3]  So, Abraham decided to talk to God, while the two angels went on their way towards Sodom.

Abraham walked closer to where God stood.  “God, will you also destroy the righteous with the wicked people?  The ones who have put their faith in you?  Suppose there are 50 people in the city who have place their trust in you.  Will you destroy everyone, and not spare the city for the righteous people?  I know that you will not do such a thing, to destroy the believers with the unbelievers!  You are a Righteous Judge who makes good judgements, and You will always do right!” 

God answered Abraham “If I find 50 righteous people in Sodom, I will not destroy the city for their sakes.”

Abraham thought about it for a little while.  What if there were less than 50?  He knew there couldn’t be very many believers, because the city was just too full of wicked people doing very wicked things every day.  Abraham wanted to ask God again but was a little nervous.  He was talking to God Himself!  The Creator of everything!  So, Abraham said “God, I know I’m nobody.  I’m dust and ashes compared to You.  I don’t really deserve to even ask you this, but what if there are only 45 righteous people in Sodom.  Will you destroy it for 5 less people?”

God answered again “If I find 45 righteous people, I will not destroy it.”

Abraham must have sighed with relief.  But the more he thought about it, the more sad he became.  Surely there weren’t even 45 believers in Sodom.  And Lot would be destroyed with everyone.  So, he spoke again: “Maybe there are only 40 believers there.”  God reassured Abraham: “I will not destroy it for 40 believer’s sake.”

Abraham said a little bit later “God, don’t be angry with me, and I will speak again.  Suppose only 30 believers are in the city.”  Again, God said “I will not do it if I find 30 there.”

The more Abraham thought, the more worried he became.  So many people were going to die.  He knew they were wicked, but he also understood what would happen to them.  If they died rejecting God, they would go to hell forever.  With no hope of ever having their sins forgiven.  I’m sure Abraham was just hoping Lot had told the people around him about God.  And he wanted Lot to have more time to tell them, too!  So, Abraham said “I am not worthy, but I am going to pray to you, God, for them.  What if 20 believers are there.”  God once again answered.  “I will not destroy everyone for the sake of 20 believers.”  Still, Abraham was worried about Lot and the people of the city.  “God, don’t be angry, and I will speak only one more time.  What if ten believers are in the city?”  God once again said “I will not destroy the city for their sake.  For 10 believers.”  God is so GOOD!  He was willing to spare a whole city, and more, for the sake of only 10 people who put their faith in Him!  Even though the city was so very, very bad. 

After God finished speaking with Abraham, he walked off, and the Bible doesn’t tell us where He went.  But we know Abraham had been speaking to God for quite some time, because it doesn’t seem God ever went to Sodom.  Instead, Abraham spent the night asking for mercy for the believers and hoping for the wicked to become believers.  This story is a great example of how we should pray!  We should ask God to have mercy on others.  Not just believers, but also those who don’t believe.  If our friends, family, and neighbors die without ever accepting Jesus as the offering for our sins, they will die and go to hell.  We should pray as Abraham prayed.  He prayed with respect, but with urgency.  He asked God 6 times what He would do if there were believers found in the city.  He prayed almost all night it seems.  Then Abraham went home after praying and waited.  He waited to hear news of Lot and the city Lot called home.  Come back next week to find out what happens to Lot.

Now, let’s pray and thank God for loving His children so much, that He is willing to spare a whole city full of wickedness just for a small number of believers.  Let’s ask God to help us be better at praying for the lost, and for our brothers and sisters in the faith of Jesus.

Abraham 12: Sin in Sodom

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 19:1-29; Ezekiel 16: 48-50

The angels had left Abraham and God, who were talking about the city where they were going.  That city was Sodom.  The cries of all of the people who had been hurt by the people of Sodom had gone up to God, and God had come to judge Sodom for it’s sins.  Remember the sins of Sodom?  (Men marrying men, women marrying women, pride, forgetting the poor, rejecting God, etc.)  The angels arrived at the city gate, and found many men sitting at the city entrance.  This was very common in all the cities of that place and time.  The city gate was the most important place of the whole city.  There, the important men of the city would conduct their business.  Some of them would be judges in the complaints or fights of the citizens of the city.  We have courts for this, but the cities of that time would do this kind of thing at the city gate.  If you were an important man, you would surely be found at the city gate!  Visitors to a city often had to register at the city gate, especially if there was threat of attack!  I’m sure after King Chedorlaomer attacked Sodom and the other cities the visitors had to say exactly what they were doing there, and where they would be staying!  No one wanted spies from the enemy king to enter the city!  So the angels were at the city gate, and no one from Sodom had ever seen them.  I imagine the men began to whisper among themselves “Who are they?  Have you ever seen them before?”  “No!  They certainly don’t look like they come from around here! I wonder who they are, and what they want.”

Lot must have heard the whispering.  He looked up and saw the two angels, who looked like men.  Maybe he could sense they were special, because he stood up and walked over to them.  When he was in front of them, he bowed down and said “Important sirs, please come to my home where you will be my guest.  You can refresh yourself from your journey and wash your feet.  You can spend the night, and then tomorrow you can continue your journey.”

The two men replies “No, we will just stay the night in the city street.”

I think Lot must have been troubled when he heard this.  Lot knew that very bad things happened in the streets of Sodom, especially after dark.  He said something like “I insist!  You must stay with me in my house!  I can’t let you stay in the streets.  You must come with me!  I won’t be able to rest until you come home with me.”

So the two men, who were really angels, agreed to be Lot’s guests.  They arrived at Lot’s house and Lot made them dinner.  The men ate and were getting ready for bed when suddenly there was a loud pounding at the door. 

“Open up, Lot!  Where are the two men from the gate?  We know they came home with you!  We know they are in there!  Bring them out!  We want to know them!”

I think Lot and his family must have felt dread when they heard the pounding on the door, and the shouting outside.  They could hear that it wasn’t just one or two people at the door.  They were surrounded by the city men!  Young men, old men, and men in between!  There was a huge crowd outside!  All of them men from all over the city!  Lot’s heart sank.  He knew the men didn’t want to just meet the strangers to talk to them.  They wanted to hurt his guests.  And since they were guests in Lot’s house, he had to protect them, no matter what!  If you remember, it was a custom of that time and place that your guests were so very important.  You had to offer food even if you went without eating, a bed even if you had to sleep on the floor, and protection at the expense of your own safety.  Lot knew he had to do something before things got out of hand.

Lot opened the door and slipped out, closing the door behind him.  He must have been amazed at the number of men he saw.  He could from inside that it was a large crown, but when he saw how many men there were, he was amazed!  He knew these men.  They were no strangers.  They were neighbors and men he had done business with.  He had perhaps even eaten dinner or gone to special events with some of them.  He sat at the gate with some of them.  There were even judges and very important men there.  Lot looked them in the eyes and pleaded with them.  “Please don’t behave so wickedly!  You can’t hurt these men!”

I imagine the men just angrily stared back at Lot.  He could see the evil intentions they had.

“Look, I have two unmarried daughters.  I will bring them out here, and you can have them.  You can do whatever you want with them, but don’t hurt my guests.  They are under my protection, and I must protect them.”

WHAT???

Lot was offering his two daughters to a crowd of wicked, evil men!  Do you think this was right?

No!  Lot had spent so much time in Sodom, seeing such wicked things every day, that he couldn’t even think right anymore.  We can’t think that we can be around sin, but not be affected by it.  Lot was surely affected by all the sin he was around every day, and now he was offering a terrible thing to the men of the city. 

The men weren’t satisfied with this.  “STAND BACK!  LET US BY!” they shouted. 

Someone cried out “Who does this man think he is?  This stranger came to live in our city, and now he thinks he can be our judge by saying we are behaving wickedly!  Now we are going to do worse things to you than we will do to the two other men!”

The crowd of men rushed towards Lot and pressed him against his front door.  The door almost broke with the pressure of the men pressing against it.  I’m sure they were trying to break it down to get at the strangers and Lot. 

All of a sudden, the door opened, and the angels reached out to grab Lot and pull him inside.  They shut the door, and then the angels made all the men at the door blind. 

I wish I could say that the men became scared, went home, and prayed to God for forgiveness.

This is not what happened.  They were so full of wickedness that they STILL tried to find the door to break it down and hurt the men inside.  All they could think about was how much fun they could have hurting the men.  They only thought about themselves, and what they wanted.

And they wanted it so badly that not even angels making them ALL blind was going to stop them.  Thankfully, God was protecting Lot and his family, and none of the men could find the door.

All of this terribly, terrible sin was not uncommon in Sodom.  The people did things like this ALL the time.  They only thought about their own pleasure, no matter what kind of sin they had to commit to get it.  That is why God was going to destroy it. 

I am so thankful that God is a good judge of sin.  He loves us too much to let sin go without being punished.  Many innocent people are hurt by many different sins.  We all sin, and we all must be judged.  It is what is right.

I’m also SO THANFUL that one day, Jesus took all the sins of the world and paid the price for them.  God judged sin that day, when Jesus was on the cross.   Jesus gave himself to God, the Judge, and took the punishment for those sins, so that we don’t have to take the punishment for sin.  Our punishment is separation from God forever.  But Jesus died for us, so we don’t have to suffer separation from God in hell.  If we accept Jesus as God’s Son who died for us, we are forgiven! 

Does that mean we never have consequences for sin?  No!  Just like Lot had many problems in his life because of his sins, and even Abraham had consequences in his life from sin, we have consequences.  But we are forgiven of the punishment of separation from God in hell.

God is good to judge!

For sure, God judged Sodom and the sins they committed.  We will see what happens to Lot and his family next week.

Abraham 13: Sodom is Destroyed

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 19:1-29; Ezequiel 16: 48-50

"Lot, if you have someone you care about in this city, take him and get out of here! God has sent us to destroy Sodom because the cry of the innocent has been very strong, and God will judge it. Get your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, anyone you have in town and go! "

Lot hastened to find his sons-in-law. I believe these are the men who were engaged to marry Lot's daughters. In this time and place, a fiancé could be called a husband, even if they had not yet had the wedding.  Lot said: “You have to come with me! God is going to judge Sodom for their sins, and we must get out of here!

The sons-in-law began to laugh. "Hahaha! Lot, what have you been drinking? Are you talking about God now? Listen to Lot! He must have gone to a crazy church, or something. He says God will destroy Sodom because we sinned too much! Hahaha! God has never bothered us before, Lot, why does he bother us now? Is he even real?"

The sons-in-law did not believe Lot. They thought he was joking. How sad that they didn't even seem to know that Lot was a Christian.

Lot went home and slept through the night. At dawn the angels said, “Get up, Lot! Take your wife and two daughters with you and go. Go before you are destroyed with the rest of the city. "

Lot must have been thinking about everything that was leaving. He had such a nice house. He was an important man and he was important enough to sit at the gates of the city and make decisions about the city. He also had a lot of money. He must have regretted leaving, because the Bible says that instead of running out of his house as fast as he could, to escape judgment, he was still waiting there. The angels had to grab his hand, his wife's hand, and his daughters' hands to get them out of the city! God was being merciful to Lot. Lot was still disobeying, but God was good and kind in causing his angels to lead him away from judgment. He also cared for them because of Abraham's prayer. God is very patient with us. But as we see, God cannot be patient forever. He must judge sin, or he would not be a good God.

The angels told Lot "Escape for your lives! Do not look behind you or stay anywhere on this plain. Go to the mountains, to be safe from destruction."

Lot STILL had trouble obeying!

He said: "Oh no! Please gentlemen, you have been merciful to me, but I can't go to the mountains because something bad could happen to me and I will die! Let me go to that nearby little town called Zoar. It's just a little town!"

He was worried that something bad MAY happen in the mountains, but something bad was DEFINITELY going to happen in the surrounding cities.

God was once again merciful. The angel said, “I will show mercy again and let you go there. I will not destroy that city for your sake. Hurry, because there is nothing I can do until you are safe there. "

Lot and his family rushed to the nearby town of Zoar. Along the way, Lot's wife must have been thinking about everything she left behind in Sodom. She had one of the prettiest houses in her neighborhood! She had also become important in the city. I imagine she started whispering to Lot "This is crazy. How can we drop everything we have? What? Are we going to start over? We have nothing! We have no home, no herds, no wagons ...We won't be important in Zoar. Nobody knows us. I can't do this. I'm going back home ... "

Lot and his daughters must have tried to get her to stay with them, but nothing they said would change her mind. She turned and headed for Sodom. When she did this, God judged her by making her into a statue of salt!  She never made it back home alive.  So, Lot and their two daughters sadly went ahead without her, and when they entered Zoar's gate, God began His judgment of the cities in the plains.

Lot and her two daughters heard a loud thunderous sound. And then another "boom", and another. I imagine the ground began to shake from the force of the explosions. Smoke began to rise from the area. It was as if rockets and grenades were exploding all over the city. But they had no rockets or grenades at that point in history. It was a work of God. He was sending fire and great rocks of sulfur from the sky. When sulfur rocks catch fire, they create smoke that is very poisonous to breathe. Sulfur dust, and dust from the impact of the falling rocks, began to cover all surfaces. The ashes from the fires also began to swirl. People were immediately covered with sulfur dust, earth dust and ashes from the fires.

The destruction was all over Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities in the plain. Zoar was safe, but there must have been a panic in the city. Runs! We are going to die! " Someone shouted. "Calm down! We are safe! God will protect us!" Lot yelled, but no one paid any attention to him.

Abraham got up that morning in the tent away from him and walked outside thinking about Lot. He wondered if he was safe. Abraham looked across the land and saw smoke covering a large area where the plain used to be. It looked like a giant furnace with smoke reaching into the clouds. You could probably even smell the sulfur from far away. Do you know what sulfur smells like? Rotten eggs!

I'm sure Lot and his daughters could smell it because they were close. They heard the screams of people far away, and then the burning sounds of buildings and trees. It looked like what we see when there is a war. Buildings falling everywhere and smoke in the air.

God was judging the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities. God takes sin very seriously. He is perfect and cannot sin. He cannot be near sin. And the people had sinned very, very wickedly. God knew if he didn't judge it, it would only get worse. Some people think that over time, people can grow to be better and do fewer bad things. They just need time to improve. They can do it on their own, or perhaps with support groups. But the Bible tells us that no one can improve themselves. We need God to forgive us of our sins. That is why Jesus died on the cross. After accepting Jesus, we need the Holy Spirit to change our hearts. We cannot do it ourselves. We cannot follow many rules and automatically be good Christians. (Although rules are not bad.) But the Holy Spirit lives in all who accept Jesus, and He is the one who changes our hearts. He reminds us that when we are doing something wrong, we should not do that. He tells us that we must be nice to others. He uses the Bible to teach us how to be more and more like Jesus. This is what God wants. He wants the Holy Spirit to change us so that we are more loving like Jesus, so that when other people see the change in us, they want to know about HIM.

Then we can tell others about the wonderful forgiveness we have through Jesus!

Let us pray and thank God for sending the Holy Spirit to those who accept Jesus. Let us ask for God's help to listen to the teachings of the Holy Spirit so that we can be more loving like Jesus.

Abraham 14: A Baby!

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 21:1-7

 “Sarah, it’s time for the nurse to come stay in your tent.  You are getting too big to bend over and pick things up if you drop them.  You can’t even get out of your seat without help!  You need help with you all the time.  I’ll feel better when I’m out supervising the servants and herds.”

Abraham was watching his wife as she slowly walked outside to sit under the shade tree.  It was hot, and she was trying to cool off.  Her tummy was so big now! 

Abraham was remembering another hot day about one year ago.  He had been sitting in his tent door trying to cool off from the heat, too.  He was interrupted by three visitors.  Do you remember who they were?

(God and two angels!)  After Abraham fixed dinner for his guests, God told him that in one year he was going to give them a baby!  Sarah overheard this and laughed to herself in disbelief. [Visual 2.2]  She was FAR TOO OLD to have a baby.  In fact, she was so old that it was now impossible to have a baby.  Her body just didn’t work like that anymore.

God knew she laughed in disbelief and told her so.  Did she come clean with God and admit to laughing and disbelieving?  No!  She lied!

But God kept his promise, and one year later, a baby was born!  GOD KEPT HIS PROMISE!  After all of the waiting and doubting.  After all of the mistakes both Abraham and Sarah had made!  And they made even more mistakes, and failed God even more than we have mentioned in class.  God didn’t say “Well, I don’t feel like keeping my promise now.  Neither Sarah and Abraham deserve my blessings.  They don’t deserve to have a baby.  I just can’t use them…they aren’t good enough.”

I’m so glad God didn’t say this!  It was true that they weren’t good enough.  It was true that they didn’t deserve God’s blessings.  None of us do!  But God ALWAYS keeps His promises!  I am SO SO SO SO glad!  Because God kept His promise to Abraham, all the world has been blessed!  How?  Jesus would one day leave his nice, comfortable, perfect home in heaven to come to earth as a baby.  He would put on skin and bones of a human man, and live and die to pay for the sins of the whole world!  Even Abraham and Sarah’s sins!  And he would come as a part of Abraham’s family!  How cool is that?!

Sarah was old, but when the baby had grown to just the right size in the safety of her tummy, it was time for him to be born.  It was painful for Sarah to have a baby.  And perhaps even more painful than it was for most young women to have a baby.  But the baby was born, and everyone was healthy and happy!

As Abraham looked on in pride at his new son, Sarah began to laugh.  This time, it wasn’t in disbelief.  It was out of joy!  She was so happy that she just couldn’t help herself!  I am a mom!

Abraham heard Sarah laugh and was reminded that he, too, laughed when God told him he would have a son with Sarah.

Maybe that is why Abraham and Sarah decided to name the baby Isaac.  It means “He will laugh”.  Sarah said “God has made ME to laugh with joy, and everyone who hears our story will laugh with joy!”  [Visual 3.1] 

Abraham and Sarah had learned an important lesson.  If God would keep His promise to give a 100-year-old man and a 90-year-old woman a baby of their own, He could do anything!  And He was a God who keeps His word!  They thought about the other promises God made.  He would bless the WHOLE world through them!  How? God himself would take the punishment for sin!  They still didn’t know exactly how it would happen, because it wouldn’t be until OVER 1700 YEARS LATER that Jesus would come to earth as a baby!  But they believed it would happen.  They believed God.  I’m sure they told everyone who came near them about their baby.  They wanted people to hear how God did a miracle to give old people a son.  But I’m sure they also wanted to tell people that someday the world would be blessed.  Someday God would pay for sin.

Do you believe God?  Do you believe His promises are true?  Do you believe Jesus is the only way to heaven?  I sure hope so!  If you have any questions, talk to me after class.  I will be happy to help you!

As Abraham and Sarah were spending their days holding the new baby, laughing at the funny faces he made, and rocking him to sleep at night, there were other people in the family not so happy.

We will hear more about it next week.

Let’s thank God for keeping his promises now. 

Abraham 15: Jealousy

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 21:1-7

“I’m 14 years old now.  A man!  I deserve to be the focus of my father’s attention!”

Ishmael was complaining to his mother, Hagar.  Ever since Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah, things were different around the house.  Before, Abraham had all the time in the world that Ishmael wanted.  They went out hunting and checking on the herds of animals.  Ishmael learned how to take care of a household from his dad.  I’m sure Abraham also taught Ishmael about God, and how to make the correct sacrifices to God.  I believe that while he was home with his father, he followed along in his father’s religion.  He probably only listened half-heartedly when Abraham talked about God.  I think he watched as Abraham made the sacrifices, but never felt deep interest in having his sins forgiven.  He was comfortable as the only son for 14 happy years. 

Now there was a baby boy taking away the attention of his father.  That annoying little baby who cried every 3 hours in the middle of the night.  Everyone who came to visit them gushed about that baby.  That’s all they could talk about!  Isaac, Isaac, Isaac.  Ishmael was so sick of hearing about him.  “The son of promise.”  He lost count of how many times he heard people talking about Isaac as the “son of promise.”  He thought he would scream if he heard it one more time.  “I’M THE OLDEST SON of Abraham!  I should be the son of promise!  I should get all of the inheritance!” he thought.  A year passed, and Isaac was still the annoying baby, only now he was crawling all over the place.  Ishmael was more annoyed than ever before.  Another year passed, and now the baby was a toddler of 2 years old.  He chattered non-stop!  He got on every last nerve of Ishmael.  I imagine Ishmael spent more and more time in the fields hunting with his bow and arrow.  At least another year passed, or probably two.  Now Isaac was no longer a baby.  Ishmael was no longer 14.  He was around 18 or 19 now.  But he still couldn’t stand his half-brother.  I imagine over the years he teased him and annoyed him.  Perhaps he hid his toys from him.  He probably knocked him over when no one was looking. 

Now, Abraham and Sarah had decided to throw a party for Isaac to celebrate that he was no longer a baby.  They made plans for days, talking about the food they would serve, the games they would play, and the people they would invite. 

On the day of the party, the guests arrived, and the excitement began.  Sometime during the party though, Sarah noticed that Isaac had wandered off.  She began to search for him and found him outside with Ishmael.  I imagine Ishmael’s friends were there as well. 

Ishmael didn’t see Sarah, and he began to talk to his friends.  “Oh, look at the dumb little thing!  He’s too ugly to be my brother.  He’s not very smart.  I hid his lamb the other day and he couldn’t find it, so he ran home crying to his mommy like a little baby!  They should have thrown this party to celebrate how dumb he is!”  Ishmael spoke in such a hateful way about his half-brother that it was clear to everyone that he hated the little child.

Sarah was infuriated!  She grabbed Isaac and found Abraham.  “I need to speak to you in private.” She said.  Once they had some privacy, Sarah said “I’ve had all I’m going to take from that young man, Ishmael.  He has spoken hatefully about our son for the last time.  I have ignored some of the teasing, and thought it was just passing jealousy.  But it’s clear now that Ishmael has hatred in his heart for our son.  Send Hagar and Ishmael away.  He will not have any of Isaac’s inheritance.  Isaac is your heir, not the son of an Egyptian slave!”

Abraham was devastated by this.  He loved Ishmael very much.  Even though Abraham and Sarah had done wrong by making a plan to have a baby on their own, through a slave, Abraham had loved Ishmael because he was still his son.  He tried to teach him about God and about life.  He couldn’t stand the thought of sending Ishmael away.  I’m sure he went to bed that night and tossed and turned thinking about how to handle the family troubles.  God spoke to Abraham once again, though!  “Abraham, this time, do what Sarah asks of you.  Send Hagar and Ishmael away, because Isaac is the son that I promised you.  I will also make a great nation of Ishmael because he is your son, but Isaac is the son that I will bless the world through.”

Abraham must have felt relieved.  This time, God was promising to take care of Ishmael, even though he wasn’t the son promised to him.  Abraham understood that God wanted to use Isaac, because only God could have provided Isaac as a son to Abraham and Sarah.  They were too old to have had a son on their own.  Ishmael was the son that Abraham and Sarah had tried to get on their own, without waiting on God.  God didn’t want anyone to say, “Abraham was able to bless the world on his own.”  God wanted everyone to know that it was HIM and Him only that can bless the world and send a Savior to die for sins.  That is why Isaac was the son of promise, and not Ishmael.   Ishmael was the son of works…Abraham tried to work it out himself.

So, Abraham knew he had to obey God.  In the morning, Abraham prepared some food and water, and said to Hagar “You must take Ishmael and go.  You are free now, no longer a slave.”  This meant that, because she was now a free woman and was leaving, her son no longer had right to be an heir.  Abraham was trusting that God would take care of them and send them away.  I imagine he reminded them that God was faithful and would keep His word to care for Ishmael. 

Hagar took her son, and they began to walk back to her home country.  Egypt.  Egypt was a very long ways away, and it was very hot and dry.  We don’t know how long they walked, but they walked a long way.  Their water was long gone by now.  They were both out of strength and were so thirsty they felt it from their head to their toes.  Hagar told Ishmael to sit under a shade tree, and she walked a little way away to sit down.  “I can’t watch my son die, so I will sit over here.” She thought.  She couldn’t help herself.  She began to cry.  She knew they were going to die soon and couldn’t stand the thought of her son dying.  He was so young and healthy.  He had his whole life ahead of him.  So, she cried and cried.  Ishmael began to cry as well.  He hated to see his mother suffering. 

But God heard and knew the pain they both felt in their hearts and in their bodies.  God said to Hagar “What’s wrong, Hagar?  Don’t be afraid.  God hears your sons cries.  Get up and take your son’s hand.  I will make a great nation out of him.”  Then God helped Hagar by “opening her eyes” or helping her see something she didn’t see before.  It was a well!  She had passed right by it!  They filled their water bottle up and drank as much as they could stand.  They survived that day, and they survived many more with God’s help.  God watched over them, just as he promised.  God made a very big family out of Ishmael.  He had sons and daughters, and grandsons and granddaughters.  Some of his descendants are still living!  Many people in the Arab nations are from the family of Ishmael.  Sadly, most do not worship the one, True God of Abraham.  They do not believe Jesus is God’s Son who died for our sins and rose again. 

God kept His promise, even though He knew Ishmael and his family would not trust in Him.  We must pray that God will send people to tell his descendants about Jesus so they can have their sins forgiven!

Let’s pray and thank God for keeping His promise, even when He knows we will fail Him.

Abraham 16: Obedience

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:17-19

“Abraham, look at Isaac!  He’s grown so big in these last years!  It seems like just yesterday that I was holding him in my arms.” Sarah said to her husband.

“It’s true, Sarah!  The time has gone so quickly since God gave us our baby boy.  Now he is a young man!  I thank God every day for keeping His promise.  I can’t wait to see how God will bless the whole earth through our family!” Abraham replied.

“Yes!  It is exciting to think of!  I wonder when it will happen.  We are getting so old; I wonder if we will even be here to see it…” said Sarah. 

[Visual 3.1]  Many years had passed since they had the baby Isaac.  They had learned a lot about God and His goodness.  He surely is a forgiving God!  They remembered the many mistakes they made, and the sins they committed.  But they also remembered that by putting their trust in God and accepting that He would send someone to die for their sins, they had their sins forgiven! 

It must have been a day when Abraham was remembering God’s goodness when God once again spoke to Abraham.  “Abraham…” 

When Abraham heard his name, he knew who it was immediately. 

“Here I am…” he said.

“Abraham, take your son, your only son Isaac, who you love so dearly.  Go to the land called Moriah and offer him as a burnt sacrifice on one of the mountains there.  I will tell you which mountain.”

I often wonder if Abraham’s heart stopped beating for a moment.  His son!  Isaac!  God had used the words “your only son”.  God knew about Ishmael, for He knows everything, and He had promised to take care of him and bless him.  But in God’s eyes, Isaac was the son of Abraham, because Isaac was the son that only God had provided.  Now, God was asking Abraham to kill him and burn his body as a sacrifice!  Since the beginning, God had taught Adam and Eve that the only right sacrifice was a blood sacrifice, and that they had to use an animal.  Now was God demanding human blood?  Abraham must have spent several minutes trying to understand what God was doing.  God is a Just God, who always makes right decisions.  Abraham must have wondered how this was going to be a right decision.  The sacrifice of a person!

I don’t imagine he ever came to an answer on how this would be the right thing to do, humanly speaking.  We aren’t supposed to kill people! [Visual 1.8] But Abraham began to think about the first time God spoke to him back in his hometown of Ur.  He remembered all the times God made promises to him.  God had fulfilled those promises.  God had blessed Abraham with a lot of money!  He had so many servants he could fight an army!  He had thousands of animals, and he even had a son with Sarah, in their very, very old age!  God had done all of that.  And God had promised to bless the world through Isaac, his son.  So, God was somehow going to do it, even if it meant God had to bring Isaac back to life!

The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that Abraham decided to trust God with Isaac’s life.  He knew that no matter what, God would keep his promise, even if God had to raise Isaac from the dead.

So, Abraham began to prepare for the trip to the land of Moriah, which was not a quick journey!  Abraham told his servants to get supplies together, and he himself went to chop the wood he would need for the sacrifice.  He didn’t tell anyone what God told him, he just obeyed.

[Visual 4.1] Early the next morning, before the sunrise, he got two of his young servants, his donkey, and Isaac, and they prepared to go.  “Isaac, we are going to Moriah to make a sacrifice to God.”  Isaac wasn’t surprised by this.  He had seen the sacrifices of the lambs before.  Abraham taught him all about Adam, Eve, sin, and how to have your sins forgiven with God.  So, the four of them began their journey.  They traveled for three days before they even got to the land of Moriah.  They must have been very tired by then!  That third day, Abraham looked up and saw a mountain.  It was the mountain God told him about.  Abraham turned to his two servants and said “You two wait here with the donkey and the supplies.  My son and I will go up the mountain and worship God, and then we will come back down.”

How Abraham’s faith had grown over the years!

Abraham was going up the mountain to kill his son and offer him as a sacrifice!  But he told his servants that they would both return down the mountain.

[Visual 4.2] Abraham told Isaac “I have the fire on this torch here.  You must carry the wood for the sacrifice.”  Then the father and son began the climb up the mountain.  Isaac noticed something was missing after they began the climb.  “Father!  Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?  We have the fire and wood, but we forgot the lamb!” 

Abraham looked at his son and said, “God will provide the lamb for the offering.” 

When they reached the top of the mountain, Abraham built the alter, put the wood on it, and then I imagine he told Isaac “God has asked me to sacrifice you, son.  I trust God, and I trust He will save you from the fire and bring you back to life.” [Visual 4.3]  Isaac had heard all about God from his parents, so he obeyed his father, and Abraham tied his hands and laid Isaac on the wood.  Even though Abraham trusted God, I imagine this was the hardest thing Abraham had ever done.  He loved Isaac, and his son was everything to him!  But Abraham knew trusting God was more important than how we feel.  With tears in his eyes, Abraham lifted the knife to kill Isaac.  Just as he lifted the knife, God spoke once more!  “Abraham!  Abraham!”

With a sigh of relief Abraham said, “I am here, God!”

“Abraham don’t kill your son, or even hurt him with the knife.  Now I know you love and respect Me more than anything in the world, because you didn’t hold back your beloved son from me.  You were willing to sacrifice everything for me.”

Abraham and Isaac both must have rejoiced in their hearts. [Visual 4.4]   As Abraham looked up, his heart was even more glad.  A ram!  A ram was just a few feet away!  He had his horns caught in a bush and was stuck!  This was the sacrifice God was providing as a substitute for his son.  God sent that ram to that bush at just the right time.  God truly did provide His own sacrifice.

Abraham and Isaac both worshipped God on that mountain.  They were reminded of the promise that God would send someone to die for sins someday.  [Visual 4.5]

Just as God provided the ram as the substitute for Isaac, God would send HIS OWN SON!  God the Son would be the substitute for us!  We never have to kill any animals for sin, and we don’t have to suffer separation from God because of our sins.  Jesus died on the cross thousands of years later, for the sins of the whole world!

What a beautiful picture in the life of Abraham.  God showed Abraham and Isaac that He would provide the sacrifice for sins someday.  He would provide HIMSELF!  Have you put your trust in that sacrifice on the cross?  If you want to know how, ask me after the class is over.

Abraham learned that God is worth trusting!  He always keeps His word.  We can trust God, and His word, the Bible.  Even when we don’t understand everything God is doing in our lives; we can trust Him.  He deserved our trust!  If you are going through a hard time in your life, and you find it hard to trust God, pray to Him and ask Him to help you.  He can help us trust!  That is why He sent the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Jesus.

Let’s pray and thank God for the example of faith that Abraham had in God, and for providing the substitute for our sins, Jesus!

Abraham 17: A Wife

This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 24: 1-66

“Isaac, you are a grown man now, and I am a VERY old man.  I would love to see you get married and start a family before I go on to heaven.  I know your mother wanted to see you married, but she has gone on to heaven before me.  I will call my servant and we will get to work on finding you a wife.”

Abraham was very old, around 137 years old, and I imagine he spent most of his days inside his tent lying down or sitting on soft furs. His wife Sarah had already died, even though she was 10 years younger than him.  Now, he called for his most trusted servant, who had helped him for many, many years.  We don’t know for sure what his name was, but it might have been his servant Eliezer who was born as a servant to Abraham many years before.  “I want you to make a promise.  You must swear that you will find a wife for Isaac, my son.  I am too old to do it, and I trust that you will do a good job.  She can’t be just any wife.  God promised to bless the world through my son, and his wife must be a good one.  Don’t pick a wife from this land.  None of these people around us know the true God.  They worship false gods.  Go and find my family.  My brother Nahor stayed in Ur when I left.  He has had many children, and grandchildren.  Nahor didn’t follow the true God when I left, but maybe he has told his children about God since then.  You must find a wife from this family.”

Abraham’s servant began to think about the request.  “What if I go and find a wife that is good for Isaac, but she won’t come all this way back with me.  It is a long, long trip!  She might not want to leave her family and go so far away from her home.  Do I take Isaac back there to live with her?”

Abraham was very quick to answer.  “Absolutely not!  God has promised this land to my descendants!  You must never take Isaac there!  Promise!  I know God will guide you to the right woman for my son.  If she refuses to come back, you have done your best, and you are free from the promise.”

The servant promised that  he would do all that Abraham had asked.  He began to prepare for the long, hard trip.  He got together a few of the other servants and said “we must go on a long trip.  Get 10 of our master Abraham’s best camels ready and get some of the jewelry and gold that is his, and we will go look for a wife for Isaac.”  The servants got everything ready and began the long trip.  I wonder how the head servant must have been felling on the journey.  He didn’t know exactly where to find Abraham’s family.  It had been over 60 years since Abraham had left his brother in Ur.  Ur was a very big city with many people back then, and it was probably even bigger by now!  What if Nahor had moved to a different city?  How would he ever track them down.  It could take years of searching!  But God was guiding the servants all along.  After what must have been weeks of traveling, the servant was just outside the city that he thought Nahor and his family were living in.  It was evening time, and I am sure that the servant was tired.  Tired of walking, tired of the smell of camels, tired of dust covering his clothes, just tired!  He made the camels lay down by the well of water to rest, and he began to pray to God in a quiet voice, just as he had seen his master do for years and years.  “Oh God of my master Abraham, help me be successful today in finding a wife for Isaac.  Show kindness to Abraham by helping me.  Here is the well of water for the city, and soon the young ladies of the city will come out to fill their pitchers with the water.  I will say to a young lady “please give me something to drink from your pitcher.”  God, let the young lady that says “here, take a drink from my pitcher, and I will even get some water for your camels to drink” be the wife for Isaac.  By this, I will know that you have been kind to Abraham once again.”

Before the servant could even finish his prayer, a young woman had arrived at the well to draw water for her family.  She had her large pitcher on her shoulder, and as she was putting it on the ground near the well to fill it, the servant noticed how beautiful she was.  She was very beautiful!  She had filled her pitcher and was putting back on her shoulder by the time the tired servant ran over to talk to her.  “Please, young lady.  I am thirsty.  Can I have a small drink from your pitcher?”

The young lady replied “here!  Drink, sir!” and gave him a drink.  She must have noticed how tired and dusty the servant was, because when he had finished drinking, she said “wait here, and I will get some water for your camels, also!”  She then poured all the water in her pitcher into the animal trough that was near the well, so the camels could easily drink.  She kept filling her pitcher and emptying it into the trough until the camels had more than enough to drink.  This would have taken a very long time, as camels can drink a LOT of water at a time!  As he stood watching her, the servant was shocked and was wondering to himself “Is this really happening?  Is this who God want’s Isaac to marry?”  He got some jewelry out of a camel pack for the young lady, and asked “whose daughter, are you?  Do you and your family have room for us to stay the night, and do you have straw for our camels to eat?”  He showed her the jewelry to show her that they could pay for their rooms and food. 

The young lady replied “I am Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, who is the son of Nahor and his wife Milcah.  We have plenty of room for you and your servants, and we have plenty of straw for your camels.”

Abraham’s servant was stunned!  I often wonder if he really expected God to answer his prayer when he prayed before.  Sometimes, we are the same.  We ask God for something, but we doubt that he can or will answer us with a yes.  But God had answered him before he even finished praying!  Here was the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother! 

The servant bowed his head right there and began worshipping the Lord.  He said out loud “Blessed be the God of my master Abraham!  He hasn’t withheld mercy and truth from Abraham.  He has given it freely!  God led me all the way here, to the house of my master’s brother!”

When Rebekah heard that he was the servant of Abraham, her great-uncle, she ran home as fast as she could.  “You won’t believe this!  Great-uncle Abraham’s servant is at the city well!!!  He says Abraham’s God led him here to us!”  Rebekah’s brother Laban, who was now the head of the house, ran out to meet him.  “Come to the house with me!  I have prepared the rooms for you, and the straw for the camels!”  When they got there, they washed the servants tired, dirty feet, and fed the camels.  Laban told the head servant to eat the food that was prepared for them, but he said “first, I must tell why I am here!”  The servant told his story, and that he was there to find a wife for Isaac, Abraham’s son.  He told them how God had led him to Rebekah and asked if Rebekah would go back to the land God promised Abraham with him.  Laban and his mother both agreed.  Since the God of Abraham had made it clear that He had led the servant to Rebekah, they could not say no.  Rebekah was to be Isaac’s wife.  Abraham’s servant brought out jewelry, gold, and gems to give as a present to Rebekah.  He also gave many valuable things to Laban and their mother as a gift.  The next morning, Rebekah and her maids left with Abraham’s most trusted servant  to travel back to Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac were waiting.  God had a special purpose for Rebekah.  He made it very clear that He was the one who chose Isaac’s wife.  God is so good to guide us and help us.  Have you ever asked God to guide you?  At times, we ask for God’s guidance, and it seems God doesn’t answer us.  Really, God HAS answered us, but we didn’t like the answer.  God says “no” sometimes.  He guides us away from where we want to go, because He knows best and is protecting us from what we cannot see or understand.  God says “yes” sometimes, as he said yes to Abraham’s servant, even before he finished praying for help!  God says “wait” sometimes, as He made Abraham wait for years before giving him a son.  When God say’s “wait”, it is usually because we are not ready, and God must prepare us for the “yes” answer.

But God has shown us through Abraham’s life that He is worth trusting!  God can and will guide us, be we must be willing to follow.  Are you willing to follow?  Ask God to help you follow Him as He guides you.  Let’s pray and thank God for His love and guidance.