Good evening.  (Talk about Nellie making National and no Wednesday bible study next week.)  Well, before we begin, let’s just open with a word of prayer.

Well, last week I told you to read the rest of Genesis 9, 10, 11, 12.  Tonight, I want to start by taking a brief look at the rest of chapter 9.  Before we get started, I have a couple of questions.  What fruits or vegetables have you grown?

Okay, what are some of your favorite recopies for enjoying the fruits of your labor?

Well let’s go ahead and read the rest of chapter 9:18-29.  Whoever has that first key, go ahead.  (READ)

From this passage, what is your impression of Noah?

What is your impression of his sons?

What do you think is the point of including this passage in the Bible?

Well, I think that it shows the Guild that Noah must have felt.  Imagine as it says in II Peter 2:5, Noah, a “preacher of righteousness,” who was over 600 years old getting drunk!  Ham should have grieved over his father’s sin, not gloated over them.  His brothers however, did what love always does.  Love covers all sins, and that is what they did for their father.

Noah’s words must not be interpreted to mean that certain races are inferior and destined to be enslaved. In fact, history shows that some of Canaan’s descendants were mighty nations with great empires.  For that matter, even the Jews, the descendants of Shem, have had their share of captivity.  His words were simply a prophecy, the sin of Ham would be visited on his son Canaan.  Shem would have God’s blessing and Japheth would multiply and would worship the God of Shem.

Why did God curse Canaan for his father’s actions?

How has your life been affected by the mistakes of your parents?

How has your life been affected by the success of your parents?

In verse 22 it seems as if Ham was mocking his father.  Why is mocking your father so serious even today?

What should he have done instead?

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Well, if there is nothing else, let’s move on to chapter 10.  I hope that you read through chapter 10 on your own just as a way of connecting the names together, but we are not going to spend time reading over this chapter, because there really is no different point that we can pull out of it other than the ones that we did back when we looked at the other genealogies.  However, there are a few comments that I would like to make regarding this section.

From Noah’s 3 sons, God made a new beginning in human history.  He set apart Shem to be His special channel of blessings., and it was through Shem that Abraham, the father of the Jewish nations was born (11:10).

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Well if there is nothing else, we can move on to the next section of scripture.  Before we read that key though, let me ask you: What foreign languages can you speak or understand?

Okay, now let’s go ahead and read the next key.  The 2^nd key covers 11:1-9, so go ahead and read that key.  (READ)

It was common in the ancient world to build towers which were seen as staircases from earth to Heaven.  In this story, the human race attempts to take destiny into its own hands.  The people want their human kingdom to replace and exclude the kingdom of God.  If they were allowed to continue, there would be no limit to their rebellion against God.  So God decided to stop it here.

Now, the word “Babel” means confusion.  And throughout the Biblical records we find that many times Babylon will appear as the enemy of God’s people.  So God confused them in their language.  No one could understand what the other was saying.  What do you think was God’s primary purpose in confusing their language?  (Keep them from uniting and building this tower that would remove God from their lives?)

What can we learn about God’s judgment and mercy here in this passage?

Now this was a small passage, so I want to go ahead and jump into some application questions.  These questions will be a bit more on the personal side so that you can relate to the passage and apply it to your own lives.

How do you typically respond when God scatters your plans?

Okay, in Babel, they were being united in a purpose that involved building this tower.  When God caused them to speak in different languages, that unity was broken.  My question is: How is unity in Christ different from the unity that was in Babel?

Now this next question is personal, and so if you would like to answer it out loud fell free to, but if you would rather just think about it to yourself, that is fine.  But, Where are you feeling scattered or confused today?  And then why might that be?

Hopefully, it is not because you are trying to do things on you own.  As you figure things out in your life, I encourage you to take it to God and allow Him to do with things what He sees best.  Otherwise, all of your plans and all of your actions one day may be scattered just like the people back in Babel.

Now, does anyone have anything else that they would like to add about this section?

Well, if there is nothing else, what I want to do now, is skip over verses 10-32 and move on to the next chapter.  The reason for jumping over this passage is to save some time, and for the simple fact that there are only so many lessons that can be taught on genealogies.  I hope that as you read this week that you read over this section just for your own benefit to know some of the names and see the family lines.  Now before we go to chapter 12, does anyone have anything they would like to add about the last part of chapter 11?

Before we move on, what do or did you hope to be doing at age 75?

Well, let’s go ahead and jump right into this passage, and let’s go ahead and read the next 2 keys.  They will cover Genesis 12:1-20.  So go ahead.  (READ)

What command and promises does God give to Abram?

And with what qualifications does God give these?

Abram grew up in Mesopotamia in a place called Ur.  While still living there, the Lord called him to leave Ur and go to a land that God would show him.  Abram’s wife Sarai, his father Terah and his nephew Lot left Ur with him.  However, the group settled in Haran.  When Terah died, Abram set out again.  This time Abram travels to Canaan, where God would later change his name to Abraham, which means father of many.  God would also make him the founder of the Jewish people.

What do you think was the real reason that Abram was willing to pick up and take off into the unknown?

Then when he comes to the promised land, only to find a famine, how do you think he was feeling about God’s promises?

Well, maybe you can see yourself in this story at some point, and maybe not.  Hopefully all of us when asked to do something challenging by God will accept and go through with it just like Abram.  Now before we end this evening, I have 4 things that I would like to point out about this chapter.

First, God’s Word leads to faith.  As we look at verses 1-3 we see the power of God’s Word.  In Joshua 24:2 we find that Abram was an idolater when God called him revealed His glory to him and spoke to him.  Abram turned from his vain idols and decided to walk with the Lord.  The hearing of the word of God creates faith in people and it should cause a true change in them as well.

Second, in verses 4-6 we find that Faith leads to obedience.  In Hebrews 11:8 it states, “By faith Abraham obeyed.”  I will show you, I will make you, I will bless you were God’s promises, and Abram believed.  It has well been said that faith is not believing in spite of evidence, it is obeying in spite of consequences.  The proof of faith is obedience.  As you read James 2:14 you will find that true faith always leads to works of obedience as well.

The third thing is in verses 7-9, and that is that Obedience leads to blessing.  We are told nothing about the journey, which must have been very difficult; but we are told that God met Abram when he arrived and gave him a new promise.  God always goes before us and has His Word ready to encourage us.  From now on, Abram’s life will be marked by the presence of the blessings of God.

And finally this evening, Blessings lead to testing.  The rest of this chapter we find that faith is always tested for at leas 3 reasons.  One to prove whether our faith is real, two to help our faith grow, and three to bring glory to the Lord.  That is in I Peter 1:6-9 and James 1:1-8.  Imagine a famine in the very land that God led him.  We can be in the will of God and still suffer trials.

Now as we close, God gives blessings to each of us so that we can be a blessing to others.  God’s blessings are not luxuries, they are opportunities for you to bless others.

Before we close, does anyone have anything that they would like to add?

Well if there is nothing else, I will close with a word of prayer, and then we won’t meet next week, but for the following week, try and read through Genesis chapters 13-15.

Let’s Pray