1/8 Genesis 15

Happy New Year Brothers and Sisters,
We will start our 2010 Bible Study with Genesis Chapter 15


Genesis Chapter 15
The promises in the covenant

Abraham's faith in God's promises was regarded as an act of righteousness. Simply to say, Abraham expressed the "right" attitude of man toward God. That is trusting God with all your mind and all your hart. In return, God credited this to Abraham by giving him title to the fulfillment of God's promises.

This is a very important verse. We cannot please God because of our own efforts. We can only please God if we trust him. Then God made a covenant with Abraham to give the land to his descendants. This covenant is different from other covenants. As a covenant, someone on each side made promises. But in this one, only God made promises. Abraham did not make any promises. Abram just had to trust God. God would do everything else.

Genesis Chapter 16
God has heard

Three times we read that the angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar. It shows that God really cared about Hagar. Everything that he said was really important. God was sending her back to Sarai. That would be difficult for Hagar. She needed to receive confidence from God that it was right. God’s promise about many *descendants would encourage her. This was a wonderful promise for a woman who was just a slave.

Genesis Chapter 17
The covenant

This chapter is very important. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. God also changed his wife’s name from Sarai to Sarah. God told Abraham more about his promises. God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. So Abraham would not only be the father of just one nation! Abraham was already living in the country that God promised to him. God added that he had promised ‘the whole country’ to Abraham. God told Abraham that there would be kings in his family. And God told him that Sarah, his old wife, would be the mother of his child. God said that this covenant will last always.
In two ways, God showed clearly that he had made the covenant. He gave new names to Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah). And he ordered the male members of their family to receive circumcision. That would show that they were joining into the *covenant with God.

God Bless