As we continue on in Genesis, we find God confirming His covenant with Abram, but we also find Abram and Sarai (his wife) trying to force God’s covenant to fall into place. They lacked the patience and faith in the moment, basing their assumptions on what they could see and understand in their mortal states.
Chapter 15 starts with God confirming His covenant with Abram. Take note of what God told Abram in verse 1. He speaks to Abram, answering his concerns, but we will find out that Abram listens to his wife over God and consequences will be experienced.
Chapter 16 is where Sarai decides how the promise is going to happen. She doesn’t have the faith she needs to wait on the Lord at this point. All she sees is her old age and what has not happened to this point. So she jumps ahead of the Lord and takes action. This action leads to pain for everyone involved. Take note of what the Angel of the Lord said to Hagar in verses 11-12.
In Chapter 17 we see the sign of the covenant God made with Abram. Quite a few things happen in here. Take note of verse 5 – what God is doing here and verse 10-11 the sign of the covenant. Verses 15-16 are key verses for what is happening to Sarai.
We end today in Chapter 18 where we see the Son of promise being born and Abraham interceding for Sodom. He had an important relative living there and didn’t want to see that family perish.
Today we continue on our journey in learning about Abram:
- In Genesis 15:4 what does God tell Abram.
- Write out Genesis 15:6.
- In Genesis 16:5-6 what do we see happening? Who left the scene?
- Read Genesis 16:8. What is happening here? What stands out to you? Is there anything special you see after looking at verse 5?
- Write out Genesis 16:13. The Hebrew name here is El Roi.
- Read Genesis 17:23-27. What do you notice about the timing in which Abraham followed God’s command?
- In Genesis 17: 17 we read Abraham laughed and in verses 19-21 we see God respond to that reaction. Contrast that with what is happening in Genesis 18: 10-15.
- What do you notice in the conversation between God and Abraham in verses 23-33?
Here are some more verses we find the covenant confirmed again by God: Genesis 15:1-21 & Genesis 17:6-8.
Today what things really spoke to you? What things did you learn or did you see for the first time? That is the fun part of scripture, you can read it over and over and still see things you never saw before or concepts that just make sense all the sudden that you struggled with before. Continue to read the Bible as if you never have read it before. You will find many nuggets of wisdom when you do this.
How will you apply what you have learned to your life today?
Connect With the Word 
A couple of quick fun things stood out to me today. One was in Genesis 16:8. Hagar is sitting out in the wilderness – after having ran away from her mistress. The angel of the lord speaks to her and says: “Hagar (calls her by name) Sarai’s maid (states her profession), where have you come from, and where are you going?
Now if the angel of the lord knew her name and profession, wouldn’t he know where she was coming from and where she was going? Of course he would. But this is where He is building relationship. He is giving her a chance to communicate with Him instead of Him just dictating all the facts for her to just listen to.
The thing I hadn’t paid attention to before was verse 13: Then she called the anme of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me.” Not only did He see her, but He allowed Himself to be seen by her.
The other thing that stood out to me today was chapter 18:16-33. What stood out what how God sat and listened to Abraham, and responded with care and compassion – He never got angry with the Abraham for asking so many questions. He again showed how He is about relationship over dictatorship. He met Abraham where he was at and cared for Him in that space. So beautiful – and exactly what we can expect of the Lord in our lives today.
LikeLike