God is a Blessing-Bestower

We’re still in Genesis 22.  Isaac’s life has just been saved by the Lord.  And Abraham has been saved years of grief over losing his beloved son.

176) The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time on that day.  Because Abraham didn’t withhold his son, God would surely bless him and make his descendants numerous.  They would take possession of the cities of their enemies.  Through his offspring, all nations would be blessed, because Abraham obeyed Him.  (We are blessed when we obey.)

Genesis 23, 24

177) The Lord had blessed Abraham in every way. (bless = to bestow good of any kind upon) (Our God gives good gifts!)

178) Abraham told his chief servant that the Lord would send His angel before the servant so that he could get a wife for Isaac.

179) The servant prayed to the Lord, asking Him to give the servant success, and to show kindness to Abraham. (The servant knew who to ask for help!)

180) God chose Rebekah for Isaac. (Perhaps He chooses all our mates!)

181) The Lord made the servant’s journey successful. (Would it have been a success if the servant hadn’t prayed for God’s help?)

182) God did not abandon His kindness and faithfulness to Abraham. (He keeps his promises!)

183) The Lord had led the servant on the journey to the house of Abraham’s relatives.  (It’s comforting to think of God leading US through the journey of life!)

God Is Awesome

God revealed Himself in Genesis again and again.  And He didn’t just do that for Abraham.  The beauty of the Bible is it was written for ALL people.  We can all benefit from what is found between its pages.  Just approach it with a heart for learning.  We have a wonderful Teacher! 

Genesis 17

122)  The Lord appeared to Abram again when he was 99 years old.  (I wonder if Abram ever got used to that.  How could he?)

123)  The Lord said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.  I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

124)  God said, “You will be the father of many nations.”  (He had already decided this.)

125)  God gave Abram a new name — Abraham.

126)  God said He would establish His covenant as an everlasting covenant between Him and Abraham’s descendants for generations to come.  (God’s promises last!)

127)  The Lord would be Abraham’s God and the God of his descendants.  (We’re supposed to share our God with our children!)

128)  God gave the whole land of Canaan to Abraham as an everlasting possession for him and his descendants.  (God gives good gifts!)

129)  God also gave Sarai a new name — Sarah.

130)  God said He would bless Sarah and give Abraham a son by her.  He was to call his son Isaac.  (Children are a blessing from God.)

131)  God said He would also bless Ishmael.  Ishmael would be the father of twelve rulers, and God would make him into a great nation.  But His covenant would be established with Isaac.

132)  When God had finished speaking with Abraham, He went up from him (to heaven?).

The Mystery of God

God gave us the Bible so we could get to know Him.  So why do we breeze through it?  Why do we think only seminary students should study it?  They aren’t the only ones who need to grasp its truths.  We all do!  So slow down and let the Word sink into your soul.  You’ll be glad you did.

Genesis 15

108) The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.  (He didn’t have a Bible, so God had to find another way to reach him.)

109) God told Abram, “I am your shield, your very great reward.”  (Think about what God shields us from.  We have no idea how many times God protects us from evil, do we?)

110) God took Abram outside and showed him the stars.

111) God credits man’s belief as righteousness. (If you believe, you are righteous!)

112) God spoke to Abram while he was in a deep sleep.  He foretold the Israelites’ enslavement to the Egyptians! (Proving God knows about future events.)

113) God told Abram He will punish the nation that enslaves the Israelites, and His people will come out with great possessions.  (Our enemies will be punished, and we will be blessed.)

114) God told Abram that he will die at a good old age, in peace. (God already knew!)

115) God said that in the fourth generation, Abram’s descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. (see Genesis 10: 15 & 16)

116) That evening, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the animal pieces that God instructed Abram to collect.

117) On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.  He said, “To your descendants I give this land.”

Knowing God

I believe the Lord appeared to Old Testament men because they had no Bibles.  God had to be more obvious so they would know He was there.

Genesis 12

96)  The Lord spoke to Abram!

97)  The Lord chose a land for Abram.

98)  The Lord chose Abram to make into a great nation and to bless.  He would make Abram’s name great.

99)  The Lord said He would bless those who bless Abram, and curse those who curse him.

100)  The Lord said all people on earth will be blessed through Abram!  (that includes us!)

101)  Once Abram reached Shechem, the Lord appeared to him again.  (Did Abram ever get used to that?  Would you?)

102)  The Lord told Abram,  “To your offspring I will give this land.”

103)  The Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai (she was taken into Pharaoh’s palace).  (The Lord lets man know when He is displeased.)

Genesis 13

104)  The Lord spoke to Abram once again!  (Can you imagine?)

105)  The Lord gave Abram all the land he could see.  He also promised many offspring for Abram.

Genesis 14

106)  The first priest of God:  Melchizedek, king of Salem.  He was priest of God Most High (another name of God!)

107)  God delivered Abram’s enemies into his hands.  (God protects his people!) 

WE SERVE A MIGHTY GOD!

Genesis and God

Genesis 9

84)  God blessed Noah and his sons.  (He gives blessings to believers!)

85)  God told them that the fear and dread of them will fall upon all the beasts, the birds, and the creatures on the ground and in the sea.  They are given into man’s hands.

86)  God said everything that lives and moves will be food for man.  “I now give you everything.”  But they must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.  (God provides for our needs.)

87)  God said,  “And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.  And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.”

88)  God said, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”  (Thou shalt not kill.)

89)  God said,  “As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

90)  God established his covenant with Noah and his sons and with their descendants — every living creature on earth:  Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood.

91)  God gave them a sign of the covenant — he set his rainbow in the clouds.  Whenever he brings clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears, he will remember his covenant.

Genesis 10, Genesis 11

92)  The Lord came down to see the city (in Shinar) and the tower that the men were building.  (He comes down to earth!)

93)  The Lord was concerned when He saw what men were capable of doing when they worked together.

94)  The Lord said, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they willl not understand each other.”  (Reason we have different languages.)  (Did you notice God said “let US go down”?)

95)  So the Lord scattered the people over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. (God is in control.)

Realization:  The Lord’s love for us is tremendous!  He has such patience for us.  We’re such willful children, always getting ourselves into trouble.

Having a Deeper Relationship With God

Let’s not put the cart before the horse.  To love God, we need to know Him.

Genesis 7

76)  God tells Noah why He is saving him and his family — “I have found you righteous.”

77)  God tells Noah that in seven days He will send rain for 40 days and 40 nights, and He will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature He has made.

78)  After seven days, the floodwaters came, just as God said it would.  (He keeps his promises.)

79) The Lord shut Noah and his family, along with the animals, inside the ark.

80)  For 40 days the flood kept coming, just as God said it would (promise kept).

Genesis 8

81)  God remembered Noah and all the animals, and He sent a wind over the earth, and the water receded.  The springs of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped falling.  The water receded steadily from the earth.  (God keeps his promises.)

82)  God called Noah out of the ark.

83)  When Noah sacrificed burnt offerings on an altar to the Lord, God smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart:  “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.  And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”

Today’s Lesson:  God keeps his promises!

I’m Getting To Know God

Genesis 6

68)  The Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal.  His days will be 120 years.”

69)  The Lord saw how how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  (God sees us and hears our thoughts!)

70)  The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain.  (God feels emotions.)

71)  So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved I have made them.  (This after 1,056 years.  He waited patiently for man to change his ways.)

72)  Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.  He was a righteous man, blameless among the people, and he walked with God.  So God told Noah that He was going to put an end to all people, for the earth was filled with violence.  God told Noah to build an ark, because He was going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens. (God was merciful to Noah.)

73)  But God would establish a covenant with Noah. (The very first covenant!)

74)  God told Noah to bring into the ark his family, and also two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive.

75)  God also instructed Noah to bring food for both the people and the animals.

Having Greater Knowledge of God

Genesis 4

56)  The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering (perhaps because Abel didn’t hold back his best, but gave it to the Lord as thanks for His blessings).

57)  The Lord spoke to Cain, as He did Adam.

58)  The Lord said to Cain,  “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”  (Good lesson for all of us!)

59)  The Lord spoke to Cain a second time, after he killed Abel.

60)  The Lord asked Cain what he had done, but I think He was giving Cain a chance to confess and repent.  God knows all things.

61)  The Lord told Cain that Abel’s blood was crying out to Him from the ground.

62)  The Lord cursed Cain for killing his brother — a consequence of sin.

63)  The Lord told Cain that if anyone killed him, the murderer would suffer vengeance seven times over.  God put a mark on Cain so that no one would kill him (proving God still loves a sinner).

64)  God granted Eve another child in place of Abel (Seth).

Genesis 5

65)  Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.  (That’s a long time on earth!)

66)  Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away!

67)  Lamech said the ground was still cursed by the Lord … 1,056 years later!

How Much Do You Know God?

Genesis 3

42)  God walked in the Garden of Eden.

43)  God spoke to Adam!

44)  God cursed the serpent for deceiving Eve.  (Don’t listen to Satan; listen to God!)

45)  God put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between their offspring.  (Reason I dislike snakes!)

46)  God told Eve that He would greatly increase her pain in childbearing.

47)  God gave Eve a consequence for her sin.

48)  God told Eve that her husband would rule over her.  (Another consequence.)

49)  To Adam, God said,  “Because you listened to your wife (over Me) and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”

50)  Adam would return to the ground, since from it he was taken, “for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

51)  God punishes disobedience.

52)  God made clothing for Adam and Eve.  He provided for their needs.

53)  God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”  (Further proof of the existence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.)

54)  God didn’t want man to live forever (by eating from the tree of life).  So he banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.

55)  After God drove them out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim — guardians of the Lord’s honor — and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Getting To Know God

Genesis 2

25)  On the seventh day, God rested from all his work.  (He rests!)

26)  God sent rain on the earth for the fields.

27)  God formed man from the dust of the ground.  He breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. 

28)  God planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and he put the man in the garden.

29)  God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground.  In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  (Why did God put them there?  He knew how weak man is.  Maybe everything has worked according to his plan!)

30)  A river watering the garden flowed from Eden.

31)  God thought of everything!

32)  In the land of Havilah, there was gold.  Resin and onyx were also there.  (Why did God create them?  He must have had a reason.)

33)  God put man in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  (We are to care for the things entrusted to us!)

34)  God warned the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when he eats of it he will surely die.  (Clear instructions!)

35)  God tells the truth!

36)  God saw the need of man to not be alone, so he made a helper suitable for man.

37)  God cares about us!

38)  God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.

39)  God brought the animals and the birds to the man to see what he would name them.  (That was a huge job!)

40)  God saw that for Adam, no suitable helper was found from the animals and birds that he named.

41)  God put Adam to sleep and took one of the man’s ribs.  He closed up the place with flesh.  Then God made a woman from the rib and brought her to the man.  (Amazing!)

**More names of God:

c)  the Lord  (Genesis 2:4)