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God’s Instructions Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Genesis 12:1-3 NASB 2

The Promised Land The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land.“ Genesis 12:7 NASB 3

Abraham’s Journey “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land.” Hebrews 11:8-9 NASB 4

Abraham’s Plea "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." The Lord answered "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body; he shall be your heir."Genesis 15:2-4 NASB 5

Sarai’s solution “Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, ‘Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.’ And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” Genesis 16:1-2 NASB 6

Hagar Flees I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai." The angel of the Lord answered "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority." The angel of the LORD added "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count." The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.” Genesis 16:10-11 NASB 7

Hagar and Ishmael "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.” I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly." Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations." No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. Genesis 17:1-5 NASB "I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.“(Genesis 17:16 NASB) 8

Abraham’s reaction "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" Abraham then asked God "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!" (Genesis 17:17-18 NASB) “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. (Romans 4: NASB) 9

God’s Assurance “Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year." Genesis 17:19-21 NASB 10

God’s response to Sarah “Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” 11

Isaac “Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.” (Genesis 21:9 NASB) 12

Sarah’s reaction “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac." (Genesis 21:10 NASB) This requested great distressed Abraham but the Lord said "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. "And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant." (Genesis 21:12-13 NASB) 13

Ishmael is cast out “So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.” (Genesis 21:14 NASB) "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him." God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. (Genesis 21:18, 20 NASB) 14

Offering of Isaac "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.” In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Genesis 22:16-18 NASB) 15

Abraham’s decisions Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.” (Genesis 25:5-6 NASB) 16

Abraham’s death “(Abraham) died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.” (Genesis 25:8 NASB) 17

Lessons-Abraham "I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. (John 8:37-39 NASB) "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." (John 8:56 NASB) 18

Lessons-Abraham “do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. (Matthew 3:9 NASB) So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” (Galatians 3:9 NASB) 19

Lesson- Abraham’s seed “I will make him a great nation.” "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac.” ‘Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.’ (Galatians 3:16 NASB) 20

Lesson-Ishmael and Isaac “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.” (Galatians 4:22-23 NASB) 21

Lesson-Ishmael and Isaac “This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, "REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND." And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.” (Galatians 4:24-28 NASB) 22

Lesson-Ishmael and Isaac “This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, "REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND." And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.” (Galatians 4:24-28 NASB) 23

Lesson-Abrahamic promise Genesis 22:17 NASB “indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.” 24

Stars of Heaven "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands” (Genesis 26:4 NASB) 'See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them. The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. (Deuteronomy 1:8-10 NASB) 25

Stars of Heaven "Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.” (Deuteronomy 10:22 NASB) "You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.” So their sons entered and possessed the land. And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do with them as they desired. (Nehemiah 9:23-24 NASB) 26

Stars of Heaven ‘But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.’ (Hebrews 11:16 NASB) “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:29 NASB) 27

Stars of Heaven In going out to the unknown land, and in the offering of his son Isaac, Abraham grasped the future, seeing Christ and the heavenly country. R74:5* It is evident that Abraham saw beyond the glory of the earthly. R30:2* It is under this perfect city or government from God, through Christ, that they shall find a country (home) which could never have come under the imperfect city (government) of bondage. R1389:4 28

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