Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Genesis chapter 12 is what we will read today. We are continuing to follow the chronological order. God’s instruction to Abram was to go to a land that He would show him.  Anyone want to make travel plans this way?  Promises are made to him.  Blessings and cursing would be dependent on him.

Being called by God does not guarantee that all our decisions will be good.  The story of Abram telling Sarai to lie about being his wife does not seem to indicate his honesty and desire to protect his wife.   God protected Sarai when her husband would not.  God often protects us from ourselves.  Currently, Abram was not a man of faith in Jehovah.

The story of nephew Lot begins here in Genesis chapter thirteen.  Lot and Abram both had large flocks and herds.  As nomads, they constantly moved around to find new grazing grounds.  Their shepherds and herdsmen were fighting over the best grass.

Previous incidents did not demonstrate any Godly wisdom from the Patriarch.  However, this time he approaches the situation with much discernment.  He allows Lot to choose which direction to go.  There is no bad ground here.  Only good, better or best.  To the human mind, Abram goes to the wrong area.  It is not the best.  We’ll talk about this when we read other chapters.

God promised to fill all the land around Abram with his offspring.  This included where Lot had gone.  Jehovah always remembers His promises.

Our story starts with a war that involved Abram’s nephew Lot in Chapter fourteen of Genesis.  His side is defeated, and his uncle comes to their aid.  The smaller force is successful in recovering property and freeing Lot and others including women.

Abram gives the priest of Salem a tithe of the proceeds from the rescue.  Melchizedek is honored and blesses Abram.  Apparently, he is a worshiper of Jehovah.  The Patriarch also refuses to accept profit from the King of Sodom for the rescue.  This is one of Lot’s first problems with his choice of place to reside.

Melchizedek has a short scene here. In Paul’s writings, we read that Christ is a priest on the order of this man. He predates the Aaronic priesthood. He is different from what we normally think of as a priest of Yahweh.

Jehovah makes an everlasting covenant or agreement with Abram today in Genesis chapter fifteen. The method of securing a legal agreement was by splitting animals and laying them out in a manner where you could pass between the two halves. The animals were laid out and a firepot representing God passes through. Abram believes and it was counted as faith. He still was not perfect but did believe that this promise would be kept. That is all God wants us to do. Believe Him one step at a time.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger