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21

1.And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.                                                     17:21; 18:10, 14; Heb. 11:11, 12

 (Compare Gen 17:21, 18:10, 14). The God I serve is a true and faithful God. There is nothing that He can’t do. He promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, and He is true to His word. As we read in Gen 17:21 God told Abraham that Sarah would have a son at the same time one year later. So by this we know that at least one year has gone by (give or take), since the Lord visited with Abraham and Sarah. There are certain similarities between Isaac and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will point out these similarities as we read on in the book of Genesis. Isaac’s birth, just as the birth of Jesus were both miraculous births. With Sarah being well beyond her prime of bearing children; By all we know today in the world of science the birth of Isaac was impossible, but there is nothing that God can’t do. All the science in the world cannot explain away the births of both Isaac, and Jesus Christ. God and only God has the power to make all things possible. For it was His will that Sarah was able to have a son at 90 years of age. It was also the Lords purpose for Mary, The mother of Jesus Christ who was a virgin, conceived our Lord (having never known a man). By all rights she should not have been able to conceive, but God Himself planted the Seed in Her and she gave birth to the only begotten of God the Father. As stated by God Himself to Abraham, “Is anything too hard for Jehovah?”

3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him- whom Sarah bore to him-Isaac.
4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

 Abraham did all that God had commanded him. He named his son Isaac as God had told him:

Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed. And you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Abraham kept the covenant that he made with the Lord and circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old (Gen 17:10-13)

5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

 Abraham did all that God had commanded him. He named his son Isaac as God had told him (Gen 17:19), Abraham kept the covenant that he made with the Lord and circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old.

6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.”   17:17-19; 18:12-15

  (Compare Gen 18:12, 17:19).

Isaac: (H3327), יצחק: yitschâq;                                                                     BDB Definition: Isaac = “he laughs”
1) son of Abraham by Sarah his wife and father of Jacob and Esau

7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have born him a son in his old age.”  18: 11-12

 this is merely a facetious statement by Sarah. She knew that it was God who said to Abraham that Sarah would have a son in a year from now.

8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

 After Isaac ceased from being breast fed by Sarah Abraham through together a big celebration. By most accounts this would put Isaac somewhere between 2-4 years old as was the customs of that time and culture.

9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she she had borne to Abraham, Scoffing.
10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”   25:6; Gal. 4:30

11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

 During this feast for Isaac, his half brother Ishmael was making fun of him and Sarah witnessed this happening. Undoubtedly this reminded Sarah of how she was treated by Hagar, when she conceived Ishmael through Abraham (Gen 16:5), Sarah reacted as any mother would have in the same circumstance in wanting to protect her son. Sarah might have been reminded of Gods covenant with Abraham, at which time Sarah’s name was changed from Sarai to Sarah; In that it would be through Isaac that God’s blessings would be passed on to. In my opinion this relationship with Hagar and Sarah had been festering ever since Hagar conceived Ishmael. This discontent between the two had to have an effect on Ishmael while he was growing up. His mother probably had been telling him for years that since he was the firstborn of Abraham then he is the rightful heir to him. So when Ishmael saw all this fuss being made over Isaac he started to have the same discontentment towards Isaac as his mother had towards Sarah. Sarah was not going to have any more of this nonsense and decided it was time for her to put her foot down. I could almost hear Sarah remind Abraham at some point in this conversation of how she had been a faithful and obedient wife to him when they were in Egypt, and the land of Gerar. How she was willing to lie for him at the expense of her own life and dignity. Even still, Ishmael was his son, and it weighed heavily on him what Sarah was demanding Abraham do with Ishmael.

◊12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.
13 “Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”   16:10; 17:20, 25:12-18

 I believe Abraham did not immediately give in to Sarah’s demands. The way I understand verse twelve is that Abraham went to God for help. I can only imagine the pain and uneasiness he must have been going through. He was at a point in life where he  knew God was the only true answer to his problem. There was nothing he could do on his own to resolve this issue (2 Co 12:9), Abraham was at his weakest he had ever been. He loved Sarah, and Ishmael dearly, Abraham knew that he had to turn to God for help, and in this action God’s power was being made perfect in him. We have all been there in one way or another. It’s times like these that we humbly come to God for help. In Abraham case God talked directly with him and told him what he must do. It probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear from God because he still had to cast out Ishmael, knowing that he would never see his son again. However God assured Abraham that He would bless Ishmael, and in this blessing he gives but a Glimpse into Abraham eyes of the future of these nations. In Gen. 25 we see what becomes of Ishmael and his descendants (Compare Gen 25:12-16).

14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.  16:12; 25:6

 It appears hear that verses eight thru thirteen take place in the course of one day: first the day begins with Abraham holding a feast in celebration of the weaning of Isaac. During this feast Isaac is scoffed at by Ishmael (his half brother), Sarah sees this scoffing and demands that Abraham cast Ishmael out from their presence. Then in evening Abraham goes to God to ask for his help in regards to Ishmael. Here we are now early in the morning on the very next day, and we see that Abraham is ready to send Ishmael and Hagar out from among him. Verse fourteen is very telling about Abraham’s maturity in his faith with God. We read hear that Abraham gives Ishmael and Hagar some bread and one flask (if you will), of water. This is enough provisions for two people for maybe a couple days. God promised Abraham that He would make a nation from the seed of Ishmael because he is of Abraham’s seed. Abraham trust in God that He will take care of Ishmael and therefore finds it necessary to only give Ishmael and Hagar a couple days rations. Hagar and Ishmael journey southeast from Gerar to the wilderness of Beersheba.

15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.
16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of of the lad where he is.   22:11; Ex. 3:7
18 “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”    16:10; 18:20

 In our weakness He is made strong. At our darkest hour God will hear our cries. Hagar has given up all hope, forgetting that approximately 15 years earlier she was in the same predicament, and an angel of the Lord answered her, and promised her that God would multiply her seed exceedingly. The Angel even told her of the fate of Ishmael (Gen 16:7-14), but now, in her distress, Hagar has forgotten all that the angel of the Lord Jehovah had revealed to her, but God has not forsaken her or Ishmael. Gods word is true and He cannot lie. We can all be rest assured of all Gods promises. Just as Abraham saw the promise afar off, yet never receiving this promise he believed in God and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Rom 4:3), in this instance we see that it is the prayers of Ishmael that God hears. Where Hagar had given up all hope, Ishmael cries out to God in his darkest hour and God answers his call. The Angel of the Lord calls out to Hagar and tells her that God has heard the cries of Ishmael. Again the angel of the Lord reassures Hagar that God has not forsaken her or her son, and he tells Hagar to go to the lad, for God will make a great nation of him. Hagar was at her weakest moment ever, and her son who was just a bow shot away, with his dying breath, in his darkest hour, calls on the Lord Jehovah for help and The Lord God is made strong.

19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21 He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

 The scriptures do not say one way or the other if this well is the same well that Hagar named Beerlahairoi when an angel of the Lord first appeared to her when she was fleeing Sarai, but when we look at the verses side by side as to their location we can see that they are definitely in the same proximity (Gen 16:7-8, 13-14)

 

Compare these verses with Gen. 21: 14, 19-21

 

 If we read Genesis 16:7 closely we see that the angel of the Lord found Hagar by a fountain that was on the way to Shur (not in the wilderness of Shur itself), Now if we look at a map of the area we see that the wilderness of Shur is in the eastern most part of what we call today the Sanai peninsula. During this time frame Abraham was dwelling in the land of Canaan (in the plains Mamre), Gen 16:3 Gen 18:1. Again if we look at a map of the location of Mamre we see that it is north of Beersheba And could have have been passed thru by Hagar on the way to Shur. Anyone who looks at my files can go to my folder on bible maps to see this for themselves, or you can Google these locations for yourself.
The wilderness of Puran where Ishmael grew up and dwelt in lies between the wilderness of Shur, and Beersheba, which is again in the proximity of beerlahairoi where an angel of the lord first appeared to Hagar.

22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.     20:14; 26:28; Is. 8:3
23 “Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”   Josh. 2:12, 13
24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

The phrase “And it came to pass at that time,” according to Adam Clarke’s commentary, is referring back to Gen 20:14-15

 

I am inclined to agree with Mr. Clarke’s assumption:

At that time – This may either refer to the transactions recorded in the preceding chapter, or to the time of Ishmael’s marriage, but most probably to the former.

 This was during the time that King Abimelech had just returned Sarah to Abraham after he took her for himself when Abraham first came to the land of Gerar. The reason I tend to agree with Mr. Clarke is because of what I read in verse’s 29-31 in this chapter. plus we see Genesis 20:14 being referenced to in verse 22 above. I must remind the reader that it is not I who references all these chapters and verses following certain verses. I am just copying word for word the NKJV bible. This is makes sense when we look at Gen. 21:14. We see here that Hagar wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Abraham would have to had named the land Beersheba before Hagar could have wandered in the land called by that name. The reader could then read Genesis 21 and place verses 22-34 at the beginning of chapter 21 up to verse 21, leaving verse 21 that last verse of chapter 21. I must again remind the reader that this is my opinion on how we can read chapter 21 as far as a chronological order of these verses. I must also say that after I placed verses 22-34 ahead of verse 1-21 I contacted my pastor to make sure that I wasn’t going against God’s word when he warns us not to take from or add to His book (Rev 22:18-19), this could be said to be true for the Bible in its entirety. My pastor said that number one as long as I am stating that this is just my opinion, and number two that I am not taken away or adding any words to this chapter just looking at it from a certain perspective. By commenting on this chapter in this manner would be okay. That being said here is the way the verses could be read, in my opinion:

Gen 21:22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:
Gen 21:23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.
Gen 21:24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
Gen 21:25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
Gen 21:26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.
Gen 21:27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
Gen 21:28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
Gen 21:29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
Gen 21:30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
Gen 21:31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.
Gen 21:32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
Gen 21:33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
Gen 21:34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.

Gen 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
Gen 21:2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Gen 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Gen 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Gen 21:5 And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Gen 21:6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
Gen 21:7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
Gen 21:8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
Gen 21:9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
Gen 21:10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
Gen 21:11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
◊Gen 21:12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Gen 21:13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
Gen 21:14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Gen 21:15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
Gen 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
Gen 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Gen 21:18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
Gen 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
Gen 21:20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
Gen 21:21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

 So Abraham swears to king Abimelech that he will do right by the king, and his descendants. Does Abraham swear by God or does he just swear? Verse 24 seem to be a bit sketchy on this point.

25 Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized.
26 and Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.”

Then Abraham points out to the king that he(Abraham), has not been treated fairly by him (Abimelech), because some of the kings people have seized a well that was dug by Abraham. So the king tells Abraham that he was not aware of the situation.

27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.    20:14

 Here again we see Gen. 20:14 being referenced in this verse. To me this strengthens Adam Clarke’s and my belief that this was done before Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael out from amongst him and Sarah. As I have gone through in great detail back in Gen. 15:11 in regards to covenants made between two parties it is merely a binding agreement between two or more parties. This agreement between Abraham and Abimelech is an agreement to wit they will show kindness to one another, and treat each other fairly, and that this covenant will be passed down from generation to generation. The sheep and oxen that Abraham gives to king Abimelech could be a show of appreciation for all that the king has shown to him. Also because of what we read in Gen. 15 in regards to the covenant that God made with Abraham, Abraham, and Abimelech may have cut the carcasses of some of the animals and passed through them as a symbol of the fate of him who would break this covenant. This is merely an assumption on my part because we are not told that this is in fact what they did.

28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”
30 And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.”   31:48, 52

 Besides the sheep and oxen Abraham gave to Abimelech Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from amongst the sheep, the female sheep are referred to as ewes. These seven ewe lambs were separated from amongst the sheep as a special oath between the two parties which was to be a witness (testimony), between Abraham and Abimelech that Abraham did in fact dig these wells and therefore were rightfully his. I must point out the number of ewe lambs Abraham set apart (seven), this number seven is a sign of perfection, and completeness in the scriptures. Water is life
And back then it was very important to the lively-hood of peoples and nations. In my opinion I believe that the reason Abraham made this distinction from the rest of the covenant is that without the rights to these wells Abraham and his people could not have survived. I hope I can explain this the way I have come to understand it in my own mind: you see without the wells the survival of his people would not be sustainable, so the other parts of the covenant would be irrelevant. Since we know that the number seven is a sign of perfection and completeness, then we can ascertain that these seven ewe lambs symbolizes the covenant between Abraham and Abimelech perfect and complete between them. Lets look at the strongs definition of Beersheba so as to help the reader understand the meaning

Beersheba: (H884): בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע: be’êr sheba‛
be-ayr’ sheh’-bah
From H875 and H7651 (in the sense of H7650); well of an oath; Beer Sheba, a place in Palestine: – Beer-shebah.

beer(H875): בְּאֵר: be’êr : be-ayr’; From H874; a pit; especially a well: – pit, well.

Sheba: (H7651) שֶׁבַע : sheba‛ shib‛âh ; sheh’-bah, shib-aw’
From H7650; a primitive cardinal number; seven (as the sacred full one); also (adverbially) seven times.

bah: (H7650) שָׁבַע: shâba‛
shaw-bah’
A primitive root; properly to be complete, but used only as a denominative from H7651; to seven oneself, that is, swear (as if by repeating a declaration seven times)

31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. 21:14; 26:33

 

 As I explained early on; every name given in the bible has significance in and of itself, which is why I have given the BDB definition, which is the Hebrew definition of words. As we can see how the name Beersheba reflects what happened there and why it was given this name by Abraham. We can also see by the BDB definition that the location of this well is in the southern edge of modern day Israel.

32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. v. 27

We see here that this covenant between Abraham and Abimelech was not made in Gerar, which is in the land of the Philistines.

33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.   4:26; 12:8

 The word Tamarisk tree used here is translated from the Hebrew word grove as we see when we read this verse in the KJV+ bible which uses the strongs concordance. With this being the case we could conclude that it wasn’t just one tree Abraham planted but a cluster of trees. In my opinion Abraham might have planted these trees here so that when people would come to draw water from the well they would have a comfortable shady place to rest from the sun. The wilderness that the well, or wells are located are just that a wilderness lacking vegetation or shade trees in many areas.

34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

 So Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines for a long time. In my mind, many days could mean to be many years. The land of the Philistines during this time consisted of the area west of Jerusalem along the coastline from southern Israel to the north close to modern day Syria.

20

1.And Abraham journeyed from there to the south, and dwelt in between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.

  Gerar is located south toward and close by the Mediterranean sea. In my opinion Abraham could no longer live in a place that would remind him daily of the destruction that fell upon the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Like I said previously he no doubt was concerned about the fate of his nephew Lot. None of us could live or return to a place that has nothing but memories of sadness and despair.

2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister,” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

 Abraham apparently still hasn’t learned from his past mistakes and so therefore is now doomed to repeat them. Just as when he journeyed into Egypt and told the king there that Sarah was his sister for fear of his life, he does the same with the king of Gerar. Just one other note hear that maybe some people may overlook. God has Blessed Sarah with great beauty. By this time Sarah must 89 years old now, i say this because we know that she was 90 when she had Isaac, and the Lord had just appeared to Abraham and told him in a year they would have a son. You can go to Genesis 17:17 where we are told of the ages that both Abraham and Sarah would be when Isaac was born. Yet Sarah still has a certain beauty that has men wanting her in a carnal way. Remember, in both instances these men who took Sarah from Abraham were kings and rulers over there people. They could have any woman they wanted and undoubtedly the women they took as wives and concubines were probably the most beautiful of their kingdoms. Sarah must have been a very beautiful woman.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

 Here we see again that God has revealed Himself to a king that does not worship the one true God of Abraham, but is an idol worshiper who practices paganism. As I have already indicated back in Gen 12:16 God will and does intervene in human affairs in order to fulfill His purpose to mankind; This is one of those times, so much so that king Abimelech is actually having a heart to heart conversation with God almighty Himself. Again God has to intervene directly, on account of Abraham’s misguided intentions. I am reminded of my comments back in chapter sixteen on how Sarah and Abraham concluded in their minds that the promise God made to Abraham in regards to his seed didn’t include Sarah (seeing that God never mentions Sarah in his promises up to that time), so they rationalized in their own minds that the promise seed of Abraham could be fulfilled through Sarah’s handmaid Hagar. Here Again, for fear of his life, Abraham decides that he must take matters into his own hands, in order to help along the promise God made to  Abraham, in which his seed will be carried on through his wife Sarah and Not Hagar. I like the commentary from the United Church of God in regards to why Abraham decided to deceive the king of Gerar just as he did in Egypt:

 Sometimes we think that our own “prudence” is compatible with faith when, in fact, it is not. Perhaps this is what was behind the action of Abraham and Sarah. In any event, these incidents affirm to us that God will protect His people in spite of our weaknesses or the unforeseen twists of circumstance. We all make mistakes or wrong choices. In some cases, there may be consequences. But ultimately, God will work things out for our good (Romans 8:28).

 This is not about Abraham’s faith but more so about Abraham feeling that he must help along God’s purpose for him.

4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord will you slay a righteous nation also? 18:33
5 “Did he not say to me, “She is my sister”? Ans she, even she herself said, “He is my brother.” In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” Ps. 26:1

 We see Abimelech and God going back and forth with one another in regards to Sarah. Don’t we all wish that we could sit down with the Lord and speak with Him? One day we will have that opportunity in the kingdom of God, but I digress, I thought about verse four, where the king ask the Lord if He would “slay a righteous nation also” at first I thought God was telling us in this verse that the people and the king of Gerar were a righteous people, but after writing down my thoughts and meditating on this, it didn’t make sense to me so I looked at all the commentaries, and even my own church website to see what they had to say about this verse only to find that no one had any comments on this subject. So I decided to go to Chabad.org which is a well known Jewish website that I have used before when all else fails in order to find a clearer understanding. I have found, and have even been told by my own pastor that sometimes we need to go to the Jewish teachings when it comes to interpreting the Old Testament. There I found a man named Marty Robbins (who I have found out to be a well known teacher of the Torah) in his teachings he refers to a man named Rashi, whose commentaries on the Torah are used by both teachers and students of the Torah. Rashi who was a learned Rabbi lived and died in France in the 11th and 12th century. Anyway I found both Marty Robbins teachings (using the commentaries of Rashi), as a solid explanation of this verse. I will now paste Rashi’s commentary and insert Rabbi Robbins teachings on verse four:

 will You kill even a righteous nation: Even if he (Abraham) is righteous, will You kill him? Is that Your way, to destroy the nations for nought? You did so to the Generation of the Flood and to the Generation of the Dispersion. I too will say that You destroyed them for no reason, just as You threaten (lit. say) to kill me. — [from Gen. Rabbah 52:6]

 Mr. Robbins gives two explanations about the statement the king is saying about killing a righteous nation. Abimelech uses the term nation because back then the king is the nation, so if you kill the king in essence you are killing the whole nation (The king is the nation), and also, if God kills the king then his people will blame Abraham for his demise and will kill him. Also, the king is saying (according to Rashi) that if you kill me then you must kill Abraham also for his part in causing me to sin. Remember; Abimelech is having a conversation with God. Mr. Robbins goes on to explain that King Abimelech is pleading his case to God:

Vs. 5 “Did he not say to me, “She is my sister”? Ans she, even she herself said, “He is my brother.” In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

even she: This is to include her servants, camel drivers, and donkey drivers.“I asked them all, and they said: He is her brother.” :
With the innocence of my heart: I did not intend to sin:
and with the purity of my hands: I am pure of sin, for I did not touch her.

6 And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also witheld you from sinning against me; Therefore I did not let you touch her.

 In verse six God acknowledges to Abimelech that yes indeed he did not intend to sin. In the same verse however God also tells Abimelech that it was He (God) who kept him from sinning against Him and did not allow the king to touch Sarah. It has been explained to me that if Abimelech had slept with Sarah and defiled her; he would have sinned against God because God has chosen Abraham and Sarah for a special purpose in His plan for salvation, God loved both of them very much. It is in this context why the king would have sinned against God Himself.

7 “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” Num. 16:31-33

 God Tells Abimelech to return Sarah to Abraham, and that Abraham will pray for him for he is a prophet and the king shall live, but if he doesn’t he shall surely die. There is one comment I would like to make about this verse. First God calls Abraham a “prophet,” most people I believe would take this term to compare Abraham with the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, and the like, but I personally don’t think that this is what God means by calling him a prophet. I like Adam Clarke’s commentary on this subject:

 He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee – The word prophet, which we have from the Greek προφητες, and which is compounded of προ, before, and φημι, I speak, means, in its general acceptation, one who speaks of things before they happen, i.e., one who foretells future events. But that this was not the original notion of the word, its use in this place sufficiently proves. Abraham certainly was not a prophet in the present general acceptation of the term, and for the Hebrew נביא: nabi, we must seek some other meaning. I have, in a discourse entitled “The Christian Prophet and his Work,” proved that the proper ideal meaning of the original word is to pray, entreat, make supplication, etc., and this meaning of it I have justified at large both from its application in this place, and from its pointed use in the case of Saul, mentioned 1 Samuel 10, and from the case of the priests of Baal, 1 Kings 18, where prophesying most undoubtedly means making prayer and supplication.

 To give support to Adam Clarke’s definition in the context of which it is used in verse seven we see that right after God calls Abraham a prophet He tells King Abimelech that Abraham will pray (give supplication), for him and that he shall live, and if he doesn’t return Sarah he and all his people, even his cattle, and all material things will perish with him: See the referenced book of Numbers 16: 31-33.
 one last thing I would like to comment on here is in regards to the prayer Abraham makes on behalf of king Abimelech. I believe included in this prayer Abraham must have had to acknowledge his own transgression and repent himself for the deceit, or maybe for his own prudence in regards to his faith? And ask for forgiveness Before the Lord. This is just my own opinion in this matter.

8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.

 The very next morning after his encounter with God, Abimelech calls what I believe are his top leaders of his kingdom, and tells them of his encounter with the God of Abraham. No doubt the God of Abraham is very well known in the land of Canaan and they knew what He had done to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. These men were in fear of their lives and did not want the same fate of these cities to fall on them as well.

9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.”  12:18, 19; 26:9,10
10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

 After talking to his heads of state (if you will) Abimelech sends for Abraham to appear before him and his servants. Abimelech speaks to Abraham in a rebuking manner, yet he also chooses his words carefully so as not to anger God anymore than he already has. The king knows that Abraham must be respected in his approach to him. Instead of accusing Abraham outright, Abimelech ask what HE did wrong in Abraham’s sight to cause him and his people to sin against God (“A great sin”), Abimelech goes on to tell Abraham that he should not have done these things to him, because he feels he did nothing to deserve this act.

11 And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.  12:12, 13; 26:9

 Abraham felt that because the people Gerar did not have the fear of God in them, that they were like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, (blinded to their sin), therefore they would see nothing wrong in killing Abraham just so they could have their carnal desires fulfilled, but in their twisted minds, if Sarah were not married it would be okay to just take her without needing anyone’s consent. As I am writing this down this makes me want to believe that Abraham had to know they would take Sarah and do as they please with her, and he only cared for his own life and not of Sarah’s well being. If this is the case then what I said earlier about Abraham offering prayer’s to God on behalf of Abimelech, He would have to have made supplication for his own actions. In my opinion Abraham is not guiltless in all of this.

12 “But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

 This is where we finally see an explanation of what Abraham meant when he says that Sarah is his sister. Just as he did back in Genesis twelve while they were in Egypt.

13 “And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

 So then, since this is the way Abraham thought before he left the land of Chaldea does this make him blameless before God in his actions while in Egypt and Gerar? I ask this because when he asks Sarah for this kindness to him he has not yet really come to know God and his ways, and therefore they haven’t developed a close relationship. Yet that was then and this is now. Abraham could have changed his attitude by the time he settles in Gerar. Please don’t get me wrong; I am not judging Abraham, that is not my place. I’m just trying to understand God’s word here, and how I can apply it to myself.

14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male, and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 12:16

 Just as the Pharaoh of Egypt gave Abraham Sheep and oxen, and male, and female servants, so to did Abimelech. This was not commanded by God, but it was probably a custom, or maybe a sign of respect towards Abraham.

15 And Abimelech said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.”    13:9; 34:10; 47:6
16 Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was rebuked. 26:11

 Unlike the Pharaoh of Egypt, King Abimelech went even further in his gifts to Abraham. The king also told Abraham that he could dwell wherever he wanted in his kingdom, and he even gave Sarah a veil of silver made of a thousand pieces of silver. I believe that just as God was the one who did not let king Abimelech touch Sarah, that it also was God who put it into the kings heart to let Abraham dwell wherever he wanted. I say this because God had already promised Abraham this land for him and his descendants, and it is God who owns everything, and it is his to give to whoever he pleases. King Abimelech is merely the tool God used to fulfill His purpose for Abraham. As far as the silver that was given to Sarah as a covering I prefer the American standard version translation (Compare Gen 20:16 ASV), There are differing translations in other bibles when it comes to the meaning of verse sixteen. There is no general consensus as to the meaning of this verse among it’s interpreters. Because of this I can see how this would be very confusing to the ordinary person such as me. Therefore I would like to share with the reader Adam Clarke’s Commentary that best tells my own understanding of this verse and why I like the American standard version over all other translations:

And unto Sarah he said – But what did he say? Here there is scarcely any agreement among interpreters; the Hebrew is exceedingly obscure, and every interpreter takes it in his own sense.
 A thousand pieces of silver – Shekels are very probably meant here, and so the Targum understands it. The Septuagint has χιλια διδραχμα, a thousand didrachma, no doubt meaning shekels; for in Gen_23:15, Gen_23:16, this translation uses διδραχμα for the Hebrew שקל shekel. As shakal signifies literally to weigh, and the shekel was a coin of such a weight, Mr. Ainsworth and others think this to be the origin of our word scale, the instrument to weigh with.
 The shekel of the sanctuary weighed twenty gerahs, Exo_30:13. And according to the Jews, the gerah weighed sixteen grains of barley. R. Maimon observes, that after the captivity the shekel was increased to three hundred and eighty-four grains or barley-corns. On the subject of ancient weights and measures, very little that is satisfactory is known.
Behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes – It – the one thousand shekels, (not he – Abraham), is to thee for a covering – to procure thee a veil to conceal thy beauty (unto all that are with thee, and with all other) from all thy own kindred and acquaintance, and from all strangers, that none, seeing thou art another mans wife; may covet thee on account of thy comeliness.
 Thus she was reproved – The original is ונכחת venochachath, but the word is probably the second person preterite, used for the imperative mood, from the root נכח nachach, to make straight, direct, right; or to speak rightly, correctly; and may, in connection with the rest of the text, be thus paraphrased: Behold, I have given thy Brother (Abraham, gently alluding to the equivocation, Gen_20:2, Gen_20:5) a thousand shekels of silver; behold, It is (that is, the silver is, or may be, or let it be) to thee a covering of the eyes (to procure a veil; see above) with regard to all those who are with thee; and to all (or and in all) speak thou the truth. Correctly translated by the Septuagint, και παντα αληθευσον, and in all things speak the truth – not only tell a part of the truth, but tell the whole; say not merely he is my brother, but say also, he is my husband too. Thus in All things speak the truth. I believe the above to be the sense of this difficult passage, and shall not puzzle my readers with criticisms. See Kennicott.

17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children;   Job. 42:9
18 For the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

 Like I said previously Abraham probably had to not only pray for the king, but he also had to pray for his own actions concerning Sarah and his deceptive behavior. Apparently the Lord had cast a curse on the king and his people for the sake of Sarah. It appears that those women who were with child was unable to go into labor while Sarah was living amongst them. These women were probably going through all the labor pains of giving birth but unable to deliver them (which as any woman would tell you this must have been very unbearable), As far as the king himself we are not told what kind of sickness he had. We are only told that he was healed after Abraham prayed for him.

19

 

1.Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening,
and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw
them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his
face towards the ground.   18: 1-5

 I have anticipated coming to this verse above, and I
have pondered where I should put my thoughts, in
regards to the two angels that the Lord sent to Sodom. I had
thought about talking about this back in chapter eighteen
where they are first introduced to us, but I felt it would be
more appropriate here. So let me now consider these two
angels. I am reminded of the laws of God; which were
expanded on in the book of Deuteronomy by Moses’s in his
farewell address; if you will, to the people of Israel (who
have survived through the wilderness journey), and are now
about to enter the promised land ( Deut 17:6). God is about to judge the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and sentence them to death for their sins. By Gods own laws (Which He too is bound to) sends two witnesses in the
form of angels to testify against them. We must remember what the Lord said earlier in chapter eighteen (Gen 18:20-21). We do truly have a righteous and merciful God. Our Lord is slow to anger and He does not! Take satisfaction in putting to death any of His children (including the wicked). The Lord has heard the cry against them but He wants to know with certainty of their guilt before He cast sentence against
them. In my opinion this Grieved God greatly for what He was about to do, just like in the time of Noah when He was sorely grieved at what His creation had come to (Gen 6:6).

2 And he said, “Here now my lords, please turn into your
servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet;
then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said,
“No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”
3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and
entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked
unleavened bread, and they ate.   18:6-8; Heb. 13:2

 At the end of verse one we see that just like Abraham Lot
bowed his face to the ground upon greeting the two angels.
Again in my opinion Lot see s these two men for what they
are (angels of the Lord), which is why he bows down to
them. Also as Abraham he ask them to enter his house and
stay and wash their feet. Even though Lot has lived
amongst people who probably do not live according to the
customs he was brought up in, or even worship the same
God as Abraham, he has not let their evil ways corrupt him.
If Lot were as the people of Sodom then he would not have
been spared from the destruction. At first the angels are
prepared to spend the night in the middle of the city. In my
opinion it is so they can witness first hand how the people
are, to see if they truly are deserving of the death penalty.
Because Lot is so persistent with them they take him up on
his offer and decide to dwell with him. One last thing I
would like to point out here is the fact that Lot made them a
feast and baked unleavened bread. Let me just say first of
all that I believe Abraham knew of the laws of God and of
His Holy days, so I feel that I can safely assume that Lot
was brought up in these teachings while he dwelt with
Abraham.. I get this belief from what the bible says of
Abraham in genesis chapter twenty six (Compare Gen 26:1-5), with emphasis on verse five.                                                                                      The bible does not say that the destruction of Sodom occurred during the days of unleavened bread, irregardless, the fact that God tells Moses to write this down (remember it was God Himself who inspired Moses
what to write down in the first five books), I believe it is of great importance to the reader what God is revealing here. Let me explain. The Days Of Unleavened Bread is a commanded holy day of God that not only the Israelite nation is to observe yearly from generation to generation
but is also to be observed by us gentiles (non Israelis). During the Days Of Unleavened Bread we are told by God to purge out the old man in us (which is sin) so that we may be a new lump, as we are leavened (full of sin). (Compare 1 Co 5:6-8, Exo 13:6-9). Just as we are told to purge out the old leaven of malice and wickedness, by the partaken of eating unleavened bread by Lot and the angels, reveals to me that this is what God is
doing with Lot. The Lord is taken Lot away from the wickedness that surrounds him (purging him) and bringing him into a new life (unleavened bread of sincerity and truth), and also, just as the Lord brought the Hebrew people out of Egypt with His strong hand, so to God is delivering Lot out of the bondage of Sodom that he has been in.
This is one  significant factor I see in the story of Lot, and of
Sodom and Gomorrah, and why God mentions that they ate
unleavened bread.

4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.
5 And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” Judg. 19:22; Rom. 1:24-27

 It is now late in the evening and all the men of Sodom both young and old came to Lots house to have sex with the two angels whom the Lord sent to be a witness against them, and to save Lot and his family from the destruction to come. This reveals to us the wickedness of the people of
Sodom who can only have thoughts of evil continuously. The people are so wicked that even the children are brought up in this way of life, and so to the young this is  normal behavior. This has been going on from generation to generation, and so they see no wrong in this type of lifestyle.  Because of this, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the people from generation to generation, till the great day of judgment will not be  condemned for their actions at this time (For they do not know the truth and the sinful life they are living). This will happen  at the great white throne judgment, when people will have their first true chance to know God and repent of their ways (Compare Matt 11:20- 24). Because the people of Sodom were not brought up in the ways of the one true God and of His ways, and were blind to their sin, God will have mercy on them more so than to those who do know of Him and His truth, but yet still refuse to accept Him. It’s hard for me to explain to the unbeliever what God is doing is actually an act of love and mercy on the creators part. I will refer the reader back to my comments in Genesis. 18:18 in regards to this matter.

6 So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the
door behind him,
7 And said, “Please my brethren, do not do so wickedly!
  Judg. 19:23
8 “”See now, I have two daughters who have not known a
man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do
to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since
this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my
roof.”    Judg. 19:24

 I am having a real hard time with verse eight here, in trying
understand Lots behavior, and how we are to learn from
this (2 Ti 3:16-17).I have read all the commentaries on this verse, I have gone to the United Church of Gods website, and I have even gone
to a Jewish website called Chabad.org to help give me some
insight as to what i’m suppose to take from verse eight.
Some commentaries say that Lot was merely acting on the
beliefs of the Asiatic customs of the times and still practiced
to this day let me quote from Adam Clarke s commentary,
(which seems to be a census to all who ascribe to this belief)

 Behold now, I have two daughters – Nothing but that sacred light in which the rights of hospitality were regarded among the eastern nations, could either justify or palliate this proposal of Lot. A man who had taken a stranger under his care and protection, was bound to defend him even at the expense of his own life. In this light the rights of hospitality are still regarded in Asiatic countries; and on these high notions only, the influence of which an Asiatic mind alone can properly appreciate, Lot’s conduct on this occasion can be at all excused: but even then, it was not only the language of anxious solicitude, but of unwarrantable haste.

 If this be the case then why does Lot offer up his two daughters and not himself in order to protect his guests? After the Asiatic custom is to defend his guest at the expense of his own life and not that of his family s life. We see no action of Lot here ready to lay down his life for his guests. After all it was Jesus who said that no man has a greater love than one who lays down his own life for a friend (John 15:12-13). The core issue I have with Lot here is this: How is he justified by his actions with God? Let me stop here for a second and just say this, it is not God who I am questioning here (I would never do that), on the contrary I am trying to understand my Father just as Abraham was doing when he was told of God s intentions in regards to Sodom and Gomorrah. God told Abraham that if he found ten righteous he would not destroy the cities for the sake of ten.
The actions of Lot seem to go against someone who is righteous. So then why was Lot sparred? To me, in my opinion his action is not worthy of this salvation, because to me Lot has become as the people of Sodom by offering up his daughters for sexual gratification, and we are never
told in the bible that unlike king David, Lot never repented for this action. In a sense (and I know these are harsh words) but he was essentially pimping out his own flesh and blood (who were still virgins). Also I do not want to be judgmental in my words, for it is God who knows the hearts
of men I am but a mere mortal man trying to understand my God and His word. Could it be that it is my faith that is being tested here? Should I just let this verse go and have the faith of Abraham; that God knows what he is doing with Lot and leave it at that? I have meditated on this for the
past two weeks and as I said earlier I even went to well known commentaries and my own church to help me understand my Father. I have finally put down on paper my thoughts on this matter for purpose of working this out in my head but to no avail, but I also have written down my thoughts while they are fresh on my mind and true to what I am thinking so I can then read my feelings back to myself as they have been revealed in my mind. This way I don’t have to try and explain this again, because know it won’t come out the same way I want it to.

9 And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one
came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now
we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they
pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break
down the door.

 Now that I look at this verse, it could to explain my
dilemma with Lot actions. All I need to do here is to read
between the lines. The people of Sodom make a telling
statement: they say among themselves “He (Lot) keeps
acting as a judge” Apparently during Lots stay in Sodom he
would act as judge for the sins of the people, which would
mean that he was basically witnessing against them and
also condemning them. How would he judge them? On
what basis would he use? Lot could only judge and
condemn them by the morals he himself was raised on.
Lot used Gods own statutes, laws, and commandments
which were taught to him by his uncle Abraham (Gen 26:4-5).               Just as Abraham was blessed because he obeyed God and
kept all his statutes, and laws, and his commandments, so
to Lot followed in his uncles footsteps and obeyed God and
all his laws, statutes, and commandments, and was blessed
by God and was saved from the destruction of Sodom.
Lot was surrounded daily by the evil temptations of this
city and its people yet he stayed true to Gods word and
never succumbed to the desires of the wicked. I believe also
That in Lots judgment, that the people of Sodom said he
cast on them (and this is my opinion which there is nothing
in the bible that I can base this upon), that one of the
reasons he judged them was for their salvation. Just as
Abraham toiled with God about destroying the righteous
with the wicked and was concerned about the wicked also,
so to was Lot concerned with the path that the people of
Sodom were on, and his intent was to rescue them from
their own demise, not to act as if he were somehow better
than them. Like I have said many of times already, “God
knows the hearts of men” and He found Lot to have the
kind of heart that pleases Him. Now this still doesn’t justify
Lots action with his two daughters, but who hasn’t
stumbled in one way or another from time to time? Lot is
only human which means like all humans we are born with
the sin nature in us. There was only one human that ever
existed that was born without sin and never sinned and
that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Lot was caught up in the
moment, and out of desperation he did what he thought
was best for everyone concerned. In those type of situations
you have but seconds to react. So I ask myself; how would I
have reacted? What would I have done? I hope I never have
to find out for fear of failing not only myself, or my family,
but also failing God.

10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

 Lot had been caught up in the ways of Sodom so much so
that he could not even see his own sin in his proposal that
he made with the people in regards to two of his daughters.
The angels of the Lord had to rescue him not only from the
people that were right outside his door, but also from
himself (so to speak)

11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that
they became weary trying to find the door.   Acts 13:11

 Out of all the things that the angels could have done to the
people at this point it is only fitting that they were struck
with blindness. The people of Sodom were spiritually
blinded to their wickedness. What they were wanting to do
to the two angels was not out of the ordinary for them when
strangers came to town. It was who they were as a people.
This is why Jesus said that it would be more tolerable for
the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment.
And again as Jesus said on the cross “Father forgive them
for they know not what they do” The people of Sodom
didn’t know any better because God had not revealed
Himself, His statutes, laws or commands to them (Matt 10:15, Luke 23:34).

 

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here?
Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever
you have in the city-take them out of this place!  2 Pet. 2:7-9
13 “For we will destroy this place, because the outcry
against them has grown great before the face of the Lord,
and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”   v. 24: 18-20

 These two verses have such a profound impact on my
beliefs in regards to the end times and how my family will
be impacted. As I am writing this I am the only one in my
immediate family who has been baptized; with the laying
on of hands and hold the testimony of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It is my understanding of the scriptures that it is
only those who are like-minded as I, which will escape the
the trials and tribulation that is soon to come to the whole
world. As we see and read here that it is through the
righteousness of Lot that his family has been sanctified,
and has been granted mercy from the destruction to come
to Sodom, even though they are not of the faith of Lot, or practicing the faith, It brings to mind Noah and the flood. His family too was saved from the flood because of Noah’s righteousness.  Now the families of both Noah and Lot were saved from the destruction at the time, but when it comes to their salvation this is a different issue. We all are responsible for our own salvation. Even If my family is sanctified thru me because of my righteousness, and are spared from God’s wrath in the latter day, they will not be a part of the saints that are caught up with our Lord Jesus Christ at the sound of the trumpet, if they have not truly repented of their own sins, and confess them before God, and been baptized. They will still be of the flesh during the 1000 year reign of Christ and their salvation would still be in question. consider 1 Co 7:12-14. I think it is important to show what the Thayer’s Greek definition of sanctified means:

Sanctified: (G37): ἁγιάζω: hagiazō
Thayer Definition:
1) to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow
2) to separate from profane things and dedicate to God
2a) consecrate things to God
2b) dedicate people to God
3) to purify
3a) to cleanse externally
3b) to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
3c) to purify internally by renewing of the soul

 I pray every day that I am found to be worthy to escape the tribulation of the end times, and that my family will be sanctified through me and likewise will be able to escape with me. I do not believe as probably most people do: in, that the church will be taken away before the tribulation. I believe that there will be some who will be martyrs for their belief in Jesus Christ, and that there will be those whom the Lord will take to a place of safety. I hope and pray I will be part of the latter. The promise made to John the apostle in the book of revelation by Jesus Christ is overlooked by many, and as the book is called; He reveals to John what is to happen to those who hold fast the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev 3:10). So as Abraham was, I too have faith in my God that his word is true, and I look forward; to the promise that is ahead of me.

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-laws, who had
married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this
place; for the Lord will destroy this city! “But to his sons-in-
law he seemed to be joking.

 So it appears to me that Lot has more than the two
daughters that he offered up to the people of Sodom. This is
only my opinion and there is nothing in the bible which
supports my theory. I have read a few commentaries and
there is some who say he only had the two daughters, while
others agree with my theory. I get my belief from what I
take from vs 12 where the angels ask Lot if he has anyone
else in the house with him. The men use the singular when
asking if he had a son-in-law somewhere else, maybe in the
city, whereas in this verse we see the term sons-in-law used
in the plural sense. So was there three daughters in Lots
house? But only the two he offered up were still virgins and
were not married? We must go back to verse eight where we
see that Lot describes these two daughters as not having
known a man inferring that they were not married, yet we
see in this verse that Lot speaks to at least two sons-in-laws
warning them of Gods plan to destroy the city but these
sons-in-laws thought that Lot was just joking and so they
ignored his warning. Then the last supporting evidence I
have in in the next verse (15) where the angels of the Lord
tell Lot to take the two daughters that are “HERE” meaning
that he had more daughters in the city. And that there was
only two of his daughters with him in his home.

15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to
hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two
daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the
punishment of the city.”   18:22
16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand,
his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the
Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and
set him outside the city.    2 Pet. 2:7

 From what I see here right off is that the angels of the Lord
Stayed overnight in the city of Sodom after they had
blinded the people. What was the purpose for them to stay
so long? The bible is not clear on this. My thought is to give
Lot proper time to go out in the city and gather his family,
and his people who had been with him since he left
Abraham, that have not been corrupted by the sins of the
city. I say this because of what I read in verse twelve, where
the Angels tell Lot to get family, AND whomever he has in
the city. Lot basically has to be dragged from the city along
with his wife and two daughters by the two angels. It
appears that Lot is reluctant to leave all that he has behind
even though he knows that God himself is about to cast
punishment and destroy the city. It must have been a real
struggle for Lot. On the one hand we know that Lot has
found favor from the Lord, which tells us that he is a
righteous man who followed Gods laws, commands, and
statutes. Then on the other hand, even though the people
of Sodom were wicked he most surely had close friends,
and even family amongst them and i’m sure his heart
was grieving for them, for he knew what was about to come.
Lot knew he would never see these people again. There
were probably all kinds of thoughts going through his
mind. One of these could have been that he figured as long
as he stayed God would not destroy the city (“for the
righteous sake” as Abraham said to God). It’s kind of like
Lot has Satan in one ear saying “God will will not destroy
this city as long as you are here” and the angels are in the
other ear saying “GET OUT!” For the Lord has spoken and
His will, will be done. This is just one example (from my
point of view), of what Lot was struggling with.

17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” v. 26

 The mountains, the place of safety. We see the same
scenario is to be played out in the latter days (Compare Matt 24:15-18), then again in Luke Jesus warns not to look back, just as the angels tell Lot and his family. (Luke 17:26-32).

18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my Lords!
19 “Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your
sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown
me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains,
lest some evil overtake me and I die.
20 “See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a
little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?)
and my soul shall live.”

 There are two facets of these verses I would like to discuss
here; one is faith, or the lack thereof, secondly the
temptations and the desires of the world. I will begin with
the subject of faith. Most commentaries I have read point to
the lack of faith that Lot had in God for his salvation from
the destruction about to come. Lot has already been
assured by The Lords angels that he has found favor in
Gods eyes which is why the angels were sent to rescue him
and his family from the destruction of Sodom. Why would
God warn Lot, take him away from the city, just to kill him
while he was fleeing? My God is not a liar! And He would
not mislead Lot, nor any of His children. So if Lot was so
concerned about being consumed in his flight, then in a
sense he is telling God, “I don’t know Lord, I think I will
put my fate into my own hands, and I think it be better if
went to this place where I would be safer.” oh ye of little
faith. This is the lesson that I believe most draw from these
verses, and I would have to say that this is the first thing
that came to my mind when I first read them.
As I meditated on these verses (which I did for sometime)
something else came to mind about what we can learn here.
I’m not in any way saying that faith isn’t the lesson we
ought to draw from these verses but that there could be
another aspect to this story, and that brings me to the
second facet of this story, which is the temptations and
desires of this world. So let me pose this thought to the
reader. Could it possibly be that just as Lot lingered about
in Sodom: not wanting to leave all the worldly possessions
he had accumulated, nor the ways of the world that he had
grown accustomed to, That when he looks to the mountains
he is told to flee to he sees no value in them. What is there
to gain from by living in these mountains? What worldly
treasures can he attain there? So when he looks to the city
of Zoar he sees a reflection of Sodom and all that it
represents, and all the worldly things that Satan loves to
tempt us with so he can manipulate us and lead us further
away from God the father and our relationship with Him
(Compare Gen 13:10-12). So then, maybe in the back of the mind of         Lot he was actually not concerned with his life so much as he was
concerned with the cares of the world and all that it has to
offer. Lot still wanted to chose his own path, which leads
man to death and destruction, and not the ways of God.
Maybe Lot wanted to compromise with God and was not
ready to fully surrender himself to the Lord. We must not
forget though that God saw something good in Lot, for He
and only He knows the hearts of men. This is just one mans
opinion for whatever it is worth to the reader. One thing we
do know when we read a little further in this chapter is that
in the end, Gods will be done, and it will not be
circumvented by anyone. We see that Lot does not stay too
long living in Zoar and ends up living remainder of his life
in the same mountains that he tried to avoid. When the
time comes, at the last trumpet, when we are called to flee
to a place of safety, we must not look back but ahead, ahead
to the future kingdom of God and all its glory. Knowing that
all things work together for the good of those that love God (Rom 8:28, Matt 6:33).

 

21 And he said to him, “See I have favored you concerning
this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for
which you have spoken.
22 “Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you
arrive there.” therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
13:10; 14:2

 First off let me try to explain who it is that is talking to Lot
here. When we read in the bible and see the pronoun he,
sometimes the word is capitalized and other times it is not.
When this pronoun is capitalized it is referring to the divine
nature of God, and also our Lord Jesus Christ because
Jesus is the only begotten son of God the father He has the
distinction also of being of the divine nature. So when we
read in verse 21 “And he said to him” the he part is referring
to the angel that has come to rescue Lot and his family. So
then the him has to be referring to Lot. I would like to refer
to a pamphlet titled Is God a Trinity? That is published by
the united Church of God in it we see the distinction
between the angels, God, Jesus Christ, and man (who was
created in the image of God):

Note again Paul’s words in Romans 8:16: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (KJV). And through that Spirit it becomes possible for us to be “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), the very nature of God. Returning to the book of Hebrews, we should understand that the language of being begotten by God, while not applicable to the angels, is applicable not just to Jesus Christ but also to His followers. “Angels,” we are told, “are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14, NLT).

The reason I point this out is because when I first read
these two verses it was the next statement after “he said to
him” which confused me; which reads “see I have favored
you concerning this thing also” it’s as if the he talking here
is the Lord himself, yet “he” was not capitalized, and it was
as the angel himself had the authority to decide the fate of
Lot. I must also point out that in the KJV strongs version of
these verses the word favored is not used and I believe is a
poor substitution for the original word that was used, let
me quote from the KJV strongs version:

Gen 19:21 And he saidH559 untoH413 him, See, H2009 I have acceptedH5375 H6440 thee concerning thisH2088 thingH1697 also, H1571 that I will notH1115 overthrowH2015 (H853) this city, H5892 for the whichH834 thou hast spoken. H1696

 We see that the original word used is “accepted” I
personally can now see why I was confused in the
understanding of this verse upon reading it in the English
translated version. In the modern day world the words
“favored” and “accept” can mean two different things:

ACCEPT’ED:, pp. Kindly received; regarded; agreed to; understood; received as a bill of exchange.

FA’VORED:, pp.
1. Countenanced; supported; aided; supplied with advantages; eased; spared.                                                                                                              2. a. Regarded with kindness; as a favored friend.

 I hope that after seeing the definitions of these two words
it will help simple minded people like me, not well versed in
the bible, not to get confused as I did. As we read in verse 22 we see that the angel here makes this statement, “For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” this helps clear things up as to who is actually in control, and it’s not the angels.

23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar.

 We are told in verse 15 that the morning had dawned when the angels took Lot and his family out of Sodom. We see here in this verse that the sun is now risen when lot entered into Zoar. So by comparing verse 15 along with verse 20 (where Lot tells the angels that Zoar is “.near enough to flee”) we must conclude that Zoar was only miles a few miles from Sodom.

24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens.
25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

Once Lot entered into Zoar God destroyed not only destroyed Sodom but the other cities in the general vicinity.
 God also killed all life in the area from mankind to the animal kind and also the plant kind just as he did back in the days of Noah and the flood. It had only been a little less than four hundred years since the flood that God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

 In verse seventeen the Angels warned Lot and his family not to look back as they fled, but Lot’s wife did not obey and she paid with her life in not obeying God. Some may ask, “why did Lots wife had to die just for merely looking back?” In my opinion, One reason is because she disobeyed God. Another reason is because the action of what Lots wife was doing is a reflection of the character of Lots wife herself. By looking back it shows a reflection of her wanting to not give up the life she had in Sodom (which as we are told is full of wickedness), so she had to be destroyed as part of the wicked people of this city. Why a pillar of salt? Why couldn’t she have just fell down and died? No one can give an explanation for this because this is all we are told of her fate and there is no other place in the Bible that we can go to for a reason. So we are left with out own conclusions. This being said, let me put in my own two cents worth here (Matt 5:13), from my understanding of this verse; we are to be examples to the world forever and a light to mankind always shining. By God turning Lots wife into a pillar of salt He is using her as a light to the world or warning to all mankind of what can become of your fate when you disobey God. Think about it for a moment, even those who do not go to church regularly have heard of this story and it has been a salt to the world to this day of what happens to those who disobey God. I believe that this is also an example of will happen to those in the latter days who are told to flee to the mountains and not look back when they see the abomination of desolation taken place in the holy city (Matt 24:15-22), we saints, who alive and remain, in the latter days we will be taken to a place of safety in the wilderness, where we are to go we do not know, but we must be ready, and when we are told to go to this place of safety we should not hasten as Lot did, nor look back as Lots wife did, but we must look ahead to the promise that is to come, and not veer to the left or the right but straight ahead to the promised land (Rev 12:13-14)

27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 18:22
28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.

 The place where he stood before the Lord spoken of here is where Abraham pleaded with the Lord that He would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. One can only imagine what went through Abraham s mind when he saw all the smoke toward Sodom and Gomorrah. One thing he knew for certain is that God did what He said he was going to do. There is no need for Abraham to go and investigate. Abraham had to have wondered about the fate of his nephew Lot. Abraham was probably hoping that after Lot left Abraham years before that he did not forget the God of Abraham and remained a righteous man before the Lord. When Abraham was asking the Lord if He would destroy the righteous with the wicked he had to be thinking of Lot at the time. As far as we know from the scriptures Abraham never knew what became of Lot or his descendants. If this is the case, Abraham will, at the resurrection know that Lot remained faithful to the Lord during this time, and did not suffer the consequences of Sodom and Gomorrah.

29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt. 8:1; 18:23

 God made a promise to Abraham and he did not break that promise. He saved Lot from the destruction as He said He said He would (in a round about way, if you will), And we who have the faith of Abraham can be rest assured that when God makes a promise to us that He will not break that promise. This is wherein our faith lies.

30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.

 Gods will be done. Lot was told to flee to the mountains but he thought he new better and thwarted Gods plan, but only with Gods approval was he able to delay his fate. I believe that the Lord is the one who put the fear in Lots heart and thus made him afraid to dwell in Zoar. We are not told what he feared, just that he did not feel safe in Zoar. I believe the message that God is giving us hear is that his will, will be done, and no matter how far we run from God he will always pull us back to Him and His purpose for us. It reminds me of the story of Jonah. God told Jonah to go and warn the people of Nineveh but Jonah would not listen and he ran from God only to be brought back to the shores close to Nineveh where he was spit out from the belly of a great whale. You can run but you cannot hide. There is no place too far, no ocean too wide, no cave too deep, that can you can run to from God when he calls on you for His purpose.

31 Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old and there is no man on the earth to come into us as is the custom of all the earth.
32 “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” Lev. 18:6-18

 These two daughters were raised in Sodom and were accustomed to the customs of the people of Sodom. Even though Lot was a righteous man and undoubtedly he tried to raise his children in the ways of God, the children were probably influenced by their surroundings as well, which in this case was that of a life of wickedness. Lot was only one righteous man among many unrighteous people. His influence on his children could only go so far amongst the desires of the world, that the daughters might have found pleasing to their hearts and minds. Just as Eve found the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil pleasing to her eyes, so to the daughters of Lot had to contend with this temptation. the daughters felt as though they would spend the remainder of their lives in the caves away from civilization, never having the opportunity to have children of their own. One thing they knew was that it was a custom for a man to lie with a woman in order to have offspring, and the only man that was around was their father. So the daughters succumbed to the influence of the sin nature. They knew that what they were about to do with their father was wrong which is why they had to get him drunk in order for them to carry out their wicked deed. This is the outcome of poor decision making on Lots part: to think that he could live amongst the wicked and not be affected by these surroundings. The decisions he made was not only a detriment to him but his family as well. I have always told my own children that the decisions they make in life will affect their lives forever so they need to really think about their actions before they carry them out. So, when a man marries a woman and the two become one; they have to think about what is best for the family as a whole and not be selfish to their own needs and desires.

33 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34 It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”  v. 22
35 Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

 Verses 33-34 are a testament to the evils of alcohol. I know that most people who drink always go the New Testament verse where Jesus turned the water to wine to justify their desire to drink alcohol. And then in the old testament we are told in Deut. 14:26 to eat and drink during the Feast of Tabernacles. There are times when God gives His blessings on drinking wine and even strong drink. drinking is not a sin in and of itself, it is the overindulgence that is the sin.  King Solomon, the wisest man there ever was speaks of this in Ecclesiastes:

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

 We are also given instruction as to how we are to drink and the dangers of drinking too much (Compare Pro 23:20-21, 29-35), and for those who think that the Old Testament is not relevant then lets see what the New Testament has to say about the subject (Luke 12:45-46, 21:34-36, Gal 5:17-21), as I have shown here drinking can be a stumbling-block to
those who drink to get drunk and not to be merry. Drinking
Alcohol itself is not a sin. It is the misuse of it that is a sin.
There is limit we should put on the amount of alcohol we
consume, and there are certain times which God ordained it
okay to drink (again in moderation), I would suggest that
for those who have no self control and are what we would
term as alcoholics that they should refrain from it all
together. Then there are those like me who made a promise
to God that if He would deliver us from our trouble that we
would stop drinking all together. When you make a promise
to God you ought not break it, for there will be a price to
pay. I personally only drink wine during the celebration of
the Passover ceremony. For Jesus said to do this in
remembrance of Him. We are also told in the passover
that Jesus he would not drink of the cup until he is in the
fathers kingdom with us (Matt 26:27-29), this too is my                 commitment to God; that I will not drink any alcohol except                    for the Passover ceremony. But in Gods kingdom, at the                marriage supper of the Lamb, There will be such joy and                 feasting going on I believe it will then be appropriate to partake           fully in this feast. But I must digress here and get back to Lot and his two daughters. They had to Get Lot drunk in order for him to do this wicked act. No good can come from drunkenness. In my opinion, the two
daughters that we read about hear are the same two daughters whom Lot was willing to give up to the people of Sodom, when they were wanting Lot to give up the two angels to them so they could have sex with them. If this be the case, how ironic is it then that Lot would be the one who
would be subjected to this kind of wickedness. In the end we are told that Lot did not know when his daughters lay down with him or when they arose. Does this leave Lot blameless? After all he did drink heavily that night, so heavily that he couldn’t even remember what transpired.
Gods word seems to indicate that He found him blameless.
I will not even try to judge Lot here or in any other actions
that he did which are recorded in the scriptures; It really
only matters what God thinks, and no one should question
Him.

36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38 And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day. Deut. 23:3; Ruth 1:4

 Lots two daughters both had sons fathered by him. The eldest daughters son is the father of the Moabites, and the youngest daughters son is the father of the Ammonites; while Lot is the patriarch of both these nations. We never hear again of Lot or his daughters as far as what became of them in the scriptures, however there are plenty of prophecies concerning the fate of the Moabites and the Ammonites in the past and in the latter days. There are times when God blesses these nations and there are times when he curses them just like the Descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I look at these people in this way: just as Lot is the nephew of Abraham, then the descendants of Lot are the cousins of Issac and Jacob. The descendants of Lot were settled in the land of modern day Jordan. If we go back to the book of Deuteronomy (when the Israelites are coming into the promised land) we read in chapter two that God warns the people not to take possession of the land of the Moabites or the Ammonites for he gave the land to the children of Lot (Deut 2:9, 19), this tells me that God Blessed Lot and has had a special purpose for his descendants throughout time. He is not finished with them either; we can look at future prophecies concerning these nations and see that God has a special purpose for them in the end times. We can find these prophecies in the books of Jeremiah, Amos, Micah, Isaiah, and Ezekial for the most part.

18

1.Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth
trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 13:18
2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,
3 and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in your sight, do not pass on by your servant.
4 “Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 19:2
5 “And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.”
7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

 This is the third time in which we read that the Lord has appeared to Abraham; the first time was when Abraham first came into the land of Canaan and the Lord reveals to him that the land he is in, is the land that Abraham s seed will inherit. The second time the Lord appears to Abraham was when he was ninety nine years old and He told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son and that his name shall be called Isaac. I have read some commentaries that suggest that Abraham at first did not recognize the Lord. I would have to disagree with their assumption because of the fact that when Abraham saw the three men standing outside the tent we are told that he ran to them from the door and immediately bowed to the ground, and Called Him “My Lord” and acknowledges that he is His servant. This to me doesn’t seem like the actions of a person who doesn’t know who he is greeting. Abraham s actions in these verses brings to mind two things about this meeting.
 First I am reminded of when Abraham met king Melchizedek and gave a tenth of all he had won from the kings of the north when he went to rescue Lot from them. While he is not offering a tenth of what he owns here I believe the same principle is being applied. while it was the custom of the day to welcome in strangers to their dwelling and feed them and give them rest, they would not bow to the ground and call them “MY Lord”. secondly Abraham selected the finest calf of his herd and asked Sarah to take the best of his grain and prepare it for the Lord and His companions (Compare Eze 20:40-41). These offerings were commanded by the Lord while they were in the wilderness which the people strayed away from. So in my opinion Abraham s actions here are a simile of
these offerings to the Lord. And because Abraham did not eat any of the food offered to the Lord and his companions; is this yet another simile of the offerings made to the Lord by the Israelites, in which they were not to share in this offering? Only the high priest could have a portion of these offerings made to the Lord. In my opinion Jesus is the Lord who is appearing to Abraham here, this being said it is only fitting that he and his companions can eat what Abraham has offered up to them. In my opinion the companions who are with the Lord are  representative of the disciples of Jesus. this would explain why they to sat and ate with the Lord. Again this is only my opinion as I have come to understand these scriptures at this juncture in my  spiritual journey and my thirst for Gods word.  I don’t have any solid evidence to back this up, all I can do is reference the scriptures in the New Testament that gives me this train of thought (Luke 5:34-35). I’ll let the reader decide for themselves.

9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here in the tent.” 24:67
10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 17:16; 2 Kings 4:16; Rom. 9:9
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Luke 1:18; 1 Pet. 3:6

 Here we see that Sarah is being blessed with being in the presence of the Lord. I believe that this is on purpose which is why they asked Abraham where his wife was. The Lord and his two angels want to make sure that what they are about to tell Abraham is also meant for Sarah’s ears as well, this way there is no doubt In her mind as to how she was able to bear a child when she was already well passed the time of a woman s life that is capable of having children; hence when, I believe it is the Lord making this statement: “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life” The Lord is saying to Abraham that he will make it possible for Sarah s body to return to it’s youthful state in which women are in their childbearing years. Sarah, although not being face to face with the Lord is hearing His voice, maybe for the first time. I remember when the Lord spoke to me in a dream how ecstatic I was, not only in my dream but afterwards when I awoke. All we know about Sarah s encounter is that she laughed when she heard she would have a child at her age, but undoubtedly when she did conceive she reflected back on this encounter with the Lord and her faith was strengthened because of it just like my faith was strengthened because of my personal encounter with the Lord. At this time however Sarah laughs at this statement but not aloud for anyone to hear. Verse 12 says she “laughed withing herself” and says “within” her mind “I and my husband Abraham are to old to please one another.” In my opinion she is talking about having sex with one another when she says “Shall I have pleasure my lord (Abraham) being old also” as if to say that Abraham is too old to be physically capable of performing such acts.

13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’
14 “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

 The Lord is all knowing, and He knows our deepest thoughts and desires, and He knows the hearts of men. Even though Sarah laughed “within” herself nothing can be hidden from the Lord. So the Lord, even though His conversation is directed towards Abraham, I believe it is intended for Sarah’s ears also. So the Lord lets Sarah know, that He knows what she is thinking, and He proclaims to Abraham (for Sarah’s benefit as well) there is nothing that is beyond My capacity or too difficult for Me, but He proclaims this in the form of a rhetorical question, “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?” There is no need for a reply Abraham knows the power of the Lord. So The Lord again, to emphasize, tells them that number one; He will return to them at the “appointed time,” what is this appointed time one may ask? God has a master plan and all things will work out and be performed according to Gods time frame and no other. When God feels it is time for Abraham and Sarah to have a child then and only then will this miracle child be born. I believe Gods purpose for Abraham and Sarah to wait till they are of old age, is to glorify God and to reveal to mankind his power. The Lord also emphasizes secondly that he is able to give Sarah her youth once again so she can have a child. Since God did this to Sarah, imagine if you will, for a second what we saints will be like in our glorified bodies at the resurrection, sure we will be spirit beings, but we will also be able to manifest ourselves back to human form just as Jesus did when He appeared to the apostles after His own death and resurrection. And I believe when we are manifested into the human body it will be as when we were in our own youthful state of being.
 Sarah tries to deny that she laughed at the thought of her having a child and it frightened her to know that the Lord was able to hear her thoughts. So the Lord says firmly and i’m paraphrasing  “Aw but yes you did laugh and I heard all your thoughts.” Just one last thought here and I would like that whoever reads this to ponder the statement I am about to make here, and I will explain this thought at the proper time myself when we read about the birth of Isaac in genesis chapter 21. There are many similarities in Isaac s life to that of the birth of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. Think about this and I will go into greater detail on this subject as we continue to read Gods word.

16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.

There are two purposes for the lord and his angels to come down from heaven. The first purpose was revealed to us in the previous verses in regards to God promise to Abraham and his seed. God, for the first time reveals to Abraham that the promise He made to him would be through the seed of Sarah and not Hagar, and that it will be Isaac, (the son of Abraham and Sarah), and not Ishmael, (the son of Abraham and Hagar) who the Lord will make his everlasting covenant with. The second purpose of the Lord and His angels is to bring judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

17 And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?

 I will purposely separate this verse from verses 18-19 in order to make a point about the character of God, and His relationship with Abraham and all of mankind. Although there is more to learn from these verses I felt it necessary to write down what came to mind when I first read this verse, but I didn’t know how to put together my thoughts. So I wrote and rewrote and rewrote till I found the words that best described my thoughts.
 The Lord has developed a close relationship with Abraham so much so in that He respects him tremendously. we can all look at this statement God makes here about not keeping anything from Abraham. When we as individuals come to the point where we trust in the Lord in all things and learn to fear, obey, and put all our faith in Him as Abraham has, that Gods love and respect for us grows so strong that he will not hold anything back from us. Not to say that God doesn’t love us, but I guess what i’m trying to say is that just like any relationship, be it in a marriage, being siblings, or best friends, the more you develop a relationship with that person the stronger the bond becomes that you can feel comfortable around that person; that you can tell them anything about what you have done, your deepest feelings, that you couldn’t tell anyone else and know that that person will not turn his back on you, and that the two of you can talk things through and come to an understanding and still have that bonding relationship with one another. In my opinion this is the kind of relationship God wants with all His children. We are made in the image of God and part of that characteristic is feelings. God has feelings, and he wants to be loved and respected just as we do, and if God doesn’t tell Abraham of His plans He may lose that bond with Abraham that he cherishes so much. If God doesn’t tell Abraham of His plans He risk losing the relationship that He has worked so hard to build.
There is more to verses 17-21 and I have only touched on one of these aspects. I will discuss the other aspects of these verses below.

◊18 “since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 12:3

 The Israelite nation is the nation that will become a “great and mighty nation” and God tells us here in verse eighteen, and i’m paraphrasing here: that this will surely come to pass just as the sun rises in the east and settles in the west. In Genesis 12:3 God told Abraham that all nations will be blessed by him, and this includes Sodom and Gomorrah. In order for Abraham to not be confused by what God told him about all the nations (Like Abraham did as to the promised seed between Hagar and Sarah): you can refer back to my comments back in Gen. 16:1, 2 for my explanation of what I put in parentheses. Abraham does not live very far from Sodom and Gomorrah. Therefore the destruction of these two cities was so great that Abraham probably saw or heard the explosions and the cloud of smoke that rose from their destruction. If God did not tell Abraham, He might have questioned God Afterwards on how all the nations could be blessed if they are to be destroyed by God. What kind of blessing is that? Abraham might have wondered. So just like in the days of Noah: when all of mankind were so wicked that there thoughts were evil continuously, in which God was so grieved that He had to destroy the world and start all over. Sodom and Gomorrah have become like those days of old. One might wonder even today how these two cities are blessed? Let me quote from scripture as to their eternal fate, because in the scriptures we see that God is not finished with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (Compare Matt 10:5-15, 11:19-24). The day of judgment and eternal damnation for all of mankind is still yet to come. Because the people of Sodom and Gomorrah never knew the Lord, or his truth, or his plan of salvation, He does not hold their wickedness against them. The day of judgment spoken here in these scriptures above are talking about the great white throne judgment in which all those who never knew of God or his Son Jesus Christ, will be raised from the grave and will be given an opportunity to learn of God and Jesus, and then they will be given the chance to make their own decision, to live in righteousness in God s kingdom or not, then and only then will they be given the punishment of eternal death from which there is no return. So God will give the people of Sodom and Gomorrah their first real chance to know and accept Him. It is through the faith of Abraham that these two cities will get this opportunity, hence they have been blessed through him.

19 “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 1 Kings. 10:9

Because the Lord knows Abraham and the kind of man that he is, He explains to Abraham that there are consequences for living a life of sin and unrighteousness, and that judgment will be giving to those who live an ungodly life. This judgment will occur according to Gods time-line. The Lord knows Abraham well enough to know that he will pass this lesson onto his children and his children s children so that God can keep the promise He made to Abraham.

20 And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because there sin is very grave, 4:10; 19:13
21 “I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to me; and if not, I will know.” Ezek. 16:49, 50

 I believe that the outcry the Lord has herd against Sodom and Gomorrah is coming from none other than Lot (Gen 19:6-9). In my opinion Lot was tormented day and night by the evil that surrounds him and he cried out daily to the Lord to deliver these people  from their wickedness. It was this crying out that the Lord heard. The sins of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were so burdensome, so painful to the Lord that it grieved Him so; just as in the days of Noah, that God had to intervene for righteousness sake. God will send two Angels (Witness’s), to go and see if all that He has heard from this outcry is true and if so He will know Himself and His judgment against them will be righteous.

22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.
23 And Abraham cam near and said, “Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 19:15                                                                 24 “Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would you also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
25 “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Ps. 58:11; Is. 3:10, 11
26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Jer. 5:1
27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:
28 “Suppose there were five less than fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty five, I will not destroy it.”
29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
30 Then he said, “let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” James. 5:16
33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

I must let the reader know before I begin with my commentary on these verses the things that transpired while I had been thinking about them for the past week. I thought I had my thoughts together on what I wanted to say and I still intend to put them down here, but then this past weekend, during Sabbath services, our former pastor returned to town to promote a seminar our church is doing and was invited to give the sermon which he happily did. Part of the sermon he gave was about this chapter in Genesis in regards to our faith and how to have genuine faith. He used these verses above and it brought another aspect to these verses that I didn’t even think about, so I would like to share what he taught on this subject and then I will end my with commentary what I had originally intended to write in regards to these verses: not that my thoughts on these verses are superior to that of this minister, on the contrary, I believe his is much deeper and has more meet in it than mine, but I believe by combining these two aspects of the verses above it will give the reader a deeper understanding of what Abraham was dealing with at this time, and the close relationship that he had with his Creator. Le me begin with the pastors comments, and I am paraphrasing here:

 Abraham didn’t understand what God was doing here with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and he was trying to reason it out with Him. In Abraham’s mind God is this all loving all merciful God, How could He just kill all these people and wipe them off the face of the earth and not show mercy to them, after all they are part of Gods creation also, and shouldn’t they be included in the blessings? So in his mind he is thinking about the righteous people who also live in these cities, how could God destroy these righteous with the wicked? Abraham starts to reason with God and ask Him “Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Lord this is beneath you “far be it from you to do such a thing as this” I’m paraphrasing here, how can you slay the righteous with the wicked? They (the righteous) don’t deserve the same punishment as the wicked, and again he reiterates to the Lord “far be it from you!” You who is the Judge of all the earth, shall You not do right among the righteous of the earth!? “Suppose you find fifty righteous within the city; would you also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?” And the Lord responds: “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Then Abraham acknowledges to the Lord of his own creation; that he is mere dust and ashes, Abraham is basically saying here that he is nobody special and just a part of Gods creation who was created from the dust of the earth:

Gen 2:7 And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

 Reading this now something just came to mind and I want to throw this little nugget out to the reader. Abraham knew that man was created from the dust of the earth in the beginning, he was aware of the origins of the beginning of life. This tells me that from Adam to Abraham this truth was told and retold from generation to generation. From Adam to Enoch (who walked with God), to Noah and then Abraham. Abraham continues to reason with God as well in his own mind and ask God again “Suppose there were five less than fifty righteous? And God responds to him that He will not destroy the city. Abraham continues in this Interrogation: if you will, of God, and gets all the way down to ten righteous to see if God will indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked. Abraham is finally satisfied and reassured of Gods loving mercy. Abraham now understands that the Lord is a righteous God and fair in His judgment. He now knows that God does truly separate the righteous from the wicked in His judgment upon man. Now this is my own thinking here, but I believe that Abraham s faith in God is strengthened even more so by the end of this conversation with his Creator.                                                                                                My pastors point here in all this is that none of us have all the answers or understanding as to why God does what He does at times, and why does it appear that the wicked get away with so much while the poor and righteous seem to never get ahead in life? That we Christians, and all mankind for that matter, must trust in our Creator and have faith in God that in the end all things will work together for the good of all (Rom 8:28). After writing down my pastors thoughts on these verses I feel that my thoughts are minuscule in comparison, and proof to me that when it comes to understanding Gods word (the Bible) I am but a babe still on milk and not yet ready for the meat of Gods word. Or to teach it. Be that as it may, I do have the desire to learn and understand (Heb 5:12-14, 1 Pet 2:1-3). Being as a babe desiring that solid food I will pass on what
I have learned from my own studies in regards to these
verses: To me I see a strong relationship being formed with
Abraham and God. Abraham has come to a place where he
feels comfortable enough to question God and His purpose
and not worry that God will strike him dead for questioning
Him. God as for His part could have struck Abraham dead
for Abraham questioning His authority but He didn’t. The
Lord loves and respects Abraham and He understands also
his heart. For in his questioning of God he is concerned
about the righteous as well as the wicked. I include the wicked because Abraham ask God if He will spare the wicked for the righteous sake. It’s as if Abraham is a reflection of his Creator, he is becoming one with the Lord and the Lord is indeed abiding in him (John 15:4-5), he cares not only for the righteous but also for the wicked. God Himself wishes that
no one would perish but have everlasting life, and I believe
this is also the wish of Abraham.

 

17

1.When Abram was ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 35:11; Deut. 18:13;  2 Kings 20:3

 How God appeared to Abraham we are not told, but we do
know that from John 1:18 Abraham did not see God as he is. We do though have a hint as to How God may have appeared to Abraham by reading how God appeared to Moses on mount Sinai (Compare Exo 3:1-3). It has been approximately thirteen years since God last appeared and spoke to Abram. Why has there been such a long time since their first meeting? God doesn’t reveal this to us in his-story so one can only guess. Could it be that maybe God was testing Abram to see if he would keep the faith and stay true to Gods ways? There are other instances in the bible where certain people lost their faith in God and resorted to Baal worship and pagan practices because they may have felt that God had abandoned them. We don’t see this in Abrams case. Abram undoubtedly kept worshiping God and obeying Him, loving Him, and keeping remembrance of Him. When God approaches Abram for the first time in thirteen years or so He starts by reminding Abram That He (God) is all powerful, that is also to say “there is nothing He can’t do” it is to remind Abram who and what He is. And God tells him “walk before me” (be like Me and be blameless as I am Holy and without blame or sin). God is telling Abram “you can be like Me if you will indeed keep the faith and do as I say. There has only been one human who has ever walked this earth that lived His whole life blameless and without sin, that is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who, by His perfect life, was sacrificed once for all mans sin, that we all can share in the promises God will give Abram. Where God can look upon us all, blameless and without sin, a holy people, complete in all our being, and become part of Gods family and be able to walk uprightly as we enter into Gods kingdom. Just as Abram, through his faith, was found righteous in Gods eyes, we who have the faith of Abraham share in this promise (Gal 3:26-29).

2. “And I will make my covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”   15:18
3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him saying:
4 “As for Me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.   Rom. 4:11, 12, 16

 In my opinion, Because God has now found Abram to have passed this test that I spoke of earlier, that he can now expand on the covenant that he previously made with him and remind him of the promise that He (God) will multiply Abram and his seed exceedingly. Abram, in recognition of who God is, and out of respect, bows down before Him and gives honor to the Almighty One, in a show that he does and will indeed walk with God. Just a reminder to the reader here, a covenant is a contract between two parties who make a promise to one another to fulfill certain obligations with the other.

5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.  Neh. 9:7

Abraham: (H85): אברהם: ‘abrâhâm
BDB Definition: Abraham = “father of a multitude” or “chief of multitude”
1) friend of God and founder of Hebrew nation via God’s elective covenant

 I have purposely been calling Abraham by his birth name Abram throughout the course of my studies up until now. I do out of respect for God and His word. Up until now God called him Abram and his wife’s birth name of Sarai. Who am I to go against my fathers will? So, Now that God is changing their names I too will be calling the “father of faith” Abraham, and Sarai by her new name Sarah (in which we see God telling Abraham that this will be their new names). Bible scholars from the past to present pretty much agree as to the reason for this. With this in mind I will quote from the church that I attend which is The United Church of God; as to why the name change:

 Up to Genesis 16 the Scriptures always use the birth names Abram, which means “Exalted Father,” and Sarai, meaning “Princess.” But, here in Genesis 17, God bestows new names on them. Abraham means “Father of a Multitude” and Sarah, while still retaining the sense of “Princess,” seems to mean one of an even higher station (e.g., it is derived from the same word translated “queen” in Isaiah 49:23). Interestingly, both new names differ from Abram and Sarai by the addition of one letter in the Hebrew—the letter He, pronounced, like the English H, as a breath of air, which is often a symbol of God’s Spirit. Though there may be no significance to this, becoming new persons and circumcision can both picture spiritual conversion. In any event, whether Abraham and Sarah received the indwelling of God’s Spirit at this particular time or not, we do know for certain that they did receive it at some point (compare 1 Peter 1:11)—for they will be in the Kingdom of God, and only the converted have that honor (Rom 8:9, 11).

6 “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.

◊7″And I will establish my covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.  26:24; Ezek. 16:60                  

8″Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”   Ex. 6:7

 This is the first time we see God include in His promise to Abraham that he will be the father of many nations and that Kings will come from his seed. Before this time all God told Abraham is that his descendants would as many as the stars in heaven and the sands of the earth. God also tells Abraham for the first time that this covenant between him and God includes his descendants forever and ever, (Which are the descendants of Isaac and Jacob), not Ishmael and his descendants. And the land in which Abraham now lives will be handed down from generation to generation for ever and ever, and that He who created all things, the Alpha and the Omega, the Great Elohim will be their God.
 The fact that God has been reminding Abraham that he is a stranger in this land, and God reiterates this throughout the Bible; has lead me to think about this remark and brought me to this thought. Now mind you this is my opinion and I have not heard this preached at my church, or on any websites that I have gone to, or any commentaries I have read thus far, but I believe that all of Gods children that have ever lived, are now living, and those in the future who have the faith of Abraham, and God’s spirit, are in a world where we are strangers. Let me explain: God created the heavens and earth, and all things that were made, were made by Him. No matter where we live on this planet we had no hand in it’s creation. We did not create the herbs of the fields nor the trees of the forest. We did not create the animals or the creatures of the sea, or the birds of the air. We did not make the rock or the soil in which we use to make our skyscrapers and places of dwelling. We did not make the ore of the earth in which we use to make so many things. Not just that it was God who gave us the brain we use to come up with the inventions that man has made to make life easier and more enjoyable for us. We are all truly strangers in a land that God calls the dry land earth and the waters the seas. If you are a student of the bible then you are familiar with the saying that we who have been called and chosen are not of this world (John 17:14-16). We are told that one day, we will be joint Heirs with Christ, that God will give us all things. we are told that we will be like God, (mind you I said like God not God). He will always be the one true God and there will never be another. But with this in mind maybe, just maybe, that in Gods kingdom we will be able to create our own heavens and earth and there we will not be called strangers anymore. I once took my family far out in the country where we were far enough away from all the city lights. When the sun went down and it was totally dark we all laid down on the ground and looked up into the heavens (you see so many more stars without the city lights), and I gave them my opinion on what I think could be a part of our inheritance. This is just one mans vision of the Kingdom. I told them that I believe that God will give all those in his kingdom (His children), a planet that has our own personal name on it which we can create however we like, pro-create man in the image of God and have our own children and bring them up in the knowledge of the Lord, just as God did here on planet earth.

9 And God said to Abraham: “As for you you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.   Ex. 19:5

The covenant here between Abraham and God is one that will be passed down from generation to generation. I have already explained in some part what the actions of a covenant represent when two parties enter into this pact. But now I feel it my duty to explain in great detail the Covenants that are strictly between God and man. Instead of me trying to put into my own words of that what is taught as doctrinal beliefs in the church I attend, I will instead just copy and paste certain portions of the doctrinal
papers that was approved by the council of elders for the United Church of God back in August of 2002. You can click on the link if you care to read our doctrinal beliefs in its entirety. Here now are excerpts from their doctrinal papers:

 From Genesis to Revelation, there are numerous covenants God establishes with mankind. In the Scriptures, when a covenant is
made by God, it is in the context of instituting a positive, loving
relationship with the person or persons involved. Since all these
covenants were initiated by Him, they are consequently based on
His perfect and holy character. Each one reflects His love and
concern for man at different stages of human history. As James
states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). This principle applies to God’s covenants as well. Therefore, it is important to note from the start that all of God’s covenants descend from Him and are always given for man’s benefit. They are based on the premises of love, grace, faith and obedience. Although the conditions of these different covenants would vary, being greatly
influenced by man’s decisions to obey or disobey God’s holy laws, the underlying loving principles of God’s covenants would remain the same.
 Covenant Relationships At the heart of the biblical meaning of a covenant is the concept of God and man, or man and fellow man, forming a special relationship or bond. In that vein, the covenants of God formally declare His will and purpose in different situations. God’s covenants are an expression of His deep love for humanity and are major benchmarks along the way of His developing plan For all of humanity. They serve as a kind of divine constitution or ordinance governing human relations with Him.

10 “This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me
and you and your descendants after you: every male child
among you shall be circumcised;
11 “and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your
foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me
and you.    9:13; Ex. 31:13, 17
12 “He who is eight days old among you shall be
circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who
is born in your house or bought with your money from any
foreigner who is not your descendant.   Luke. 2:21
13 “He who is born in your house and he who is bought
with your money must be circumcised, and my covenant
shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 “And the uncircumcised male child, who is not
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be
cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Again I will refer to the doctrinal paper of the United Church of God to explain this special Covenant between not only Abraham (as we will see) but with his descendants (including Ishmael and his descendants) and for all mankind.

 Through Abraham’s faith and obedience, God institutes a
special relationship not only with Abraham, but with his
descendants through Isaac and Jacob. Great promises
would be made to Abraham—the physical promises to him
and his descendants and the spiritual promises of God’s
grace to all humanity, through the promised Seed, Christ
(Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:15-18). The sign of circumcision
is given as a new covenant relationship with Abraham’s
descendants through Isaac and Jacob. God told Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child
Among you shall be circumcised” (Gen 17:9-10). Though also included later in the covenant.

THE COVENANTS OF GOD
Doctrinal Paper
Page 7
Approved August 2002
At Sinai (Leviticus 12:3), circumcision was originally introduced as a token of covenantal responsibilities for all of Abraham’s descendants, not just for the nations of Israel and Judah. It came into existence as a token of covenant responsibility, not as a badge of national superiority, as it was later misrepresented in Judaism. One interesting fact we learn about Abraham is that he kept God’s law. Notice Genesis 26:5: “Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” Interestingly, in the midst of a narrative book, we read a comment that indicates clearly that Abraham kept the laws of God, and that those laws, though yet to be codified for the nation of Israel, were in existence well before Sinai. Thus we see that Abraham, referred to as the “father of the faithful” in the New Testament, was one who kept the commandments of God.

 The United Church of God references The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, and its comment on Genesis 26:5:

 The Lord then added a remarkable note: Abraham “kept my requirements [mismarti], my commands [miswotay], my decrees [huqqotay] and my laws [wetorotay]” (v. 5). It is remarkable that this is precisely the way in which obedience to the Sinai covenant is expressed in Deuteronomy 11:1: “Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements [mismarto], his decrees [huqqotayw], his laws [mispatayw] and his commands [miswotayw]”…. Thus Abraham is an example of one who shows the law written on his heart (Jeremiah 31:33). He is the writer’s ultimate example of true obedience to the law, the one about whom the Lord could say, “Abraham obeyed me” (v. 5). Thus, by showing Abraham to be an example of “keeping the law,” the writer has shown the nature of the relationship between the law and faith. Abraham, a man who lived in faith, could be described as one who kept the law (Vol. 2, pp. 186-187). As a result of this covenant, God promised Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan. From a small family, the 12 descendants of Jacob would become 12 tribes and Joseph’s descendants would eventually become a great nation and a company of nations (Gen 48:19).

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you
shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name

Sarai, (H8297): שׂרי: śâray;
BDB Definition: Sarai = “princess”                                                                 1)original name of Sarah the wife of Abram or Abraham

Sarah, (H8283): שׂרי: śârâh;                                                                         BDB Definition: Sarah = “noblewoman”
1) wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac

16 “And I will bless her and also give you a son by her;
then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations;
kings of peoples shall be from her.” v. 6; 35:11

 When we look at the distinction of the meanings of the two
names we can see why God changed Sarai’s name to Sarah.
It wasn’t up until this time that Sarah was blessed by God.
The name Sarai is of a lower statue than that of Sarah.
“Sarah” meaning noblewoman can also be interpreted to
mean Queen. The United Church of God explains it this
way:

 Genesis 17 also records the renaming of Abram and Sarai.
Up to Genesis 16 the Scriptures always use the birth names
Abram, which means “Exalted Father,” and Sarai, meaning
“Princess.” But, here in Genesis 17, God bestows new names
on them. Abraham means “Father of a Multitude” and
Sarah, while still retaining the sense of “Princess,” seems to
mean one of an even higher station (e.g., it is derived from
the same word translated “queen” in Isaiah 49:23).
Interestingly, both new names differ from Abram and Sarai
by the addition of one letter in the Hebrew—the letter He,
pronounced, like the English H, as a breath of air, which is
often a symbol of God’s Spirit.

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in
his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred
years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a
child?” v. 1

 God knows the hearts of man, we don’t have to speak out in order for God to know what we are feeling inside. Abraham does not speak aloud but in his mind and his heart he thinks to himself that he and Sarah are way beyond their years to bear children. I’ve read some commentaries that
say that Abraham’s laughter was that of joy and not mockery which I can see where they get that, but I would carry that one step further and say that in my opinion his laughter is one of an enlightenment of what God had planned all along, let me see if I can explain myself: it’s like Abraham is thinking to himself “ha ha ha, I get it now, when you said I would be blessed and have many descendants you intended for this blessing to include Sarah; the woman I love, okay, ha ha ha, how could I have been so blind?”
 The other thing I would like to point out here is the similarity between the birth of Isaac and that of Jesus Christ. Just as it would seem impossible for Sarah to have a child at her age so to was our Lord born of a virgin never having slept with a man. There is nothing that God can’t do. This isn’t the only similarity between these two men as we will see Later on in genesis chapter 22.

18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!”

 Even though Ishmael is not of Sarah s’ seed he is still Abraham s’ own flesh and blood and he loves him dearly. So he pleads to God to pass this covenant onto Ishmael.

◊19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a
son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish my
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his
descendants after him.   21:2

Isaac, (H3327): יצחק: yitschâq
BDB Definition: Isaac = “he laughs”
1) son of Abraham by Sarah his wife and father of Jacob and Esau

 God has to reiterate to Abraham that the covenant he
makes with Abraham is to be through the seed of Sarah and
not with the mother of Ishmael.

20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold I have
blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply
him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will
make him a great nation.   16: 10-12
21 “But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom
Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”
22 Then he finished talking with him, and God went up
from Abraham.

 God assures Abraham that he has not forgotten about
Ishmael and that he (Ishmael) is a part of the blessing as far
as the blessing to Abraham being the father of many
nations. Ismael’s seed will be abundant and the nation
that comes out of his seed will be only one of the many
nations that God promises to Abraham. We notice here that
Ishmael s seed will be made up of twelve princes. We can
find the names of these twelve princes in Genesis chapter
25:13-15. one other thing I think worth mentioning is that
when we look at the blessings between Hagar and Sarah we
find the differences between them: first Hagar s name stays
the same and her son will bear 12 princes of only one
nation, whereas Sarai s name was changed to Sarah which
as I showed previously means noblewoman, and that she is
to be a mother of many nations and kings. So Ishmael is
not forgotten by God nor are his descendants to this day.
In my opinion this one nation is the nation of Islam (as it is known today). Also we see here in this prophecy that God does not forget The covenant he establishes with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; this covenant in verse 21. so God finishes Talking with Abraham and he ascends back to His throne which is in heaven. But this will not be the last time in which God speaks to Abraham.

23 So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him.
24 Abraham was ninety- nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.     Rom. 4:10

25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26 That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael;
27 and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner were circumcised with him.

 Abraham does as God commanded him and not only circumcises himself but also his son Ishmael, and all the men that are in his household. This shows to me the faith that Abraham has in God: think of it; to be circumcised at that age without modern pain medication or anything must have been very hard to go through. It probably took weeks for him to heal completely and get back on his feet. Imagine having to urinate, and the thought that every time you did the pain you were going to have to endure. It took tremendous faith on Abraham s part to carry through with this covenant. I must also bring the reader to the attention that Ishmael (Father of the Arab speaking people and the Islamic nation) was circumcised and this practice has carried on to this day in the Islamic nation. We must consider this as we think about how evil the Islamic nation has become. We must remind ourselves (the Christian people) that God loves the Islamic nation (for they are his children also) and one day he will open their eyes and take that hatred they have for the Israelite nation out of their hearts and they will be reconciled with their brothers and sisters of the Israelite nation and we will all be a part of Gods family as it was preordained from the beginning of time.
 The fact that even those who were not of Hebrew descent were also circumcised is to me a foreshadow of the fact that we are all grafted into Gods family those of us who have the faith of Abraham. Some of those men that are mentioned as being of Abraham s house are bought from foreigners (which means that these men were from another tribe other than the Hebrews), this could be a foreshadow of things to come as mentioned in Romans chapter four (Compare Rom 4:8-25). One last thing to note here before I close out this chapter and that is about the circumcision and when it was to be performed after the birth. Every male child is to be circumcised on the eighth day. It is not until the eighth day of birth that the clotting of blood is at its peak and it is therefore safe for the newborn to be circumcised after the seventh day. This was not known to Abraham at this time and was not known to man period, until thousands of years later. This however was known to God, for He created man.

16

1. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had born him no children. And
she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 11:30; 15:2; 21:2
2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has
restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram
heeded the voice of Sarai. 3:17; 30:3

 This is the second time we see mention the fact that Sarai
has not had any children. The first mention of this is back
in Gen 11:30 when God first appeared to Abram and called
him out of the land of the Chaldeans. The promise that God
gives to Abram about his descendants on those occasions
never mentions that his descendants would come from his
wife Sarai (Compare Gen 12:7, 13:14-16, 15:1-5). Not once is Abram’s wife Sarai, nor her seed, or out of her  bowels mentioned in this promise. As was the custom of those days if a woman was barren, and if she had sisters, it was the duty of the sister to give the husband a child.
(a male child preferably), since Sarai has no relatives with her then the next in line could be that of a bondwoman (who in those days were treated as family and not as a slave as we define slavery today). Hence we are introduced to Hagar. Sarai was well in her seventies at this time and
beyond her time of conceiving children. This is not Scriptural, but in my opinion, human nature being what it is, led Sarai to come to the conclusion that it would not be through her womb in which the promise would be fulfilled. And we see that Abram listened to Sarai and was convinced by her that his descendants would not be through her. This
takes me back to the Garden where Adam heeded the voice of Eve and Eve convinced him to eat of the forbidden fruit. We know what the outcome of that was, and mankind is still paying the penalty for that decision. The same could be said of Abram and Sarai for this decision to have Hagar
conceive through Abram. Think about it; If Abram had not heeded the voice of Sarai and let nature (or God that is), work it out for them, we would not have all the strife going on in the mid-east as we do today and for that matter throughout history. We must remember that it is through
Hagar that the Arab people came to fruition along with Mohammedanism and Islam. It is my belief that it is divine providence that is being played out here. For those who do not understand what I mean hear let me give the definition according to the Webster dictionary:

Providence                                                                                                               1. The act of providing or preparing for future use or application.

2. In theology, the care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures. He that acknowledges a creation and denies a providence, involves himself in a palpable contradiction; for the same power which caused a thing to exist is necessary to continue its existence. Some persons admit a general providence, but deny a particular providence, not
considering that a general providence consists of particulars. A belief in divine providence, is a source of great consolation to good men. By divine providence is often understood God himself.

3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.

4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived, her mistress
became despised in her eyes.

 Abram could not lie with Hagar to conceive a child unless they were married, according to the customs of the time. So in essence Hagar became a second wife to Abram. In my opinion The marriage between Abram and Hagar was Sarai’s and Abram’s way of rationalizing the legitimacy of Abram sleeping with another woman. Now when Hagar
became pregnant she became hostile towards Sarai (Abrams legitimate wife in Gods eyes), and the one whom Abram loved. We see the same story played out in the book of Samuel between Hannah and Peninnah the two wives of Elkanah ( 1 Sam 1:1-7). I would like to point out here that in both instances (and also in other same circumstances in the bible), that it is the
Woman whom Both Abram and Elkanah loved the dearest that God recognizes as the legitimate lineage leading to the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. For God knows the hearts of men and respects the love aspect of it (if you Will). For God Is Love.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave
my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had
conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge
between you and me.” 31:53

The first thing that comes to mind for me is Genesis
chapter two (Gen 2:23-24). It does not say that man shall cleave to his wives (plural), but to his wife (singular), There will never be peace in the
house when there are two women vying for the affections of one man. God never intended that the bond between man and woman to be anything but one man and one woman, PERIOD! The relationship between Sarai and Hagar, and also between Hannah and Peninnah are two good examples of what can happen in this kind of relationship. Notice the oxymoron being played here by Sarai: she acknowledges that she was in the wrong for allowing this marriage between Abram and Hagar, yet in the same sentence she says to Abram, “The Lord judge between you and me” and attempts to put the blame on Abram for this mess. I can’t help but think of Adam’s response to God when He asked him if he had eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:12). If only Sarai and Abram would have just gone to God for his guidance before it came to this then this strife could have been avoided. But like I said previously I believe that
this was Gods will all along.

6 So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your
hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt
harshly with her, she fled from her presence.  1 Pet. 3:7

In my opinion, because Abram loved Sarai deeply, in
order for her to feel assured that she was Abram’s one and
only true love, that Abram reminds Sarai That Hagar
belongs to her, and for her to do as she pleases with Hagar
even though she is carrying Abrams child. I can just
imagine that leading up to this Hagar was probably
planting a seed in Sarai’s mind that Abram loved her more
than Sarai because she was carrying Abram’s offspring. So
Abram had to do something of significance in order to
prove his love for her. Apparently in Sarai’s Jealous rage
(as we say today), she was very cruel to Hagar, so much so
that Hagar was put in her place to where there was no
doubt who Abram loved the most and that she could not go
to him for help. Hagar felt that her only recourse was to
leave from their presence.

7 Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water
in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
21:17, 18; 22:11, 15; Judges 6:11

 Abram’s encampment at this time was just north of
Jerusalem, and Shur is in where we call today the Sinai
peninsula. With this in mind we can conclude that Hagar
was headed back to Egypt. This is also the first time that an
Angel is revealed to us by God.

8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

 The question posed to Hagar is rhetorical in nature as far as
asking her where she came from; I say this because in the
beginning of the question the Angel identifies her as Sarai’s
maid. Now Hagar, having been living with Abram and Sarai
for years now is familiar with the God of Abram and
therefore probably realizes that the person who has
appeared to her is some kind messenger of God because of
the fact that He knows who she is: The Angel calls her by
name, and mentions Sarai in the same sentence. I also
believe that another reason Hagar accepts this person as a
messenger of God is because when you are in the presence
of the Lord, or the Holy Spirit, or God Himself there is a
sense of peace and tranquility deep in your soul that can
only be felt when your in the presence of the Lord, and you
just know that you know. It’s hard to explain what i’m
trying to say here so please excuse me for my lack of a good
vocabulary.

9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your
mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”

 The Lord commands Hagar to return to Sarai, and then
in a kind of prophetic nature He tells her to submit to
Sarai. I say prophetic in the sense that when we go back to
the time of Noah in chapter nine this is where the curse of
the sons of Ham begins (Compare Gen 9:22-25). The sons of of Ham include both Mizraim (which settled in Egypt), and Canaan(which is the land where Ishmael and his descendants settle), Remember, Hagar is an Egyptian.

10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply
your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be
counted for multitude.”

 This blessing being given to Hagar here is also a partial fulfillment of the blessing given to Abram. Like I had said previously, when God told Abram that his descendants would number as much as the stars above and the sands of the earth that God never mentioned Sarai in these blessings, in my opinion this is just another reason why God excluded Sarai in this blessing. Again divine providence, God already foreknew that Hagar would be a part of this blessing to Abram. Again I would like to remind the reader here that, in my opinion, Hagar is familiar with the God of Abram and it’s probably a very good guess that Hagar knows of the promise given to Abram. So with the Angel of the Lord telling Hagar the fate of her own
descendants she has probably come to the realization that she and the child she is carrying is part of the blessings of Abram.

11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name
Ishmael
Because the Lord has heard
your affliction.

Ishmael.(h3485) ישׁמעאל yishmâ‛ê’l
BDB Definition: Ishmael = “God will hear”
1) son of Abraham and Sarah’s handmaid Hagar and the progenitor of the Arabian peoples

 This is the first time in the bible where God names a child
before it is born. To me this is more proof to my theory
that the circumstances that lead to the birth of Ishmael is
through divine providence. God had this planned out all
along. This also further proof that Life begins at conception
in Gods eyes and therefore is precious to him. I make this
statement aimed at all those who would kill a child in the
womb and claim that it is not yet a breathing living being.
God knew every living being before they were even born (Isa 44:24, Jer 1:4-5).

 

12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against
every man, 21:20, 21
And every man’s hand against
him. 25:17, 18
And he shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren.”

 Verse eleven and twelve are prophetic also and part of the
curse of Canaan from the time of Noah. If one was to read
the history of the people who have lived in the territories
(mainly the Arab people), of the descendants of Ishmael
you can see the similarities of this prophecy being fulfilled.

13 Then she called the name 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?”
14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi, observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 24:62; 25:11

Beer Lahai Roi,”(H883): בּאר לחי ראי: be’êr lȧchay rô’ı̂y
BDB Definition: Beer-lahai-roi = “well of the Living One seeing me”
1) a well west of Kadesh, south of Israel

 One of the conclusions we must come to in verses seven
through fourteen is that the Angel of the Lord who
appeared to Hagar is none other than Jesus Christ. This
understanding of who the Angel of the Lord is, is summed
up in a couple of bible commentaries. The first commentary
comes from the Mathews Henry’s concise commentary:

 The declaration of the Angel, “I will,” shows this Angel was the eternal Word and Son of God.

 The second commentary I would like to quote from is the
Adam Clarke’s commentary:

 I will multiply thy seed exceedingly – Who says this? The person who is called the Angel of the Lord; and he certainly speaks with all the authority which is proper to God.

 The last comment I want to make here is in regards to verse
fourteen. The reader is told to observe the location in which
the Angel of the Lord appeared to God. This just happens to be the place where Abram’s son Isaac settles (Compare Gen 24:62, 25:11).

 

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.  21:2; Gal. 4:22-31

 We see here that Hagar obeyed the voice of the Angel of the Lord and went back to Sarai and Abram, and submitted herself to Sarai. We are told here that it is Abram who named his son and not Hagar or Sarai. This would lead the reader to assume that Hagar must have told Sarai and
Abram about her encounter with the Angel at the well called Beer Lahai Roi, and what was instructed of her and what to name the child. If Abram was visited by this Angel of the Lord then would not God have revealed this to the reader? 

16 Abram was eighty six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

 This would mean that Ishmael was born in the year 2104 AC. (after creation) according to my charts and my studies on the subject of the genealogy of Jesus.

15

1. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Ps. 28:7

 God visits Abram in a vision, I believe that this vision comes in the form of a dream. I say this because in verse five we are told that the Lord brings Abram outside to number the stars. So, Abram was in his abode and apparently it was night because the stars are out for Abram to see. One thing I would like to mention here also is this; we see throughout the scriptures that when God appears to the patriarchs and prophets of the bible, his first words are, “Do not be afraid” these are words of comfort that are meant to take away any fear that the person is feeling from being in the presence of the Lord. God tells Abram I am your protector (shield), and through Me you will be rewarded for your faithfulness; not just any reward but an “exceedingly great reward”, not only is God telling Abram something even more profound; He is saying to Abram that even though he will have all this land, and that his descendants shall be to great to number, as great as that sounds, there is no greater reward than to have a relationship with God the Father. This should be the goal of all mankind. We should find that which was lost at the Garden (Matt 11:28).

2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 11:30; 16:1
3 Then Abram said, “Look, you have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

 Abram answers back; What will my reward be? He is saying Lord, you promised me that I would inherit all this land not only for me but for my descendants (Compare Gen 13:14-16). “Yet I have no children of my own blood who would be my heir. According to our customs: Eliezer of Damascus is my sole heir.” Eliezer is probably a servant in Abrams house and is also probably the first male born in his house.

4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”       2 Sam. 7:12

 God Answers back to Abram telling him that his heir shall be from his own flesh and blood.

5 Then he brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

Then the Lord took Abram out from inside his house and said to, “Look at all the stars in the heavens, count them if you can (which no one can count the stars because there are so many), this is Gods point, His descendants will be so great that no man can count them all.

6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.    Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23

 Abram believed what God had promised, and because of his belief in what God had promised him The Lord Judged Abram and found him to be righteous (without guilt).

7 Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
  12:1, 2;Ps. 105:42, 44
 

  God is reminding Abram who He is. He is basically saying” “I am the same God who spoke to you when you lived in the land of Ur, I promised you back then that I would give you this land, and I am the one true God who does not, and cannot lie.” (Gen 12:1-2)

8 he said, “Lord how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

 Abram still wants to know how he will be sure if he inherits
the land. Because of what I read in verse six of this chapter,
I must conclude that it is not Abram’s weakness of faith that
is being revealed here, I believe it is a matter of him not
being alive long enough to see his heirs number in such a
great multitude as that of the stars in heaven. Another
side of this could be the telling of the relationship that
Abram has with God. Abram has such a close relationship
with the father that he feels comfortable enough to ask God
for some kind of sign to assure him of this promise. We see
this kind of relationship with Abram and God when God
tells Abram that he is going to destroy Sodom and
Gomorrah, And Abram keeps bargaining with God in
regards to the salvation of the people (Compare Gen 18:23-32). Abram and God are developing a true Father son relationship to such a degree that Abram can express his true feelings (from the heart) to God and God knows that there is nothing unrighteous about how he feels inside. God knows what’s in a mans heart and He sees nothing but pureness In Abrams heart. Abram felt compassion for his fellow man,not just for the righteous but also for the wicked. Abram must have been a remarkable man (Compare Heb 4:12).

9 So He said to him, “Bring me a three-year old heifer, a
three-year old female goat, a three-year old ram, a
turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

 This is the third recording of the scriptures where sacrifices
are being offered to God in this manner. The first recording
of this type of sacrifice (on a much smaller scale) is the
offerings in Gen 4:3-5 where Abel and Cain bring up an
offering to the Lord. The reason I say “on a much smaller
scale” is because this is not considered to be a covenant
between the three. As opposed to Noah and Abram which
God says are covenants between them. I will go a little more
into detail about these covenants when I get to Gen 15:18.
However I would like to copy an excerpt from the
Matthews Henry concise commentary in regards to why
these certain animals were chosen here. It reads as follows:

 Those who could not offer a bullock, were to bring a sheep or a goat; and those who were not able to do that, were accepted of God, if they brought a turtle-dove, or a pigeon. Those creatures were chosen for sacrifice which were mild, and gentle, and harmless; to show the innocence and meekness that were in Christ, and that should be in Christians.

 I would also like to add one more commentary; this one
being from Adam Clarke’s commentary on the bible. He
explains verse ten this way:

 It is worthy of remark, that every animal allowed or commanded to be sacrificed under the Mosaic law is to be found in this list. And is it not a proof that God was now giving to Abram an epitome of that law and its sacrifices which he intended more fully to reveal to Moses; the essence of which consisted in its sacrifices, which typified the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world?

 There is also something else here that I would like to point
out to whoever reads this, and that is the age of the animals
to be sacrificed here (three years of age): which is the total
number of years that our Lord Jesus Christ ministered here
on earth. To me personally this is more proof that the bible
is God breathed. We see these kinds of simile’s over and
over throughout the bible.

10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two,
down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other;
but he did not cut the birds in two.  Lev. 1:17

 Again, I would like to refer to Adam Clarke’s commentary
on the symbolism/ceremonies of the way in which these
animals were sacrificed (Seeing as I too am learning about
this aspect of God and his ways), God is preparing Abram
for a covenant which the two are about to make. 

 Rabbi Solomon Jarchi says, “It was a custom with those who entered into covenant with each other to take a heifer and cut it in two, and then the contracting parties passed between
the pieces.”

Adam Clarke’s commentary in Jeremiah 34:18 goes into
more detail on this subject. It reads as follows:

When they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof – This was the ancient and most solemn way of making a covenant.
1. A calf as sacrifice was offered to God to secure his approbation and support.
2. The victim was then exactly divided from the nose to the rump; the spinal marrow being divided longitudinally, in the most careful manner, that the half of it might remain on each side.
3. These divided parts were laid opposite to each other, a passage being left between them.
4. The contracting parties entered this passage at each end, met in the middle, and there took the covenant oath; adjudging themselves to death should they break this covenant.
5. Then they both feasted on the victim. In reference to this last circumstance, God says he will give their bodies for meat to the fowls of heaven and to the beasts. This is a farther conformity between the crime and the punishment.

 Let us again go to Adam Clarke’s commentary for his explanation on the difference in which the way the birds were to be offered up:

 On the several animals which God ordered Abram to take, Rabbi Jarchi remarks: “The idolatrous nations are compared in the Scriptures to bulls, rams, and goats; for it is written, Psa 22:12: Many bulls have compassed me about. Dan 8:20: The ram which thou hast seen is the king of Persia. The rough goat is the king of Greece. Dan 8:21. But the Israelites are compared to doves, etc.; Son 2:14: “O my dove, that art in the cleft of the rock. The division of the above carcasses denotes the division and extermination of the idolatrous nations; but the birds not being divided, shows that the Israelites are to abide for ever.” See Jarchi on the place.

I know that to many who first read this may think to themselves “how primitive” but one must remember a couple things. These sacrifices were in fact the customs of the day and therefore was a part of life that didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Also we must understand God’s purpose and what his grand design for mankind is. Back then the people were as they say not yet ready for the solid meat of Gods word. Man had to learn (and still is learning) our purpose and how God is working with us to get to where He wants us to be. Man has to learn that there is a blood sacrifice required for sin. If God were to have Sacrificed his only begotten at Abrams time for mankind, people would have been dumbfounded, not understanding why, God himself (through His Word-Jesus Christ), with all His Holiness, being a Spirit being, become a man and die for our sins. These animal sacrifices all point to Jesus Christ as our one true, pure sacrifice, born without sin to die for our sins. Jesus is the only perfect sacrifice that God will accept for mans iniquities. This is what God is teaching us, who live in today’s time, to understand and accept. And now this brings us to the next verse, that we may understand.

11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses,
Abram drove them away.

I will again go to Adam Clarke’s commentary for this verse
and copy some passages he uses to support his comments:

 For whatever purpose a covenant was made, it was ever ratified by a sacrifice offered to God; and the passing between the divided parts of the victim appears to have signified that each agreed, if they broke their engagements, to submit to the punishment of being cut asunder; which we find from Mat 24:51; Luk 12:46, was an ancient mode of punishment.

Adam Clark goes on to say the following:

 And when the fowls (birds of prey), came down upon the carcasses to devour them, Abram, who stood by his sacrifice waiting for the manifestation of God, who had ordered him to prepare for the ratification of the covenant, drove them away, that they might neither pollute nor devour what had been thus consecrated to God.

 After studying this verse and meditating on it a bit I would like to add my thoughts on this; in my opinion, the vultures represent Satan and his demons who try to corrupt and defile that which is sacred to God. Even though this offering to God is not a representation of a sin offering, or peace offering, or any offerings made to God, for remission for us; all the animals and bird that are listed here are still a representation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus was brought into this world to be the perfect offering to God, Satan immediately tried to devour Him at his birth (by Herod’s decree to kill all the young males two years and younger), to Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness after he received the Holy Spirit from God. And also, just as Abram drove away these vultures so to did Jesus when he commanded Satan while in the wilderness (Matt 4:10). We to, like Abram should always be alert like the watchman on the tower, and not let Satan devour and defile our christian beliefs and practices.

12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.   28:11

Strongs definition:                                                                                 Horror: (H367) From the same as H366; fright; concretely an idol (as a bugbear): – dread. fear, horror, idol, terrible, terror.

Darkness:(H2825)From H2821; darkness; figuratively misery: – darkness.

 Abram stayed all day guarding his sacrifices to God and now it was almost sunset and he grew weary and went into a deep sleep. The horror that fell upon Abram was probably the fact that in verse thirteen God reveals to him that his descendants would suffer tremendously, which in turn would account for why he felt horror, and fear, and misery. Imagine if God almighty himself came to you one night and you were told that your children, and your children children, and so on and so forth were going to suffer greatly. As a father that would be one of the worst things you could ever imagine.

13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

 There seems to be differing opinions as to when the countdown started the four hundred years of affliction upon Abrams seed. In Adam Clarke’s commentary on this verse, though he does give his own opinion, he also states what the beliefs are of some scholars up to his time. These opinions according to Mr. Clarke are as follows:

 In former times most people counted by generations, to each of which was assigned a term of years amounting to 20, 25, 30, 33, 100, 108, or 110; for the generation was of various lengths among various people, at different times. It is probable that the fourth generation mentioned in verse 16 means the same as the four hundred years in the preceding verse. Some think it refers to the time when Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, came out of Egypt, and divided the land of Canaan to Israel, Jos_14:1. Others think the fourth generation of the Amorites is intended, because it is immediately added.

 I wrote a Rabbi who belongs to the Chabad.org website which if you remember I mentioned in my devotional quality portion in the beginning of my book as a source of inspiration for my studies. The following is the response I got from Rabbi Chein explains the four hundred years of affliction in Egypt in terms of Generations of descendants of Abram in this way:

 The descendants of Abraham were exiled to Egypt when Jacob descended along with his children and grandchildren. The four generations are counted from those who were exiled. For example, Jacob’s son Judah, his grandson Peretz, and his great-grandson Hezron are three generations, and Caleb, son of Hezron, the fourth generation, returned to the land of Israel. Kehot, son of Levi, was among the exiles, as was his son Amram and his grandchildren Moses and Aaron, and their children, the fourth generation, entered Israel.

 Then there is the opinion of the church I belong to which say’s that it appears to begin at the death of Abraham, but they do not give an explanation (which is something I will go over with my pastor during our next meeting. I will though for now copy what the United Church of Gods comments are on this subject:

 God promised multitudinous descendants to Abram, but He also promised that they would be enslaved for a period of time before being delivered with great wealth. The period of 400 years mentioned in verse 13 is not the period of their slavery. Biblical chronology indicates that Israel was enslaved for just over 200 years. The 400 years appear to date from Abraham’s death to Israel’s possession of the Promised Land (though there are other possibilities).

 The church of God does say that there are other possibilities but they do not elaborate on the possibilities.

14 “And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 “Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 25:8
16 “But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Ex 12:40,41 Num. 32:33,39

Everything else that is commented on verses 14-16 seem to be universal and in agreement with the beliefs that are commented on from the United Church of God commentary:

 But why was there to be a delay in Israel’s possessing the land and servitude to a foreign nation? One reason is expressly stated. God says that the iniquity of the Amorites, who dwelt in Canaan, was not yet full—meaning that God was extending mercy to them, allowing them time to repent. God deals justly with all people, and He often delays punishment until the situation shows no hope of betterment. But another reason for the delay and servitude was probably to condition Israel. If Israel had developed in the land, unmolested, they may have acquired a general disposition of rejecting any dealings with God whatsoever—”Who needs God if everything is fine,” human reasoning says. But by allowing Israel to be enslaved, they would be humbled and willing to listen. Though they ultimately displeased God by rebelling against Him, they undoubtedly went further in serving Him than they otherwise would have. As God told Paul, in weakness we can be made strong (2 Corinthians 12:9; compare Hebrews 11:34). Additionally, if Israel would be taken out of slavery and made great, the credit for the greatness would more obviously be God’s.

 I would like to add my own opinion here as far as why God did what he did here. I also must say here that I get this opinion from something that my pastor just commented on in his last sermon that was just given on June 27, 2015 and it has to do with the reason for prophecy. In his sermon he was telling us the purpose of prophecy and that there were two reasons for them:

“The two purposes of prophecy is one, to show God’s
greatness, and number two is to give us hope.” Lets take a
look in the book of Isaiah to see what God says (Isa 46:8-10).

 So with this in mind I believe one of the purposes for what
God is doing to Israel is a lessen for all mankind, (with
Israel being used as the example), that when God tells the
future even before it has come to pass, helps prove his
existence and his power. Also in this same vision God is
giving to Abram, he is giving hope to him by telling him that
his people will return to this land promised to Abram, with
great possessions.

17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.  Jer. 34:18,19

18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying:
“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates- Josh. 1:4
19 “the Kenites, the kennezzites, the Kadmonites,
20 “The Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, Deut. 7:1
21 The Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the
Jebusites.”

 As mentioned in my previous comments in Genesis 9:1-17 in
regards to offerings and covenants we now see the beginning of
Abrahamic covenant. unlike most covenants between two people where they both would pass through carcasses, in essence saying that if either one of them would break the covenant, the splitting of the carcasses would represent what would happen to the person who broke the
covenant. The requirements of this covenant only pertains
to God. Abram does not have to do anything on his part in
order for God to fulfill his promise to him, unlike the
Mosaic covenant whereas God puts certain conditions on
the Hebrews in order for them to obtain the promises that
God gave them. In the mosaic Covenant God told the
people of Israel that he would give them all these blessings,
if they would in turn keep their end of the bargain (so to
speak). Abram did not have to do anything on his part in
order to obtain this blessing (covenant) from God. In my
opinion, the reason Abram didn’t have to do anything on
his part is because of what is said verse’s 4-6 (Gen 15:4-6).                     Abram, because of his faith has already found favor in Gods
eyes. Not only that but God didn’t even have to show
wonders and miracles in order for Abram to have faith in
Him. Whereas the Mosaic covenant is made to a whole
nation and not just one man. The Hebrews have already
shown that they have little faith and have rebelled and
complained against God and Moses after seeing all the
wonders that God did for them. The Hebrew people
have to prove themselves to God, (which unfortunately they
have failed miserably in that department). Not to say that
the Israelite people have the market cornered in that
aspect. Mankind (me included) have failed in so many ways
when it comes to being a Believer, and we struggle daily to
be the kind of children that God wants us to be. As Paul
said in Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from from the body of this death.”
One other point I would like to make here, to all the
people who call the Israelites “occupiers” in the land of
Israel today either haven’t read their bible, or choose to
ignore this part of the bible out of their hatred for the
people of Israel. And in all reality the land of Israel belongs
to God who decided long ago that he would give this land
to the children of Abraham and confirmed through Isaac,
the son of Abram and Jacob, son of Isaac.

14

1.And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of
Shinar. Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of
Elam,and Tidal king of nations, 10:10; 11:2

Amraphel, (H569): אמרפל: ‘amrâphel
BDB Definition: Amraphel = “sayer of darkness: fall of the sayer”
1) the king of Shinar (Babylon) (perhaps Hammurabi approximately 2100 BC)

Shinar, (H8152): שׁנער: shin‛âr                                                           BDB Definition: Shinar = “country of two rivers”
1) the ancient name for the territory later known as Babylonia or Chalde
Arioch, (H746): אריוך: ‘ăryôk
BDB Definition: Arioch = “lion-like”
1) the ancient king of Ellasar, ally of Chedorlaomer
2) the chief of the executioners for Nebuchadnezzar

Ellasar(H495):אלּסר: ‘ellâsâr                                                                             BDB Definition: Ellasar = “God is chastener”
1) a town in Babylonia, approximately 28 miles (50 kilometers) E of Ur

Chedorlaomer, (H3540): כּדרלעמר: kedorlâ‛ômer
BDB Definition: Chedorlaomer = “handful of sheaves”
1) the king of Elam defeated by Abraham

Elam,(H5867):עולם / עילם: ‛êylâm / ‛ôlâm
BDB DEfinition: Elam = “eternity”:a province east of Babylon and northeast of the lower Tigris (noun proper locative)

Tidal (H8413): תּדעל: tid‛âl
BDB Definition:Tidal = “great son”
1) chief of various nomadic tribes and an ally of Chedorlaomer

Nations, (H1471):גּי / גּו : gôy
BDB Definition:
1) nation, people (noun masculine)
1a) nation, people
1a1) usually of non-Hebrew people
1a2) of descendants of Abraham
1a3) of Israel
1b) of swarm of locusts, other animals (figuratively)
1c) Goyim? = “nations” (noun proper masculine)

2. that they made war with Bera king of Sodom,Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shinab king of Admah,Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). Deut. 29:23

Bera, (H1298): בּרע: bera‛
BDB Definition: Bera = “son of evil”
1) a king of Sodom
Sodom,(H5467): Sodom = “burning”
1) a Canaanite city, usually paired with Gomorrah, located in the area of the Dead Sea and the Jordan river; both cities destroyed by God in judgment

Birsha, (H1306):בּרשׁע : birsha‛
BDB Definition: Birsha = “with iniquity”
1) a king of Gomorrah
Gomorrah,(H6017):BDB Definition:
Gomorrah = “submersion”
1) the twin-city in evil with Sodom, both destroyed in judgment by God with fire from heaven
1a) of iniquity (figuratively)

Shinab, (H8134):שׁנאב: shin’âb
BDB Definition: Shinab = “splendour of the father”
1) the king of Admah in the time of Abraham

Admah,(H126): אדמה: ‘admâh                                                                       BDB Definition: Admah = “red earth”
1) city in the Siddim valley

Shemeber, (H8038): שׁמאבר: shem’êber
BDB Definition: Shemeber = “lofty flight”
1) king of Zeboim and an ally of the king of Sodom

Zeboiim,(H6636):צביּם / צביּים / צבאים: tsebô’ı̂ym / tsebı̂yı̂ym / tsebı̂yim
BDB Definition: Zeboim or Zeboiim = “gazelles”
1) one of the 5 cities in the plain which included Sodom and Gomorrah
(that is, Zoar)

Zoar, (H6820): צער: tsô‛ar                                                                             BDB Definition: Zoar = “insignificance”
1) a city at the southeast end of the Dead Sea grouped with Sodom and Gomorrah as being one of the 5 cities slated for destruction by God; spared at Lot’s plea as his place of refuge

3. All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (that is,
the salt sea).

Valley of Siddim (H6010 and H7708):                                                         BDB Definition:
1) valley, vale, lowland, open country
BDB Definition: Siddim = “field” or “plain”
1) valley where the Dead Sea is located

4. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the
thirteenth year they rebelled.

 After careful research of maps that show the locations of
all these kings (I have these maps saved in my map files)
I have discovered that this is the first time in bible history
where we see the kings of the north invade and do battle
with the kings of the south (as we see mentioned in Daniel
11). However these kings in Genesis fourteen have no
correlation with those mentioned in the book of Daniel. I
just found it worthy to mention. It appears to me that these four kings of the north (Chedorlaomer being the leader of them all, and these are
also the descendants of Shem, son of Noah) were rulers
over the five kings of the south (which are the descendants
of Ham who is also a son of Noah), for a period of twelve
years which was prophesied in Gen 9:20-27 that the sons of Ham would serve the sons of Shem. In the thirteenth year the kings of the south rebelled against the kings of the kings of the north. This rebellion
went on for a period of one year until King Chedorlaomer
put together an army big enough to invade the south and
Squash the rebellion. As we will see in verses 5-12.

5. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that
were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth
Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh
Kirathaim,

Rephaim, (H7497): רפה / רפא: râphâ’ / râphâh
BDB Definition:
1) giants, Rephaim
1a) old tribe of giants

Ashteroth Karnaim, (H6255): עשׁתּרת קרנים: ‛ashterôth qarnayim
BDB Definition: Ashtoreth-karnaim = “Ashtoreth of the two horns or peaks”
1) a city in Bashan east of the Jordan given to Manasseh

Zuzim, (H2104): זוּזים”: zûzı̂ym
BDB Definition: Zuzim = “roving creatures”
1) an ancient people of uncertain origin, perhaps, inhabitants of ancient Ammon east of the Jordan

Ham, (H1990): הם: hâm
BDB Definition: Ham = “hot” or “sun burnt”
1) the place where Chedorlaomer and his allies smote the Zuzim, probably in the territory of the Ammonites, east of the Jordan; site uncertain

Emim, (H368): אימים: êymı̂ym
BDB Definition: Emims = “terrors”
1) ancient inhabitants of Moab

Shaveh Kirathaim, (H7741): שׁוה קריתים: shâvêh qiryâthayim                         BDB Definition: Shaveh Kiriathaim = “plain of the double or two city”
1) the place attacked by Chedorlaomer

6. And the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.                                    Deut. 2:10-22

Horites, (H2752): חרי: chôrı̂y
BDB Definition: Horite = “cave dweller”
1) the inhabitants of Mount Seir
2) the inhabitants of Edom (in later times)

Seir, (H8165): שׂעיר: śê‛ı̂yr
BDB Definition: Seir = “hairy” or “shaggy”
1) patriarch of the Horites, the inhabitants of Edom before the descendants of Esau, the Edomites (noun proper masculine)
2) the land of Edom, south of the Dead Sea (noun proper territorial)
3) a mountain range in Edom extending from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf (noun proper mountain)
3a) apparently also called ‘Mount Seir’ and extending most of the distance of the mountain range itself
4) a mountain in northern Judah lying westward from Kirjath-jearim (noun proper mountain)
El Paran: (H364): איל פּארן: ‘êyl pâ’rân
BDB Definition: El-paran = “palm of Paran”
1) town and harbour at tip of Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea

7. Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is
Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites,
and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.

Kadesh, (H6946): קדשׁ: qâdêsh
BDB Definition: Kadesh = “holy”
1) a city in the extreme south of Judah
1a) same as ‘Kedesh’ and ‘Kadesh-barnea’

Amalekites, (H6003): עמלקי: ‛ămâlêqı̂y
BDB Definition: Amalekite = see Amalek “people of lapping”
1) descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau

 I had to do some meditation on this verse because it
mentions the Amalekites. I first thought “How could
they attack the Amalekites if these people were the
descendants of Amalek, who was the great great grandson
of Abraham?” Obviously the Amalekites as a people did
not exist at this time. So read the verse a few times and it
became clear; The verse doesn’t say that they attacked the
Amalekites, but instead it says they attacked the country
of the Amalekites. I then remembered who was writing
this book of Genesis (Moses) and who was telling Moses
the story (God) So I then deduced that the reason God
mentioned the Amalekites to Moses in the revealing of
this story was so as to help Moses understand the location
of En-Mishpat, which would explain why we see
in parentheses (that is Kadesh) if we go to Deuteronomy
chapter two we can see why it is important that Moses
know this area (Compare Deut 2:2-5). This helps Moses in knowing what lands he cannot possess, And why he can’t possess them.

Amorites, (H567):אמרי: ‘ĕmôrı̂y
BDB Definition: Amorite = “a sayer”
1) one of the peoples of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan, dispossessed by the Israelite incursion from Egypt

Hazezon Tamar, (H2688): חצצן תּמר / חצצון תּמר: chatstsôn tâmâr / chatsătsôn tâmâr                                                                                                           BDB Definition: Hazezon-tamar = “dividing the date-palm”
1) an Amorite city
2) a town situated in the desert Judah; probably Engedi
3) maybe the ‘Tamar’ of Solomon’s day

8. And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king
of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is,
Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the valley
of Siddim
9. Against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of
nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of
Ellasar-four kings against five.

 So, during this rebellion, before the great battle in the
valley of Siddim, the kings of the north had to march
through hostile territories of the northern parts of what was
then known as the land of Canaan. However, the kings of
the north stayed on the eastern side of the Jordan river as
they marched south towards Sodom and Gomorrah. It
wasn’t until they were way south of the dead sea, at the gulf
of Aqaba, fighting the Horites in the area known as Mt. Sier
beyond the Jordan river. Then they moved west to head
back up north and attacked all the country of the
Amalekites in and around Kadesh- Barnea up to the north
and west of the Jordan river. The Amorites (who are
descendants of Canaan) who dwelt in the land of Hazezon
Tamar (also known as Engedi), located southwest of the
dead sea were also attacked by king Chedorlaomer. Once
all the (what I call minor kingdoms of Sodom and
Gomorrah) were defeated King Chedorlaomer and his allies
could attack Sodom and Gomorrah and the other three
major kingdoms.

10. Now the valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the
kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the
remainder fled to the mountains.    11:3; 19:24

 The asphalt pits here are described differently in other
bible translations. They are also described as slime-pits, tar
pits or even bitumen pits. They all basically mean the same
thing. my take on this is that both sides had to fight in this
rough terrain, but for whatever reason, whether the kings
of the north had a better strategic location in which the
battle started or they were just a stronger force, we don’t
know. What we do know is that the kings of Sodom and
Gomorrah were overwhelmed, and in their haste, during
their retreat, many of the southern forces fell into these
pits and were destroyed while others were killed in the
battle itself. Those that survived fled to the mountains
including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.

11. Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah,
and all their provisions, and went their way.   v. 16
12. They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in
Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

 As the saying goes “to the victor goes the spoils of war”
this rings true in this war. After the kings of the north
(also known as the kings of Mesopotamia) defeated these
kings of the south, they took not only all there material
wealth but also the people (as slaves no doubt and the
women to defile). Lot, because of the choice he made
when he departed from Abram is now paying the
consequences of that decision. Not only did Lot leave
from the protection of Abram’s bosom but he also lost the
protection of God himself. However, as we will see in the
next few verses and those in chapter eighteen, Lot has still
found favor in Gods eyes and is rescued from his own vices
through Abram’s intervention.

13. Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the
Hebrew, for he dwelt by the Terebinth trees of Mamre the
Amorite, brother of Eschol and brother of Aner; and they
were allies with Abram.

 This is the first time that the word Hebrew appears in the
Bible. I take this verse as to also indicate that Abram was
already known as a Hebrew by the people of Canaan.
If we go to my file, or the Strong s definition we find that
The word Hebrew is a derivative of Eber, son of Salah, who
himself was the great grandson of Shem. Abram at the time
still lived by the terebinth trees (which is where he built an
altar to the Lord). Abram had made peace with the people
of this land which included three brothers (Mamre, Eschol,
and Aner).

14. Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken
captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained
servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit
as far as Dan.

 As far as Abram was concerned, Lot was his brother (not
just a nephew). Approximately four hundred years removed
from the flood and we see that War was already in mans
heart. Abram himself: though a peaceful man, had to have
men from his tribe trained in the (I hate to use the term art
of warfare) it seems so oxymoron, that is to say, so opposite
of what war is in reality. There is no art to war: people die
sometimes in a most grotesque and painful way. I don’t
know who coined this term, but it must have been someone
who had no regard for human life, but I digress, in Order for Abram and his tribe to survive they had to defend themselves when necessary.
So Abram, along with his allies and his trained servants pursued the kings of the north, as far north as the land of Dan. Abram was not going to allow Lot to be enslaved and persecuted, if he had anything to say about it. Abram caught up with them in the place called Dan. According to my maps and a Google search this is approximately 164-175 mile journey. A total of a little over two days to travel this far.

15. He divided his forces against them by night, and he
attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is
north of Damascus.

 Abram didn’t just attack right away. He developed a
strategy, and attacked them in the cover of darkness. This
must have been a great strategy because we are told that he
pursued them north of Damascus. The kings of the north
were so caught by surprise that they never had a chance to
regroup and counter-attack, (of course it doesn’t hurt to have
God on your side).

16. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought
back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women
and the people.

 After this battle Abram brought back all the Goods, his
brother Lot, and all the people that were taken by the kings
of the north. It’s a good thing to note here that Abram did
not plunder the possessions or people of the kings of the
north. He only took what the kings of the north had stolen
from the kings of the south. This shows a character that is
being developed in Abram. I believe that Abram is not
going to rely on his own abilities to gain in riches and land.
He is learning to trust in God for his needs. I also feel that
Abram is the kind of man who is very content with what he
has, and is not influenced by the ways of the world. This in
turn is what the Lord delights in.

17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the
valley of Shaveh (that is, the king’s valley). After his return
from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were
with him. Heb 7:1

 I have read few commentaries and did research online in
regards to this verse. Depending on which bible you read
you are told that the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were
killed while fleeing from the kings of the north in the battle
at the valley of Siddim. I am not going to comment on this
subject, for I believe that this is irrelevant to this story. The
only thing I will comment on here is that the King of Sodom
only and not the king of Gomorrah came to meet Abram
after his defeat of king Chedorlaomer.

18. Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread
and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
19. And he blessed him and said:

“Blessed be Abram of God
Most High.   Heb: 7:1-7
Possessor of heaven and
earth; v.22

(Compare Heb 7:1-7). Instead of copying and pasting all of Hebrew chapter seven I would suggest to the reader to go and read all of this chapter of Hebrews to get a better understanding of tithing, Melchizedek, and the priesthood. There is a lot of meat on this subject, which i am still not weaned from the milk, and ready to move on to the more solid food, when it comes to the spiritual nature of this subject. So for the integrity of my work here i am not going to try and wing it, so to speak. that would be a disservice to God, and His word. 

20. And blessed be God Most
High,
Who has delivered your
enemies into your hand”

And he gave him a tithe of all.    Heb. 7:2

 There is a lot that can be commented here in these verses,
one is identifying who Melchizedek is? Also the symbolism
of the bread and wine, and then lastly the fact that Abram
gave a tithe (tenth) to Melchizedek. Who is Melchizedek?
Let us remember one great rule of thumb when trying to
understand the bible “let the bible interpret the bible’ line
upon line, precept upon precept. When we go to the
referenced scriptures listed here (Heb. 7:1-7) we can pretty
much find all we need to know about the identity of this
man. First we are told that he is the king of Salem.

Salem(H8004): שׁלם:  shâlêm
BDB Definition: Salem = “peace”
1) the place of which Melchizedek was king
1a) most Jewish commentators affirm that it is the same as Jerusalem

 So he is the King of what we know today as Jerusalem. In the same verse (Heb. 7:1) He is also Called the priest of the most high (God the Father). Verse 2 of Hebrews seven goes on to give us more clues to His identity. Verse 2 says that Melchizedek was interpreted by the Jews to be the “king of righteousness” And, by its definition also the king of peace: see the Strong’s definition of Salem listed above. As we go on to Verse three of Hebrews chapter seven we are told that he is without father nor mother, having not being a descendant from anyone. He is also described as basically having no beginning, nor ending of life, and being like the Son of God and always being a priest to God. And Finally we see that Abram, recognizing his deity gave him a tenth of all the spoils he took from the kings of the north. When we put this all together we can only come to one conclusion: Melchizedek is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ Compare John 1:1-5, 14). Now with this in mind we can go on to understand more fully the symbolism of the bread and wine(which Melchizedek brought to Abram) and the tithe that Abram offered up to Melchizedek. In Genesis 14:18 it is told to us that Melchizedek brought bread and wine when he came to meet Abram. This is obviously a foreshadowing of the new covenant which was revealed on the night of Passover, prior to the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. Now we know that Abram was under his own covenant with God, so this bread and wine was not given to Abram in the same manner as was given to the Apostles of the New Testament. However we are told that  Abram saw the promise afar off. So did Melchizedek give Abram a glimpse of the New Covenant? The scriptures do not say, but it leaves me to ponder this question.

Heb 11:13 These all died by way of faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. And they were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

 To the reader who may not be familiar with the New Covenant can go to Matt 26:26-29. Now we know that Abram was under his own covenant with God, so this bread and wine was not given to Abram in the same manner as was given to the Apostles of the New Testament. However we are told that Abram saw the promise afar off (Heb 11:13). When we go to the book of numbers in the old testament we can start to see where God establishes the priesthood through the tribe of Levi, son of Jacob/Israel (Compare Num 18:21-26). I know I quoted a lot of scriptures here, but in the process of researching these scriptures (in my E-Sword) I learned
a lot myself about tithing, and the priesthood of the levites. I will have more to say about the priesthood and tithing when I come to the scriptures I quoted in the book of numbers.

21. Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the
persons, and take the goods for yourself.”

 Unlike Melchizedek, The king of Sodom came to Abram in
an almost demanding tone: “Give me” as if Abram is his
servant and must do as the king demands. The king didn’t
bring any kind of offering to Abram to show his
appreciation for what Abram has done, (which I believe
would have been customary during this time). The king of
Sodom does not even recognize the God of Abram to whom
Abram’s victory would not have been possible. I believe that
one of the reasons that the king ask for only his people and
not the goods Abram brought back is, number one to keep
his kingdom established: for without people to rule over
there is no kingdom. Number two, what good is a kingdom
of riches if you have no one to flaunt it over so as to have
rulership over them. And number three, with him having
the persons, he could exploit them to help build his
kingdom back up and also to say to the people: “Look! It
was I who delivered you from your captivity and sent out
Abram to free you. Now this is my own personal belief, and
there is nothing scriptural about my take on the kings
actions. I just try to put myself in the kings shoes, knowing
scripturally that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were a
wicked and evil society which was a reflection of the men
that were rulers over them.

22. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised
my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of
heaven and earth, v.19
23. “that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap,
and that I will not take anything that is yours, Lest you should
say, “I have made Abram rich”-    2 Kin. 5:16
24. “except only what the young men have eaten, and the
portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and
Mamre; let them take their portion.”

 Abram is making it very clear to the king of Sodom that it
was by the power of God the creator, and ruler, of both the
heavens above, and the earth below who Abram holds his
allegiance (if you will), to. Abram will not let the king share
or steal the glory from God for his victory. Abram is saying
to him, “you will not boast in my riches, for my blessings
come from above and none other. God does not share his
throne with anyone (Exo 20:1-3, Isa 42:8). The last thing Abram tells the king of Sodom is that the only thing his people and those that helped Abram will take is the food which sustained them on their journey. Abram finishes by saying that the leaders: Aner, Eschol, and Mamre can take their portion if they so desire, that is up to them.
  We see in these verses the maturity in Abram when it comes to his relationship with God. Abram has learned to trust in God in the trials of life that come to him. Unlike the time of the famine when he hastily went into Egypt instead of trusting in Gods promise that the land he lived in would be his and his descendants forever. Even though we are not told of this aspect of Abram’s thinking, I believe that Abram has developed a faith in God; that He will protect him when he goes out to fight against the kings of the north. I say this because what we are told is that Abrams men only number three hundred and eighteen men of his own house (see vs. 14 in this chapter) plus his friends Aner, Eschol and Mamre. Undoubtedly the kings of the north had a great army in order to accomplish all that they had done. I believe Abram knew he was outnumbered greatly but I also
believe that Abram’s faith in God gave him the strength and courage he needed to carry out this task. Our faith in God should be this strong whenever we are faced with the trials that we all go through in life.

13

1.Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.   11:31; 12:10
2. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold,  12:16
3. And he went on his journey from the south as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4. to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 4:26, 12:7, 8; 21:33; Ps. 116:17

 So when Abram left out of Egypt he took all his possessions with him. Not only did he have livestock, and silver, and gold, but he also had servants, both male and female. This  is where Hagar was given to Sarai as a maidservant. The  Bible doesn’t say that Hagar was given to Sarai from the
Pharaoh, but there is strong evidence in Genesis chapter 16 that supports this. Chapter sixteen is where she is first  introduced in the bible as Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant. And she will bare a son of Abrams who is to be named Ishmael. Abram went back to where he had been living before he left for Egypt because of the famine. There he  began to call out to the Lord, in prayer and supplications. He was probably humbled by his misgivings in Egypt, and his lack of faith in the Lord. Abram can only go back to the one place where he felt close to God, and at peace with
himself because of this closeness. Abram remembers that this is the land that the Lord had promised him, so he cries out to the Lord: “forgive me for my lack of faith, I now know this is where you want me to be, and if you will still have me I will obey you with all my heart and soul”
obviously i’m assuming that this is what Abram was crying out to God. I’m just putting myself in Abrams shoes and thinking what I might have cried out to the Lord if it were me. I actually have had prayers similar to this in my times of trouble.

5. Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds
and tents.
6. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 36:7
7. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.  10:15-19; 12:5, 6
8. So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
9. “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you  go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10. And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the  Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.                                           19:17-29
11. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
12. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 14:12; 19:1,24
13. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. 6:11, 12; 18:20, 21; 19:24
 

  Abram and Lot were so abundantly rich when they came
out of Egypt, that the land they now lived in was not able
to sustain all they had in livestock and people. After
Abram’s experiences in Egypt, he was humbled, and
learned to rely on the Lord and not in himself when it came
to times of trouble. Lot, who had been with Abram since
they first left the land of Ur, was aware of the promises
made to Abram by the Lord God. This being the case Abram
could have easily told Lot to leave the land promised to him
and dwell in a place far away from which they dwelt, and
Lot, who also worshipped the same God as Abram and
probably feared, and revered Him, would not have argued
with Abram on this matter. However, Abram has matured
since he first started following God, and has now learned to
have faith in the Lord and His promise He made to Abram.
With this faith Abram lets Lot chose where he would dwell
and Abram would go the other way. He tells Lot, “if you go
to the left, then I will go to the right, or if you go to the
right, then I will go to the left.”
There is also another character we see in Abram when it
comes to these verses. Abram is a peaceful man and not one
of covetousness who wishes to cause strife between him
and men. If more people, throughout the ages, would have
this character in themselves we would not have had all the
wars throughout history (Compare Jas 3:14-18, Jas 4:1-3). We see the difference in personalities between Lot and Abram. Lot sees all the richness of the plain of Jordan, described in verse ten as in the days of the Garden of Eden, Lot, out of his lust of covetousness, chooses the best lands for his people and all that he possesses. There is a lesson to
be learned here As well. There are two sayings that come to
mind, first;” be careful what you wish for,” the other is;”
The grass isn’t always as green as it appears” When we read
verse thirteen we are told that the men who live in the land
Lot chose are exceedingly wicked and sinful against the
Lord. As we will learn later on in Genesis, this decision
Lot makes will cost him dearly. Instead of calling on the
Lord for guidance, Lot relies on his own judgment just as
Abram did when he journeyed to Egypt, and he will have to
live with the consequences of his own lack of faith.

14. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are-northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
15. “for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.                          12:1; 34:4; acts 7:5
16. “And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.                           15:5; 22:17

(Compare Gen 15:5). Let me reference a few more scriptures from the New
Testament to backup what I feel is of significance concerning the kingdom of God (Compare Rom 4:11-13, 16-18, Gal 3:14, 3:26-29). I know I am beating a dead horse in the mouth here by quoting the same scriptures over and over, but we must understand the significance of Abraham’s life and how he lived it and it’s relevance to us in today’s world.  Okay, now let me get to my point I am trying to make here. No man can number every particle of dust that is on the earth just as no man can count the stars. Think about it, just in our galaxy alone there are over 100 billion stars, Consider this, in the Hubble deep field image taken in 1995  there were about 300 Galaxies in this image. Scientist say  that this is just a tiny fraction of galaxies that exist still that man has yet to discover. Now according to Henry M. Morris who has written a book called the Biblical Basis for Modern  Science, and uses the Ussher chronology for mankind as a basis for his theory, he has come to the conclusion that  there has been a total of between 20-30 billion people who have ever lived since the time of Adam and Eve. So in order for this promise to be fulfilled to Abram that his descendants will be as much as the stars or as the dust of the earth then  mankind will still be pro creating during the kingdom of  God and on. This gives me, and people like me who have  never had children of their own for whatever reasons, hope to someday still have children. God promised that he would  give us all things, and all our desires, and he cannot lie, and  since we who have the faith of Abram, and  are also his seed and joint heirs according to the promise, then I too will receive
this blessing.

17. “Arise, walk in the land through it’s length and its width, for I give it to you.”
18. Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an  Altar there to the Lord. 12:7

Abram was sad to see Lot depart from him, for they had
been together for many years now, and Lot was as a son to
Abram, therefore the Lord told Abram “lift up your eyes” as
if to say “do not be saddened Abram for you and your seed
will be blessed. “Look all around at that which you see, I the
Lord God give you all the land in every direction forever
and ever. Not only will you possess this land forever, but
your seed will bear much fruit, So much so that no man can
number the descendants of your loins.” Abram is then told
by God to get up! And go out and survey the land which I
have given you. So Abram went out from between Bethel
and Ai and journeyed through all the land which was
promised him, and he finally settled in the southern portion
of the land, in Hebron, and there he built a third altar to the
Lord so as to worship him.
  I’d like to take a step back and ponder what it might have
been like for Abram while he was traversing the land. What
was going through his mind? I can only do this by
wondering if it were me. Everyday must have been as
exciting as the last, contemplating, what was over the next
hill, or beyond the next valley? every step I take I would
be thinking, “will my sons settle here or there, or my
grandchildren; will they walk the same paths as me? and
think to themselves, “my father, grandfather, great
grandfather Abram once walked this path before me?” he
may have even mark his paths along the way etched in
stone, “Abram was here” hoping someday one of his
descendants would see his mark. And yet I also can’t help
but think of the correlation between Abrams journey way
back then and my own journey that I too am on, looking
forward to the promise not seen but hope for, and the faith
I have that someday I too will see the promised land.
The thoughts go through my mind “what will God’s
kingdom be like?” (Compare Rev 21:7). As my pastor often says; “I have yet to find anything that is not included in all things.” and I also know
that my mind can’t even fathom what the kingdom of God
will be like, whatever a person can imagine how God’s
kingdom will be, can be magnified a hundred-fold.

12

1.Now the Lord had said to Abram:   Acts 7:2, 3
“Get out of your country
from your family
and from your fathers house,
To a land that I will show you.

 In order to understand where Abram was dwelling, during
the time in which God Called him, to go to this land that
the Lord promised, we must look at the reference scriptures
in this verse (Acts 7:2-4). For the purpose of understanding this first verse in chapter 12 I will not elaborate on the events leading up to these specified verses of Acts, and will tackle them when I start my study on the book of Acts. As we can plainly see Abram was still living in the land of Ur when God first appeared to him. It is here that the Lord first appeared to man. If we go back to the time of Adam, and then Enoch, or Noah, The bible only states that the Lord Spoke to these men. Abram was the first man to, in my opinion see the Lord, and it wouldn’t be the last time for Abram to see, with his own eyes, the appearance of the Lord. Now was it God that Appeared to Abram? Or was it Jesus Christ? I’m inclined to believe that it was Jesus Christ who Abram saw. I say this because the verse says that it was the Lord, and not God, who appeared to him. As has already been established in earlier scriptures we know that Jesus was present at the time of creation. Another reason why I think Abraham did not actually see God is because in the Exodus Story, Moses asked to see God face to face. God told Moses that no man can see His face lest he die (Exo 33:17-23). How the Lord appeared to Abram? The scriptures do not say; was in the form of the spirit? Or A burning bush as he appeared to Moses? Or was it as when he walked the earth during the New testament times? One can only imagine, but however he appeared to Abram, I bet it was an awesome event.

2. I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
and make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
◊ 3. I will bless those who bless
you,
And I will curse him who
curses you;  Num.   24:9
And in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed.”

I am reminded of the books of Mathew and Mark (Matt 19:29, 10:37- 39, Mark 10:28-30). This is basically what the Lord is telling Abram; “Leave all that you cherish and follow me to the promised land, and I will bless you greatly” The great nation that the Lord is talking about, is the nation we know today as Israel. Not only is God going to make a great nation, but his blessings to Abram go even further. Abram himself will be known throughout the earth, not only in his own time but forever and ever. As we will see in the story of Abram, He never questions God but follows him faithfully, whenever the Lord calls him. To this day Abram (who is now known as Abraham) is respected by the three great religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (just as God promised). But wait there’s even more: in Verse three the Lord tells Abram, “that, because if you follow me, I will also bless those who bless you, and will curse those that hate you,” and all the people of the earth will be blessed for your names sake.                                                                                                      One more thing i would like to discuss in this verse is the Star that is at the beginning of the verse. if you have read my format you will know that this represents a prophecy of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. All nations have been  blessed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, To those who
believe in him. Also all who have the faith of Abraham are blessed and are of the seed of Abraham and share in the promise God made to him (Gal 3:6-29).

4. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.
And Abram was seventy five years old when he departed
from Haran.
5. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s
son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and
the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they
departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the
land of Canaan.  10:15-19
  In the year 2093 AC. Abram left the land of Haran as God
had said to him, when he was seventy five years old. There
was no hesitation on Abrams part (Heb 11:8). So Abram took all that he owned, his wife and his Brother’s son, Lot. All the people who were either servants to Abram, or who also worshiped the God Jehovah, also
went with Abram. He left the rest of his family and went
onto the promised land. The land of Canaan is the place we
call modern day Israel. The people who live in this land are
the descendants of Ham (son of Noah). It is the Canaanites who
were cursed by Noah for the sin of Ham (Gen 9:24, 25). Abram is a descendant of Shem, to whom the Canaanites
will be servants to. This is the first act of faith that Abram
shows toward our Lord, Elohim. Abram believed what God
said to him, and by faith he is saved (Heb 11:8, 9).

6. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem,
As far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites
were then in the land.
◊ 7. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your
descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an
altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 13:4, 18; 22:9; 26:25

  So Abram journeyed from Haran south to the land of Shechem, which is basically in the middle of the land of Canaan, west of the river Jordan, and south of Nazareth, and north of Jerusalem. We also know that the Canaanites were located here as well. The star that is before the number seven(as is mentioned in my outlining of my format) is a representation of prophecy. The prophecy that the Lord is giving Abram, is the fact that all the land Abram sees will be giving to his descendants, Jesus Christ being the seed of Abraham, and will return again to the promised land to rule and reign there for evermore. The Altar that Abram builds here is to commemorate the promise, the moment, and to honor God with a sacrifice of some sort.

8. And he moved from there to the mountain east of
Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and
Ai on the east; There he built an altar to the Lord and called
on the name of the Lord. 4:26
9. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
24:62

  After this occasion Abram journeyed on to the south some
more. When he came to a place that is situated in between
Bethel and Ai (which is east of Bethel), and still north of
Jerusalem. He decided to make camp and build an altar to
the Lord. In verse eight it says that Abram “called on the
name of the Lord” To me personally I take this as Abram
was praying to the Lord, and that during this prayer he also
offered some kind of sacrifice to God. In my opinion,
Abram was probably asking God for some kind of guidance
as to whether or not this is the place where he could settle.
I say this because in verse nine we are told that Abram
journeyed still further south. Scripture does not give us a
time frame as to how long it took Abram to get to this point
but if we go to Gen 16:3 we can come to a close proximity of this journey.
We told here that Abram was eighty six years old, ten years after he lived in the land of Canaan, and this is counting from the time he left Egypt. So Abram had to be still seventy five (almost seventy six), when he entered into Egypt. This would put Abrams journey here at about six months after leaving the land of Haran, maybe even sooner.
 It should also be mentioned here that while Abram built
this altar and called on the Lord that all of the people that
were with him also were being made aware of God, and how
to worship and honor the Lord. Abram is teaching his
people about the Lord. He is probably handing down the
stories that were told to him by his father, and even Noah.
One last note here; in the MKJV, and the KJV version of the
Bible there is a side-note explaining the meaning of Abram
journeying to the south. Here is the strong’s definition of the word south:

South (h5045): נֶגֶב: negeb: neh’-gheb
From an unused root meaning to be parched; the south (from its drought); specifically the negeb or southern district of Judah, occasionally, Egypt (as south to Palestine): – south (country, side, -ward).

This part of Canaan is better known today as the Negev, or also known as the Negev desert, south of Jerusalem.

10. Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.  41:56-42:3
11. And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.   v. 14; 26:7
12. “Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, “This is his wife”; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13. “Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.” 20:2, 11-13; 26:7

  The verses 10- 13 is one of two times where we see that Abram, for one reason or another, either forgot God’s promise to him, or more likely he had a loss of faith in that promise. First, because of the drought and famine in the land, Abram, instead of calling on God for his divine
intercession, Abram decides to go to another country that wasn’t promised to him and his descendants. Sometimes in life God will test our faith in order to see how strong our convictions are. I believe this is what God was doing to Abram with the drought and famine. Now in verses 12-13 in my opinion is not a test of faith on God’s part, but rather just a lack of faith on Abrams part. God promised Abram That through his descendants he would give all the land of Canaan to him and his descendants, He also promised him that He,(God)would curse those who would curse Abram. God goes on to tell Abram that a great nation will  come from him. At the time that Abram goes to enter Egypt, Abram has yet to have any children (which is a must in order for God to fulfill his promise), Abram is worried that the Egyptians will kill him. If Abram had a strong faith in the Lord, he would not have been worried about his life. I have been trying to figure out why Abram would think  that the Egyptians would spare his life if Sarai said the she was his sister and not his wife. So What was Abram
thinking? We need to go to the scriptures that are referenced in Genesis chapter 20 for this answer (Compare Gen 20:10-13). There is still one more lesson to be learned here that God is trying to convey to man: That if you lose your faith in your creator God, that this begins a slippery slope into the sin world, where you begin to not be able to think straight, and when you can’t think straight then you begin  to live a deceptive life, where you not only deceive others,  but you deceive yourself into the wrong kind of thinking. Abram I think, is at this point in his life, he is starting to rely on his deceptive ways rather than on God for guidance.

14. So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.  vv. 11, 12
15. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.

  We must consider here, that at this time Sarai was well
up in her years, if we remember earlier, Abram was seventy
five years old himself when he left his father’s house to go
to the promised land. Sarai must have been in her 60’s 0r
70’s at this time. Even at this age Sarai was a very beautiful
lady. This was at a time when there was no beauty gels, or
facelifts, or anything of the sort like nowadays. God truly
blessed Sarai with great beauty.

 

16. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep,
oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female
donkeys, and camels.   13:2

  Sarai was so beautiful that the Pharaoh paid Abram greatly so as to have her as his wife. If Abrams fear about what the Pharaoh would have done to him, if he knew they were husband and wife, then, because of Pharaoh’s desire for Sarai, he could easily have taken Sarai without given Abram any kind of recompense. This tells me that the  Pharaoh, and the Egyptians had some sort of moral laws of decency, but not much, they did still take Sarai from Abram without asking for his or Sarai’s consent, or even going thru the customs of Abrams people of some kind of courtship first. Abram must have been crushed when he saw that Sarai was taken from him. He knew that the Pharaoh would  defile Sarai, and use her for his own lustful means. Put  yourself in Abrams shoes; Abram never saw this coming, the guilt must have been tremendous for what he had just  done to his wife. It’s almost hard to imagine the thoughts, and visions in his mind of what Sarai was going through. Then we must also consider the great love Sarai had for Abram, to sacrifice herself for her husbands sake. Knowing  That she was going to be raped and defiled, The Bible never tells us that Sarai ever thought of telling the Pharaoh that she was indeed Abrams wife, so as to save herself. That’s the kind of love that I believe every man or woman is looking for in life. What a woman! (John 15:12, 13). Abram was truly blessed to have such a woman in Sarai. Abram himself will one day, show this same love towards God when he is asked to sacrifice someone near and dear to his heart. As we will see later on, though its not just
Abram’s love for the Lord that is tested, but also his faith,
and fear in the Lord. I don’t mean the kind of fear that most
people would associate with this word, but it is a sign of
respect towards God.

17. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with
great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you
have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your
wife?       20:9; 10; 26:10
19. “why did you say, “she is my sister”? I might have
Taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
  We read in these three verses that the Lord plagued Egypt
because of Sarai, and that the Pharaoh of Egypt knew this.
What these scriptures don’t tell us is how the Pharaoh knew
that Sarai was Abrams wife and that this was the reason for
the plagues on his people. We have no other references in
the Bible that explains this to us. This being said, I have but
only one explanation. The Lord himself revealed this to the Pharaoh. The reason I find this conclusion more  likely comes from the understanding of other biblical teachings we find in chapter 20 of Genesis and also in Daniel and Ezra (Gen 20:3- 7, Dan 2:26- 28, Ezra 1:1, 2). There are times when the Lord God will reveal himself to the kings of the earth in order to fulfill his purpose. I  believe that this is one of these times. Line upon line, precept upon precept, this is how we learn Gods word.

20. So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.   20:15

Again lets go to the referenced scripture, and I will put it into context and also include the following (Gen 20:14- 16). I believe that the Pharaoh commanded his men to let Abram keep all his possessions that he brought into the land, as well as all that the Pharaoh gave to Abram when he took Sarai from him.