Week 3 - RESCUE (Abraham)
CONNECT
What are you thankful for?
What challenge are you facing?
Have there been any answers to prayer?
Pray for each other.
Did anything stand out to you from last week’s follow-up Bible readings and connection prompts?
How did your “I will …” statement from last week go?
How did your sharing goal from last week go?
How’s your memory work coming along?
Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT)
13 For [God the Father] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
DISCOVER
Let’s start with a review.
CREATION
God created everything and as humans, we have been made in God’s image to rule the world on His behalf.
REBELLION
Through Satan’s temptation, humans rebelled against God, but God promised One who would destroy Satan.
And now …
RESCUE
Rebellion won’t have the last word. God spoke a word of Rescue. Here’s what we read last week.
Genesis 3:14-15 (NLT)
14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
How will God bring about this Rescue? That’s what we turn to today.
Ask God to speak to you as you read His Word.
Genesis 12:1-7 (NLT)
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
God’s promise to Abram can be broken down into these four promises:
PEOPLE
PROTECTION
PURPOSE
PLACE
Look through the passage again and find the description for each promise.
Since Abram and Sarai didn’t have any children, what one essential thing would they need to begin to see these promises fulfilled?
Genesis 15:1-6 (NLT)
1 Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4 Then the LORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.
In the ancient world, there were two official ways for a childless couple to get an heir. One was through adoption—the adoption of an adult, not an infant. But God said that Eliezer, Abram’s servant, wouldn’t be his heir.
The second legal way to get an heir was through a surrogate. A wife could give her husband a female servant and the wife and husband would have a child through this servant woman. Abram and Sarai turn to this means next.
Genesis 16:1-10 (NLT)
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
How did it go when Abram and Sarai took the fulfillment of God’s promises into their own hands?
The LORD appeared to Abram again. This time, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “Father of Many Nations” and Sarai's name to Sarah, meaning “Princess (or Mother) of Nations”. Here’s Abraham’s reaction:
Genesis 17:17-21 (NLT)
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”
Later on, the LORD God with two angels came to Abraham in the form of three men. After Sarah made them a meal, we read …
Genesis 18:9-15 (NLT)
9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors asked.
“She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied.
10 Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”
Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. 11 Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. 12 So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”
13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh.”
But the LORD said, “No, you did laugh.”
Genesis 21:1-7 (NLT)
1 The LORD kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. 2 She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. 3 And Abraham named their son Isaac (which in the Hebrew language means laughter). 4 Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. 5 Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
6 And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. 7 Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
Have someone retell these passages (the whole storyline) in their own words. Just the highlights will do.
What stands out to you in these passages?
What do these passages say about God (The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit)?
What do these passages say about people, including ourselves?
What do these passages say about the life God invites us to live?
Digging Deeper
How did Abraham and Sarah try to help God’s plan and promise along? Did it help?
What did Abraham and Sarah need to do to partner with God in fulfilling His promise and plan?
Why do you think God waited 25 years before giving Abraham and Sarah their own son?
Why is the name Isaac meaning “Laughter” an appropriate name for their son and this story.
Have you ever tried something laughable in moving God’s promise and plan forward in your life? What was it and what were the results? Who got the last laugh?
God’s Rescue plan to save the world focuses on one family. He promises to bless them so they would be a blessing to the whole world.
Looking Ahead
As we saw last week, the Bible is divided into 2 sections. In the Old Testament God gives us promises and in the New Testament He fulfills them.
Here’s a sneak preview of how God’s promise to Abraham ultimately gets fulfilled in the New Testament.
Galatians 3:14-16, 29 (NLT)
14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
15 Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. 16 God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.
29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”
Through whom does God fulfill His promise to Abraham to be a blessing to the whole world?
Once again, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. There’s more story to tell before we get to Jesus.
Connection Prompt
You have been using these connection prompts:
Lift UP Your Praise - Lord, I praise you for …
Bow DOWN in Repentance - Lord, I repent of …
Because Abraham heard God and by faith obeyed God, this week let’s add this connection prompt to our reading of the 3 weekly Bible passages:
Take IN God’s Word - Lord, I hear You saying … & With Your help I will …
LIVE
What truth have you discovered from today’s Bible passage(s) and conversation?
What would stop you from believing and obeying this truth?
How will you live out this truth this coming week? Finish this statement: “I will ….”
Who else needs to hear this truth? How could you share it with them?
When will we meet again?
Who will facilitate that meeting?
Pray for God’s help as you seek to follow Jesus this coming week.
FOLLOW-UP BIBLE READINGS
In this week’s follow-up Bible readings, you will see how God begins to fulfill His Promise to Abraham (People, Place, Protection, Purpose).
BUDDY SYSTEM
Connect with your buddy this week and ask each other these questions:
How are your readings going?
How’s your “I will …” statement coming along?
How’s your sharing goal coming along?
How can I pray for you?