TPT The Book of Genesis-Part 2

LESSON 1

Abram, Sarai, and Blessings for All

(11:10-13:18)

The human race starts with a human pair. They have children, their adult children have children, and on the process goes until divine judgment must fall on the corruption that has overtaken the race. Through the global judgment of floodwaters, one man's family is saved. Through them, the repopulation of the earth begins and flourishes until their descendants plan to steal dominion from God and advance their own plans and glory. This, too, brings judgment. Human language is confused and divided, and the peoples disperse across the earth, finally in (reluctant?) obedience to God.

All the while, God is at work, fulfilling a prophecy he directed to Satan in Eden: "I will place great hostility between you and the woman, and between her seed and yours. He will crush your head as you crush his heel" (Genesis 3:15). Eve's progenies have so far survived, even if barely through the flood. After the flood, they have finally dispersed throughout Europe, northern and eastern Africa, Russia, Assyria, Persia, and Arabia. They are filling the earth, subduing it, and flourishing in it. But what about the seed to come? Through whom will this predicted seed be realized?

The latter part of Genesis 11 and the opening of chapter 12 provide the answer. God's plan will not be stopped. He will ensure that the seed comes through another couple. Just as the human race began with one married pair, so the redeemed among the human race will also start with one human pair.

The Line of Shem

Just as we choose according to our will, God chooses according to his. And among Noah's three sons, God chose Shem's line through which to bring the one who would conquer Satan and establish salvation for all who would put their trust in him (Luke 3:23, 36; 10:17-20; Colossians 2:13-16).

Genesis 11:10-26 is Book 5, the start of which contains the fifth use of the toledot formula in Genesis: "These are the descendants [toledot] of Shem." (The previous four books are 2:4-4:26, 5:1-6:8, 6:9-9:29, and 10:1-11:9, each a family history.2) In this list, some persons in Shem's line are repeated from Genesis 10 while others appear for the first time. The repeated names are Arphaxad (11:10; 10:22), Shelah (11:12; 10:24), Eber (11:14; 10:21, 24-25), and Peleg (11:16; 10:25-26). But even with these names, new information is supplied. The new names on the list are Reu (11:18), Serug (11:20), Nahor (Abram's grandfather, v. 22), Terah (v. 24), Abram (v. 26), Nahor (Abram's brother, v. 26), and Haran (v. 26).

For each of the following individuals, record what the text says about their age when they had one of their sons, then how much longer they lived afterward, and then add the figures together to learn how long each one lived.

Shem (10:10-11): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Arphaxad (vv. 12-13): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Shelah (vv. 14-15): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Eber (vv. 16-17): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Peleg (vv. 18-19): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Reu (vv. 20-21): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Serug (vv. 22-23): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Nahor (vv. 24-25): Age when son was born ______ ; number of years lived afterward ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

Terah (vv. 26, 32): Three sons at age ______ ; total number of years lived ______ .

What did you notice about the lifespans of these individuals? How do their lifespans differ from those human beings who lived before the great flood (see Genesis 5)? How does the lifespan of the post-flood individuals differ from Noah's (9:29)?

Relate your above answers to what God said he would do in 6:3. Did he work toward his intended age-restraint goal for humanity? Why do you suppose God took several generations to work out his plan?

In Genesis 5, there's a short recurring phrase used to indicate the end of life that doesn't appear in chapter 11 until verse 28. What is it? What do you think is the significance of the almost total absence of this phrase in chapter 11?

Although we know very little about Reu, Serug, and Nahor (Abram's grandfather), the physician and early church historian Luke found them important enough to mention them in his genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3:34-35).

You may at times feel unimportant, but from God's vantage point, your life matters. Take some time now to let that truth sink in. We don't know what our true significance will be in the outworking of God's plan, but he knows, and he will never forget our service to him, and he will use it far beyond what we can ever imagine.

From Terah to Abram

In Book 4, Shem's genealogy ends with Joktan and those he fathered (Genesis 10:26-29). Book 5, however, ends Shem's line with Terah, the names of his three sons, and nothing about the length of his lifespan and death (11:26). Terah's line of descendants is left open, and among his sons is Abram, the first patriarch of the faith, the one with whom God will establish an everlasting covenant of blessing for all of humanity.

Book 6 (11:27-25:11) opens with a link back to the end of Book 5, focusing on Terah and his descendants.

Read 11:24-32. Jot down what you learn specifically about Terah. Also consult TPT's study notes on these verses.

Now go back through the same section of Scripture and write what you find out about his sons Haran and Nahor. The study notes will offer some information too.

Finally, read through these verses again but this time focusing on Abram. What do you learn about him? Be sure to consult the study notes as well.

Abram and God's Promised Blessing

Abram (later renamed Abraham) becomes the first patriarch of Israel. With him begins what scholars refer to as "the patriarchal age." Along with Abram, the other patriarchs are Isaac and Jacob, all of whom appear in Genesis. Bible scholar Merrill Unger states: "Abraham was born c. 2161 b.c. and entered Canaan 2086 b.c. The patriarchal period would extend in this case from 2086 to 1871 b.c."3

Terah, Abram's father, lived with his family in "the Chaldean city of Ur" (Genesis 11:31). Ancient Ur was in southern Babylonia about 150 miles from the head of the Persian Gulf. It "had one of the most advanced cultures in the world." Archaeological evidence from the site includes "gold daggers and cups [that] witness the wealth of the [city's] culture."4 Other artifacts include "jewelry and art treasures of unbelievable beauty, particularly gorgeous head attire, personal jewels,.musical instruments and other beautifully crafted objects.Archaeology has revealed that in Abraham's day Ur was a great and prosperous city, with perhaps 360,000 people living in the city and its suburbs."5 According to Bible scholar Gleason Archer, "The average middle-class citizens lived in well-appointed houses containing from ten to twenty rooms. Schools were maintained for the education of the young, for schoolboy tablets have been discovered which attest their training in reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion."6

The sacred center of Ur included a ziggurat and a number of other buildings that were erected for the worship of the moon god, Nannar, and his consort, Ningal.7 The ziggurat was "built as a series of stepped platforms with the house of the god on top. Its structure probably resembled the tower of Babel. The ziggurat is 200 feet long, 100 feet across, and 250-300 feet high."8

When Terah was in Ur with his family, Ur's king was Ur-Nammu, and he's the one responsible for the ziggurat built there. On a "ten-by-five-foot stela" erected by this king are words that give a polytheistic interpretation of what Genesis 11 records about the tower of Babel: "The erection of this tower highly offended all the gods. In a night they threw down what man had built and impeded their progress. They were scattered abroad and their speech was strange."9 Ur was a city committed to idolatry, and it modeled itself after the failed city of Babel.

It was while Abram was here, in Ur, that Yahweh came to him with a command and promises of blessing (Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:2-3).

Were Terah and his family influenced by Ur's worship of false gods (Joshua 24:2)?

What are some ways that your surrounding culture tries to influence your faith beliefs and practices?

While Abram...