One Man One Heart

The LORD appeared again to Abraham while he was camped near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day about noon, as Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, he suddenly noticed three men standing nearby. He got up and ran to his meet them, welcoming them by bowing low to the ground. "My lord," he said, "if it pleases you, stop here for a while. Rest in the shade of this tree while my servants get some water to wash your feet. Let me prepare some food to refresh you. Please stay awhile before continuing on your journey." "All right," they said. "Do as you have said." So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick! Get three measures of your best flour, and bake some bread." Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a fat calf and told a servant to hurry and butcher it. When the food was ready, he took some cheese curds and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them t...

In Chapter 17, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I am the God Almighty; serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant (there's that word again) with you, by which I will guarantee to make you into a mighty nation." At this Abram fell face down in the dust. Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of not just one nation, but a multitude of nations! What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram; now you will be known as Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will give you millions of descendants who will represent many nations. Kings will be among them! I will continue this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation. It will continue between me and your offspring forever. And I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. Yes, I will give all this land of Canaan to you and your offspring forever. And I will be your God."...

Sarah, Abram's wife, had no children. So Sarah took her servant, an Egyptian woman named Hagar, and gave her to Abram so she could bear his children. "The Lord has kept me from having any children," Sarah said to Abram. "Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her." And Abram agreed. So Sarah took Hagar and gave her to Abram as a wife. (Ten years after Abram arrived in Canaan.) So Abram slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress Sarah with contempt (disgust, scorn). Then Sarah said to Abram, "It's all your fault! Now this servant of mine is pregnant, and she dispises me, though I myself gave her the privilege of sleeping with you. The Lord will make you pay for doing this to me!" Let's recap... Sarah gave Hagar to Abram as a substitute wife, a common practice of that time. A married woman who could not have children was shamed by her peers and was o...

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." Abram replied, " O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since I don't have a son, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no children, so one of my servants will have to be my heir." Then the Lord said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you." Then the Lord brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that, too many to count!" Let's recap. Abram wasn't promised wealth or fame; he already had that. Instead, God promised descendants like the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore (22:17), too numerous to ...

In Genesis 13-14 shows us the relationship between Abram and Lot. In chapter 13, it tells us about the separation of Abram and Lot and what made them separated. Let's begin shall we... Abram with his wife and Lot and all that they owned left Egypt and traveled north to the Negev and then toward Bethel. They camped at a place where Abram had built the altar before and there he began to worship the Lord. Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram and Sarah, was also very wealthy with sheep, cattle, and many tents. The land could not hold both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. There were too many animals for the pastureland. So an argument broke out between the two. At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land. Abram talked it over with Lot. "This arguing between our herdsmen has got to stop," he said. "After all, we are close relatives! I'll tell you what we'll do. Take your choice of any section of th...

Genesis chapter 12 tells us the story of Abram. It shows us what God is promising to Abram and what his calling is in the generations to come. Let's begin... The Lord told Abram, "Leave your country, your family, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12: 1-3) Let's recap. When God called him, Abram moved out in faith from Ur to Haran and finally to Canaan. God then established a covenant (there's that word again) with Abram, telling him that he would found a great nation. Not only would this nation be blessed, God said, but the other nations of the earth would be blessed through Abram's descendants. Israel, the nation that would come from Abram, was to foll...

The last half of chapter 11 is the descendants of Shem. Who is one of three sons of Noah. Shem was 100 years old when Arphaxad was born, which was 2 years after the flood. Arphaxad was the father of Shelah Shelah was the father of Eber Eber was the father of Peleg Peleg was the father of Reu Reu was the father of Serug Serug was the father of Nahor Nahor was the father of Terah Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran Haran had a son named Lot. But while Haran was still young, he died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the place of his birth. Meanwhile, Abram married Sarai (Sarah), and his brother Nahor married Milcah. Sarah wasn't able to have any children. Terah took his son Abram, daughter-in-law Sarah, and grandson Lot and left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But they stopped instead at the village of Haran and settled there. Terah lived another 205 years and died while in Haran.