(Genesis 11:10-32)
10 These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; 11 and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.
12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah; 13 and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.
14 Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber; 15 and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg; 17 and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu; 19 and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug; 21 and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor; 23 and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah; 25 and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.
26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
(Genesis 12:1-9) Now the Lord said to Abram,And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Here we have an excellent example of predestination! God gives us a free-will, to choose if we will believe in Him or not, but He has also chosen us long before we are even born. Both are true! And it can be, because God is omniscient. Knowing all things, God knows who will respond to Him or not. We don't. In fact, people don't even know that about themselves, until they realize that they do want a relationship with the Lord!
Now, we know from Genesis15:6 (and Romans 4:9), that Abram becomes "a believer" at that point, when "he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." So, in this chapter we see Abram starting to develop a relationship with the Lord. It's one thing to go through the motions, and there will be some blessings here on earth because of it, but it is quite another thing to "believe in the Lord" for one's eternal security, becoming a true child of God.
Here, God approached Abram and told him to leave his home because He was going to show him a new home and a new way. A lot of people would have considered this completely unnecessary and crazy, but Abram decided to trust the Lord and obeyed. And through his obedience, God was going to do amazing things. Sarai was barren, yet from them would come a great nation. And through their seed, Jesus would come in flesh to bless all nations!
Whether a person decides to seek out truth or not, God is always available. The question is, are people realizing the necessity and validity of having God in their lives? Notice that even though Abram hadn't seen any results yet, he continued to give thanks and call upon the Lord. So, when people say they trust the Lord, are their actions showing their trust? Trust requires action, and when we do as God says, in God's perfect timing, we will see results.
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