Genesis Part One ended at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Humanity had been created in God’s image, rebelled in Eden, experienced the first murder through Cain and Abel, descended into such violence that judgment came through the Flood, and then—despite being given a new beginning—rose again in pride at Babel. The first eleven chapters tell a sobering story: changing mankind’s surroundings does not change mankind’s heart. Paradise wasn’t enough. A fresh beginning after the Flood wasn’t enough. Humanity needed something far greater than another opportunity.
Then Genesis suddenly narrows its focus.
The story moves away from humanity as a whole and introduces one man.
His name is Abram.
At first glance, that may seem like Genesis is becoming smaller. In reality, God’s plan is becoming clearer. God is going to work through one man, one family, and eventually one nation to bring blessing back to the very world that rebelled against Him.
And ultimately, that road leads to Jesus Christ.
Q: Who was Abram?
Abram first appears near the end of Genesis 11. He was the son of Terah and originally lived in Ur of the Chaldees before his family traveled toward Canaan and settled for a time in Haran.
Then Genesis 12 begins with God speaking to Abram:
“Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.” — Genesis 12:1
Think about what God was asking.
Leave what you know.
Leave the familiar.
Go somewhere I will show you.
Abram wasn’t handed a complete map of his future.
He was given a command and a promise.
Then he had to decide whether he trusted the One who gave them.
Q: What did God promise Abram?
This is one of the most important promises in the entire Bible.
God tells Abram:
“I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great…” — Genesis 12:2
Then comes the statement that changes everything:
“And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” — Genesis 12:3
Don’t read past that.
All families of the earth.
Remember what just happened at Babel.
Humanity was divided.
Languages were confused.
Nations were scattered.
Now God chooses one man through whom He promises that blessing will eventually reach all nations.
The New Testament tells us where that promise ultimately leads.
Paul writes:
“And to thy seed, which is Christ.” — Galatians 3:16
Abraham’s story isn’t merely about Abraham becoming wealthy or receiving land.
It is part of the road to Jesus Christ.
Q: Did Abram obey immediately?
Genesis says:
“So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him…” — Genesis 12:4
Abram was 75 years old when he departed Haran.
That’s worth remembering.
Sometimes people convince themselves that their meaningful years are behind them.
I’m too old.
I waited too long.
My opportunity passed.
Abram was seventy-five when one of the greatest journeys in biblical history began.
God wasn’t finished with him.
Q: Was Abram’s faith perfect?
Absolutely not.
This is one of the reasons Genesis feels so honest.
Shortly after entering Canaan, famine comes and Abram travels into Egypt.
Because Sarai is beautiful, Abram fears the Egyptians will kill him to take her. He tells her to say she is his sister.
Pharaoh takes Sarai into his household.
God intervenes.
Abram’s plan creates a dangerous situation that never needed to exist.
The man who trusted God enough to leave his homeland suddenly struggles to trust God enough to protect him in Egypt.
That’s Abraham’s story.
Faith and fear sometimes exist inside the same person.
Q: Was Sarai actually Abram’s sister?
Later, in Genesis 20:12, Abraham explains that Sarah was his half-sister, sharing his father but not his mother.
So his statement contained truth.
But it was used deceptively.
That’s important.
Something can be technically accurate and still be intentionally misleading.
God’s people shouldn’t measure honesty by asking:
“Did I technically lie?”
The better question is:
“Was I trying to deceive?”
Q: What happened between Abram and Lot?
Abram’s nephew Lot traveled with him, and both became prosperous enough that the land could no longer easily support all their livestock together.
Their herdsmen began arguing.
Abram could have demanded first choice.
Instead, he offered Lot the opportunity to choose where he wanted to live.
Lot looked toward the well-watered Jordan plain and chose what appeared to be the better land.
But Genesis adds an ominous detail:
“But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” — Genesis 13:13
Lot chose by what looked good.
He didn’t appear to consider what living near Sodom might cost spiritually.
That decision would eventually become disastrous.
Q: What can we learn from Lot?
Not everything that looks like an opportunity is a blessing.
A job can pay more and destroy your family.
A relationship can feel exciting and pull you away from God.
A city can offer everything materially and nothing spiritually.
A decision can look perfect on paper and still be terrible for your soul.
Lot looked toward prosperity.
He eventually found himself living in Sodom.
Be careful what direction you pitch your tent.
Q: Did Abram ever fight in a war?
Yes.
Genesis 14 describes a conflict among kings in the region. Sodom and Gomorrah were defeated, and Lot was taken captive along with others.
When Abram learned what happened, he gathered 318 trained men born in his household, pursued the captors, defeated them, and rescued Lot along with the people and possessions that had been taken.
This gives us another side of Abram.
He wasn’t merely an old man wandering through the desert with sheep.
He had a large household and enough organized strength to conduct a successful rescue.
But what happens afterward is even more interesting.
Q: Who was Melchizedek?
After Abram’s victory, he meets one of Genesis’ most mysterious figures:
Melchizedek, king of Salem.
Genesis calls him:
“the priest of the most high God.” — Genesis 14:18
Melchizedek blesses Abram.
Abram gives him a tenth.
Then Melchizedek largely disappears from the Genesis narrative.
But he doesn’t disappear from Scripture.
Psalm 110 later speaks of a priest:
“after the order of Melchizedek.”
Then Hebrews explains that Jesus Christ is our great High Priest and develops the connection to Melchizedek extensively.
Once again, Genesis contains something that becomes much clearer when we reach Christ.
Q: Why didn’t Abram take the king of Sodom’s riches?
The king of Sodom offered Abram the recovered goods.
Abram refused.
Why?
He didn’t want the king of Sodom later claiming:
“I have made Abram rich.” — Genesis 14:23
Abram wanted it understood that his blessing came from God.
That is character.
There are some things you should refuse even when you’re legally entitled to take them.
Not everything worth having is worth the price attached to it.
Q: What problem was still troubling Abram?
God had promised to make Abram a great nation.
But there was an obvious problem.
He had no son.
Abram was getting older.
Sarai was getting older.
Years were passing.
The promise remained.
But physically, the possibility seemed to be disappearing.
Abram asks God about it.
Then God takes him outside.
Q: Why did God tell Abraham to look at the stars?
God says:
“Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them…”
Then:
“So shall thy seed be.” — Genesis 15:5
Imagine Abram standing beneath the ancient night sky.
No city lights.
No telescope.
Nothing but countless stars.
He has no son.
God says his descendants will become beyond his ability to count.
Then comes one of the most important verses in Scripture:
“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” — Genesis 15:6
Paul later uses this passage when teaching about faith.
Abraham trusted God before he could see the fulfillment.
That’s faith.
Q: If Abram believed God, why did he later have a child with Hagar?
Because believing God’s promise and patiently waiting for God’s timing are not always the same thing.
Years continued passing.
Sarai remained childless.
Eventually Sarai proposed a human solution.
She gave her Egyptian servant Hagar to Abram so that a child could be produced through her, according to a practice known in the ancient world.
Abram agreed.
Hagar conceived.
And almost immediately the household became filled with conflict.
Q: Who was Ishmael?
Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son Ishmael.
God did not abandon Ishmael.
He promised that Ishmael would become the father of a great nation.
But Ishmael was not the son through whom God’s covenant promise would continue.
That son would come through Sarah.
The lesson is powerful.
Abram and Sarai attempted to accomplish God’s promise through their own plan.
Instead, they created pain.
Sometimes God says:
Wait.
And we respond:
I have a better idea.
Then we spend years dealing with the consequences.
Q: Did God care about Hagar?
Very much.
This is one of the most beautiful parts of the story.
Hagar becomes mistreated and runs away into the wilderness.
She is a servant.
Pregnant.
Alone.
Far from home.
Probably feeling forgotten.
But God sees her.
The angel of the LORD finds her.
And Hagar refers to God as:
“Thou God seest me.” — Genesis 16:13
Think about that.
Abram is important to the biblical story.
Sarai is important.
But God also sees the frightened servant woman alone in the wilderness.
There are no invisible people to God.
You may feel forgotten by everyone else.
God sees you.
Q: Why did God change Abram’s name to Abraham?
In Genesis 17, God establishes the covenant more explicitly and changes Abram’s name.
Abram becomes Abraham.
God says:
“A father of many nations have I made thee.” — Genesis 17:5
Sarai’s name is also changed to Sarah.
God then makes the promise unmistakable:
Sarah herself will bear Abraham a son.
His name will be:
Isaac.
Q: What was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham?
Circumcision.
Every male associated with Abraham’s covenant household was to receive this physical sign.
It marked the covenant relationship between God and Abraham’s descendants.
Later Scripture makes clear that the physical mark alone never guaranteed a faithful heart.
The outward sign mattered.
But God always wanted obedience and faith behind it.
Religion becomes empty when the outside looks faithful while the inside belongs to the world.
Q: Did Abraham really laugh when God promised Isaac?
Yes.
Abraham was nearly 100 years old.
Sarah was about 90.
From a human perspective, the promise seemed impossible.
Abraham laughed.
Later Sarah laughs too when she hears that she will have a son.
God asks:
“Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” — Genesis 18:14
That’s the entire story in one question.
For Abraham and Sarah?
Impossible.
For God?
No.
Their son’s name, Isaac, is associated with laughter.
The thing they laughed at in disbelief would become the child they held in their arms.
Q: Why did God tell Abraham about the coming judgment on Sodom?
Genesis 18 reveals that the wickedness associated with Sodom and Gomorrah had become exceedingly grave.
God allows Abraham insight into the coming judgment.
Abraham immediately thinks about the righteous who might live there.
Especially, undoubtedly, Lot.
Then Abraham begins pleading.
What if there are fifty righteous?
Forty-five?
Forty?
Thirty?
Twenty?
Ten?
Each time God shows willingness to spare the city for the sake of the righteous.
This conversation reveals something important.
Abraham isn’t more compassionate than God.
God allows Abraham to see that divine judgment isn’t careless.
God knows exactly what is happening.
Q: What was the sin of Sodom?
Genesis portrays Sodom as deeply corrupt.
Genesis 19 includes attempted sexual violence against the angelic visitors staying with Lot.
Other biblical passages also describe Sodom in terms of pride, abundance, neglect of the poor, wickedness and sexual immorality.
Reducing Sodom’s corruption to only one isolated behavior misses the broader picture.
This was a society saturated with rebellion.
The people who surrounded Lot’s house were prepared to commit horrific violence against strangers.
This wasn’t merely a city where people “made mistakes.”
Something had become deeply rotten.
Q: Why was Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed?
Because judgment eventually came upon persistent wickedness.
Genesis describes:
“brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven.” — Genesis 19:24
Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed.
The Bible later repeatedly uses them as examples of divine judgment.
This makes some people uncomfortable because we prefer talking about God’s love.
And God is love.
But the same Bible teaches that God is also holy and just.
Love without justice would allow evil forever.
Imagine a God who looked at murder, rape, abuse, cruelty and oppression and simply said:
It doesn’t matter.
That would not be a good God.
God’s patience should never be mistaken for God’s approval.
Q: Why was Lot rescued?
Lot and his family were warned to leave.
The angels urged them out.
Genesis contains a remarkable phrase:
“the LORD being merciful unto him…” — Genesis 19:16
Lot’s rescue was an act of mercy.
Judgment was coming.
God provided a way out.
But they had to leave.
Q: Why did Lot’s wife turn into a pillar of salt?
They were specifically warned not to look back.
Lot’s wife looked back.
And judgment overtook her.
Jesus later says simply:
“Remember Lot’s wife.” — Luke 17:32
Three words.
But what a warning.
She physically left Sodom.
Yet something in her still looked backward.
There are things God calls you out of that you should never romanticize afterward.
Don’t ask God to rescue you from something and then spend your life longing to return to it.
Q: Did Abraham make the same mistake about Sarah again?
Yes.
And this is another uncomfortable example of Scripture’s honesty.
In Genesis 20, Abraham again represents Sarah as his sister, this time involving Abimelech, king of Gerar.
God intervenes again.
Abraham’s repeated failure teaches us something important:
Spiritual growth does not mean you become incapable of repeating an old weakness.
Some battles return.
Some fears return.
Some temptations return.
The answer isn’t pretending you no longer struggle.
The answer is continuing to trust and obey God instead of surrendering to the pattern.
THE IMPOSSIBLE CHILD FINALLY ARRIVES
Then Genesis 21 begins.
After years of waiting—
after mistakes—
after Hagar—
after Ishmael—
after laughter—
after wondering whether God’s promise could possibly happen—
Scripture says:
“And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said…” — Genesis 21:1
Don’t miss those last words.
As He had said.
Sarah conceives.
Isaac is born.
Abraham is 100 years old.
Sarah holds the son she once believed impossible.
God kept His word.
Not according to Abraham’s schedule.
Not according to Sarah’s plan.
According to God’s promise.
Q: What happened to Hagar and Ishmael?
Conflict eventually resulted in Hagar and Ishmael leaving Abraham’s household.
Hagar again found herself in the wilderness.
Their water ran out.
She believed her son was going to die.
She moved away because she could not bear to watch.
Then God heard the boy.
God showed Hagar water.
And Ishmael survived.
God promised to make a nation from him.
Once again:
God saw the person everyone else could have forgotten.
THEN COMES ABRAHAM’S GREATEST TEST
Genesis 22 contains one of the most difficult and powerful stories in the Old Testament.
God tells Abraham:
“Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest…”
And tells him to offer Isaac.
We have to understand what this meant.
Isaac wasn’t simply Abraham’s beloved child.
Isaac was the promised son.
God had said the covenant would continue through Isaac.
Now Abraham is commanded to surrender him.
How could both things be true?
Hebrews gives us insight into Abraham’s thinking.
He believed God was capable even of raising Isaac from the dead.
Abraham didn’t understand how God would keep His promise.
He simply believed God would.
Q: Did Abraham actually kill Isaac?
No.
Abraham prepares the altar.
Isaac is bound.
Abraham reaches the moment of obedience.
Then God stops him.
“Lay not thine hand upon the lad…” — Genesis 22:12
Abraham’s faith has been demonstrated.
Then he sees a ram caught in a thicket.
The ram is offered instead.
God provides the sacrifice.
Q: Does Isaac’s story point toward Jesus?
The parallels are difficult for Christians to miss.
A beloved son.
A father willing to surrender him.
A journey to the place of sacrifice.
Wood involved in the offering.
And ultimately the principle of substitution—another dies instead.
But there is one enormous difference.
Isaac was spared.
Jesus wasn’t.
Abraham did not ultimately have to sacrifice his son.
God gave His Son for us.
John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…”
Genesis 22 gives us a shadow.
Calvary gives us the reality.
Q: What did Abraham call that place?
Abraham called it:
Jehovah-jireh—
commonly expressed as:
“The LORD will provide.”
Abraham climbed that mountain without knowing exactly how God would solve the problem.
He came down knowing something he would never forget.
God provides.
Sometimes not when we demand.
Sometimes not how we expect.
But God remains faithful.
Q: What happened to Sarah?
Genesis 23 records Sarah’s death at 127 years old.
Abraham mourned and wept for her.
I appreciate that Scripture includes those words.
Abraham was a man of enormous faith.
And Abraham cried.
Faith does not mean death doesn’t hurt.
Knowing God doesn’t mean you don’t grieve.
Loving God doesn’t remove the pain of losing someone you love.
Abraham believed God’s promises.
And still stood beside the body of his wife and wept.
There is no shame in grief.
Q: Where was Sarah buried?
Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah near Hebron as a burial place.
This transaction matters because Abraham still lived largely as a stranger in the land God had promised his descendants.
He owned very little of it.
One of the first pieces of property associated with Abraham in Canaan was essentially:
a grave.
That is faith.
Abraham died without seeing the nation Israel.
He never saw Moses.
He never saw David’s kingdom.
He never saw Bethlehem.
He never saw Jesus.
But he trusted a promise whose fulfillment extended far beyond his lifetime.
Q: How did Isaac find a wife?
Genesis 24 tells the beautiful story of Abraham sending his servant to find a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s relatives rather than the Canaanites.
The servant prays for guidance.
At a well he meets Rebekah.
Her generosity and actions correspond with what the servant had prayed about.
Eventually Rebekah agrees to leave her home and travel to marry Isaac.
She had never built a life with him.
She was walking into an unknown future.
In that sense, her story resembles Abraham’s.
God’s calling often begins with leaving what is familiar.
Q: Did Isaac love Rebekah?
Genesis says:
“And she became his wife; and he loved her…” — Genesis 24:67
It is a simple statement.
But a beautiful one.
Isaac had recently lost his mother.
Genesis adds that:
“Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
Grief and love exist side by side.
A new relationship doesn’t replace the person who died.
But God can still bring joy into a life that has known loss.
Q: Did Abraham have more children?
After Sarah’s death, Genesis 25 records Abraham marrying Keturah, with whom he had additional children.
But Scripture remains clear that Isaac held the unique place connected to the covenant promise.
Abraham eventually distributed gifts to other sons while the primary inheritance went to Isaac.
Q: How old was Abraham when he died?
Abraham lived to 175 years old.
Genesis says:
“Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age…” — Genesis 25:8
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah beside Sarah.
Think about the man being placed into that tomb.
When we first met him, he was Abram.
A seventy-five-year-old man with no promised son.
God told him to leave home.
He went.
He became afraid.
He failed.
He lied.
He trusted.
He doubted.
He waited.
He tried to force God’s timing.
He experienced conflict.
He rescued Lot.
He pleaded for Sodom.
He watched judgment fall.
He laughed at an impossible promise.
Then he held Isaac.
He climbed Moriah.
He buried Sarah.
And eventually his own body was laid beside hers.
Abraham was not perfect.
Abraham was faithful.
There is a difference.
Q: Why is Abraham so important to Christianity?
Because God’s promise to Abraham becomes one of the major highways running through the entire Bible.
God promised:
A land.
A nation.
Descendants.
And most importantly:
“In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Israel eventually comes through Abraham.
Judah comes through Israel.
David comes through Judah.
And generations later:
Jesus Christ is born.
Matthew’s Gospel opens:
“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” — Matthew 1:1
The New Testament wants you to remember Genesis.
Jesus didn’t suddenly appear disconnected from everything before Him.
God had been moving history toward Christ for generations.
ABRAHAM’S GREATEST LESSON
Abraham’s life destroys the idea that faithfulness means perfection.
He made serious mistakes.
He became frightened.
He made terrible decisions.
He tried to help God fulfill a promise God didn’t need help fulfilling.
Yet Abraham kept returning to God.
He kept walking.
He kept believing.
And when the greatest test came, Abraham trusted God with the very thing he loved most.
That’s faith.
Not:
“I understand everything God is doing.”
But:
“I trust God even when I don’t understand what He is doing.”
There will be moments in your own life when God’s timing makes no sense.
You prayed.
Nothing happened.
You waited.
Nothing changed.
The years moved.
The door stayed closed.
You started wondering whether God had forgotten you.
Abraham understands that road.
He waited approximately 25 years from the promise given when he was 75 until Isaac was born when he was 100.
Twenty-five years.
And then:
“The LORD visited Sarah as he had said.”
God hadn’t forgotten.
THE STORY IS ABOUT TO MOVE TO ANOTHER GENERATION
Abraham is dead.
Sarah is dead.
Isaac and Rebekah now carry the family forward.
And once again there is a problem:
Rebekah struggles to have children.
Isaac prays.
God answers.
Rebekah becomes pregnant.
But something unusual is happening inside her.
Two children struggle within her.
God tells her:
“Two nations are in thy womb…” — Genesis 25:23
Their names will be:
Esau and Jacob.
One will become a skilled hunter.
The other will become the man God eventually renames:
Israel.
But Jacob’s road to becoming Israel will be anything but clean.
There will be favoritism.
Deception.
A stolen blessing.
Family division.
Running for his life.
A deceptive father-in-law.
Two wives.
Jealousy.
Children.
A mysterious wrestling match in the darkness.
And finally—
a broken man will receive a new name.
That is where Genesis Part Three will take us.
THE MESSAGE OF GENESIS — PART TWO
Abraham’s story begins with a command:
Go.
It continues with a promise: