They strove to find security and renown by banding together and building a great city (11:3-4). How long have you been a Christian, my friend? 131 The city of Ur on the lower Euphrates River was a large population center, and has yielded extensive information in the royal tombs which were excavated under the direction of Sir Leonard Wooley and the sponsorship of the British Museum and the museum of Pennsylvania University. (R) At that time the Canaanites(S) were in the land. It was the hottest time of the day. Can you pack these pentacubes to form a rectangular block with at least one odd side length other the side whose length must be a multiple of 5. When Sarah died, he had to buy a portion of the land for a burial site (23:3ff.). By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. He is referred to with masculine pronouns (Genesis 16:13; Judges 6:21); He is identified as God (Judges 6:11, 14; Zechariah 12:8); He is our Intercessor with The Father and The Holy Spirit; He performed miracles attributed to God alone (Judges 6:21; 13:20); Gideon, Moses, Jacob, and others thought they would die having seen God (Jg. Why is there a drink called = "hand-made lemon duck-feces fragrance"? Abram, like Paul, and true believers of every age, would acknowledge that it was God Who sought him out and saved him, on the basis of divine grace. How Did Abraham Discover God? The Experiential Approach Its very likely that when one encounters the Son of the living God (The Word (Jn. God said it, and that settles it, whether you believe it or not. I like that. Why did God appear as a firepot and torch to Abram? Jesus of Nazareth identified Himself as the Existing One, both in Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58. rev2023.6.29.43520. 4-5). Thank God our spiritual lives are ultimately dependent upon His faithfulness and not ours. Real blessing does not come from toil and agonizing hours of labor, but from the fruit of intimacy, namely children. Looking up, he [Abraham] saw three men standing near him. All rights reserved worldwide. There are nearly 75 references to him in the New Testament. Genesis 16:13 Hagar says, "Thou art a God who sees; Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him." Ill bless him, and hell have many descendants. 4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot(I) went with him. 24Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised,[p] 25and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. 11-13 and EA Spieser. Had Abrams spiritual life depended solely upon his faithfulness, the story of Abram would have ended very quickly. In this reading God is not reappearing in verse 13, rather God has been with Abraham the whole time. Little of the culture, religion, or philosophy of the people of Ur was to be a part of what God planned to do with His people, Israel. But does such a claim contradict the words of Scripture? 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife. Then they will kill me but will let you live. The first few verses of the parasha read (the New Jewish Publication Society translation, with some modifications): To summarize the middle of this story: vv. Moses tells us that Abram was 75 when he entered the land of Canaan. The narrative then continues: As in the traditional reading, verses 6-8 describe Abraham busying himself to prepare food for his guests, and verses 9-12 deal with the prophecy of Sarah having a child a year later. Angels are Gods messengers. Someone may ask: Do you mean to say that Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, created the entire universe? Indeed. genesis - Did Abraham really see God? - Biblical Hermeneutics Stack In vv. No stop along the path was irrelevant or without purpose. Again God intervened to protect his servants and the line of the seed. God said it. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. There are two words that need to be addressed in this statement by John. If you are trying to understand the theophonic appearances of God in the O.T, in light of John 1:18, you need to understand the meaning of the word John uses. 27Every man born in his householdas well as those who had been purchased with money from a foreignerwas circumcised with him. It is of interest to note that Islam holds Abram second in importance to Mohammed, with the Koran referring to Abraham 188 times.128. Later he was instructed to go up to Bethel (35:1; cf. This promise demanded faith on the part of Abram, for it was obvious that he was already aged, and that Sarai, his wife, was incapable of having children (11:30). genesis - What is the significance of the "horror of great darkness" in Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Gen. 19:1 where they are explicitly called angels (or messengers [malachim]). The obstacles were largely overcome by the initiative of God in the early stages of the life of Abram. So Manoah said to his wife, We will surely die, for we have seen God. Question: Would the H/S allow this to be recorded if it were not true? Rev. He said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. I [Jacob] have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.. As the writer to the Hebrews put it, he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). What more should we require than Gods Word? (Refer to Tetragrammaton.]. In the words of Vos, Regardless of when Abraham left Ur, he turned his back on a great metropolis, setting out by faith for a land about which he knew little or nothing and which could probably offer him little from a standpoint of material benefits.132. In John 18, the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees came to arrest Jesus. Quora - A place to share knowledge and better understand the world 2:5) with the Father (and Holy Spirit), Christ? Rather, this discussion is a more general approach to the question. Ultimately, the whole world was blessed by the coming of the Messiah, who came to save men of every nation, not just the Jews: Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith that are sons of Abraham. The second word is . 2Ill establish my covenant between me and you, and Ill greatly increase your numbers. 3Then Abram fell to the ground[b] as God continued speaking to him. How did God appear, in a dream, vision or physically? In addition, the uncorrected text continues with the notion of Gods presence remaining before Abraham found throughout the narrative. In verse 13 there is no doubt that God is speaking, because the tetragrammaton is used. The second promise of the Abrahamic Covenant was that of a great nation coming from Abram. 8 From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched . What should be included in error messages? Best Answer Copy 1) Genesis 12:2 "And the Lord said to Abram: 'Leave your country, and your birthplace, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you." 2) Genesis 12:7. In particular, I want to underscore the process which God employed to strengthen Abrams faith and make him the godly man he became. Both fell to the ground. Do you believe it? (C), 2I will make you into a great nation,(D)and I will bless you;(E)I will make your name great,and you will be a blessing. Abram was, in our vernacular, no spring chicken when he left Haran for Canaan. One purpose of the genealogy of chapter 11 is that it informs us that men were living shorter lives, and having children younger. 128 S. Schultz, Abraham, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975, 1976), I, p. 26. He bowed low to the ground. One way to understand this blunt response is that God has ordained the disaster currently engulfing the world (as the Etz Yosef suggested). God's Promise Revealed. Scripture is very clear about God literally "appearing" to people visibly and often throughout the Old Testament. Jesus said at 6:46, "Not that any man hath seen the Father. There are ample evidences of elaborate wealth, skilled craftsmanship, and advanced technology and science.131 All of this tells us something of the city which Abram was commanded to leave. 13The servant born in your house or the one purchased with money is to be circumcised. Was the Angel of the Lord the Preincarnate Christ? Abraham (and possibly Sarah) Genesis 18:1-2 says that the Lord appeared to Abraham in the form of a man (and two angels also appeared as men). Having said this, I do not wish to glorify Abrams faith either, for as we shall see, it was initially very weak. It is critical to a correct understanding of Bible prophecy. Nearly one-fourth of the book of Genesis is devoted to this mans life. Much of Abrams first moves were neither purposeful nor pious, but rather were a more passive response to external forces. Can you take a spellcasting class without having at least a 10 in the casting attribute? First, Abraham puts his trust in God's guidance, rather than on human device. [7] The peshat reading, which is in consonance with modern literary analysis, is rather straightforward. The text says they saw God. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. The Call of Abram 12 The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. . 3 He said, "My lord, if you are pleased with me, don't pass me by. If John is arguing from the first definition, this needs to be understood in the light of pragmatic Old Testament examples. The Three Visitors. Starting the Prompt Design Site: A New Home in our Stack Exchange Neighborhood, Statement from SO: June 5, 2023 Moderator Action. Thus, he seems to have rejected Stephens words flatly. BEST VALUE in digital Bible study. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has EXPLAINED him.. Answer: God appeared to many people, including Abraham in all three forms. I am saying that Abram obeyed God in faith, but it was a very little faith, and a very late faith. Copyright 2019 by Zondervan. Still, there are other times when he visited man in human form. For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.. When reading the midrash this way, God's reply is particularly fascinating. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? In one sense, the command of God to Abram was very specific. How to standardize the color-coding of several 3D and contour plots? The Redeemer was to come from the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), then from the descendants of Seth, then Noah, and now Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3). Beyond this, Abram was destined to become a blessing to men of every nation. Other than heat. He dare not become too attached to that which he cannot take with him. The mid-life crisis would have been past history for him. In Genesis chapter 12 we come not only to a new division and an important theological covenant, but most of all to a great and godly manAbraham. // Javascript URL redirection 6:22; 13:22); He accurately foretold future events (Judges 13:3); He has been seen, recognized, and recorded for precisely Who He is by many people (God); His name is Wonderful (Judges 13:18; cf. 6Im going to cause you to have many descendants, and Ill bring nations from you. Those who recognized the hand of God in Abram and his descendants would be blessed by contact with them. 7Im establishing my covenant between me and you, and with your descendants who come after you, generation after generation, as an eternal covenant, to be your God and your descendants God after you. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. genesis - Was it a show of lack of faith in Abram in Gen 12:12 Genesis 12:7. (AA), 9Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. The site of the great city was first discovered in 1854, and has since that time been excavated, revealing much about life in the times of Abram.130 While the actual period that Abram lived in Ur may be a matter of discussion, we can say with certainty that Ur was justified in its boast of being a highly developed civilization. Naturally, the first theophanies to occur in history are recorded in the presence of Adam and Eve. 8Ill give to you and to your descendants the land to which you have traveledall the land of Canaanas an eternal possession. why does music become less harmonic if we transpose it down to the extreme low end of the piano? Can you fathom the fact that after leaving Haran for Canaan, God worked in Abrams life for one hundred years? Without it we are inclined to think that the call of Abram came at Haran, rather than at Ur. See Siftay Chachamim (Shabtai Bass) and Or Ha-Chayim (Chaim Ibn Attar) on verse 1. These verses were corrected to remove any possible anthropomorphisms or disrespect towards God. God is not nearly so concerned with geography as He is with godliness. Your also right that God appeared physically and the proof is at Genesis 18. (6) The Christian walk is a process of growth in grace. 3 To our knowledge, he had no particular spiritual qualities which drew God to him. The captain of the LORDS host said to Joshua, Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so (Josh. The writer to the Hebrews pointed to Abraham as an illustration of a man who walked by faith, devoting more space to him than any other individual in chapter eleven (Hebrews 11:8-19). Several theophanies are described in the Old Testament, but all had one thing in common. We should not find this discouraging, but consistent with our own reluctance to put our future on the line in active, aggressive, unquestioning faith. Some may insist that God was simply speaking through an angel, but that is inconsistent with verse 16, a bit later in the text. Stack Exchange network consists of 182 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Can a 90-year-old Sarah give birth? 18So Abraham responded to God, If only Ishmael would live in constant awareness that youre always with him![k]. As such, it no longer seems to be merely a repetition of verse 16. (AB), 10Now there was a famine in the land,(AD) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. Gods Appearance to Abraham: Vision or Visit? 9-12 deal with the prophecy of Sarah having a child a year later; in vv. 1960s? And, most important, I can find hope for a person like myself. Ge 15:7; 26:2; Jos 24:3; Ac 7:3*; Heb 11:8, Ge 13:16; 15:5; 17:2, 4; 18:18; 22:17; 26:4; 28:3, 14; 32:12; 35:11; 41:49; 46:3; 47:27; 48:4, 16, 19; Ex 1:7; 5:5; 32:13; Dt 1:10; 10:22; 13:17; 26:5; Jos 11:4; 24:3; 2Sa 17:11; 1Ki 3:8; 4:20; 1Ch 27:23; 2Ch 1:9; Ne 9:23; Ps 107:38; Isa 6:13; 10:22; 48:19; 51:2; 54:3; 60:22; Jer 33:22; Mic 4:7, Ge 24:1, 35; 25:11; 26:3; 28:4; Ex 20:24; Nu 22:12; 23:8, 20; 24:9; Ps 67:6; 115:12; Isa 44:3; 61:9; 65:23; Mal 3:12, Ge 22:18; Isa 19:24; Jer 4:2; Hag 2:19; Zec 8:13, Ge 15:5; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:4, 14; Dt 9:5; Ps 72:17; Isa 19:25; Ac 3:25; Gal 3:8*, Ge 35:4; Dt 11:30; Jos 24:26; Jdg 7:1; 9:6, Ge 33:18; 37:12; Jos 17:7; 20:7; 24:1; Jdg 8:31; 21:19; 1Ki 12:1; Ps 60:6; 108:7, Ge 17:1; 18:1; 26:2; 35:1; Ex 6:3; Ac 7:2, Ge 13:15, 17; 15:18; 17:8; 23:18; 24:7; 26:3-4; 28:13; 35:12; 48:4; 50:24; Ex 6:4, 8; 13:5, 11; 32:13; 33:1; Nu 11:12; Dt 1:8; 2:31; 9:5; 11:9; 34:4; 2Ki 25:21; 1Ch 16:16; 2Ch 20:7; Ps 105:9-11; Jer 25:5; Eze 47:14; Ac 7:5; Ro 4:13; Gal 3:16*, Ge 13:3; 28:11, 19; 35:1, 8, 15; Jos 7:2; 8:9; 1Sa 7:16; 1Ki 12:29; Hos 12:4; Am 3:14; 4:4, Jos 7:2; 12:9; Ezr 2:28; Ne 7:32; Jer 49:3, Ge 13:1, 3; 20:1; 24:62; Nu 13:17; 33:40; Dt 34:3; Jos 10:40, Ge 41:27, 57; 42:5; 43:1; 47:4, 13; Ru 1:1; 2Sa 21:1; 2Ki 8:1; Ps 105:19, S ver 5; Ge 24:35; 26:14; 30:43; 32:5; 34:23; 47:17; Job 1:3; 31:25, NIV, Biblical Theology Study Bible, Comfort Print: Follow Gods Redemptive Plan as It Unfolds throughout Scripture, NIV, Thinline Bible/Journal Pack, Large Print, Leathersoft, Turquoise, Comfort Print, NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, The Woman's Study Bible, Full-Color, Red Letter: Receiving God's Truth for Balance, Hope, and Transformation. One year? Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Genesis 18 NIV - The Three Visitors - The LORD appeared - Bible Gateway script>. God's Call Is a Call to Bold Worship. Exodus 3:14: God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you (Gen. 16:14). When he is commanded to sacrifice Isaac, he must obey with a willing heart of love, yet somehow see through to balance the command with the promise of the seed of a nation and leave the outcome to God and to find in God all sufficiency. Abrams early history is partly that of his gradual disentanglement from country, kindred and fathers house, a process not completed until the end of chapter 13. Derek Kidner, Genesis (Chicago: InterVarsity Press, 1967), p. 113. New International Version (NIV). This remains to be proven. Based on the preponderance of the evidence these truths have led many to conclude that often, occurrences of the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament might correctly be rendered: the Angel of the Lord (i.e. But, surely, this rendezvous with God after they had sinned, would have been with none other than our Great Intercessor (1 Tim. Reconcile these verses with Genesis 17 & 18? 14-15. While not all Bible students agree on the location of Ur,129 most agree that it is the Ur of southern Mesopotamia, on what used to be the coast of the Persian Gulf. He obeyed unquestioningly the commands of God, from whom he received repeated promises and a covenant that his "seed" would inherit the land. Genesis 16:12 Or live to the east / of; Genesis 16:13 Or seen the back of; Genesis 16:14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me. 1. In a similar spirit Noah had taken possession of the renovated earth (Genesis 8:20). The uncorrected statement of God left standing before Abraham probably highlighted the solemnity of what was to follow (Abrahams petition to save Sodom; Gen. Btw, what would your answer be? How did God appear, in a dream, vision or physically? He simply wrote, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out. Let us remember that Abram did go to Canaan, just as Moses went to Egypt, but not without considerable pressure from God. Answers go in the answer space Please edit so that this is just a question. At least two things must be said in response to this question. 135 Haran, for example, in Assyrian (harranu) meant main road. Waltke, class notes, p. 14. Abram was secure and comfortable in Ur, a great city. I really was not sure on whether to answer now or later as you suggested. Let me put this another way. He left Haran, not because it was the easiest thing to do, but because God intended for him to do it. Through all of his experiences he must come to see God as the origin of all that will endure. Stagers, Genesis, p . After Adam and Eve sinned, They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden., The LORD appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land., [T]he angel of the LORD said to [Hagar], I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count. Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You are a God who sees; for she said, Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?, Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless., One day, Abram had three visitors: two angels and God Himself. Moses did not give us all the background needed to properly grasp the significance of the call of Abram, but it has been recorded for us in the Bible. Who did they physically see? What was the symbol used for 'one thousand' in Ancient Rome? and said, unto thy seed will I give this land; the whole of it inhabited by Canaanites and others; and it was for this end chiefly that Abram was called out of Chaldea into Canaan, to be shown the land, and have the grant of it for his posterity: and there builded an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him: by way of gratitude and thankfulness for his kind and gracious appearance, and for the gift of the land of Canaan to his offspring; for on this altar he no doubt offered sacrifice in a way of thanksgiving, as Noah did when he came out of the ark. Abraham, therefore, acted in harmony with what he felt would be the safest course in having his wife identify herself as his sister. 33:11). [Moses] hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God (Ex. In the final analysis, that is all anyone can have. For less than $5/mo. Genesis 18:1-19 - The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees That appearance then begins in verse 2, and of the 3 people Abraham sees, one is God personified while the other 2 are angels or messengers of God. Its believed to be a mistake to ignore the mountain of evidence regarding Christs ubiquity, or omnipresence, throughout the ancient text. Indeed, as mentioned, Paul saw the radiance of Christ in such a state, as did John (Acts 9, Rev. Live in constant awareness that Im always with you,[a] and be blameless. Genesis 12:6 Commentaries: Abram passed through the land as far as the Since Abram was unwilling or unable to leave his fathers house, God took Abrams father in death (11:32). 1. "I am the master of the world," God tells Abraham. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. What a thrill that must have been for the people of Moses day to read this promise and realize that the time for possession had come. First, it means to see with the eyes. "Yes he wrestled with the angel and prevailed. See Important Quotations Explained Summary Nine generations of Shem's descendants, the Semites, pass. Bible Gateway Genesis 18 :: NIV - MIT Bible: The Old Testament Genesis: Chapters 12-25 Summary - SparkNotes Now I know. So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 4Look, Ive made a covenant with you. He spoke to Adam, to Cain, to Noah, to the Hebrew patriarchs, to Moses, to the prophets, and to others. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. 17 So the Lord said to Moses, I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name., 18 And he said, Please, show me Your glory., 19 Then He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. He said in his comments on Genesis 12:7. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. I am hoping the community can come up with something that has a bit more meat. Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.. Try Bible Gateway Plus free today. Genesis 12:2, "I will make of you a great nation . 2 And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing near[ b] him. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. get to know the Bible better! A theophany (thee AH' fuh nee) is a physical appearance of God to a human being. In our best moments, our faith is vibrant and vital, but in the moments of testing, it is weak and wanting. and make your name great."
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