Archives for March 2018

In Genesis 20, Abraham again tried the “Sarah is my sister” ruse out of fear for his life (see Genesis 12:10-20). This time, he tried it with Abimelech, king of Gerar. God intervened to assure that Abimelech didn’t touch Sarah, and for the entire time she was in his palace, the women of Gerar couldn’t get pregnant. After the truth came out, Abimelech returned Sarah...

In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that he would give him offspring and make him into a great nation. Since then, many obstacles have threatened to stand in the way of that promise. Some were circumstantial, such as Sarah’s barrenness (11:30) and eventually her age (18:11). Others were moral, like the incidents in Egypt (12:10-20) and the one with Hagar (16:1-16). On th...

In Genesis 18:1-15, Abraham was met by three visitors: God himself and two angels. After being treated to Abraham’s remarkable hospitality, God told him that his promise to give him and Sarah a son would be fulfilled in a year. In response to Sarah’s skeptical laughter, God reminds her that because he is God, nothing is impossible for him....

In Genesis 17, God gave Abram several new details regarding the covenant he had made with him in chapter 15. First, Abram was to be the father of not just one nation but many, so God changed his name to “Abraham” which means “father of a multitude”. Additionally, kings would come from him, this covenant would be an everlasting one that included his descendants, and...