BIBLE FOR YOU!--No. 37!--Study of Genesis Chapter 17!    DFO 2804         11/90
--Bible Classtime with Grandpa!

GENESIS CHAPTER 17!

         1. Shall we read Genesis Chapter 17? Then we can have a test on it tomorrow! Wouldn't that be nice? Don't you just love tests? (Techi: Yes, I like them!) You like Grandpa's tests anyhow. (Kids: Yes!) They're pretty easy. I like tests with one-word answers. (Techi prays for the class.)
         2. (Verse 1:) "And when Abram was ninety years old & nine..." How old? (David: 99!) "The Lord appeared to Abram, & said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, & be thou perfect." How could he be perfect? (Techi: By letting the Lord do it.) By faith! "He counted it to him for righteousness."--Gen.15:6.
         3. (Verse 2:) "And I will make My covenant between Me & thee, & will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: & God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, & thou shalt be a father of many nations."
         4. How did he become a father of many nations? Can you think of at least one nation or people that came from Abraham? (Techi: The Arabs.) The Arabs, yes, & who else? (David: The Jews.) And how many nations do the Arabs have? It would be a good idea to go to the map & count how many Arab nations there are. Would you like to do that? (David: Yes!)
         5. All right, now let's count the principal Arab countries that surround Israel. (David: Egypt.) Yes, Egypt on the South. And what nations are on the East? (Techi: Jordan.) Yes, and a little further away is Iraq. Then what two nations are North? (Kids: Lebanon and Syria.) Right! These are all Arab nations. (Techi: And Saudi Arabia?) Yes, down here is Saudi Arabia. So that makes six nations and you're probably going to be asked to name all of these on the test. (Techi: And Kuwait?) Well, you could say Kuwait, but along with Kuwait there are a lot of other tiny little rinky-dink Arab countries down here along the Persian Gulf, the Trucial States, Qatar and all of those, but those are not the main ones.
         6. So let's just stick to the six principal countries surrounding Israel--Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq & Saudi Arabia! And here's Israel, like a dagger pointed in the heart of Islam! (Techi: What about Iran?) Iran is not Arab, the people are Persians. They're Muslims, but they are not Arabs. (Techi: And Afghanistan?) They're not Arabs either. (Techi: What about Turkey?) They're not Arabs, they're Turks. These last countries that you've mentioned are Muslims.
         7. All right! So the Lord said, "Thou shalt be a father of many nations." How many Arab nations have we actually named surrounding Israel? (Techi: Six.) And including Israel, that makes seven nations. So on your test I'm going to ask you what Arab nations surround Israel, & that makes at least how many nations that were from Abraham? (Techi: That makes six & then seven with Israel.) Right!
         8. (Verse 5:) "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee." In the center column notes of your Bible it should tell you what Abraham means.--Father of multitudes!
         9. (Verse 6:) "And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, & I will make nations of thee, & kings shall come out of thee." Can you name one Arab king who is still ruling? (David: King Hussein.) Yes, King Hussein of...? (Techi: Jordan.) Right! Actually, most of the leaders of the other Arab countries are like kings too, but he is still called a king. Saddam Hussein of Iraq is called a president. Actually Saddam Hussein's country is more democratic than some of the other Arab countries.
         10. (Verse 7:) "And I will establish My covenant between Me & thee & thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, & to thy seed after thee." It's going to last how long? (Techi: Everlasting!) (Verse 8:) "And I will give unto thee, & to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; & I will be their God."
         11. (Verse 9:) "And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou, & thy seed after thee in their generations." He said it was going to be an everlasting covenant provided they kept it, right? (Kids: Yes!) You know, every covenant is a contract, & there's a "party of the first part" & a "party of the second part." The party of the first part is God, in this case, & the party of the second part is Israel, & both parties must make certain promises. God's promises to Israel were dependent or contingent on whether Israel obeyed God. So when the Jews broke their part of the covenant, that cancelled the contract, & God doesn't have to fulfil His part.

Covenant of Circumcision!

         12. (Verse 10:) "This is My covenant which ye shall keep, between Me & you & thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me & you." So what was the sign of the covenant on the males?--They were to be circumcised so you could always recognise a Jew. "It shall be a token of the covenant." I'll probably ask you what's a token of the covenant, a sign, that the Jews had to do what? (Kids: Be circumcised.)
         13. (Verse 12:) "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you."--An eight-day-old baby. "Every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, & he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised." In other words, if they're going to be part of your household, your family, they all had to be circumcised, all of the males. "And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant."
         14. (Verse 14:) "And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant." So this was just a sign of being God's people in those days. Do we have to circumcise today to show we're God's people? (Kids: No.) No indeed! Paul says our circumcision today is circumcision of the Spirit.--Rom.2:28,29. It's a sign of being separated unto the Lord. Today, all we have to do is be saved & that's a sign we're separated unto the Lord.

Isaac Is Promised!

         15. (Verse 15:) "And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, & give thee a son also of her; yea, I will bless her, & she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her." Did they have kings that came out of her? (Kids: Yes!) Right, there are several Books about kings in the Bible. So her name was changed from Sarai, which meant "Jehovah is prince," to Sarah, which means "princess," because she would be the mother of many nations.
         16. (Verse 17:) "Then Abraham fell upon his face, & laughed." You've heard about people falling down laughing, he really cracked up! He laughed so hard he fell down! I'll probably ask you, "Abraham fell on his face when he heard the news & he did what?" "And he said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" Now this, remember, was before he had the child. He just laughed out loud that he should become a father! He just couldn't believe he was going to have a child at his age!
         17. (Verse 18:) "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before Thee!" He said, "I've already got one son, why not just let him be the one?" See? (Verse 19:) "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, & with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, & will make him fruitful, & will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, & I will make him a great nation." We already counted six Arab nations all around Israel, & there were twelve princes! But you're only responsible for naming six of the nations that came from them on your test.
         18. (Verse 21:) "But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. And He (God) left off talking with him, & God went up from Abraham."
         19. (Verse 22:) "And Abraham took Ishmael his son, & all that were born in his house, & all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; & circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him." (Techi: Was that painful?) Well, they're sore for about three days afterwards. "And Abraham was ninety years old & nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised." This was 13 years after Ishmael was born, how about that? He was a teenager. I'll bet he didn't like it either!
         20. (Verse 26:) "In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, & Ishmael his son. And all the men of his house, born in the house, & bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him." Why do they keep talking about these people bought with money? (Techi: They're servants.) Right. They were literally slaves, but he was good to them. He probably felt about them just like we do about the rest of our family here in our house. They're all servants, in a way, but they're love slaves of the Lord, right? (Kids: Yes!) OK! That's it!--And we'll have a test tomorrow on Chapter 17! (David: OK!)
         21. (Techi: Amen! Thank You Jesus for that good Chapter & for Grandpa teaching us. Please help us to learn that Chapter & to be able to take a test on it tomorrow, in Jesus' name. Thank You Lord!) That was a long Chapter, there should be at least 20 questions on that one!