Archive for month: May, 2021

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 17:1-14.  Let’s go!

Genesis 17:1-8 (NIV)
1  When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
2  I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
3  Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
4  “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
5  No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
6  I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
7  I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8  The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

On verses 1-8:  Previously God made a covenant (a legally binding promise) to Abram in Genesis 15, promising to give Abram the land from the Nile to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).  Now, in addition to God telling Abram to walk before Him and be blameless (v1), God confirms His covenant with Abram and gives the covenant more definition, like a sculpture getting more and more refined by its sculptor.  Here God confirms that the covenant includes Abram being the father of many nations (v4), with Abram’s name changing to Abraham (meaning “father of many”) (v5).  God also confirms that the covenant is an everlasting one for all of Abraham’s descendants (v7) ad that God is giving to Abraham and his descendants the whole land of Canaan (v8). 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 16.  Let’s go!

Genesis 16:1-4 (NIV)
1  Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar;
2  so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
3  So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
4  He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

On verses 1-4:  Tired of waiting for God to bless her with a child, Sarai proposes that Abram sleep with their Egyptian maidservant Hagar so that Sarai can have children through Hagar.  Perhaps Sarai thought, “Well, did God ever say the offspring had to come from my body?” (Not until the next chapter in Genesis 17:15-16 would God expressly say that Sarai will be the one to bear Abram’s offspring, although one could argue that this idea was already implied in God’s prior promises.)  According to scholars, it was a customary ancient Middle Eastern practice for a slave to bear children for the wife if the wife could not bear children.  So Abram agrees, Hagar conceives, but the relief that Sarai thought she would experience by executing her plan soon turns into regret. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 15.  Let’s go!

Genesis 15:1 (NIV)
1  After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

On verse 1:  In the previous chapter, Abram refused to take any material goods from the King of Sodom, even after he had rescued the people of Sodom from Kedorlaomer.  After Abram refused to receive any reward from the King of Sodom, now the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, saying, “I am your very great reward”.  What can we learn from this?  The greatest reward, the greatest treasure we can have is to know God personally and have His presence in our lives.   

God says another thing to Abram here after Abram’s victory over Kedorlaomer in battle.  He says, “I am your shield.”  In other words, the reason why Abram was able to go into battle against a more powerful enemy and come out unscathed is because God was protecting Abram.  Similarly, you and I face Satan, an enemy more powerful than us, but God is our omnipotent shield against the enemy.  Jesus’ blood shed on the cross shields us from all further accusations that Satan would want to hurl at us.  Jesus protects us from God’s wrath against our sin.  The Lord was Abram’s shield.  He is your shield too.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage  s Genesis 14:13-24. Let’s go! 

Genesis 14:13-14 (NIV)
13  One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.
14  When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

On verses 13-14:  The moment Abram heard about his nephew Lot being taken captive, Abram was able to call out 318 trained men born in his household to go and rescue Lot.  Notice that though Abram did not yet have a son of his own, he had over 300 men born in his household trained for battle.    

It’s a reminder that we want the people born in our home to be trained well for battle.  The Bible teaches that we are in the middle of a war between God and Satan.  If we do not train those in our homes and churches to fight and do battle against our enemy Satan, Satan will inevitably take captive the people and things we hold dear, and we will have no idea how to recover what he has stolen.  That’s why it is so important to grow up spiritually and to arm yourself in the ways Ephesians 6:10-20 describes.  One of those ways is knowing and declaring God’s Word for it is the sword of the Spirit, our weapon in battle.