#4 Dispensation of promise Part 1: the age of the fathers:
[Serving and worshipping God through the promise to Abram]; God begins to build His nation and His people.
· 12:1-3 Began with God's promise to Abram
Ø 1) To make of him a great nation
Ø 2) To bless him, and make his name great;
Ø 3) Make him a blessing
Ø 4) To bless them that blessed him, and curse him that curseth him
Ø 5) In him shall all families of the earth be blessed.
v Jesus Christ would come through the seed of Abraham and offer salvation to every family.
v 2Co 11:3 worshipping God went from the complexity of the law to the simplicity in Christ.
· 15:18 The Lord's covenant with Abram to give him the land of promise.
Ø 15:8 Abraham required a sign proving God’s promise is sure. 1Cor 1:22
Ø From this point on Genesis records the building of the nation of Israel through the fathers of Abraham, then Isaac, and then Jacob.
Ø Gen 17:19 Isaac chosen by God
Ø Gen 26:1-5 Promise passed to Isaac
Ø Gen 28:10-15 Promise passed to Jacob
o V28:15 The LORD God of Abraham spoke directly to Jacob. [It is not Jacob’s ladder]
o Gen 29-31 The promise to Jacob begins.
o Gen 32:1-2 The promise assured: After Jacob left his father-in-law with his family, herds and flocks something amazing was shown to him: God’s host. See Joshua 5:13-15; 2Ki 6:17 I believe Jacob was assured that the zeal of the LORD of hosts was with him. Fear not!
o Gen 32:3-23 Jacob’s encounter with his brother Esau. He must pass through the land of Esau. In V7 we see Jacob’s lack of faith in The LORD. V8 Jacob’s prayer for deliverance.
v Question if Jacob worshipped God through the promise acknowledging that the Lord is exalted as head above all why did he fear Esau? Shouldn’t he have warned Esau not to get in the way of the zeal of the LORD of hosts?
o 32:24-32 Jacob realized he had wrestled with God and lived knowing the God’s hosts was watching and waiting (V2). Jacob was blessed him a name change.
o Gen 33:1-20 Jacob met with Esau and all was well. In V19-20 He bought a field and erected an altar he named Elelohe-Israel (Almighty God, God of the creation, is the God of Israel)
· Gen 34-37 Recounts what led to Joseph being sold into slavery in Egypt
· Gen 37-50 God used the heart of Joseph and the sin of his brothers save his people alive. Gen 50:20
The Dispensation of Promise and the Worship of God
· 12:4 Abram worshipped God by departing. 15:6 believed the Lord concerning the heir of his promise and it (his belief) was counted to him for righteousness.
Ø Ro 4:20-21 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Ø This verse is the key to how God was to be worshiped during the dispensation of promise.
Worshipping God through the promise was looking for the promise to be fulfilled. Believing God would perform all that He promised.
· Genesis 22:16-17; Heb 6:17; 11:17-19
Ø Abraham had no doubt that God would raise Isaac from the dead and fulfill His promise through him.
· There should have never been an moment when the hearts of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the sons of Israel did not burn with desire to go and possess promised by the Lord.
The Gentile nations should have looked for the promise, worshipping God through blessing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the children of Israel.
· When Egypt blessed the Hebrews the LORD blessed Egypt. The dispensation of promise.
Genesis ends with the deaths of Jacob and Joseph and the Hebrews (Jacob's family) living in comfort in Egypt.
· The age of the fathers ends with the death of Jacob. Joseph denotes the end of the patriarchs of the tribes of Israel.
· The children of Israel never showed signs of wanting to leave Egypt [Ex 14:12]
· The ultimate end of worshipping the LORD through the promise: Num 14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
· The dispensation of the Law and the age of promised overlapped.