The LORD's Convenant with Abram

Afterward the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great." But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since I don't have a son, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no children, so one of my servants will have to be my heir."

Then the LORD said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you." Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that too many to count!" And Abram believed the LORD, and the the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith. Then the LORD told him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land."

Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." Abram took all these and killed them. He cut each one down the middle and laid the halves side by side. He did not, however, divide the birds in half. Some vultures came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. That evening, as the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. He saw a terrifying vision of darkness and horror.

Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (But you will die in peace, at a ripe old age.) After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, when the sin of the Amorites has run its course."

As the sun went down and it became dark, Abram saw a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

The verse doesn't only tell us the nature and deity of the One we are worshiping, it also gives us our real reason for living life with a purpose. We all want the blessings of God, but in the end what we really are looking for is Christ Jesus, our exceedingly great reward - Our Lord Jesus Christ.

We all want the good things of God; be it spiritual blessings or even material blessings ranging from health, wisdom, provision, righteousness and Salvation.  The truth is that all these are free gifts from God and that Christ is not against us having these things; for they are all obtained through Him. But the truth is that what we really desire is something (or Someone) more than the ones listed above, for it is written: 

Anything that your heart truly desire is wrapped around Jesus Christ and the only way we can truly get them is through Jesus Christ.  After getting all of them, we will soon realize that it was Jesus Christ that we wanted all along. “What a person desires is unfailing love”-Proverbs 19:22

Abram Rescues Lot

About this time war broke out in the region. King Amraphel of Babylonia, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Kedoriaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of  Goiim fought against King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (now called Zoar).

The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela formed an alliance and mobilized their armies in Siddim Valley (that is, the valley of the Dead Sea). For twelve years they had all been subject to King Kedorlaomer, but now in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

One year later, Kedorlaomer and his allies arrived. They conquered the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in the plain of Kiriathaim, and the Horites in Mount Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the wilderness. Then they swung around to En-mishpat (now called Kadesh) and destroyed the Amalekites, and also the Amorites living in Hazazon-tamar.

But now the army of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (now called Zoar) prepared for battle in the valley of the Dead Sea against King Kedorlaomer of Elam and the kings of Goiim, Babylonia, and Ellasar four kings against five. As it happened, the valley was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some slipped into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains.

The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and began their long journey home, taking all the wealth and food with them. They also captured Lot Abram's nephew who lived in Sodom and took everything he woned. One of the men who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was camped at the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his relatives, Eshcol and Aner, were Abram's allies.

When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called together the men born into his household, 318 of them in all. He chased after Kedorlaomer's army until he caught up with them in Dan. There he divided his men and attacked during the night from several directions. Kedorlaomer's army fled, but Abram chased them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Abram and his allies recovered everything the goods that had taken, Abram's nephew Lot with his possessions, and all the women and other captives.

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

As Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). Then Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought him bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing;

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has helped you conquer your enemies."

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered. The king of Sodom told him, "Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered.: Abram replied, "I have solemnly promised the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from you. Otherwise you might say, 'I am the one who made Abram rich!' All I'll accept is what these young men of mine have already eaten. But give a share of the goods to my allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre."

Melchizedek was the King of Salem and priest of God the Most High, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis 14:18-
“וּמַלְכִּי-צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם , הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן; וְהוּא כֹהֵן, לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן.”
" Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High.”

 What does this mean for us today?  We have Jesus who can intercede for us who does not have to make sacrifices on his own behalf  to enter God’s presence, nor does he have to make fresh sin offerings for us every day.  He did this once, for all time when he became the sin offering for us.  For this reason, we have access to God and his mercy at all times.  Nothing need ever stand between us.  Sin can be dealt with in an instant.  We do not have to wait to confess or repent.  As soon as we do, our slate is wiped clean.

Abram and Lot Separate

So they left Egypt and traveled north into the Negrev Abram with his wife and Lot and all that they owned, for Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. Then they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where they had camped before. This was the place where Abram had built the altar, and there he again worshiped the LORD.

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also very wealthy with sheep, cattle, and many tents. But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. There were too many animals for the available pastureland. So an argument broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.

Then Abram talked it over with Lot. "This arguing between our herdsmen has got to stop," he said. "After all, we are close relatives! I'll tell you what we'll do. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want that area over there, then I'll stay here. If you want to stay in this area, then I'll move on to another place."

Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot chose that land for himself the Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. So while Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom, among the cities of the plain. The people of this area were unusually wicked and sinned greatly against the LORD.

After Lot was gone, the LORD said to Abram, "Look as far as you can see in every direction. I am going to give all this land to you and your offspring as a permanent possession. And I am going to give you so many descendants that, like dust, they cannot be counted! Take a walk in every direction and explore the new possessions I am giving you." Then Abram moved his camp to the oak grove owned by Mamre, which is at Hebron. There he built an altar to the LORD.

 The original typical Hebrews. begins with the Patriarch Abraham (2117-1942 B.C.), a native of the Sumerian city of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia. Archaeological discoveries have proven that the earliest inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia were members of the “Brown Race,” i.e., the Negroid branch of humanity.

The Sumerians also had an affinity with a people known as the Elamites, the very first Semitic group mentioned in the Bible (Gen. 10:22). The Elamites were a black-skinned and woolly-haired people as the colorful artwork in the royal palace walls of the ancient Persian city of Susa 

Abraham, the native of Sumerian and the founding father of the Israelite nation, was a black man. The black racial origins of the Patriarchs is not based on mere conjecture, it is in complete agreement with the picture one gets from examining the identity of the earliest inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia.

 This truth has been painfully neglected, suppressed, and distorted in most European and American historical texts which are flavored with race prejudice.

The Call of Abram

Then the LORD told Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."

So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth his livestock and all the people who had joined his household at Haran and finally arrived in Canaan.

Traveling through Canaan, they came to a place near Shechem and set up camp beside the oak at Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I am going to give this land to your offspring." And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the LORD's visit. After that, Abram traveled southward and set up camp in the hill country between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar and worshiped the LORD. Then Abram traveled south by stages toward the Negev.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

At that time there was a severe famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to wait it out. As he was approaching the borders of Egypt, Abram said t Sarai, "You are a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptian see you, they will say, 'This is his wife. Let's kill him; then we can have her!' But if you  say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of their interest in you, and they will spare my life."

And sure enough, when they arrived in Egypt, everyone spoke of her beauty. When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to their king, the pharaoh, and she was taken into his harem. Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

But the LORD sent a terrible plague upon Pharaoh's household because of Sarai, Abram's wife. So Pharaoh called for Abram and accused him sharply. "What is this you have done to me?" he demanded. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why were you willing to let me marry her, saying she was your sister? Here is your wife! Take her and begone!" Pharaoh then sent them out of the country under armed escort Abram and his wife, with all their household and belongings.

Concerning this passage, we can see that God did not like what Abram had done, to pretend his wife was his sister to keep from being killed. God stepped in with a warning to Pharaoh that received a revelation that Sarai was Abram wife, questioning Abram why did he say such a thing, or else he could of been in trouble for marrying Sarai.

You see God is a righteous God. He had favor on Abram, plus he stepped in at the right time. All Pharaoh could do was send Abram and Sarai away hoping they get to their destination safe with all their belongings as he sent the arm forces to protect them as they left Egypt. What a mighty God we serve always there to protect us from harms way. Praise God.

The Tower of Babel

At one time the whole world spoke a single language and used the same words. As the people migrated eastward, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began to talk about construction projects. "Come," they said, "let's make great piles of burnt brick and collect natural asphalt to use as mortar.

Let's build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies a monument to our greatness! This will bring us together and keep us from scattering all over the world. But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. Look!" he said. "If they cam accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them! Come, let's go down and give them different languages. Then they won't be able to understand each other."

In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the earth; and that ended the building of the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because it was there that the LORD confused the people by giving them many languages, thus scattering them across the earth.

From Shem to Abram

This is the history of Shem's family.

When Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. This happened tow years after the Flood. After the birth of Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters. When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born. After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born. After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters. When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born. After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived another 209 years and had other sons and daughters. When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters. When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other sons and daughters. When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Family of Terah

This is the history of Terah's family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran had a son named Lot. But while Haran was still young, he died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the place of his birth. He was survived by Terah, his father. Meanwhile, Abram marraid Sarai, and his brother Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of their brother Haran. (Milcah had a sister named Iscah.) Now Sarai was not able to have any children.

Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot (his son Haran's child) and left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But they stopped instead at the village of Haran and settled ther. Terah lived for 205 years and died while still at Haran.

According to Scripture, we see that the people thought that if they build a tower so that the people can stay together instead of being scattered that was their motive for building the monument. Fortunately it didn't go to as plan, God scattered the languages to many where they no longer can understand one another cause of the many languages. So the tower didn't succeed in the eyesight of God.

This seem to be the best way, cause God says it's best. You see that is what we have in today's times the many languages of native speaking humans talking foreign. What we call foreign is natural to the people talking their native tongue, cause a specific tribe of people can understand the language, unless we either study the language to get a better understanding of the interpretation.

How powerful is our God, he is very powerful. As you can see from the passage the history of Shem's family how they multiplied and populated the earth. Abram is the son of Terah and his brothers were Nahor and Haran. Sarai was Abram wife. Milcah was the wife of Nahor the daughter of their brother Haran. It's a great joy to learn the history of the bible cause everything you see within the bible haven't truly changed. Our God is forever the same God, but it's the people that has changed the history of today's time, but the best part of it all is that we are still under the complete authority of the Creator.

This is the Creator's earth, one nation under God.

Decendants of the Sons of Noah

This is the history of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah. Many children were born to them after the flood.

Descendants of Japheth

The descendants of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The descendants of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The descendants of Javan were, and Rodanim. Their descendants became the seafaring peoples in various lands, each trie with its own language.

Descendants of Ham

The descendants of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The descendants of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. One of Cush's descendants was nimrod, who became a heroic warrior. he was a mighty hunter in the LORD's sight. His name became proverbial, and people would speak of someone as being "like Nimrod, a mighty hunter in the LORD's sight. He built the foundation for his empire in the land of Babylonia, with the cities of Babel.

Erech, Akkad, and Calneh. From there he extended his reign to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resenthe main city of the empire, located between Nineveh and Calah. Mizraim was the ancestor of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, naphtuhites, Pathrusites, Casluhites, and the Caphitorites, from whom the Philistines came.

Canaan's oldest son was Sidon, the ancestor of the Sidonians. Canaan was also the ancestor of the Hittites, Jubusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. Eventually the territory of Canaan spread from Sidon to Gerar, near Gaza, and to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near Lasha.

These were the descendants of Ham, identified according to their tribes, languages, territories, and nations.

Descendants of Shem

Sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth. Shem was the ancestor of all the descendants of Eber. The descendants of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The descendents of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber. Eber had two sons. The first was named peleg "division" for during his lifetime the peopleof the world were divided into different language groups and dispersed. His brother's name was Joktan.

Joktan was the ancestor of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. The descendants of Joktan lived in the area extending from Mesha toward the eastern hills of Sephar.

These were the descendants of Shem, identified according to their tribes, languages, territories, and nations. These are the families that came from noah's sons, listed nation by nation according to their lines of descent. The earth was populated with the people of these nations after the Flood.

Learning the geneology of Noah son's and leaning about their son's is great to observe. This became a big family in knowing that the God that created the earth allowed for the repopulation to form on his earth. What a mighty God we serve.

God's Convenent with Noah

God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth. All the wild animals, large and small, and all the birds and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them in your power. i have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat animals that still have their life blood in them.

And murder is forbidden. Animals that kill people must die, and any person who murders must be killed. Yes, you must execute anyone who murders another person, for to kill a person is to kill a living being made in God's image. Now you must have many children and repopulate the earth.

Yes, multiply and fill the earth!"

Then God told Noah and his sons, "I am making a covenant with you and your descendants, and with the animals you brought with you all these birds and livestock and wild animals. I solemnly promise never to send another flood to kill all living creatures and destroy the earth.: And God said, "I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures. I have place my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and to all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth. Then God said to Noah, "Yes, this is the sign of my covenant with all the creatures of the earth." 

Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, survived the Flood with their father, (Ham is the ancestor of the Canaanites.) From these three sons of Noah came all the people now scattered across the earth.

After the Flood, Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. One day he became drunk on some wine he had made and lay naked in his ten. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, walked backward into the tent, and covered their father's naked body.

As they did this, they looked the other way so they wouldn't see him naked. When Noah woke up from his drunken stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham:.

"A curse on the Canaanites! May they be the lowest of servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth."  Then Noah said, "May Shem be blessed by the LORD my God; and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge the territory of Japheth, and may he share the prosperity of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant."

Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood. He was 950 years old when he died.  

According to the passage, God made a covenant to never flood the earth. Each time you see the rainbow in the sky that looks down from earth, that is the covenant that the Creator made a promise to never flood the earth. What a might God we serve, he loves us so much that he told Noah and his family to multiply and fill the earth. And that they can rule over the animals and the fish to have dominion over all the living things such as the animals.

Shem and Japheth treated that dad Noah with great respect walking backwards, placing the rob over their dad. It is a disgrace to see your parents naked, Ham had no sense he thought it was too funny, you see why he was cursed and became Shem servant. Japheth was blessed with enlarge territory. You see according to scripture, if you treat your parents with respect by having great dignity about yourself, you please your parents and they will leave behind their legacy to the one that have the utmost respect and dignity. It goes back to the saying Honor your parents. We must show honor to our parents, for this is pleasing in God's eyesight.

What a great God we serve, that loved us so much letting us share his abundant glory as we praise and worship his mighty works. Thank you God for saving and redeeming me to your likeness.