The Progress of Redemption
Patriarchs And Egypt (or... a new hope)


Bible Sections Covered
Gen 12-50

Progress Events
Review
What do we know about God so far (that's been covered in Genesis)? What is his character like?

What has he revealed about his plan?

What do we know about mankind?
Introduction
Sin has ruined mankind by replacing Authority, Relationship, and Life with Rebellion, Isolation, and Death.
Mankind has become so effected by Sin that God destroyed all but the one righteous family alive with the flood.
Our story picks up after the flood...Abram leaves 'Ur' (southern Iraq) and moves with his father and family north to Haran (Southwest Turkey). His father Haran dies in Haran, and then God appears to Abram.
He is 75.

Abraham
1. God promises that he will make Abram "a great nation" in which all "the earth will be blessed" (Gen 12:1-3)
This event is the real start of the 'Progress of Redemption' and is central to understanding the Bible.
Physical Component - "I will make you a great nation"
Spiritual Component - "in you all the families of the earth will be blessed will be blessed" (Gentiles too...)
The promise seems to show that the Spiritual will come through the Physical (the great nation). Note that the problem follows the same pattern - a physical problem with a spiritual curse.
 
So - let's work on this 'great nation'.
Four things we will look for in the making of this nation : People, Laws, Land, Leader
How would you build a nation?
I figure that in 10 years a woman could have 5 kids (without unusual supernatural help, like having twins every time)
In 30 years, each of those kids could have 5 kids; that would put as at 27 people.
In 100 years, that means we would have 770 members of our budding nation (allowing that the parents and first 5 kids had died).
(5th generation 2,625 ; 6th generation 13,125)
Our 7th generation, 190 years after our start, would add 65,625 babies to our nation putting our total at 81,375 (assuming 60 year life spans).
 
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like our nation is off to a great start.
Our founders are 75 and 65, and haven't managed to have any kids yet (gen 17:17 says sarah is 10 years younger).
They are foreigners, aliens, apart from their family and hereditary land rights, which means they live in the wilderness in tents.

note abrams response to this promise and call - he obeys and packs up his family.
2. A Son Is Promised, And The Promise Becomes A Covenant In Ceremony (Gen 15)
God reveals that the nation will start with a son for Abram, and then enters into a covenant with Abram.
Then God says that his descendents will be oppressed slaves for 400 years (Great plan! Where do I sign up?).
"Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not there where they will be enslaved and opressed 400 years" (15:13)
That sounds like progress towards a nation?
abram's response to this promise: 15:6, "And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness."
note that from the beginning, righteousness is given/received based belief/faith. note that belief and faith is active as well.
imagine, just for a second, that you are jewish. or that you are abraham. would you think to yourself, "hmm, now, how does that work?" and really, yes, you wouldn't know how it works.

 
Also, note that this communication happens some unspecified time after chapter 12. Nothing else has happened towards the plan, so god reminds abram of it.
 
3. The Sign Of Circumcision Given (Gen 17); Sarah Laughs (At the idea that she will have a son) (Gen 18)
God establishes circumcision and renames Abram to Abraham ('father of many') and Sarai to Sarah ('princess')
God also promises a son to Abram and Sarah (who are now not only infertile but also 100 and 90 respectively); Sarah laughs.
So...since the original promise we've had exactly zero progress towards our nation.
God has reminded Abram (now Abraham) that lots of descendents are coming, but we haven't seen any to this point.

side note: notice that god returns and adds details / specifics, but no action is taken. god will continue to do things like that in history - constant reminders of the plan, increased details about the plan, but maybe no visual 'progress'.

(interlude, gen 19,20: sodom and gomorrah; just in case you forgot that we were trying to solve the sin problem...)

Isaac (born to an infertile mom)
1. Isaac Is Born (Gen 21)
Progress - Sarah gives birth to a son! (just one?)
so...35 years into our plan, we have one kid towards our 'nation'.
It's this kid, our one hope at the nation that will bless all humanity, that God tells Abraham to sacrifice. (Gen 22)
 
and...this turns out to be a 'test'. a show of abraham's awesomeness, as god says, (22:15-18)
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
special shout out there for the blessing details, and the role of faith/obedience again - the progress of our redemptive story is linked up with obedience of god's people.
2. Isaac Marries...An Infertile Woman (Gen 24)
Great choice Isaac! We're on our way to a 'multitude of descendents' now.
Rebekah was God's choice of course; Gen 24 goes to pains to establish this.
God opens Rebekah's womb after Isaac prays and she has twins (now that's progress).
Twins counts - that would really get our nation build quickly.
They don't have any kids after the twins though, so all bets are off.
Also...God ends up only choosing one of the twins (Jacob), so the benefit of two kids is nixed.
3. God Confirms The Covenant With Isaac (Twice) (Gen 26:3-5, and 26:24)
God reassures Isaac (and us) that He hasn't forgotten his promise or plan.

Jacob (born to an infertile mom)
1. God Again Confirms The Covenant (Twice) (Gen 28:13-17, 35)
Again, God demonstrates his commitment to his plan and promise - he reiterates the promise made to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob.
Really, this happens twice for Jacob :
At Bethel while fleeing Esau (Gen 28:13-17)
At Bethel (a different Bethel?) (Gen 35)
Before the second time Jacob is renamed 'Israel' ('he who strives with God', or 'God strives'); he's given this nickname after wresting with God before meeting Esau (32:24-32).
2. Jacob has 12 Kids! This is progress!
There's actually a baby making contest between Jacob's two wives - while that no doubt can't have promoted familial harmony, it is a great way of getting a lot of kids for our nation.

Joseph (born to an infertile mom)
1. Sold into slavery, then betrayed into prison. Things look dark for our hero. (Gen 37-39)
Sold into Slavery :
his brothers hate him because he's the favorite. they sell him into slavery for a few bucks, then tell Jacob that he was killed by a wild animal.
Betrayed into Prison :
Joseph does such a good job as a slave that he gets 'promoted' to top slave at his owner Potiphar's house.
Potiphar's wife thinks Joseph is hot, and tries to get Joseph to sleep with her. When Joseph refuses, she accuses him of rape - our hero ends up in jail.
2. Going from Prison to Palace, Joseph provides food during famine for his family. (Gen 40-50)
Prison To Palace :
While in prison, Joseph interprets the dreams of two other prisoners, one of whom is released to a palace position.
After Pharaoh has some dreams that none of the usual suspects, Joseph's erstwhile cellmate speaks to Pharoah about Joseph - Joseph saves the day by interpreting the dreams (which predict famine) and offering a plan to get through the famine. Pharaoh makes Joseph in charge of...everything.

Famine To Family :
When famine comes (as Joseph promised), it affects Jacob's family as well. They come to Egypt to get food (Joseph's plan means that Egypt has lots of food) - Joseph tests them, then reveals himself to them and invites them to come and live in Egypt.
3. God tells Jacob to go to Egypt; they will return to Canaan from there as a great nation. (Gen 46:1-4)
Progress towards a nation? In Egypt we will the first of the four things we need - people.
but do you remember the bit where god told abraham that his descendents would be slaves in a foreign land? gen 15:13,14
Then the Lord said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

with this as some backdrop, it's rather nice that god reassures jacob.
gen 46:2-4
And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob!" "Here I am," he replied. "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes.""

Review of Progress So Far
1. God promises a blessing to all nations through a nation that come from Abraham
2. God will create this nation (population wise, one of the four things we need) in Egypt.
3. God will bring this nation out of Egypt back to Canaan.
4. God has a funny idea of progress (slow going, infertile women, slavery in a foreign country).
5. God's people participate in his plan through faith (obedient belief).

Application
A. God is in charge
How many times did God confirm his covenant?
lots.
 
God seems to be more interested in showing that he is in charge than in making progress.

B. God is not in a hurry
God's plan from the beginning had built in periods of seeming inactivity.
Abraham and Sarah wait for a Son
The wife choosen for Isaac is infertile.
jacob runs away from the land.
 
the whole deal reeks of inefficiency.

C. God is Holy
Though not covered in this lesson, the Genesis narrative reminds the reader of this with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah - God punishes the sin of those two towns by utterly destroying them with fire.
Also, note the ceremony God gives to Abraham in Gen 17. It foreshadows the rituals necessary to approach God in the Mosaic Law.

D. Man is Sinful
This point as well is not strongly emphasized in this lesson, but the full Genesis story includes many elements which repeatedly show man's sinfulness. Nearly every dealing of the patriarchs with other men revolves around the sin of mankind (Sodom/Gomorrah, Jacob and Lot, Joseph and his brothers, etc).

E. God is Loving
It is God who promises the blessing to all mankind - He chooses Abraham to start the nation that will bring that blessing. God's carrying out of that promise is a gift to mankind; a blessing that has not yet been described...

note : the promise to abraham forms a foundation throughout all of scripture
week 4 - exodus and wanderings (exodus 2:24)
exodus 2:24 "So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
week 5 - joshua and judges (joshua 24:2-3)
Joshua 24:2 "Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods."
Joshua 24:3 "'Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.
week 7 - david and solomon (psalms 105:6-12)
O seed of Abraham, His servant,
O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
He is the LORD our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
He has remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac.
Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the portion of your inheritance,"
When they were only a few men in number,
Very few, and strangers in it.
week 8 - kings and prophets (1 kings 18:36; 2 kings 13:23)
1 Kings 18:36 "At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word."
2 Kings 13:23 "But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now."
week 9 - exile and return (nehemiah 9:7)
"You are the LORD God,
Who chose Abram
And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees,
And gave him the name Abraham.
You found his heart faithful before You,
And made a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite and the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite--
To give it to his descendants.
And You have fulfilled Your promise,
For You are righteous."
week 10 - christ and cross (luke 1:67-79)
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant--
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old--
Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;
To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on BEFORE THE ARE HIS WAYS;
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the way of peace.
week 11 - apostles and church (gal 3:7,8,18,29)
Gal 3:7,8 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU ."
Gal 3:18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
Gal 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.