Genesis 14:17-19

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.

I want you to think about this. You're going to hear me say this a lot in the Old Testament. We get locked in to the Jewish side of the Old Testament and Abraham. But you look at this "Melchizedek," where did he come from? Melchizedek, king of Salem (an early word for "Jerusalem"), is a mysterious person. We don't know a lot about him. I do want you to see that he has a relationship with God. He comes up to Abram, along with all the other kings, and brought bread and wine. This was something general back then: if you brought something to someone, you brought bread and wine. But I tend to think this was foreshadowing the Lord's Supper. Melchizedek was "priest of God Most High." We know that God is working with Abraham, but here's God working with all these other people. Here, Melchizedek knows who God is. Remember that I told you that we want to see how Abraham learns about God. Well, here's another person who knows about God. What does he say? He says, "God Most High," which is Elohim, "Creator of heaven and earth." Is that not true? We've already read it. So here's someone else, other than Abraham, who is professing God, Creator of heaven and earth.

Genesis 14:20

And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Here's Melchizedek recognizing God and what He did for Abraham.

I don't know how many of you were in the worship service this morning, but a lot of things that are said in there can be applied here. I didn't know that the Pastor was going to do this. He passed out a little, yellow sheet that outlined the Church's budget and needs. He talked about the tithe and that if you don't give the tithe, you're robbing God. That's in the Bible. A lot of people say that the tithe is Law and the Law is gone because of Christ. Has the Law appeared yet in the Bible? No. It doesn't appear until we get to Moses and Exodus. Then we get the Law and the "Thou shalt nots." Here, right up front, early in Genesis, Abraham is giving this man of God what? A tenth of everything. A tenth of what he owns. What is that? It's a tithe. It is not Law. It's something that says, "Here's a measure of the maturity of my relationship with God. It's not because I have to, but because of the relationship I have with God." Your relationship with God will not go further (in some aspects) until you get to the point where this tenth comes in. You settle it with God. It is between you and God. No one goes around and says, "OK. You pay a tenth and you don't and you do..." No one does that. No one embarrasses anybody. It's between you and God. I read this (Abraham giving a tenth) and there you have it: the tithe. It has nothing to do with Law or obligations. It was something where Abraham said, "I want to develop my relationship with God. I'm going to give Melchizedek a tenth of everything."

Genesis 14:21-23a

The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you.

We read this last week.

I think Melchizedek had an influence on Abraham, which speaks volumes on our relationships with others and our encouragement of others with spiritual things. If you read that wording there, does that sound familiar? "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth." Does that sound familiar? It sounds very much like Melchizedek. It could be Abraham speaking on his own, but I think it's from the influence of Melchizedek. It shows you the impact that one person can have on another in terms of encouraging their spiritual growth and maturity.

Normally, I would go to the New Testament and talk about Melchizedek, but I've got to wait until we get to the New Testament. When we get to the New Testament, we will find that Christ comes after the priesthood of Melchizedek and not after the Aaronic priesthood. We will find the Aaronic preisthood (or Levite priesthod) when we get over to Exodus. God installs a priesthood within the Hebrew Nation from the tribe of Levi. We will look at that. It's a priesthood meaning here are the things that the priest do to maintain a relationship with God. Melchizedek is of a different order-the priesthood does things differently. Christ comes after Melchizedek. Just hold on. We'll discover that.

Genesis 15:1

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."

You'll find when you read this that God approached Abram all kinds of ways. He "appears," He's in a vision, and He's spoken to him. How many of you have read Genesis already? Raise your hands. A lot of you. I hope there's enough in here to say, "Wait a minute. I've got to go back and read it again. I didn't see this." I don't think I'm reading between the lines-I'm just reading what's here.

How many of you made the connection between the Lord being a reward and what the kings offered back in chapter 14? The kings wanted to give Abraham a reward for what he did and he refused it. What does God tell Abram? "I am your great reward." Doesn't that send chills up your spine? Isn't that amazing? Here's the maturity in the relationship again (between God and Abraham). God says, "I'm your shield and I'm your reward. I will give you everything you need." WOW!!! Just like God wants to do with us today!

Genesis 15:2

But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

"But" is always a good word to take note of in the Bible. I always circle and underline it in my Bible because it means, "Wait a minute. There's something else here."

Basically, what's happening here is that God promised Abraham that from him all nations would be blessed. He's supposed to have a lot of children, but he hasn't had any. Abram is saying that according to the law at this time, since he doesn't have children, his estate goes to the senior servant in his household: Eliezer.

Genesis 15:3-5

And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

How many offspring can Abraham expect? A bunch. Countless. Innumerable.

Genesis 15:6

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

This is a key verse to understand. When we get into the Old Testament, we always think, "Law." Law, Law, Law. I want to show you God's grace, love, belief, faith, and righteousness in the Old Testament. Those words from the New Testament are also in the Old Testament. When someone tells us something over and over (like Old Testament equates to Law), we believe it. We start saying, "Oh. Old Testament is the Law. It's history and it's Law." But as you study it, you see that Abram's belief is what gave him righteousness. It was not his works, but his belief. He believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:7-8

He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it." But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"

Here's Abram with his "But" again. Do any of you ever get into a "but" argument with God? God tells you to do something and you say, "But God. But God. But you don't understand, God. But you don't know what I'm going through, God." We do all that and Abram's doing the same thing-just like us. I hope you're identifying with Abram.

Genesis 15:9-11

So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

I want you to see what is happening here. Now here's a drawing to help understand the seriousness of making and sealing a convenant:

This represents one of the animals he brought. Does everybody see that? Can you use your imagination and see that? He cut them in half. This was a practice that you'll also find in secular history books. It's not just in the Bible. If two people were going to make an agreement on something, they would make a covenant (e.g., if something happens to me, he'll take care of my household and vice-versa.). We would go out and get an animal and split it in half. Each of us would walk between the halves. We would be saying, "If I don't uphold my end of the bargain and my covenant with you, may this happen to me. May someone split me in half. May I be killed. May I be split like these animals if I don't hold up my end." Can you understand how serious a covenant was then? That's pretty serious. Back then, this is how they signed and sealed the covenant. This is what we're going to read. God is about to make a covenant. Carefully watch this. Who initiated the covenant? God did. Who initiated the making of the covenant? God did. What did Abraham do? He went out and got everything and shooed the birds away, which God could've taken care of anyway. God could've struck them dead or moved them off, but Abraham said, "I've got to do this." Now hold onto this.

Genesis 15:12-13

As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 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.

Do you know what's going on here?

He's telling Abraham what's going to happen in the book of Exodus.

Here's Abraham thinking about God's promise of all of these descendants and he doesn't even have a son. God has promised him a son. Abram was 75 years old when he started out from Ur. We would think he's very old, but back then, that still wasn't very old. Back then, people were aging but not quite as fast as we age today. He's 75 and he's sitting there saying, "I'm waiting and waiting and waiting and nothing's happening."

But God's over here and how does He talk about Abram's descendants? "Abram, go outside and look at the stars and count them. If you can count them, that's how many descendants you'll have." What does he imply here? They're going to be enslaved. He's using a future-prophetic tense. "It's not only going to happen, but I'm going to act and talk like it's already happened." What did God do in this? He said, "You know all these descendants you're going to have, Abram? Well one day they're all going to be locked up or enslaved."

So what's Abram saying over here? "But God, I don't even have a son and I'm old."

What's God saying over here? "It's a done deal! It's over with and I'm going to tell you about it." What does God say in your life? "It's a done deal! I'm going to renew you day by day. I've already forgiven you of all of your sins. You're set free."

What do we do over here? "But God, I've still got these sins in my life. How come, God?" That's you. When you start looking at Abraham as flesh, blood, and bone, we're seeing ourselves-dealing with God.

God is faithful. He doesn't change. He's the same forever and ever. He's talking to Abram and saying, "You know all these people, they're going to be in a country that's not their own, they're going to be enslaved." The country is Egypt.

Genesis 15:14-15

But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.

See. God is saying, "It's a done deal! Here's what's going to happen. I'm telling you about it already.

Genesis 15:16

In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

That is a key verse to understanding the judgment of God. We're going to see the judgment of God here. In the middle of this covenant, God is telling Abraham these things. He says, "Your people will be enslaved for 400 years. They're going to come back to the Land and deal with the Amorites. If sin were a cup representing the Amorites, it would be half full. Their sin hasn't reached its full measure. What in the world is God talking about here? What does this imply that God is doing with the Amorites? He's dealing with them. God never shut out the rest of the world to work with Abram. He's dealing with Melchizedek and the Amorites. We're going to see this throughout the Old Testament. It wasn't that God closed up shop on the rest of the world except for Abraham and the Jews. It doesn't happen. It didn't happen. The Old Testament is for all of us-for all nations on the earth. This is another example where God says, "Your people are going to be enslaved for 400 years and then come back to the Land because the Amorites' sin is not yet full." In other words, how long is God going to give the Amorites to get right with Him? 400 years. Is that a long time? Is that being graceful and merciful? Husbands, how many times do your wives give you to get it right? One. (Ha..Ha) The Amorites' cup of sin has to be full for God's judgment.

Now hold onto this. When we get over to Joshua and they start going into the Land and defeating these people, God's going to say to the Hebrews, "I want you to go in and destroy the Amorites. I want you to kill children. I want you to kill pregnant wives. I want you to kill husbands, wives, grandmothers, grandfathers, cattle, and sheep. I want you to wipe them from the face of the earth." That is God's judgment. Some of you are saying, "Whoa! That's a problem that I have with God. How can He do that?" Trust me. We're going to talk about it and see what the Old Testament means by God's judgment. Their sin is going to become full and God's going to pronounce His judgment on the Amorites through the Hebrews. God could wipe them out in other ways, but He's saying, "I'm going to give it to the Hebrews to do this for me."

Genesis 15:17

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

Who was that? I believe that was the pre-incarnate Christ. Over the next two weeks, I'm going to convince you that that was the pre-incarnate Christ. You can go to Revelation and read a description of Christ that sounds a lot like this.

Does Abraham pass between the pieces? No. What does that tell you about the covenant? It sounds one-sided, but what does God say? He says, "Abraham, I know that you're going to fail, so I'm not going to let you pass through it. I'm going to pass through it." Isn't that great!!! Isn't that a wonderful thing? Because that's what God does with us today. He says, "You don't have to get cleaned up. You don't have to do this or that. I'll do it all." We've been stressing this. God initiates and God takes care of it all. He does that.

We don't have a lot of time to spend on this, but in Exodus, when the descendants come back, God tells them to build a tabernacle out in the wilderness. God says, "I will dwell with you." We're going to get to that, but I wanted to prepare you for something I want to show you. He says, "In that tabernacle (a tent), I want you to build two compartments with a veil separating them. One is called the "Holy Place" and the other is the "Most Holy Place." What happens is that God says, "To take care of your sins for a year, the High Priest (of the Levi priests) must take the blood of a sacrificial, unblemished lamb through the veil to the Most Holy Place. Once a year and only the High Priest. No one else and not at any other time. Put the blood on the altar as the sacrificial atonement for the sins of the people for a year." Is everybody with me? I want you to concentrate on the veil. The veil is what keeps us (people) from the Most Holy Place. Go over to Mark 15 in the New Testament. I'm concentrating on the veil.

When God set this covenant up with Abraham, what happened? He cut animals in two and passed through them and said, "This is my covenant." That's the old covenant. We read in the New Testament that God establishes a new covenant. He says, "This one's going away and I'm going to establish a new covenant with every one." I'm headed toward the veil and the new covenant.

Mark 15:37-38

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

This is Jesus, dying on the cross. When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This is in another temple. We'll talk about the temples later. It was torn from top to bottom.

It was torn from the top, down. It wasn't man that tore it-God tore it from the top, down. He tore it when Christ died. Now go over to Hebrews. This is just unbelievable. I learned this two weeks ago. That's why I'm so excited about it. I love to learn new things and this just shocked me. I read this in another book that referenced the Bible and I didn't believe it. I went to the Bible and there it was. It's just amazing. There's an old covenant and there's a new covenant. What do you think God's going to tell us about the new covenant? Do you think that He's going to pass something between the veil? Yup. Hold onto this.

Hebrews 10:19-20

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.

It was the blood of Jesus, dying on the cross that saves us from our sins. The "new and living way" is the new covenant. The "curtain" is the "veil", which is HIS BODY. Whoa! Do you understand that? God is saying, "I tore the body of Christ in two when he was crucified." The veil becomes the body of Christ, is torn in two, and we (our souls) pass through into the Most Holy Place because of Christ. This is the new covenant compared to the old covenant. Does it sound familiar? Does it sound the same? If you start to understand this and think about this, God is talking about a serious covenant. This is not just saying, "I'll go to Church and Sunday School and have a good time." This is serious business. God says, "I replace the old with the new."

When we stand before God, how righteous are we? As righteous as Jesus. It's just amazing. The more you learn about this covenant and how serious God is with it, the more I think you would say, "This relationship with God is important! I need to be working on it. I don't need to spend just a little bit of time and effort to this new way of living that God has given me." Through the New Testament, you'll understand what God is talking about and what He's prepared for you.

That's the seriousness of the covenant and that's the covenant God made with Abraham. God is saying to Abraham, "Abraham, you can do this to me (God) if I don't live up to my end of the covenant." Do you see that? Think about that. God says, "I will always keep my promises. I'll never break them." How would Abraham do this to God? He would discredit Him and say, "You're not a god worth believing in. I'm through with you. I'm done." But God says, "No. I will do it."

Genesis 15:18

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.

Do you all remember that the Euphrates was way over in Ur? I want you to picture that territory. That's a lot of land. Usually we associate Jews and Hebrews with Israel, a very small, tiny piece of this whole Land. God says, "I'm going to give you the whole Land." Hold onto that. We're going to see that. That's why I said that the promise hasn't been fulfilled yet because the Hebrews, the Jews, are still in sin to God. There's still disbelief of God.

Genesis 16:1-2

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 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.

This was not uncommon. Women, don't get all excited about men doing this, but back then, this was not uncommon. But what was Sarai doing? She's going around God.

God says, "I've already seen it and done it and you will have children."

Sarai is saying, "Well, I've been waiting and waiting and I'm not pregnant yet, so Abram, I've got a great idea. Go sleep with my maidservant, Hagar, and we'll have a baby." Hagar is an Egyptian, by the way, that he brought back with him-another sign of his disobedience. Does everybody see what Sarai's doing? Their sin is going to create conflict that will be passed down from generation to generation (through Ishmael come the Arabs).

God is saying, "Sorry, but this is how serious sin is. It will be passed on from generation to generation."

Abraham agrees to what Sarai says. Now isn't that great? Abraham agrees. Doesn't that sound like Adam and Eve?

Genesis 16:3-5a

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. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering."

This is Hagar despising Sarai.

Don't miss this! "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering." What? Did God really put that in here? Have you ever read that before? What did Sarai do? "Abram, it's your fault. You're the one that did this." How wrong is that? Where is Sarai in her relationship to God in honesty? Zero. Who did she learn it from? Abraham. Listen to the effect of sin again. Abraham can lie to anybody-the king of Egypt, Abimilech, etc.-to get by with it. Do you hear me and understand me? I hope we don't do it. I hope you don't tell "little white lies."

Genesis 16:5b-7a

I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert.

I believe "the angel of the Lord" is the pre-incarnate Christ again. The reason it doesn't say, "Jesus Christ," is because the New Testament hasn't happened yet. I'm going to keep telling you this. I believe that Christ is all over the Old Testament and here He is again. It's because of the human interaction. God, the Father, is in Heaven. Christ, the Son, walked this earth. I believe that every time we see God walking the earth, it is the pre-incarnate Christ. It's going to be even clearer next week. Next week, we'll read something that you've never seen before in the Old Testament. We're going to read it and you're not going to believe it, but it's there.

Genesis 16:7b-10

It was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

This is a sign that it was God, not an angel of the Lord. The angel said, "I will so increase your descendants..." I don't believe that an angel can do that. Only God can do that. That's the pre-incarnate Christ, in human form, talking to Hagar.

Genesis 16:11-12

The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

Guess who his brothers are going to be. The Israelites, the Jews. Guess what we have over in the Middle East right now. Here it is in the Bible and you're reading it, just like He says. They just can't get along. Why? Because God said that it's the by-product of the sin that occurred in Abraham and Sarai's life. They didn't wait on God. They did it themselves.

Genesis 16:13-16

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

If Abram is 86, how long is God going to wait before Isaac is born? 14 more years. Do you think Abraham and Sarai are going to learn during that time? You'd better believe it.

Genesis 17:1-5

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

So now we can call him Abraham. Abram means, "high father" or "exalted father." Abraham means, "father of many." Isn't that great for God to give him that name? He's 99 years old now. What is Abraham, father of many, thinking now? "I tried the servant, Hagar. Come on, God." Watch what happens. God is building toward a point where He's saying, "The only way you can say that you had a son is through God. You didn't do it yourself." I think that's what He's waiting on.

Genesis 17:6-10

I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 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. 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." Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

This was the sign of the covenant. This wasn't works for getting saved. What was counted as righteousness for Abraham? Faith. This was a sign of the covenant. In the New Testament, the Jews turn it into Law. They turn it into a law and say, "You have to be circumcised." But this was just a sign of the covenant.

Genesis 17:15-18

God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"

Sarah means, "princess." Isn't that nice?

Abraham fell facedown, laughing to himself. Wouldn't you?

Look what Abraham's doing. He's still trying to figure it out on his own.