Hear these words from Hebrews 11:7-12 ?By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.?
One of the things I love about the Bible, is that every time I read it or hear it read, I receive something new and different from it. You see, I have already walked through ?The Story.? And I have read these chapters before, I have read through these stories in the Bible before, I have preached on these stories before?but I am still so amazed how God?s word is living for us today?just like it did all those years ago. Today?s story continues in Genesis and we will walk through the stories of Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, and these will lead us into the stories of Joseph. Through all of these stories in Genesis, there is someone who is constant?God. And God offers a covenant to be in relationship with humanity over and over again. We will walk through the story of Abraham in Genesis chapters 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 32, 33, and 35. As we begin, I invite you to join me in prayer over the sermon titled ?God Builds a Nation.?
As in many TV series, the show will begin with a review-this is what happened last week. Let?s do that with The Story revealed in the Bible. Last time we discovered God?s vision in creation is to be with us. Adam and Eve chose a different vision than what God dreamed for them, instead they chose a path that lead to sin and selfishness entering the human race. Yet, God continues to passionately pursue us at great cost. In this part of the Story, we discover that God decides to build a nation and through that new nation win us back to God. God?s plans have changed yet again, but God still pursues humanity through the people in Ur. On your Bible map find the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. In this area the Tower of Babel was being built by many nations who all had one language. God confounded their language and the nations scattered. God chose to create a new nation in this area of the world. And he picked two people from Ur to do so, Abram and Sarai. On your map in your bible or on the handout, you can add in Abram and Sarai and the journey they take to follow God. Listen to these words from Genesis 12:1-5 on the call of Abram and the covenant that is made with these people.
?The Lord had said to Abram, ?Go from your country, your people and your father?s household to the land I will show you. ?I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.? So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.?
Abram had faith in God and went. Abram?s faith involved a complete and total trust in God and changed the desires on his heart. And God made this covenant, this promise, with two very unlikely old people. I mean, who wants to be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary at the same time that they will learn about a great nation coming from them? God does. God wants all people to know that the only way for a great nation to come to fruition is because it is God who makes the great nation. These two old people are the faithful ones to allow for all of humanity to see and know the power of God. God wants people to see him and understand his plan for people to be in relationship and walk with God. The covenant that is made between God and Abram is for the following reasons:

God will make the new nation great.
God will make Abraham?s name great.
God will bless all who bless Abraham and curse the one who curses Abraham.
God will bless all the nations of the world through Abraham and the new nation. God will use the new nation to reveal his heart and his plan to win us back.

Although this sounds simple?right?there are problems along the way. When a group of people are together, they don?t always agree on the direction to go. Abram and his nephew Lot had different ideas on what this promise meant and how to move forward. So Lot moved to a different area. Genesis 13:14-18 says the following: ?The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ?Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. ?All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. ?I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.? So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.? So even after Lot leaves, disagreements happen, problems occur with family, God still continues the promise of his covenant, God remains faithful through these situations?And not only does God maintain the covenant, God expands the covenant to compare the amount of offspring Abram will have to dust on earth.
Well, more time passed and Abram is beginning to wonder when this ?great nation? will ever happen. So just like we do, Abram tried to figure out how to make it happen. He wanted to name someone else to be the heir of his household. Listen to these words from Genesis 15:1-6. ?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.??But Abram said, ?Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus???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 who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.? He took him outside and said, ?Look up at the sky and count the stars?if indeed you can count them.? Then he said to him, ?So shall your offspring be.? Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.?
So now, God has raised the covenant up another bar. Not only will a great nation come from you, that there will be more descendants than the dust on the earth, but now there will be more offspring than all the stars Abram can count. What a promise, what a covenant, what faith!
And now we get to hear from Sarai. She is an integral part of this covenant. And it is my guess, she feels like it is her fault the great nation has not been born. Remember, she is barren; meaning her womb has not been able to produce children. So Sarai recommends for Abram to take her slave Hagar and have a child of this covenant with her. This was a custom of the times and was nothing out of the ordinary. So Hager is able to conceive a child.? AndSarai began to despise her. Hager ran away from her. But an angel of the Lord followed Hager and God continues the covenant with Hager, for her child will be an offspring of Abram.
Listen to these words from Genesis 16:9-13. ?Then the angel of the Lord told her, ?Go back to your mistress and submit to her.? ?The angel added, ?I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.? The angel of the Lord also said to her: ?You are now pregnant and you will give birth to 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.? 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.?Ishmael is blessed by God, so Abram will have descendants through Ishmael more numerous to count.And just so you know, when Abram was asked to be the father of the nations, he was 75 years old. And now, when Ishmael was born, Abram was 86 years old.
In Genesis 17, the covenant is expanded even more. Now Abram is 99, meaning Ishmael is 13 years old, and Sarai is 89, God promises to greatly increase Abrams? numbers.? Now the word ?everlasting? is added into the promise of a great nation and that every male will be circumcised under this covenant. The sign of circumcism is a new component of the covenant between God and Abram. This is when Abram?s name is changed to Abraham, meaning ?father of nations? and Sarai?s name is changed to Sarah, meaning ?mother of nations,? for kings of peoples will come from her (Genesis 17:16). After the covenant is enhanced and now that God?s promises are even bigger, Abraham and Sarah are even more invested, the plan beginning to be implemented. At their respective ages of a young 100 and 90, the promised child, is on his way. When Sarah heard this preposterous word of the Lord that she would be with child at the prime age of 90, Sarahlaughed. This supernatural boy who would be born to them was named Isaac which means?laughter.? Could you even imagine being with child at that age? So after 25 years of hearing about a covenant and promise to be a father of nations, the child of the promise is born. Abraham and Sarah probably breathed a sigh of relief as their faithfulness to God paid off in the long run. As they are go through life as a family; Isaac is a healthy, happy child, and faithful child.
Everything is finally happening for Abraham and Sarah, there is also the backstory of Hager and Ishmael. As Isaac was being weaned and started to grow up, we might wonder what is going to become of Ishmael. Abraham was concerned, but God continues to honor the covenant by saying ?I will make the son of the slave into a nation also because he is your offspring (Genesis 21:13).?Ishmael left his home, God was with Ishmael as he grew and God watched over him.
As Isaac grew, he (unfortunately) became a teenager. And since many of you have experienced the teenage years with your children and are now doing so with your grandchildren, you know that those years are not easy. Could you imagine doing so when you were 115 and 105??? I would think these are optimal years for raising a teenager?So after all of this, God decides to test Abraham. God asks for Abraham to sacrifice his son back to God. And Abraham obediently moves forward with accepting this test and is willing to sacrifice his son of the promise to God. Just as Abraham is bringing a knife down on his son, an angel of Lord stops him; Isaac is spared and a ram is offered in sacrifice. Because of Abraham?s faith, an angel of the Lord said the following: ?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.? With this test complete, God?s plan for a great nation was founded in sacrifice, tests, and more importantly, trust and faithfulness. The covenant continues and so does the great nation.
Isaac marries Rebekah and they have two sons-Esau and Jacob. Jacob steals Esau?s birthright and blessing and because of that, Jacob leaves his home. Jacob marries Leah and Rachel, and they have a large family. After Jacob acquires his riches, he realizes it is time to approach his brother Esau with respect and humility. Not knowing how Esau would respond, Jacob began the journey in stages. At Peniel, Jacob wrestled with God and won?God spared his life and the promise of the covenant continued. The brothers were able to reconcile, and God directed them to move to a place called Luz or Bethel in the land of Canaan. While there, God appeared to Jacob and blessed him. In Genesis 35:10-13 we hear the covenant shared again. ?God said to him, ?Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.? So he named him Israel. And God said to him, ?I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.? Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. No matter what happened, God was faithful through everything. Even when these great ancestors didn?t always make the right choices, God used their choices and actions for the good.
You know, in choosing Abram and Sarai to begin the new nation, God revealed a pattern to all people. God chose unlikely people who are not the smartest, the most beautiful and handsome with the best resumes. We could probably spend a year on all the things that Abram, Sarai, Isaac, Esau, and Jacob that should make the covenant invalid. But the key thing about this covenant, is that God chose ordinary people like you and me to make this covenant with. We are the promise. We are the ones who God wants to be in relationship with. You are not disqualified to be used greatly in God?s great Story. You may reveal God, too, and reflect his plan to be in relationship with us. Because the covenant continues and we are a part of these covenants in God?s Story. Amen.