1. Under what circumstances was the promise first made to Abraham?
2. Repeat this promise? "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you; and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:2-3)
3. What condition of things will exist when this is fulfilled?
4. What scripture contains additional features of the promise? "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever. And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto you." (Genesis 13:14-17)
5. When was this promise made? "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward." (Genesis 13:14)
6. What did the Lord promise at this time? "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever." (Genesis 13:14-15)
7. To whom besides Abraham was the land promised?
8. How long was it said that they should have it?
9. How numerous did the Lord say his seed should be? "And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered." (Genesis 13:16)
10. If his seed was to be "as the dust of the earth," how much of the earth would it occupy?
11. Then to what was the promise equivalent?
12. How much territory does Paul say that the promise included? "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
13. Why did the Lord make such great promises to Abraham? "Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him." (Genesis 18:18-19)
Notes:
In our last week's lesson we learned that the first promise was made to Abraham while he was in his native country, when God told him to go out into a land which he should show him. (Genesis 12:1-3) We found that the promise affected not only Abraham, but all the people who should live at a certain time upon the earth; that at that time all would be blessed, and would, consequently, be keeping God's commandments.
After Lot had separated from Abraham, we find the promise renewed, with some additional particular. This will be found in (Genesis 13:14-17) There we find that land was promised to Abraham, and to his seed, and that it was to be theirs forever.
In the sixteenth verse we learn that his seed was to be "as the dust of the earth." This is but another way of saying that his descendants should fill the whole earth. That being so, it follows that the promise given at that time was that he and his descendants should possess the whole earth. In (Romans 4:13) we learn that this conclusion is correct.
We must not fail to note, however, as recorded in (Genesis 18:18-19), that the Lord's promise to make of Abraham a great nation, was based on the fact that Abraham would command his children and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord.--Signs of the Times, April 2, 1885--Lesson for the Pacific Coast - May 2--Genesis 13:14-17.
E.J. Waggoner