03 God Builds a Nation (Genesis 12-25)

Sermon Outline

1. Upper Story
   1. God wants to relate to people so he chooses a man with whom to reestablish a unique relationship
   2. Instructs him to leave everything behind (Ge 12:1)                                               Ever considered how many elderly people God invites to radical changes of life?  Noah built an ark (Ge 7:6), Moses led a nation ( Ex. 7:7), Caleb conquered a town (Jos 14:10-11)
   3. God plans to give Abram a son and make him a blessing (Ge 15:4-5)
   4. God intends to continue his plans to Abram’s descendants – Isaac & Jacob
2. Lower Story
   1. Abraham
      1. Abraham’s conversations with God filled with need for a child (Ge 15:4-5; Ge 17:17)
      2. Without details, Abraham acted on his own
      3. And the result is catastrophic
         1. chaos in Abraham’s home (Ge 16)
         2. Ishmael taunts and makes fun of Isaac (Ge 21:9)
         3. Family is broken up and split apart. Ismael is sent away (Ge 20:12-13)
         4. Ishmael and his descendants will be numerous but also hostile (Ge 16:12, 17:20)
   2. Isaac – The saga repeats (Ge 25:21,23-24)
   3. Jacob and Esau – Conniving, lies, and deceit
      1. Manipulating for the birthright
      2. Stealing the blessing (Ge 27:28-29)
      3. Esau wants to kill his brother, so Jacob must flee for his life
      4. Do you see the pattern? The promises of God are made, then people tire of living by faith and take matters into their own hands in order to hurry the process along.
3. Our Story
   1. God has a plan and he intends humanity to wait upon him and trust in his promises until the day that those promises are brought to fruition.
   2. Do we understand who this God is and what it is he might ask of us?
      1. There is a reason God is called the Fear of Isaac (Ge 31:42)
      2. God didn’t have limits on what he asked or when he asked it.