Religion Scripture Readings

Table 3. Catastrophe (Noah’s Flood)

The Bible Says: The Koran says:
Noah was the tenth generation from Adam (Genesis 5:3–32; Luke 3:36–38). Other Biblical genealogies allow us to date the Flood to around 4,300 years ago. No clear genealogies are given.
Ark was sealed with ‘pitch’ (possibly tree resin1—Genesis 6:14). Ark caulked with palm fibre (Koran 54:13–14).
Bible gives Ark dimensions (Genesis 6:14–16). No mention of Ark size.
Duration of rain (40 days/nights), time afloat (150 days), total duration (370 days) of Flood (Genesis 7:12, 24; 8:4, 14). No mention of any time periods for the Flood.
Eight people survived the Flood (1 Peter 3:20), i.e. all of Noah’s family (Genesis 7:1, 7). The number on board is not mentioned. The Koran claims one of Noah’s sons was drowned (11:42–43), and puts a question mark over whether Noah’s wife survived (66:10, 11:40).2
Man granted permission to eat meat after the Flood (Genesis 9:3). Man ate meat on Earth from the beginning (6:142, 16:5, 40:79).
‘I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. … Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.’ (Genesis 9:11–17) There is no mention of the rainbow, or its significance, anywhere in the Koran.

 

Forgive and Forget.

Matthew 18:21-22 ESV / 253 helpful votes

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

 

Genesis 7

GOD DESTROYS THE WORLD WITH A FLOOD
A. Final preparations for the flood.

1. (1) God invites Noah into the ark.

Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.

a. Come into the ark: The idea is that God will be with Noah in the ark, so He called Noah to come into the ark with Him.

b. I have seen that you are righteous: Noah spent the years before the flood in active obedience. He not only believed God would send the flood; he obeyed what God told him to do in preparation for it.

2. (2-9) Noah gathers all the animals and his family.

"You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made." And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

a. You shall take with you: Some wonder how the animals came to Noah or how Noah got them. In Genesis 6:20 God said the animals would come to Noah by migration. In some animals, God has created a migratory instinct (which can operate in an amazing manner). It is no difficulty for Him to miraculously place an urge to migrate to the ark in each pair of animals He planned to be preserved in the ark.

b. Two by two they went into the ark to Noah: God never has a problem getting the animals to do what He wants. Only man is more stupid than the animals. The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider. (Isaiah 1:3)

3. (10-12) God brings the waters upon the earth.

And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

a. After seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth: Noah, the animals, and his family had to wait in the ark seven days for the rain to come. They had never seen rain up to this time. This was a real test of faith - to wait a week after more than 100 years of preparation.

b. The windows of heaven were opened: This is when the great waters which were above the firmament (Genesis 1:7) broke up. These waters formed the huge "blanket" of water in the upper part of the earth's atmosphere since creation.

c. The fountains of the greet deep that were broken up: Waters came up from under the earth also, no doubt accompanied by great geological catastrophe.

d. Forty days and forty nights: The number 40 becomes associated with testing and purification, especially before coming into something new and significant. This is seen in Moses' time on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18, Deuteronomy 9:25), the spies' trip to Canaan (Numbers 13:25), Israel's time in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33, 32:13), Elijah's miraculous journey to Sinai (1 Kings 19:8), and Jesus' temptation in the wilderness (Mark 1:13).

4. (13-16) All enter the ark and the door is shut.

On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark; they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

a. Went in as God had commanded him: This summary statement describes how everything was fulfilled exactly as the LORD had spoken. All things were ready for the flood God would bring upon the earth.

b. And the LORD shut him in: Noah did not have to shut the door on anyone's salvation; God did it. After the same pattern, it is never our job to disqualify people from salvation. We let God shut the door.

i. God kept the door open until the last possible minute, but there came a time when the door had to ut. When the door is open, it is open, but when it is shut, it is shut. Jesus is He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens (Revelation 3:7).

ii. The ark was salvation for Noah, but condemnation for the world. There were no second chances for those left out.

B. Noah in the ark during the flood.

1. (17-23) The flood described.

Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

a. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth: The description of the flood in this passage is so complete and specific that it is impossible to reconcile a local flood with the Biblical record. Despite the claims of some, this was a global deluge.

i. If this were not a global flood, then the ark itself would be unnecessary. If this were only a local flood, then God's promise to never again bring such a flood is false. If this were only a local flood, the Bible is wrong when it traces all of humanity back to Noah's sons and other passages that speak of a universal flood (such as Psalm 104:5-9 and 2 Peter 3:5-6).

ii. Literally hundreds of people groups have their own accounts and legends of the flood. One of the most remarkable is the Babylonian account, which is similar to the Genesis account in many ways and is clearly drawn from it. Since all mankind came from Noah's sons, all mankind remembers the flood.

iii. Boice specifically cites the legends of the Samo-Kubo tribe of New Guinea, the Athapascan Indians of America, the Papago Indians of Arizona, Brazilian tribes, Peruvian Indians, African Hottentots, natives of Greenland, native Hawaiian islanders, Hindus, Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Australian natives, the Welsh, Celts, Druids, Siberians, and Lithuanians.

iv. Of the more than 200 cultures that have their own account of the flood the following aspects of the story are common:

- 88% describe a favored family
- 70% attribute survival to a boat
- 95% say the sole cause of the catastrophe is a flood
- 66% say that the disaster is due to man's wickedness
- 67% record that animals are also saved
- 57% describe that the survivors end up on a mountain
- Many of the accounts also specifically mention birds being sent out, a rainbow, and eight persons being saved
b. And the mountains were covered: This took a lot of water, but there is plenty of water on the earth today to do this - but because of the topography of the earth, the water is collected into oceans. If the earth were a perfect sphere, the oceans would cover the land to a depth of two-and-a-half to three miles. Before the cataclysmic flood, the earth may have been much nearer to a perfect sphere.

c. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died: In the Scopes Monkey Trial, Clarence Darrow humiliated William Jennings Bryan by asking him if he believed every word in the Bible. When Bryan said he did, Darrow asked him how the fish drowned in the flood. Bryan didn't know the answer, gave a great, confused speech, and died the next day. If only he would have known the Bible better, he would have known it says this about the breath of the spirit of life. The fish did not die in the flood; only animals with the breath of life in them died, the animals on dry land.

i. God did just as He said. Virtually all of Noah's contemporaries did not believe God would do just as He said. Though it took 120 years, God demonstrated that He keeps His promises and is totally faithful.

2. (24) The flood lasted 150 days without receding.

And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

a. One hundred and fifty days: Some suggest that God put some or many of these animals into a period of hibernation for this period, meaning that less food, space, and "damage control" was be needed.

b. One hundred and fifty days: God provides many animals today with an amazing instinct for hibernation. It would be no difficulty for Him to miraculously impart a unique instinct for these particular animal

 

In both the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an, Noah is instructed by God to build a ship, which allows a few members of humankind and two specimens1 of each species of animals to survive the great flood. There are subtle differences between the two versions of this story.

In the Bible, God is portrayed as extremely disappointed in humankind. Only Noah is worthy in his eyes. Noah and his family go on board and are saved, along with each species of animal. Animals are important, especially the dove, which Noah lets loose to see if the flood is receding. It returns with an olive branch, an image used widely to represent peace. When they stepped on dry land once again, God concludes a covenant with Noah and all living creatures that such an all-destructive flood will never happen again. The rainbow is the symbol of that covenant.

In the Qur’an, it is Noah/Nuh who is disappointed in his people. He tries to warn them of the approaching disaster, but they make fun of him. God tells him to build a ship, but that again brings ridicule upon his head. In his anger Noah asks God to destroy all unbelievers, a thing he will later regret. When the storm comes he is only allowed to bring other believers on board. Being one of Noah’s relatives is no guarantee for survival. His unbelieving wife drowns. The Qur’an compares Noah’s wife to the wife of Lut. Both women meet disaster, in spite of their husbands’ fame and piety. The idea expressed here is that each individual is responsible for the consequences of his or her own choice. The same holds for Noah’s obstinate son, who took refuge in the mountains. The scene in which Noah takes leave of his son, begging God to spare him, is very moving. His son drowns. However, the Qur’an story ends on a positive note as does its biblical counterpart. Nuh is called a prophet and his issue is blessed.
In the Qur’an, surah 17 is named after Noah, but he also figures in other surahs. The Bible story of Noah is found in Genesis

 

Genesis 8

NOAH AND FAMILY LEAVE THE ARK
A. God remembers Noah.

1. (1) God focuses His attention on Noah again.

Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

a. God remembered Noah: This is an anthropomorphism (a non-literal picture of God in human terms we can understand). Certainly, God never forgot Noah, but at this point God again turned His active attention towards Noah.

b. God made a wind to pass over the earth: God knew how to make the waters subside. Even a big problem like this was not a big problem to God.

2. (2-5) As the floodwaters recede, the ark rests on Mount Ararat.

The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

a. On the mountains of Ararat: In a sense, Mount Ararat was not a very "smart" place to leave the ark. Leaving the ark at a high altitude and mountainous terrain meant a difficult departure for everyone and everything in the ark.

b. Mountains of Ararat: However, if God's purpose was to put the ark in a place where it might be preserved for thousands of years, He chose an excellent place for it.

3. (6-12) Birds are used to test the condition of the earth.

So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself. And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark. Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.

4. (13-19) Noah, his family, and all the animals leave the ark.

And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

B. God's covenant with Noah.

1. (20) Noah builds an altar and offers a sacrifice.

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

a. Then Noah built an altar: Noah's first act after leaving the ark was to worship God through sacrifice. His gratitude and admiration of God's greatness lead him to worship God.

b. Took of every clean animal and every clean bird: As is the nature with true sacrifice, this was a costly offering unto God. With only seven of each animal on the ark, Noah risked extinction by sacrificing some of these animals. But costly sacrifice is pleasing to God.

i. The sacrifices we are called to offer to God should also cost us something. We should present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1), the giving of our resources is a sacrifice (Philippians 4:18), and we should give the sacrifice of praise to God (Hebrews 13:15).

ii. Costly sacrifice pleases God, not because God is greedy and wants to get as much from us as He can but because God Himself sacrificed at great cost (Ephesians 5:2 and Hebrews 9:26, 10:12). God wants costly sacrifice from us because it shows we are being conformed into the image of Jesus, who was the greatest display of costly sacrifice. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:2, we should be like Jesus in this regard: And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

iii. May we think like David, who said he would never offer to God that which costs me nothing (2 Samuel 24:24).

2. (21-22) God's promise to Noah and to all mankind.

And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease."

a. The LORD smelled a soothing aroma: Noah's costly sacrifice pleased God. It was as if God smelled the great aroma of the roasting meat (indicating that God loves a barbecue), and He then made this wonderful promise to Noah and to man.

i. Of course, the Bible speaks anthropomorphically here. More pleasing to God than the smell of the sacrifice was the heart of Noah in his sacrifice.

b. Cold and heat, winter and summer: This speaks of the profound climatic and ecological changes in the earth since the "blanket" of water vapors covering the earth was "emptied." Now there are seasonal and temperature variations.

i. The result of this change is found in the rapidly decreasing life spans. There will never be 900-year-old men after the flood.

ii. The mass extinction of animals revealed in the fossil record (such as dinosaurs and other such creatures) probably took place shortly after the flood, when the earth was changed so dramatically and plunged into an ice age.

 

Koran compared to Biblical scriptures

II. NOAH
The Qur’an contains forty-three references to Noah and the flood in 28 different suras.
The short sura named after Noah9
is made up of three parts: a divine injunction to Noah to
preach, a short sermon of Noah’s to his contemporaries, and a psalm-like complaint of Noah’s to
God about the hardness of the people’s hearts. It has no biblical counterpart.
In comparing the Joseph sura to the Noah sura one notices literary styles similar to those
found in Genesis. According to pentateuchal source theory, the J tradition transmits Genesis 14
virtually untouched while creating the wooing of Rebekah (chapter 24) as a de novo narrative.
Similarly, the Qur’an keeps the Joseph story relatively intact while using the Noah material with
great freedom. Thus Genesis and the Qur’an share a common methodology. Turning to the
remaining references to Noah which are scattered throughout the Qur’an and putting them in
biblical sequence we get the following picture:
In contrast to the biblical and to some extrabiblical flood stories, no reason for the flood
is given in the Qur’an. Noah is simply commanded to build the ark
8
Citations from the Qur’an are taken from Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious
Koran (New York: Mentor, 1953). 9
Sura 71, “Noah,” has 28 verses compared with 111 in the Joseph sura.
page 199
(11:37). When he is enjoined to warn the people, his preaching sounds very similar to that of
Muhammad.10 In fact, Noah and Muhammad are both referred to as “plain warners.”11
Noah’s contemporaries despise and mock him.12 Most of the 28 verses of the Noah sura
are Noah’s complaint to God about the people’s refusal to listen to him, concluding with a plea
that all flesh be destroyed.13
God commands Noah to enter the ark (11:41), the flood comes (54:11f.; 6:6), and Noah is
saved on the ark (54:13; 69:11). Noah has only one son, not three, and that one refuses to join his
father in the ark, preferring to climb a high mountain. When Noah discusses this with God, God
tells Noah that his son is an evildoer. Noah’s biblical relation to Ham may underlie this otherwise
quite unbiblical twist (11:42-46).
Whereas the Bible has the wind dry out the earth, in the Qur’an the earth simply swallows
the water. The ark comes to rest on a mountain called Al-Judi (11:44).
Noah’s wife, like Lot’s wife, proves faithless and is consigned to fire (66:10).
According to Genesis, Noah’s total life span is 950 years. According to the Qur’an, Noah
reaches the age of 950 before the flood commences (29:14).

 

Genesis 9

GOD'S COVENANT WITH NOAH AND CREATION
A. God's covenant and instructions to Noah.

1. (1-4) Instructions for living in a new world.

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood."

a. Be fruitful and multiply: The world Noah entered from the ark was significantly different from the world he knew before. God gave Noah the same kind of mandate He gave Adam in the beginning of creation (Genesis 1:28), since Noah essentially began all over again.

b. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you: And, even as Adam received instructions for eating (Genesis 1:29-30, 2:15-17), so does Noah. Yet now, Noah receives specific permission to eat animals, permission Adam was not given (as far as we know).

i. Perhaps this was because the earth was less productive agriculturally after the flood, because of the ecological changes. Therefore God gave man permission to eat meat.

c. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth: If man now ate animals, then God would help the animals. For their protection God put in them a fear of mankind.

i. Again, presumably before the flood, man had a completely different relationship with the animals. God did not put this fear in animals because man did not look to them as food.

ii. "Did the horse know his own strength, and the weakness of the miserable wretch who unmercifully rides, drives, whips, goads, and oppresses him, would he not with one stroke of his hoof destroy his tyrant possessor? But while God hides these things from him he impresses his mind with the fear of his owner, so that … he is trained up for, and employed in, the most useful and important purposes." (Clarke)

d. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood: God also commands Noah that if animals are eaten, there must be a proper respect for the blood, which represents the life principle in the animal (Leviticus 17:11, 17:14 and Deuteronomy 12:23).

i. The importance of the idea of blood in the Bible is shown by how often the word is used. It is used 424 times in 357 separate verses (in the New King James Version).

- Blood was the sign of mercy for Israel at the first Passover (Exodus 12:13)
- Blood sealed God's covenant with Israel (Exodus 24:8)
- Blood sanctified the altar (Exodus 29:12)
- Blood set aside the priests (Exodus 29:20)
- Blood made atonement for God's people (Exodus 30:10)
- Blood sealed the new covenant (Matthew 26:28)
- Blood justifies us (Romans 5:9)
- Blood brings redemption (Ephesians 1:7)
- Blood brings peace with God (Colossians 1:20)
- Blood cleanses us (Hebrews 9:14 and 1 John 1:7)
- Blood gives entrance to God's holy place (Hebrews 10:19)
- Blood sanctifies us (Hebrews 13:12)
- Blood enables us to overcome Satan (Revelation 12:11)
2. (5-7) God gives to man the right and responsibility of capital punishment.

"Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it."

a. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning: According to God's command, when a man's blood is shed there must be an accounting for it, because in the image of God He made man. Because man is made in the image of God, his life is inherently precious and cannot be taken without giving account to God.

i. By man his blood shall be shed means because life is valuable, when murder is committed the death penalty is in order.

ii. In its original languages the Bible makes a distinction between killing and murder. Not all killing is murder, because there are cases where there is just cause for killing (self-defense, capital punishment with due process of law, killing in a just war). There are other instances where killing is accidental. This is killing, but not murder.

iii. The Bible also consistently teaches that the punishment of the guilty is the role of human government (Romans 13:1-4) so as to restrain man's depravity. It also teaches that the guilt of unpunished murder defiles a land (Numbers 35:31-34). As Luther said, "God establishes government and gives it the sword to hold wantonness in check, lest violence and other sins proceed without limit." (Boice)

b. From the hand of every beast I will require it: To see the strength of God's command, He even requires a reckoning for the life of man from every beast. God does not condone unlawful killing of any kind.

c. Be fruitful and multiply: This point was repeated because it needed emphasis. The earth badly needed repopulating.

3. (8-11) God makes a covenant with man and with all of creation.

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."

a. I establish My covenant: This covenant was made with mankind (you and your descendants after you), and even with the animals (every living creature that is with you). God promised He would never again destroy all with a flood or cover the earth with a flood.

b. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth: God did not believe He did something wrong or too harsh in the flood. He made the promise because He did things in the post-flood world to guarantee that the exact evil conditions of the pre-flood world would never be precisely duplicated. These things included the imprisonment of the angels who sinned with human women (Jude 6) and shortening the life span of man.

i. However, when things again become similar to the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37), God will destroy the earth - but by fire, not by flood (2 Peter 3:1-7).

4. (12-17) The sign of God's covenant.

And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

a. I set My rainbow in the cloud: Because the blanket of water vapors was broken up in the flood and the water cycle of the earth changed after the flood, this may be the first occurrence of a rainbow. God used the rainbow as a sign to Noah and all generations that He would be faithful to His covenant.

b. It shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth: Every time we see a rainbow, we should remember the faithfulness of God and every one of His promises. He even says His covenant of peace with us is just as sure as His covenant with Noah and all generations.

i. For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has mercy on you. (Isaiah 54:9-10)

c. I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant: The other mentions of a rainbow in the Bible are set in the context of God's enthroned glory (Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation 4:3 and 10:1). It is staggering to see God, in His glory, setting so close to Himself a reminder of His promise to man.

i. In Revelation 4:3, God's throne is surrounded by a green-hued rainbow. The rainbow is a reminder (in the midst of such supreme sovereignty) of God's commitment to His covenant with man.

ii. One the same principle, the believer glories in the sovereignty of God, because he knows God's sovereignty is on his side. It means no good purpose of God relating to the believer will ever be left undone.

B. Noah and his sons.

1. (18-19) The sons of Noah.

Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

a. The whole earth was populated: From these three sons of Noah came the nations as we know them. The descendants of these three sons are listed in the "table of nations" provided in Genesis 10.

2. (20-23) The sin of Ham, Noah's son.

And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness.

a. He drank of the wine and was drunk: This is the first mention of drunkenness in the Bible. Some thinkl it was only after the flood that man made (or was able to make) intoxicating drink.

i. Noah's own sinful and shameful actions show the foolishness of drunkenness. Well the Proverbs say, Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise …. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things. (Proverbs 20:1, 23:29-33)

ii. It also shows the foolishness of those who claim God's desire is to make people "drunk in the spirit" through the work of a "Holy Ghost Bartender." When Ephesians 5:18 says, And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, it contrasts the work of the Spirit with the effects of drunkenness.

iii. Alcohol is a depressant. It "loosens" people because it depresses their self-control, their wisdom, their balance and judgment. The filling of the Holy Spirit has an exactly opposite effect. He is a stimulant, and He influences every aspect of our being to better and more perfect performance.

b. And became uncovered in his tent: It may be Noah was abused sexually by one of his sons or relatives. The phrase became uncovered and the idea of nakedness are sometimes associated with sexual relations (Leviticus 18:6-20).

i. This is repulsive, but not terribly surprising. Many people who get drunk become victims of abuse, sexual and otherwise. 75% of the men and 55% of the women involved in date-rape situations were drinking or taking drugs just before the attack. The FBI says 50% of all rapes involve alcohol.

ii. There are more costs to drunkenness. In the United States 100,000 people die each year in alcohol-related deaths, while alcohol abuse costs the nation hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Still, the average American television viewer sees 90,000 incidents of drinking on television by age 21 and 100,000 beer commercials by age 18.

c. Saw the nakedness of his father: Others think Ham's only sin here was in seeing Noah's drunken, uncovered state, and that he made fun of him, mocking him as a father and as a man of God.

i. Literally, the ancient Hebrew says that Ham "told with delight" what he saw in his father's tent. He determined to mock his father and underminine his authority as a man of God.

3. (24-27) Noah's curse upon Canaan.

So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants He shall be to his brethren." And he said: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant."

a. Knew what his younger son had done to him: This seems to indicate that whatever happened to Noah, it was more than one of his sons or grandsons seeing his nudity. This explains the strength of the curse.

b. Cursed be Canaan: It seems strange that if Ham sinned against Noah, that Canaan (Ham's son) is cursed. Perhaps Canaan was also involved in this sin against Noah in a way not mentioned in the text. Perhaps the strongest punishment against Ham was for Noah to reveal prophetically the destiny of his son Canaan.

i. We can trust God is not punishing the son (Canaan) for the sin of the father (Ham). This goes against the heart and justice of God (Ezekiel 18:2-3). However, through Noah's prophecy, God tells Ham what will happen to his son.

c. May Canaan be his servant: In earlier generations, prejudiced people regarded the descendants of Canaan as black people from Africa, and they used the curse on Canaan to justify slavery. But black people did not come from Canaan. Canaan was the father of the near-eastern peoples, most of who were conquered by Joshua when Israel took the Promised Land.

4. (28-29) The end of Noah's days.

And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

a. Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years: Noah was a remarkable man who served God in his own generation. Yet his last years do not seem to match the glory of his first years.

 

Genesis 10

THE TABLE OF NATIONS
The tenth chapter of Genesis … stands absolutely alone in ancient literature, without a remote parallel, even among the Greeks, where we find the closest approach to a distribution of peoples in genealogical framework … The Table of Nations remains an astonishing accurate document. (William F. Albright, cited in Boice)

A. The descendants of Japheth.

1. (1) The three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.

2. (2) The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

a. The sons of Japheth: He was the father of the Indo-European peoples, those stretching from India to the shores of Western Europe. They are each linked by linguistic similarities that often seem invisible to the layman but are much more obvious to the linguist.

b. Gomer: From this son of Japheth came the Germanic peoples, from whom came most of the original peoples of Western Europe. These include the original French, Spanish, and Celtic settlers.

c. Magog … Tubal, Meshech: These settled in the far north of Europe and became the Russian peoples.

d. Madai: From this son of Japheth came the ancient Medes and they populated what are now Iran and Iraq. The peoples of India also came from this branch of Japheth's family.

e. Javan: From this son of Japheth came the ancient Greeks, whose sea-faring ways are described in Genesis 10:5.

3. (3) The sons of Gomer.

The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

a. Ashkenaz: From this son of Gomer came the peoples who settled north of Judea into what we call the Fertile Crescent.

b. Togarmah: From this son of Gomer came the Armenians.

4. (4-5) The sons of Javan (the ancient Greeks).

The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

a. The sons of Javan were: Geographic names that spring from these names in this chapter abound. Linguists have no trouble seeing the connection between Kittim and Cyprus, Rodanim and Rhodes, Gomer and Germany, Meschech and Moscow, Tubal and Tobolsk.

B. The descendants of Ham.

1. (6) The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

a. Ham: The descendants of Ham are the peoples who populated Africa and the Far East.

b. Cush: Apparently, this family divided into two branches early. Some founded Babylon (notably, Nimrod) and others founded Ethiopia.

c. Mizraim: This is another way the Bible refers to Egypt. Put refers to Libya, the region of North Africa west of Egypt. Canaan refers to the peoples who originally settled the land we today think of as Israel and its surrounding regions.

2. (7-12) The sons of Cush.

The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD." And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

a. Cush begot Nimrod: One son of Cush worthy of note is Nimrod. He was a mighty one on the earth, but not in a good way. He ruled over Babel, which was the first organized rebellion of humans against God. The name Nimrod itself means, "let us rebel."

b. Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD: The context shows that this is not a compliment of Nimrod. The idea is that Nimrod was an offense before the face of God.

i. "This is not talking about Nimrod's ability to hunt wild game. He was not a hunter of animals. He was a hunter of men - a warrior. It was through his ability to fight and kill and rule ruthlessly that his kingdom of the Euphrates valley city states was consolidated." (Boice)

ii. A Jerusalem Targum says: "He was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a hunter of the sons of men, and he said to them, 'Depart from the judgment of the Lord, and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod!' Therefore it is said: 'As Nimrod the strong one, strong in hunting, and in wickedness before the Lord.' "

iii. Ginzberg quotes from a Jewish legend: "The great success that attended all of Nimrod's undertakings produced a sinister effect. Men no longer trusted in God, but rather in their own prowess and ability, an attitude to which Nimrod tried to convert the whole world."

iv. "Hence it is likely that Nimrod, having acquired power, used it in tyranny and oppression; and by rapine and violence founded the domination which was the first distinguished by the name of a kingdom on the face of the earth. How many kingdoms have been founded in the same way, in various ages and nations from that time to the present! From the Nimrods of the earth, God deliver the world!" (Clarke)

3. (13-14) The sons of Mizraim.

Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

4. (15-19) The sons of Canaan.

Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

a. Canaan begot Sidon: The family of Sidon, the son of Canaan, went north and is related to the Hittites and Lebanese.

b. And the Sinite: Many people believe the Oriental peoples descended from the Sinites.

5. (20) The spread of the descendants of Ham.

These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

C. The descendants of Shem.

1. (21-22) The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

a. Children were born also to Shem: From Shem comes Elam, who was an ancestor to the Persian peoples; Asshur, who was the father of the Assyrians; Lud was father to the Lydians who lived for a time in Asia Minor; and Aram was father to the Arameans, who we also know as the Syrians. Arphaxad was the ancestor to Abram and the Hebrews.

2. (23) The sons of Aram.

The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

a. Uz: Later, a region in Arabia was named after this son of Aram. Job came from the land of Uz (Job 1:1).

3. (24-30) The sons and descendants of Arphaxad.

Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.

a. All these were the sons of Joktan: The names under the son of Joktan (son of Eber, son of Salah, son of Arphaxad) are all associated with various Arabic peoples.

b. And Jobab: The one named Jobab may be the one we know as Job in the Old Testament.

4. (31) The spread of the descendants of Shem.

These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

5. (32) Summary statement: the nations after the flood.

These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

a. "Hence one must consider this chapter of Genesis a mirror in which to discern that we human beings are, namely, creatures so marred by sin that we have no knowledge of our own origin, not even of God Himself, our Creator, unless the Word of God reveals these sparks of divine light to us from afar … This knowledge the Holy Scriptures reveal to us. Those who are without them live in error, uncertainty, and boundless ungodliness; for they have no knowledge about who they are and whence they came." (Luther, cited in Boice)

 

The Qur’an gives ample evidence of acquaintance with the book of Genesis. While the
Qur’an omits typical Genesis material, such as genealogies, dates, and lists of nations, it contains
key story elements from both the primeval history and the ancestral cycles, but transformed and
shaped into a new form.
It has become a common observation in biblical studies to note that the Old Testament
itself shows signs of forming and reforming its own traditions and that the New Testament
exhibits a similar, if not greater, freedom in handling the traditions it claims to inherit from the
Old Testament. The Qur’an has certainly islamicized Abraham. But the church in a sense saw in
Abraham the first Christian.29 Christians will disagree with the Qur’an’s conclusions, but they
cannot really quarrel with its method.

 

Genesis 11

MANKIND AFTER THE FLOOD; THE TOWER OF BABEL
A. The tower of Babel.

1. (1-4) A tower in the land of Shinar.

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

a. The land of Shinar: Shinar was a term used also of Babylon (Genesis 10:10). The multiplied descendants from the ark came together to build a great city and tower, in rebellion against God's command to spread out over the earth (Genesis 9:1).

b. "Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly" … they had asphalt for mortar: Using baked bricks and asphalt for mortar, men built a tower that was both strong and waterproof, even as Noah used the same material in waterproofing the ark (Genesis 6:14). Later Moses' mother used the same material in waterproofing Moses' basket (Exodus 2:3).

i. "Archaeology has revealed that this type of kiln-fired brick and asphalt construction was common in ancient Babylon." (Morris)

c. Come, let us build ourselves a city: The heart and the materials relevant to the tower of Babel show that it was not only disobedient to God's command to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1), but it also shows man did not believe God's promise to never again flood the earth. A waterproof tower was made to "protect" man against a future deluge.

i. This was a strong statement of self against God. When they said let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens, they meant it.

d. A tower whose top is in the heavens: The top of the tower was intended to be in the heavens. It is doubtful they thought they could build a tower to heaven. It is more likely they built the tower as an observation point of the heavens; it was built "unto the heavens." Most astrological and occult practices have a history back to Babel.

i. If they really wanted to build a tower to reach heaven, it is unlikely they would start on the plain of Shinar, which is about Sea Level. Common sense says they would start on one of the a nearby mountains.

ii. This tower was real. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus said the tower of Babel still stood in his day and he had seen it.

2. (5-9) God scatters them over the whole earth.

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

a. The LORD came down to see the city and the tower: The personal character of the language indicates this perhaps was a time when God came down in the form of a man, in the Person of Jesus Christ.

b. Let Us go down: This is another subtle reference to the Trinity.

c. Nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them: The potential of fallen man is terrible and powerful. When we think of the horrific accomplishments for evil of men in the 20th century, the great ability of men and nations is a painful consideration.

d. So the LORD scattered them abroad: The forced separation of men from Babel was more God's mercy than His judgment. God, in dividing man both linguistically and geographically, put a check on the power of his fallen nature.

e. The LORD confused the language of all the earth: The division of the languages is a fascinating subject. Modern linguists know man did not invent language, any more than man invented his own circulatory or nervous system. Most modern linguists believe language is so unique that the only way they can explain it apart from God is to say that it was part of a unique evolutionary process.

i. Language can not be the product of man putting together sounds all by himself. For example, there are many universal human sounds (like the "raspberry" sound) that are not part of any human language. If man invented language on his own, it would make sense for some language to use that sound.

ii. Language is so complex because languages exist as whole systems, not as small parts put together. Most modern linguists believe all languages come from one original language.

f. From there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth: Think what it was like for a family to leave the area of Babel and go out on their own. They must look for a suitable place to live, and once they found it, they must exist by hunting and gathering, living in crude dwellings or caves until they could support themselves by agriculture and taking advantage of the natural resources. Families would multiply rapidly, develop their own culture, and their own distinctive biological and physical characteristics influenced by their environment. In the small population, genetic characteristics change very quickly, and as the population of the group grew bigger, the changes stabilized and became more or less permanent.

i. The whole account of what happened at Babel with its anti-God dictator, its organized rebellion against God, and its direct distrust of God's promise shows man hasn't gotten any better since the flood. Time, progress, government, and organization have made man better off, but not better.

ii. Now God will begin to make man better, and He will start as He always starts: with a man who will do His will, even if he does not do His will perfectly.

B. The line of Adam through Shem to Abram.

1. (10-25) From Shem to Terah, the father of Abram.

This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

2. (26-28) The family of Terah in Ur of the Chaldeans.

Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

a. Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram: Genesis 11:26 is the first mention of Abram. Abram (later changed to "Abraham") is mentioned 312 times in 272 verses in the Bible. He is arguably the most famous man of the Old Testament, and certainly one of the most influential men of history.

i. The Book of Genesis covers more than 2,000 years and more than 20 generations. Yet, it spends almost a third of its text on the life of one man - Abram.

b. Terah begot Abram: Abram is unique in the way he is called the friend of God (James 2:23); Abraham, Your friend forever (2 Chronicles 20:7); Abraham, My friend (Isaiah 41:8).

i. We all know the value of having friends in high places. Abram had a Friend in the highest place! Once Abraham Lincoln received a request for pardon from a man who deserted the army. When he was told the man had no friends, Lincoln said "I will be his friend," and he pardoned him.

ii. Men and women in the Bible are famous for many different things, but Abram is great for his faith. Moses was the great lawgiver; Joshua a great general; David a great king, and Elijah a great prophet. Most of us know we can never be great in those things, but we can be great people of faith. We can be friends of God.

iii. If you despair in knowing you do not have Abram's faith, take comfort in knowing you have Abram's God. He can build in you the faith of Abram, because He built it in Abram himself.

iv. You do have faith. You buy a ticket to a sporting event and show up, having faith the ticket is good. You fly in an airplane because you have faith in the airline's equipment, mechanics, and pilots. You plan a weekend based on the weather report. And you do this even though sometimes there are ticket scandals, sometimes planes crash, and sometimes the weatherman is wrong; but you still have faith. God can build the faith you have.

3. (29-30) The family of Abram and his brother Nahor.

Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

a. Then Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram's wife Sari (her name means "contentious") was barren, unable to bear children.

b. Abram's wife was Sarai … she had no child: Because the name "Abram" means "Father," it must have constantly amazed those meeting Abram to discover he had no children. But his present lack of children will play an important role in God's plan of redemption.

4. (31-32) The family of Terah and their travels from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran.

And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

a. They went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan: So Abram's story begins in Ur of the Chaldeans (Babylon). Joshua 24:2 describes Abram before the LORD called him. He was from a family of idol worshippers and was probably an idol worshipper himself (notwithstanding Jewish legends).

i. Abram came from a family of idol worshippers. Later, when Abram's grandson Jacob went back to Abram's relatives, they were still worshipping idols.

b. And they came to Haran and dwelt there: Acts 7:2-4 makes it clear the call of Genesis 12:1-3 came to Abram while he still lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. When he received this call from God he was only partially obedient, because he took his father Terah with him to Haran even though the LORD called him to go from Ur by himself.

c. Terah died in Haran: Sometimes we can gain meaning from names in the Bible. The name Terah means, "delay." The name Haran means "parched, barren." When Abram was in partial obedience, then delay and barrenness characterized his life. When we delay in drawing close to God we also experience barrenness

 

As the Koran tells it


This article should be a good read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel
There is a section in the article which says that the story is mentioned in the Qur'an.. this is just the opinion of the person writing the article. It says:
=========================
Though not mentioned by name, the Qur'an has a story with similarities to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, though set in the Egypt of Moses. In Suras 28:38 and 40:36-37 Pharaoh asks Haman to build him a clay tower so that he can mount up to heaven and confront the God of Moses.
=========================
Here are the verses the article mentions (showing two translations):
28:38. Pharaoh said: "O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself: therefore, O Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace, that I may mount up to the god of Moses: but as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!" (Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation)
28:38. And Pharaoh said: O chiefs! I know not that ye have a god other than me, so kindle for me (a fire), O Haman, to bake the mud; and set up for me a lofty tower in order that I may survey the god of Moses; and lo! I deem him of the liars.
(Pickthal's Quran Translation)
40:36. Pharaoh said: "O Haman! Build me a lofty palace, that I may attain the ways and means-
40:37. "The ways and means of (reaching) the heavens, and that I may mount up to the god of Moses: But as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!" Thus was made alluring, in Pharaoh's eyes, the evil of his deeds, and he was hindered from the Path; and the plot of Pharaoh led to nothing but perdition (for him).
(Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation)
40:36. And Pharaoh said: O Haman! Build for me a tower that haply I may reach the roads,
40:37. The roads of the heavens, and may look upon the god of Moses, though verily I think him a liar. Thus was the evil that he did made fairseeming unto Pharaoh, and he was debarred from the (right) way. The plot of Pharaoh ended but in ruin. (Pickthal's Quran Translation)

 

my dad just bought me this



its pretty amazing

 

That is great! I have such a hard time with the Old Testament that an illustrated comic might be more enjoyable.

Genesis 12

GOD'S CALL OF ABRAM; ABRAM IN EGYPT
A. God's promise to Abram.

1. (1-3) God's previous covenant with Abram.

Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

a. Now the LORD had said to Abram: We know from Acts 7:2-4 that this promise was made to Abram before he left Ur of the Chaldeans. Now that his father was dead and he was compelled to a more complete obedience, God repeated the promise.

i. Abram's partial obedience did not take God's promise away. Instead, it meant the promise was on "hold" until Abram was ready to do what the LORD said.

ii. Abram will certainly become a giant of faith, even being the father of the believing (Galatians 3:7); yet he did not start there. We will see Abram as an example of growing in faith and obedience.

b. To a land I that I will show you: After stating He wanted Abram to leave his country and his relatives, God promised Abram a land. Specifically, God promised the land of greater Israel.

i. These are God's promises; notice how often God says I will in these verses. Genesis chapter 11 is all about the plans of man. Genesis chapter 12 is all about the plans of God.

c. I will make you a great nation: God promised to make a nation from Abram. He will have enough children and grandchildren and further descendants to populate a nation.

d. And make your name great: God promised to bless Abram and to make [his] name great. There is probably no more honored name in history than the name of Abram, who is honored by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

e. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you: God also promised He would bless those who bless you and to curse him who curses you. This remains true today and is a root reason for the decline and death of many empires.

i. "When the Greeks overran Palestine and desecrated the altar in the Jewish temple, they were soon conquered by Rome. When Rome killed Paul and many others, and destroyed Jerusalem under Titus, Rome soon fell. Spain was reduced to a fifth-rate nation after the Inquisition against the Jews; Poland fell after the pogroms; Hitler's Germany went down after its orgies of anti-Semitism; Britain lost her empire when she broke her faith with Israel." (Barnhouse)

ii. This is also one reason why the United States has been so blessed. The United States was one of the first modern nations to grant full citizenship and protection to Jewish people.

iii. This promise has also affected the church. The times when the church took upon itself the persecution of the Jewish people were dark times not only for the Jews, but also for the church.

f. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed: Not only was Abram promised blessing, but God also promised to make him a blessing, even to the point where all the families of the earth would be blessed in Abram.

i. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:8-9)

ii. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9). The work of Jesus will touch every people group on the earth.

iii. Luther said the promise in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed should be written "in golden letters and should be extolled in the languages of all people," for "who else … has dispensed this blessing among all nations except the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ?" (Boice)

2. (4) Abram's departure from Haran.

So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

a. And Lot went with him: This is partial obedience by Abram. God commanded him to go out from his kindred, and he brought his nephew Lot.

b. Lot went with him: Lot will not be a blessing to Abram. He will be nothing but trouble and inconvenience.

3. (5-6) Abram's arrival in Canaan.

Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.

4. (7-9) God appears to Abram in Canaan.

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

a. Then the LORD appeared to Abram: Once Abram was in the land, God reminded him of His promise. The land Abram saw belonged to Abram and his descendants.

b. To your descendants I will give this land: Abram never owned any of this land except his burial plot (Genesis 23:14-20). Yet God's promise was enough evidence to assure Abram that he did indeed own the whole country.

c. And there he built an altar to the LORD: Abram thought this was important to do. The altar was important to Abram because it was a place to meet with God, to offer sacrifice for sin, to show submission to God, and to worship God.

i. Christians have an altar also (Hebrews 13:10). We meet with God at our own place where we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for sin (Ephesians 5:2), where we submit to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), and where we offer the sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15).

d. He pitched his tent: Even in the land God gave him, Abram never lived in a house - he lived in a tent. Tents are the home of those who are just passing through and do not put down permanent roots.

i. We too are to live like tent-dwellers, as pilgrims on this earth (1 Peter 2:11). We should live as people who have their permanent dwelling place in heaven, not on earth. Too many Christians want to build mansions on earth and think they would be happy with tents in heaven.

ii. A pilgrim is someone who leaves home and travels to a specific destination. A pilgrim isn't a drifter; a pilgrim has a goal. Abram's goal (and our goal) was God's heavenly city (Hebrews 11:8-10, 14-16).

B. Abram in Egypt.

1. (10) Abram's faith is tested by famine.

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.

a. There was a famine in the land: Abram was not wrong for being concerned about famine and feeding his family, but Abram was wrong in thinking God would not provide for his needs in the place where God called him to live. After all, God called Abram to Canaan, not to Egypt.

i. Abram, like most of us, found it easier to trust God in the far-off promises than in the right-now needs.

b. Abraham went down to Egypt: When we are tested in this way, we often believe our actions are all right because no harm can come. Though God blesssed and protected Abram even in Egypt, he came away with excess baggage and a rebuke from a pagan king. Harm came.

i. The harm especially shows up later when a slave girl named Hagar - whom Sari received when in Egypt - is a source of great trouble to this family.

2. (11-13) Sensing potential danger in Egypt, Abram persuades Sarai to lie on his behalf.

And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you."

a. I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance: We are first struck at Abram's concern over his 60-year-old wife's attractiveness to the Egyptians. This shows Sarai was not only a woman of particular beauty, but also that not every culture worships youthful appearance the way modern culture does.

i. The long life span of Abram and Sarai also explains her beauty. Since Abram lived to be 175 and Sarai to be 127, this was only middle age for her, perhaps corresponding to what we think of as her thirties.

ii. A Jewish legend says when Abram went into Egypt, he tried to hide Sarai in a casket. When Egyptian customs officials asked what he had in the casket, he said, "barley." "No," they said, "it contains wheat." "Very well," answered Abram. "I'll pay the custom on wheat." Then the officers said it contained pepper. Abram said he would pay the custom charges on pepper. Then the officers said it contained gold. Abram said he would pay the custom charges on gold. Then the officers said it contained precious stones. Abram said he would pay the custom charges on precious stones. By this time, the officers insisted on opening the casket. When they did, all of Egypt shined with the beauty of Sarai. These same legends say that in comparison to Sarai, all other women looked like monkeys. She was even more beautiful than Eve.

b. Please say you are my sister: This was in fact a half-truth. Sarai was Abram's half sister (Genesis 20:12). Yet a half-truth is a whole lie. Abram's intent here was clearly to deceive, and he trusted in his deception to protect him instead of trusting in the LORD.

i. If you want to do something wrong, you can find some good reasons to do it. If you can't think of the reasons yourself, the devil is happy to suggest them.

ii. Ideally Abram would say, "God promised me children, and I don't have them yet; therefore, I know I am indestructible until God's promise is fulfilled, because God's promises are always true."

3. (14-15) Sarai is taken into Pharaoh's house.

So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.

a. The woman was taken into Pharaoh's house: Understanding the place Abram and Sarai have in God's redemptive plan, we realize how serious this is. God did not want Sari's womb to be defiled by a gentile king, because the Messiah will come from her line of descendants.

4. (16-20) Abram leaves Egypt after being rebuked by a heathen king.

He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

a. He treated Abram well for her sake: God blessed Abram even when he didn't do what he should. God continued to protect Abram, even when Abram acted like a liar. God did not call back His promise to Abram because the promise depended on God, not on Abram.

b. What is this you have done to me? Sadly, a pagan king had to rebuke Abram. The king shows Abram if he trusted in God and told the truth, everything would have been all right.

i. But God is in the business of growing Abram into a man of great faith, and this requires circumstances where Abram must trust God. "Faith is not a mushroom that grows overnight in damp soil; it is an oak tree that grows for a thousand years under the blast of the wind and rain." (Barnhouse)

 

One of the prophets given the most attention in the Quran is the prophet Abraham. The Quran tells of him and his unwavering belief in God, first calling him to reject his people and their idolatry, and later to prove true to various tests which God places before him.

In Islam, Abraham is seen as a strict monotheist who calls his people to the worship of God alone. For this belief, he bears great hardships, even disassociating himself with his family and people through migration to various lands. He is one who fulfills various commandments of God though which he is tested, proving true to each one.

Due to this strength of faith, the Quran attributes the one and only true religion to be the “Path of Abraham”, even though prophets before him, such as Noah, called to the same faith. Because of his tireless act of obedience to God, He gave him the special title of “Khaleel”, or beloved servant, not given to any other Prophet before. Due to the excellence of Abraham, God made prophets from his progeny, from them Ishmael Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and Moses, guiding people to the truth.

The lofty status of Abraham is one shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. The Jews see him to be epitome of virtue as he fulfilled all the commandments although before they were revealed, and was the first to come to the realization of the One True God. He is seen as the father of the chosen race, the father of prophets due to which God started his series of revelations. In Christianity, he is seen as the father of all believers (Romans 4:11) and his trust in God and sacrifice is taken as a model for later saints (Hebrews 11).

As Abraham is given such importance, it is worthy that one study his life and investigate those aspects which raised him to the level which God gave him.

Although the Quran and the Sunnah do not given the details of the whole life of Abraham, they do mention certain facts worthy of note. As with other Quranic and biblical figures, the Quran and Sunnah detail aspects of their lives as a clarification of some misguided beliefs of previous revealed religions, or those aspects which contain certain mottos and morals worthy of note and emphasis.

His Name

In the Quran, the only name given to Abraham is “Ibraheem” and “Ibrahaam”, all sharing the original root, b-r-h-m. Although in the Bible Abraham is known as Abram at first, and then God is said to change his name to Abraham, the Quran has kept silent on this subject, neither affirming nor negating it. Modern Judeo-Christian scholars do doubt, however, in story of the changing of his names and their respective meanings, calling it “popular world play”. Assyriologists suggest that the Hebrew letter Hê (h) in the Minnean dialect is written in stead of a long ‘a’ (ā), and that the difference between Abraham and Abram is merely dialectical.[1] The same can be said for the names Sarai and Sarah, as their meanings are also identical.[2]

His Homeland

Abraham is estimated to have been born 2,166 years before Jesus in or around the Mesopotamian[3] city of Ur[4], 200 miles southeast of present-day Baghdad[5]. His father was ‘Aazar’, ‘Terah’ or ‘Terakh’ in the Bible, an idol worshipper, who was from the descendants of Shem, the son of Noah. Some scholars of exegesis suggest that he may have been called Azar after an idol he was devoted to.[6] He is likely to have been Akkadian, a Semitic people from the Arabian Peninsula who settled in Mesopotamia sometime in the third millennium BCE.

It seems as if Azar migrated along with some of his relatives to the city of Haran in the early childhood of Abraham before the confrontation with his people, although some Judeo-Christian traditions[7] tell it to be later in his life after he is rejected in his native city. In the Bible, Haran, one of the brothers of Abraham is said to have died in Ur, “in the land of his nativity” (Genesis 11:28), but he was much older than Abraham, as his other brother Nahor takes Haran’s daughter as a wife (Genesis 11:29). The bible also makes no mention of the migration of Abraham to Haran, rather the first command to migrate is that out of Haran, as if they had settled there before (Genesis 12:1-5). If we take the first command to mean the emigration from Ur to Canaan, there seems to be no reason that Abraham would dwell with his family in Haran, leaving his father there and proceeding to Canaan thereafter, not to mention its geographical improbability [See map].

The Quran does mention the migration of Abraham, but it does so after Abraham disassociates himself from his father and tribesmen due to their disbelief. If he had been in Ur at that time, it seems unlikely that his father would go with him to Haran after disbelieving and torturing him along with his townspeople. As to why they chose to migrate, archaeological evidence suggests that Ur was a great city which saw its rise and fall within the lifetime of Abraham[8], so they may have been forced to leave due to environmental hardships. They may have chosen Haran due to it sharing the same religion as Ur[9].

 

The Religion of Mesopotamia

Archeological discoveries from the time of Abraham paint a vivid picture of the religious life of Mesopotamia. Its inhabitants were polytheists who believed in a pantheon, in which each god had a sphere of influence. The large temple dedicated to the Akkadian[10] moon god, Sin, was the main centre of Ur. Haran also had the moon as the central godhead. This temple was believed to be the physical home of God. The chief god of the temple was a wooden idol with additional idols, or ‘gods’, to serve him

 

Description: An introduction to the person of Abraham and the lofty position he holds in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike.
By IslamReligion.com
Published on 27 Mar 2006 - Last modified on 16 Oct 2011
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Category: Articles > Beliefs of Islam > Stories of the Prophets
One of the prophets given the most attention in the Quran is the prophet Abraham. The Quran tells of him and his unwavering belief in God, first calling him to reject his people and their idolatry, and later to prove true to various tests which God places before him.

In Islam, Abraham is seen as a strict monotheist who calls his people to the worship of God alone. For this belief, he bears great hardships, even disassociating himself with his family and people through migration to various lands. He is one who fulfills various commandments of God though which he is tested, proving true to each one.

Due to this strength of faith, the Quran attributes the one and only true religion to be the “Path of Abraham”, even though prophets before him, such as Noah, called to the same faith. Because of his tireless act of obedience to God, He gave him the special title of “Khaleel”, or beloved servant, not given to any other Prophet before. Due to the excellence of Abraham, God made prophets from his progeny, from them Ishmael Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and Moses, guiding people to the truth.

The lofty status of Abraham is one shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. The Jews see him to be epitome of virtue as he fulfilled all the commandments although before they were revealed, and was the first to come to the realization of the One True God. He is seen as the father of the chosen race, the father of prophets due to which God started his series of revelations. In Christianity, he is seen as the father of all believers (Romans 4:11) and his trust in God and sacrifice is taken as a model for later saints (Hebrews 11).

As Abraham is given such importance, it is worthy that one study his life and investigate those aspects which raised him to the level which God gave him.

Although the Quran and the Sunnah do not given the details of the whole life of Abraham, they do mention certain facts worthy of note. As with other Quranic and biblical figures, the Quran and Sunnah detail aspects of their lives as a clarification of some misguided beliefs of previous revealed religions, or those aspects which contain certain mottos and morals worthy of note and emphasis.

His Name

In the Quran, the only name given to Abraham is “Ibraheem” and “Ibrahaam”, all sharing the original root, b-r-h-m. Although in the Bible Abraham is known as Abram at first, and then God is said to change his name to Abraham, the Quran has kept silent on this subject, neither affirming nor negating it. Modern Judeo-Christian scholars do doubt, however, in story of the changing of his names and their respective meanings, calling it “popular world play”. Assyriologists suggest that the Hebrew letter Hê (h) in the Minnean dialect is written in stead of a long ‘a’ (ā), and that the difference between Abraham and Abram is merely dialectical.[1] The same can be said for the names Sarai and Sarah, as their meanings are also identical.[2]

His Homeland

Abraham is estimated to have been born 2,166 years before Jesus in or around the Mesopotamian[3] city of Ur[4], 200 miles southeast of present-day Baghdad[5]. His father was ‘Aazar’, ‘Terah’ or ‘Terakh’ in the Bible, an idol worshipper, who was from the descendants of Shem, the son of Noah. Some scholars of exegesis suggest that he may have been called Azar after an idol he was devoted to.[6] He is likely to have been Akkadian, a Semitic people from the Arabian Peninsula who settled in Mesopotamia sometime in the third millennium BCE.

It seems as if Azar migrated along with some of his relatives to the city of Haran in the early childhood of Abraham before the confrontation with his people, although some Judeo-Christian traditions[7] tell it to be later in his life after he is rejected in his native city. In the Bible, Haran, one of the brothers of Abraham is said to have died in Ur, “in the land of his nativity” (Genesis 11:28), but he was much older than Abraham, as his other brother Nahor takes Haran’s daughter as a wife (Genesis 11:29). The bible also makes no mention of the migration of Abraham to Haran, rather the first command to migrate is that out of Haran, as if they had settled there before (Genesis 12:1-5). If we take the first command to mean the emigration from Ur to Canaan, there seems to be no reason that Abraham would dwell with his family in Haran, leaving his father there and proceeding to Canaan thereafter, not to mention its geographical improbability [See map].

The Quran does mention the migration of Abraham, but it does so after Abraham disassociates himself from his father and tribesmen due to their disbelief. If he had been in Ur at that time, it seems unlikely that his father would go with him to Haran after disbelieving and torturing him along with his townspeople. As to why they chose to migrate, archaeological evidence suggests that Ur was a great city which saw its rise and fall within the lifetime of Abraham[8], so they may have been forced to leave due to environmental hardships. They may have chosen Haran due to it sharing the same religion as Ur[9].



The Religion of Mesopotamia

Archeological discoveries from the time of Abraham paint a vivid picture of the religious life of Mesopotamia. Its inhabitants were polytheists who believed in a pantheon, in which each god had a sphere of influence. The large temple dedicated to the Akkadian[10] moon god, Sin, was the main centre of Ur. Haran also had the moon as the central godhead. This temple was believed to be the physical home of God. The chief god of the temple was a wooden idol with additional idols, or ‘gods’, to serve him.



The Great Ziggurat of Ur, the temple of moon god Nanna, also known as Sin. Shot in 2004, the photograph is courtesy of Lasse Jensen.

Knowledge of God

Although Judeo-Christian scholars have differed as to when Abraham came to know God, at the age of three, ten, or forty-eight[11], the Quran is silent in mentioning the exact age at which Abraham received his first revelation. It seems it was, however, when he was young in age, as the Quran calls him a young man when his people try to execute him for rejecting their idols, and Abraham himself said to have knowledge not available to his father when he called him to worship God alone before his call spread to his people (19:43). The Quran is clear, however, in saying that he was one of the prophets to whom a scripture was revealed:

“Verily! This is in the former Scriptures. The Scriptures of Abraham and Moses.” (Quran 87:18-19)

 

Exodus 20

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
A. Four commandments regarding our conduct before God.

1. (1-3) The first commandment: no other gods before Me.

And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

a. I am the LORD your God: Before God commanded anything of man, He declared who He is and what He did for Israel (who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage). The foundation is clear: because of who God is, and what He has done for us, He has the right to tell us what to do - and we have the obligation to obey Him.

b. God spoke all these words: The following laws were not "invented" here at Mount Sinai. A few aspects of the Mosaic Law brought forth new revelation, but for the most part this simply clearly and definitely lays out God's law as it was written in the heart of man since the time of Adam.

i. In his book The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis explains how there certainly is a universal morality among men. He gives concrete examples of how all cultures in the past were able to agree on the basics of morality because these principles are implanted in the heart of man.

ii. All cultures have said murder is wrong, and kindness is good. All agree that we have particular obligations to our family. All say that honesty is good and that a man cannot have any woman he wants. They agree that stealing is wrong and that justice is good. There are no cultures where cowardice is good and bravery is bad.

iii. Yet in our modern world there has been a massive shift, to the point where 63% of Americans reject the concept of moral absolutes, saying that it all depends on the situation. People think that if there is one case where a lie is justified (say to save the life of someone else), then it is wrong to say that it is wrong to lie.

iv. This thinking goes to absurd lengths. In 1990, media mogul Ted Turner distributed copies of his "10 Voluntary Initiatives," hoping to replace the Ten Commandments.

c. You shall have no other gods before Me: The first commandment logically flows from understanding who God is and what He has done for us. Nothing is to come before God and He is the only God we worship and serve.

i. In the days of ancient Israel, there was great temptation to worship the gods of materialism (Baal, the god of weather and financial success) and sex (Ashtoreth, the goddess of sex, romance, and reproduction), or any number of other local deities. We are tempted to worship the same gods, but without the old-fashioned names and images.

d. No other gods before Me: This does not imply that it is permissible to have other gods, as long as they line up behind the true God. Instead the idea is that there are to be no other gods before the sight of the true God in our life. Before Me is literally, "to My face".

i. This means God demands to be more than "added" to our lives. We don't just add Jesus to the life we already have. We must give Him all our lives.

ii. Failure to obey this commandment is called idolatry. We are to flee idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14). Those lives marked by habitual idolatry will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5, Revelation 21:8, 22:15). Idolatry is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-20), which marks our old life instead of the new (1 Peter 4:3), and we are not to associate with those who call themselves Christians who are idolaters (1 Corinthians 5:11).

2. (4-6) The second commandment: You shall not make for yourself any carved image … you shall not bow down to them.

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

a. You shall not make for yourself a carved image: The second commandment prohibits not only idolatry regarding false gods, it also deals with making an image of any created thing which we might worship.

b. Or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath: In that day as well as in our own, worship was tied closely with images - idealized images, or even images in the mind of man. God will not allow us to depict Him with any such image, nor replace Him with another image.

i. The second commandment doesn't forbid making an image of something for artistic purposes; God Himself commanded Israel make images of cherubim (Exodus 25:18, 26:31). It forbids the making of images as an "aid" to worship.

ii. "To countenance its image worship, the Roman Catholic Church has left the whole of this second commandment out of the decalogue, and thus lost one whole commandment out of the ten; but to keep up the number they have divided the tenth into two." (Clarke)

iii. John 4:24 explains the rationale behind the second commandment: God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. The use of images and other material things as a focus or "help" to worship denies who God is (Spirit) and how we must worship Him (in spirit and truth).

iv. Paul reminds us of the futility of trying to make God into our own image: Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:22-23)

c. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God: How can it be said that God is a jealous God? "God's jealousy is love in action. He refuses to share the human heart with any rival, not because He is selfish and wants us all for Himself, but because He knows that upon that loyalty to Him depends our very moral life … God is not jealous of us: He is jealous for us." (Redpath)

d. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me: This does not mean God punishes us directly for the sins of our ancestors. The important words are of those who hate Me - if the descendants love God, they will not have the iniquity of the fathers visited on them.

i. "'This necessarily implies - IF the children walk in the steps of their fathers; for no man can be condemned by Divine justice for a crime of which he was never guilty." (Clarke)

ii. Yet, the focus here is on idolatry, and this refers to judgment on a national scale - nations that forsake the LORD will be judged, and that judgment will have effects throughout generations.

3. (7) The third commandment: You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

a. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: We can break the third commandment through profanity (using the name of God in blasphemy and cursing), frivolity (using the name of God in a superficial, stupid way), and hypocrisy (claiming the name of God but acting in a way that disgraces Him).

i. Jesus communicated the idea of this command in the disciple's prayer, when He taught us to have a regard for the holiness of God's name (Hallowed be Your name, Matthew 6:9).

b. For the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain: The strength of this command has led to strange traditions among the Jewish people. Some go to extreme lengths in attempting to fulfill this command, refusing to even write out the name of God, in the fear that the paper might be destroyed and the name of God be written in vain.

4. (8-11) The fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath day.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

a. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: The seventh day (Saturday) was commanded to be respected as a day of rest. This rest was for all of Israel- servants and slaves as well as visitors.

i. This is an important principle that might be too easily passed over. Here God declared the essential humanity and dignity of women, slaves, and strangers, and said they had the same right to a day of rest as the free Israeli man. This was certainly a radical concept in the ancient world.

b. To keep it holy: In their traditions, the Jewish people came to carefully quantify what they thought could and could not be done on the Sabbath day, in order to keep it holy.

i. For example, in Luke 6:1-2, in the mind of the Jewish leaders, the disciples were guilty of four violations of the Sabbath every time they took a bite of grain out in the field, because they reaped, threshed, winnowed, and prepared food.

ii. Ancient Rabbis taught that on the Sabbath, a man could not carry something in his right hand or in his left hand, across his chest or on his shoulder. But he could carry something with the back of his hand, his foot, his elbow, or in his ear, his hair, or in the hem of his shirt, or in his shoe or sandal. Or, on the Sabbath, you Israelites were forbidden to tie a knot - except, a woman could tie a knot in her girdle. So, if a bucket of water had to be raised from a well, an Israelite could not tie a rope to the bucket, but a woman could tie her girdle to the bucket and pull it up from the well.

iii. In observant Jewish homes today, one cannot turn on a light, a stove, or a switch on the Sabbath. It is forbidden to drive a certain distance or to make a telephone call - all carefully regulated by traditions seeking to spell out the law exactly.

c. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth: God established the pattern for the Sabbath at the time of creation. When He rested from His works on the seventh day, God made the seventh day a day of rest from all our works (Genesis 2:3). But the most important purpose of the Sabbath was to serve as a shadow of the rest we have in Jesus.

i. Some claim that Christians are required to keep the Sabbath today. But the New Testament makes it clear that Christians are not under obligation to observe a Sabbath day (Colossians 2:16-17 and Galatians 4:9-11), because Jesus fulfilled the purpose and plan of the Sabbath for us and in us (Hebrews 4:9-11).

ii. Galatians 4:10 tells us that Christians are not bound to observe days and months and seasons and years. The rest we enter into as Christians is something to experience every day, not just one day a week - the rest of knowing we don't have to work to save ourselves, but our salvation is accomplished in Jesus (Hebrews 4:9-10).

iii. The Sabbath commanded here and observed by Israel was a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ (Colossians 2:16-17). We have a rest in Jesus that is ours to live in every day. Therefore, since the shadow of the Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus, we are free to keep any day - or no day - as a Sabbath after the custom of ancient Israel.

iv. However, though we are free from the legal obligation of the Sabbath, we dare not ignore the importance of a day of rest - God has built us so that we need one. Like a car that needs regular maintenance, we need regular rest - or we will not "wear" well. Some people are like high mileage cars that haven't been maintained well, and it shows.

v. Some Christians are also dogmatic about observing Saturday as the Sabbath as opposed to Sunday. But because we are free to regard all days as given to God, it makes no difference. But in some ways, Sunday is more appropriate; being the day Jesus rose from the dead (Mark 16:9), and first met with His disciples (John 20:19), and a day when Christians gathered for fellowship (Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2). Under Law, men worked towards God's rest; but after Jesus' finished work on the cross, the believer enters into rest and goes from that rest out to work.

vi. But we are also commanded to work six days. "He who idles his time away in the six days is equally culpable in the sight of God as he who works on the seventh." (Clarke) Many Christians should give more "leisure time" to the work of the LORD. Every Christian should have a deliberate was to serve God and advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

B. Six commandments regarding our conduct before God and man.

1. (12) The fifth commandment: Honor your father and your mother.

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

a. Honor your father and your mother: Honor for fathers and mothers is an essential building block for the stability and health of all society. If the younger generations are constantly at war with older generations, the foundations of society will be destroyed.

i. Jesus used the way the Pharisees interpreted this commandment as an example of how one might keep the law with a limited interpretation, yet violate the spirit of the commandment (Matthew 15:3-6).

b. That your days may be long: In Ephesians 6:2 Paul repeated this command, emphasizing the promise stated here: that your days may be long upon the land. Rebellion is costly, and many have paid a high price personally for their rebellion against their parents.

2. (13) The sixth commandment: You shall not murder.

"You shall not murder.

a. You shall not murder: Some wonder how God can approve both capital punishment (Exodus 19:12) and this prohibition of murder. The simple answer is that in Hebrew as well as English, there is a distinction between to kill and to murder. As opposed to killing, murder is the taking of life without legal justification (execution after due process) or moral justification (killing in defense).

b. You shall not murder: Jesus carefully explained the heart of this commandment. He showed that it also prohibits us from hating someone else (Matthew 5:21-26), because we can wish someone dead in our hearts, yet never have the "courage" to commit the deed. Someone may not kill from a lack of courage or initiative, though his or her heart is filled with hatred.

3. (14) The seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

"You shall not commit adultery.

a. You shall not commit adultery: Recognize that the act itself is condemned. God allows no justification for the ways that many people often seek to justify extra-marital sex, such as saying "my partner doesn't understand me" or "we are in love" or "God led us to be with each other" or any other excuse.

i. Michael English, who lost his recording contract and marriage over adultery with another Christian music singer, says of his adultery and its aftermath: "Maybe God allowed this to happen to make me see I needed some freedom." No!

b. You shall not commit adultery: The New Testament clearly condemns adultery: Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication uncleanness, licentiousness … (Galatians 5:19). But more than the act itself, Jesus carefully explained the heart of this commandment. It prohibits us from looking at a woman to lust for her, where we commit adultery in our heart or mind, yet may not have the courage or opportunity to do the act (Matthew 5:27-30). We aren't innocent just because we didn't have the opportunity to sin the way we really wanted to.

4. (15) The eighth commandment: You shall not steal.

"You shall not steal.

a. Not steal: This command is another important foundation for human society, establishing the right to personal property. God has clearly entrusted certain possessions to certain individuals, and other people or states are not permitted to take that property without due process of law.

b. Not steal: We can also steal from God. Of course, this demands we honor God with our financial resources, so we are not guilty of robbing Him (Malachi 3:8-10). But we can also rob God by refusing to give Him ourselves for obedience and His service, because He bought us and owns us: knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold … but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19); For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:20).

c. Not steal: Ephesians 4:28 gives the solution to stealing. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

5. (16) The ninth commandment: You shall not bear false witness.

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

a. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor: We can break the ninth commandment through slander, talebearing, creating false impressions, by silence, by questioning the motives behind someone's actions, or even by flattery.

i. "Slander … is a lie invented and spread with intent to do harm. That is the worst form of injury a person can do to another. Compared to one who does this, a gangster is a gentleman, and a murderer is kind, because he ends life in a moment with a stroke and with little pain. But the man guilty of slander ruins a reputation which may never be regained, and causes lifelong suffering." (Redpath)

ii. "Talebearing … is repeating a report about a person without careful investigation. Many, many times I have known what it is to suffer with that. To repeat a story which brings discredit and dishonor to another person without making sure of the facts, is breaking this commandment … How many people, especially Christian people, revel in this, and delight in working havoc by telling tales about others. To excuse the action by saying they believed the report to be true, or that there was no intention to malign, is no justification." (Redpath)

iii. What about inappropriate silence? "When someone utters a falsity about another and a third person is present who knows that statement to be untrue but, for reasons of fear or being disliked, remains quiet, that third person is as guilty of breaking this law as if he had told a lie." (Redpath)

b. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor: The New Testament puts it simply. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds (Colossians 3:9) "How very strange that we have ever come to think that Christian maturity is shown by the ability to speak our minds, whereas it is really expressed in controlling our tongues." (Redpath)

i. "What a startling revelation it would be if a tape recording could be played of all that every church member has said about his fellow members in one week!" (Redpath)

ii. Satan is always there to encourage a lie (John 8:44; Acts 5:3); and Jesus Himself was the victim of false witness (Mark 14:57); in some ways, we might say this was the sin that sent Jesus to the cross.

6. (17) The tenth commandment: You shall not covet.

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

a. You shall not covet: All the first nine commands focus more on things we do; the tenth deals straight with the heart and its desires.

i. Literally, the word for "covet" here means "to pant after." Covetousness works like this: the eyes look upon an object, the mind admires it, the will goes over to it, and the body moves in to possess it. Just because you have not taken the final step does not mean you are not in the process of coveting right now.

b. Your neighbor's house … wife … ox … donkey: Covetousness can be expressed towards all sorts of things; it is the itch to have and to possess what someone else has. It speaks of a dissatisfaction with what we have, and a jealously towards those who have something "better."

i. Hebrews 13:5 puts it well: Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

ii. This last commandment is closely connected with the first commandment against idolatry: For this you know, that no … covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (Ephesians 5:5).

iii. Jesus gave a special warning about covetousness, which explained the core philosophy of the covetous heart: And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." (Luke 12:15)

C. Thoughts on the Ten Commandments and the system of law in general.

1. The purpose of the law was not to give us a standard we could achieve, and then be counted righteous before God. The purpose of the law was first to show us God's perfect standard, and second, to show how it is impossible for any of us to obey that standard.

a. The law is a schoolmaster to us (Galatians 3:22-25). Before God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ was fully evident, we were kept under guard by the law - both in the sense of being bound by the law, but also held in protective custody.

b. The law, through its revelation of God's character and its exposure of our sin, prepares us to come to Jesus- but after we have come, we no longer have to live under our tutor (though we remember the behavior he has taught us).

c. If someone doesn't present the law in a manner that brings people to faith in Jesus, they aren't presenting the law properly - the way Jesus Himself presented it (Matthew 5:17-48).

2. Are the Ten Commandments valid for today? Certainly, each of the ten are, because they reflect the unchanging nature of God.

a. Each of the Ten Commandments is referred to in the New Testament, including the Sabbath - which is not disregarded, but understood to have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

b. Jesus fulfilled the law for us, so we could obey it in Him: That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)

i. "The great message of the Christian faith is, therefore, that we are free from the Law's condemnation in order that we may be able to fulfill its obligation by the power of [Jesus] within us." (Redpath)

ii. "My obedience therefore is not legal, but inspired by love and empowered by God's Holy Spirit. Does New Testament grace allow a lower standard than Old Testament law? The standard under grace is higher." (Redpath)

3. The Ten Commandments can be condensed, and were by Jesus.

a. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus explained that all the law - including the Ten Commandments - can be fulfilled by loving God with every thing we are and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

i. The key to obedience is therefore the love of God in our lives - something the law itself could not give, but Jesus Christ does.

ii. Knowing the law, how we cannot obey it perfectly, and how we need the love of God to do so should drive us to the love of God: Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5)

b. All six commandments relating to our conduct towards other people can be summed up in love; love fulfills the law and the commandments. (Romans 13:8-10)

4. There is also a sense in which the law "excites" sin within us. I didn't know how to "really" rebel against God until He told me His standard (Romans 7:8-9). This doesn't mean the law is bad, but it does mean that it, in itself, cannot save me from sin.

a. This doesn't make the law evil; it simply shows how evil I am - capable of taking something as good and holy as God's law and using it as a prompting to evil.

5. When Jesus taught on the law and its true meaning (Matthew 5:17-48), He made several things clear:

a. Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).

b. Doing and teaching the law is important until the end of time (Matthew 5:19).

c. To be saved, we must have a righteousness that exceeds the scrupulous law-keeping of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).

d. The law must be kept in its full spirit and intent, not in its letter only (Matthew 5:21-47).

e. The law presents us God's perfect standard, and it requires this perfection from us (Matthew 5:48).

i. If a man could live the way Jesus has told us to in this chapter, he would truly be perfect. He would never hate, slander or speak evil of another person. He would never lust in his heart or mind, and not covet anything. He would never make a false oath, and always be completely truthful. He would let God defend his personal rights, and not take it upon himself to defend those rights. He would always love his neighbors, and even his enemies!

ii. Such a man would truly have a righteousness greater than the scribe and the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20), the very thing we must have to enter into God's Kingdom.

iii. But there is only one man who has lived like this: Jesus Christ. What about the rest of us? Are we left out of the Kingdom of God?

iv. Jesus has demonstrated we need a righteousness apart from the law: But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. (Romans 3:21-22)

D. The nation's great fear of the presence of God.

1. (18) The people stand afar off.

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

a. All the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning: Awesome sights and sounds coming from Mount Sinai accompanied the delivery of the law. This impressive delivery did nothing to draw the people closer to God; it only made them stand afar off.

2. (19) The request of the people.

Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

a. You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us: Thus far, the giving of the law had one of its intended effects - showing us just how far man falls short of God's glory. The people of Israel, from both the content of the law and the display of God's glory, knew that God was perfect and holy and they were not.

i. Sadly, at a later time, Israel interpreted the law to make it "keepable," and removed the heart and intent of the law (Matthew 5:17-48). This progressed to the point where Saul of Tarsus said of himself, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, [I was counted] blameless (Philippians 3:6).

b. Lest we die: Coming close to God made them afraid of His holy power; they feared they would die if it continued.

i. This is a typical reaction of those who came into the presence of God, such as Isaiah, who felt undone before God (Isaiah 6:1-5) and John, who fell as a dead man before the Lord (Revelation 1:17).

c. Let not God speak with us: They didn't want God to speak directly to them anymore, as He spoke the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. Instead, they wanted Moses to mediate between them and God.

i. Man's desire for a mediator - someone to act as a go-between with us a God - is only good if it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, for there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

3. (20) The purpose for this fear.

And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin."

a. Do not fear; for God has come to test you: Fear can keep us from sin for a while, but will usually fade in its power over time. The fear Israel experienced here at Mount Sinai faded enough over 40 days so that they danced around a golden calf, proclaiming it as the God that brought them out of Egypt.

b. That His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin: Though it is better to obey God out of fear than to disobey Him, God's ultimate motivation for obedience is love. This is clear from 1 John 4:18-19: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.

4. (21) Moses draws near.

So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

a. So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near: Moses had a relationship with God the common man in Israel did not have. Through the circumstances of his life and the direct revelation of God, Moses was aware of both God's holy power and also of God's glorious grace.

b. Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was: Moses knew what it was to be guilty and forgiven by God, and he knew what it was to be used because of grace. Moses remembered that if God was interested in killing him, He could have done it a long time before this.

E. Laws concerning worship and altars.

1. (22-23) The purity of worship.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with Me; gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.

a. You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven: The laws to follow are much more than God's "house rules." They are founded on who He is and how He reveals Himself to His people.

b. You shall not make anything to be with Me; gods of silver or gods of gold: The giving of the law begins with keeping the heart pure in worship. If our worship can be corrupted, it eventually touches every other area of our lives for evil.

2. (24-26) Instructions for altars and sacrifice.

'An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.'

a. An altar of earth you shall make for Me: God did not need an ornate or elaborate altar; an altar of earth was sufficient.

i. Of course, with God's ultimate altar, a few wooden beams were sufficient.

b. You shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings: The distinction between burnt offerings and peace offerings will be given in greater detail later. Yet the mere mention of them at the outset of the giving of the law indicates that man cannot keep the law, and must have sacrifice to deal with this inability.

c. I will bless you: This is a promise first mentioned in connection with atoning sacrifice. Though there is blessing in keeping the law, we ultimately are only blessed by the law if we keep the entire law - therefore we seek and find blessing from God on the basis of His atoning sacrifice.

d. You shall not build it of hewn stone: If an altar were made of stone, God did not want the glory of the stone carver to be the center of attention at His altar. God, at His altar, wanted to share glory with no man - the beauty and attractiveness would be found only in the provision of God, not in any fleshly display.

e. Nor shall you go up by steps: God wanted no display of human flesh at His place of covering sacrifice. Steps might allow the leg of the priest to be seen. God doesn't want to see our flesh in worship.

i. What God does want from us in worship is seen by Jesus' statement in John 4:24: God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. God wants worship that is characterized by Spirit (as opposed to flesh) and truth (as opposed to deception or mere feeling)

 

Genesis 13

GOD PROMISES ABRAM THE LAND AGAIN
A. Abram and Lot separate.

1. (1-4) Abram returns to the land promised to him.

Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

a. To the place where his tent had been at the beginning: Even though Abram came back from Egypt with great riches, he returned to the same place as before. He was right back where he started. Essentially, Abram's time in Egypt was wasted time. God could have and would have provided for his needs in Canaan.

i. Abram should not have used the blessing God brought to him in Egypt as a justification for going there. Even though God is great enough to bring good even when we disobey, there is still a cost to pay.

ii. Abram's unbelief took him from his place of worship; it led him into sin, and caused him to lead others into sin. It made him more confident in his ability to lie than in the protecting power of God. It even broke apart his family for a while. Finally, even an ungodly king rightly rebuked him.

b. To the place of the altar which he had made there at first: Yet, Abram also did what he should. Instead of torturing himself about his past sin, he got busy doing what he needed to do: living with the tent as a pilgrim and the altar as a worshipper, and calling on the name of the LORD.

i. The church has always had the challenge of what to do with believers who slip into sin and want to come back into the church. For example, in the third century, the heroes of the faith were the martyrs and the confessors, but there were also many "lapsed" believers who buckled under the threat of persecution. Some churches were too lax, admitting them back as if nothing happened. Some were too harsh, saying they could never come back to the church and be used of God. Most churches did the right thing: they allowed the lapsed back, but basically as beginners again, not pretending as if nothing happened.

ii. Here, Abram came back into the Promised Land basically as a beginner. He came back to Bethel, back with the tent and the altar, back doing what he should.

iii. God wants us to walk in our first love and our first works (Revelation 2:4-5).

2. (5-7) Contention between Abram's and Lot's hired workers.

Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

a. Lot also, who went with Abram: God commanded Abram to leave his family behind when he came to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1), but Abram brought his nephew Lot along with him. Trouble like this was the result.

i. This conflict came now, when Abram did the right thing. When we get right with God, we can often expect attack from the devil.

b. There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock: Something had to be done about this strife between the estates of Abram and Lot, because they could not continue a conflict like this before the unbelieving inhabitants of Canaan.

i. When the Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land, and saw the men of Abram and Lot fighting, they must have thought, "Oh, they're just like us. They say they worship another God, a God they say is the true God, but I see they are really just like us."

ii. "Many people will never listen to what any believer says because of what some believers are." (Barnhouse)

c. Their possessions were so great: This is the first mention of wealth in the Bible. There was a great difference between the riches of Abram and the riches of Lot. They both had great wealth, but Lot's wealth possessed him. Abram had great possessions, but they did not possess him.

3. (8-9) Abram's generous offer to Lot.

So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left."

a. Is not the whole land before you? Since Abram was the eldest, and gave all the land to Abram (not to Lot), it was pure generosity on Abram's part that caused him to make this offer to Lot.

b. If you take the left, then I will go to the right: Abram was able to fight when the occasion demanded it. He did not yield to Lot out of weakness, but out of love and trust in God. A few acres of grazing land didn't seem worth fighting for to a man with an eternal perspective.

i. God was glorified when Paul, out of love, waived his right to be supported by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14-18). God was glorified when Jesus, out of love, waived his right to an existence which knew no human suffering or trial by experience (Philippians 2:5-11).

ii. Abram fulfilled the New Testament principle of love: Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)

c. If you go to the right, then I will go to the left: Right or left, Abram knew he could trust God. He did it because he learned God would provide for his needs, and he did not have to worry about being too generous. Abram knew whatever Lot chose God would make sure Abram came out all right.

i. In Egypt, Abram thought he had to take his fate into his own hands. He had to look out for "number one." Now, he is wiser and is willing to let God look out for his interests. Right or left, it didn't matter to Abram, because God would be there.

ii. Because he trusted in God, Abram did not have to be obsessed with his own "rights" and neither do we. The only right we truly have is the right to go to hell. Everything else is the free gift of God and has nothing to do with our "rights."

4. (10-13) Lot chooses his portion of land.

And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.

a. Like the garden of the LORD: Lot made his choice purely based on what he could see with his eyes. He cares only for the material abundance of the land, and cares nothing for how it will impact him and his family spiritually.

i. As much as anything, faith means we do not walk by what we see, but by what we know to be true in God: For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Abram was walking by faith; Lot was walking only by sight.

b. Pitched his tent even as far as Sodom: It is only this far for now, but later Lot will become a leader of this sinful city. Valuing only the things that can be seen will increase his wealth temporarily, but Lot will lose it all.

i. Of course Lot thought, "I can serve God as well there as here. They probably need a witness." But he was deceiving himself. Beware of our ability to deceive ourselves! The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

ii. "In the end, he who sought this world lost it, and he who was willing to give up anything for the honour of God found it." (Maclaren)

iii. It wasn't Lot's choice that led his heart astray. His heart was already astray, and it was demonstrated by his choice.

B. God confirms His promise to Abram.

1. (14-15) God promises the land to Abram and to his descendants forever.

And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are; northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever."

a. After Lot had separated from him: God wanted to talk to Abram alone after Lot had left. This was a promise made to Abram, not to Abram's nephew.

i. This promise of the land had been made to Abram when he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 12:1-3, Acts 7:2-4). God is now repeating this promise.

b. All the land which you see I give to you: God also wanted to remind Abram that even though Abram had been generous enough to "give" some of the land to Lot, God still said the land belonged to Abram.

2. (16) God reminds Abram of His promise to give Abram many descendants.

"And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered."

a. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth: This was quite a promise to make to a childless man in his 70's or 80's, but Abram knew to walk by faith and not by sight.

b. Your descendants: Again, this promise of many descendants was made to Abram when he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 12:1-3, Acts 7:2-4). To assure Abram, God repeats the promise.

3. (17-18) Abram walks through the land God gave to him.

"Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you." Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

a. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you: As a token of Abram's reception of the land by faith, God wants Abram to explore the land of promise, to walk through it as if it were his, though he does not have "title deed" to it yet.

i. In the same way, God wants us to explore our "land of promise," His Word, where God has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4), where He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). He wants us to walk through this "land," possessing it by faith.

b. Dwelt by the terbinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron: The name Mamre means, "vision"; Hebron means "communion." Abram is once again walking in the LORD's vision for him and in communion with the LORD.

c. And built an altar there to the LORD: Abram built another altar. He lived life in constant awareness of the need for a sacrificial atonement and covering.

 

ABRAM RESCUES LOT AND MEETS MELCHIZEDEK
A. Abram rescues Lot from the confederacy of kings.

1. (1-10) The four kings of the cities in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah rebel against the confederation of five kings of nations ruling over them.

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar. And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.

a. Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked: Archaeologist Nelson Glueck documents the destruction left by these kings: "I found that every village in their path had been plundered and left in ruins, and the countryside was laid waste. The population had been wiped out or led away into captivity. For hundreds of years thereafter, the entire area was like an abandoned cemetery, hideously unkempt, with all its monuments shattered and strewn in pieces on the ground."

b. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits: The Hebrew here is a good example of how the language uses repetition to show emphasis. "The Hebrew way of saying full of bitumen pits is: pits, pits of bitumen. Repetition expresses abundance, plenitude, etc." (Leupold)

2. (11-12) In the course of their attack, the five kings take Lot and all his possessions.

Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

a. They also took Lot: Now, the confederacy of five kings has involved Abram. Because Abram is a man of honor, he will fight for his nephew.

b. And his goods: Since Lot was living among the wicked people of Sodom, we are not surprised he is taken captive also. "Those believers who conform to the world must expect to suffer for it." (Spurgeon)

3. (13-14) Abram hears of Lot's captivity and marshals an army.

Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram. Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

a. Abraham the Hebrew: This is the first use of Hebrew in the Bible. "The word Hebrew comes from a root that means passed over. The Septuagint translates it the passenger." (Barnhouse)

b. He armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants: We see the great wealth of Abram; any man who can assemble 318 servants capable of fighting must be very rich.

c. Trained servants: Abram was a man who walked in faith, yet he was also a prudent man. Abram kept his own personal army, and he apparently kept them trained and ready to defend his interests.

d. Went in pursuit as far as Dan: Abram's army pursues the confederacy of five kings far a long distance to the north. The city of Dan is all the way up at the northern border of Israel.

4. (15-17) Abram leads his army to victory over the five kings.

He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.

a. He divided his forces against them by night: Abram had military wisdom. Using the clever tactic of a night attack with his army split into two groups, he succeeds in rescuing Lot and recovering all the booty seized by the confederacy of the five kings.

b. Also brought back his brother Lot and his goods: Unfortunately, Lot will move right back to where he was in Sodom. He refuses this warning from God, and he will eventually lose everything when Sodom and Gomorrah are judged.

B. Abram and Melchizedek.

1. (18-20) Abram meets Melchizedek.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all.

a. Then Melchizedek: We have no idea of where Melchizedek came from, how he came to be in Canaan, how he came to be a worshipper and priest of the true God, and how Abram came to know about him. We only know he was there.

b. Melchizedek king of Salem: The name Melchizedek means "king of righteousness." He is the king of Salem, and Salem is the original Jerusalem, and Melchizedek is the priest of God Most High. He is a worshipper and priest of the true God, ruling over Jerusalem even in those ancient times.

i. One thing making Melchizedek unique is he is both a king and a priest. History shows how dangerous it is to combine religious and civic authority. God forbade the kings of Israel to be priests and the priests to be kings (In 2 Chronicles 26:16-23, King Uzziah tried to do the work of priest, and God struck him with leprosy), but here is an exception.

ii. And Melchizedek is the priest of God Most High. El Elyon means "Highest God," like saying "Supreme Being." We should never settle for a "higher power"; we should serve the Highest Power.

c. Brought out bread and wine: Melchizedek served Abram bread and wine. Perhaps he even served them in a manner looking forward to our redeeming sacrifice, as the bread and wine of Passover and the Lord's table look at our redeeming sacrifice, Jesus Christ.

d. He was the priest of God Most High: Melchizedek, as priest, did two things. He blessed Abram and he blessed God. Melchizedek shows a priest must connect with both God and man and has a ministry to both God and man.

i. Though Melchizedek seems like an obscure figure, he figures to be a very important Old Testament person. Psalm 110:4 says the priesthood of the Messiah is a priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek, as opposed to being of the order of Aaron. Hebrews chapters 5 through 7 makes a great deal of this idea.

ii. Hebrews 7:3 describes Melchizedek as without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Because of this passage, some have thought Melchizedek is actually a pre-Bethlehem appearance of Jesus.

iii. Others have suggested he is Seth, Noah's son, or Job, or an angel; or even some have fancifully speculated Melchizedek is an outer-space visitor, an "unfallen Adam" from another planet, sent to observe the progress of God's work of redemption for this fallen race.

iv. "The question cannot be said to be settled completely … otherwise, the identity of Melchizedek would have been agreed on by Bible scholars long ago." (Morris) But we can, at the very least, say he was a remarkable type or picture of Jesus.

e. And he gave him a tithe of all: Abram gave unto the LORD, through Melchizedek, a tithe of all. This refers to one tenth of his assets, not his income.

i. It is almost as if Abram and Melchizedek worked to see who could bless the other more. Melchizedek blessed Abram out of his resources, and Abram blessed Melchizedek out of his resources. This is a great attitude for us to have in the body of Christ.

2. (21-24) Abram refuses the booty from the battle.

Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself." But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ?I have made Abram rich'; except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion."

a. Take the goods for yourself: As seemed proper, the king of Sodom wanted to reward Abram for all he did in recovering what was taken by the confederation of five kings, and he offered Abram a tremendous amount of booty.

b. I will take nothing: Yet, Abram will not take it - because of a vow he has made to God Most High - a phrase he uses after hearing Melchizedek use this particular title for God (Genesis 14:19).

c. Lest you should say, "I have made Abram rich": Abram refused the spoil because he would let no man say a man had made Abram rich. Abram demanded all the credit go to God and God alone.

i. When we are willing to pursue human measures of success in the flesh through worldly, fleshly methods, how can we really say God has given success, if it should come? How much better to let God raise you up, so He gets the glory, and so you know it was His work.

d. Let them take their portion: However, at the same time, Abram does not impose his scruples on his Amorite allies (Genesis 14:13). They are entitled to as much of the spoil as is appropriate.