SARAI’S NAME CHANGED TO SARAH – Part 4
Learn: Isaiah 46:9-11
Remember the former things of old for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass: I have purposed it, I will also do it.
Read: Genesis 17:1-27
1.As we have learned in studying Genesis, marriage makes two ( a man and a woman) one flesh. Sarai’s life is intricately entwined with Abram’s life. So as we study the milestones recorded in Abram’s life, they are also milestones in Sarai’s life. What occurred in the life of Abram when he was 99 years old? vv1, 2
2. How did God identify himself to Abram at this appearance? v 1
NOTE: The Hebrew for “the Almighty God” is El Shaddai. Shaddai is derived from a related word that means “mountain,” thus picturing God as the overpowering, almighty One, standing on a mountain.
3. List 7 promises made by the LORD in the covenant that he made with Abram at this time? vv 4, 6, 8
4. What portions of this covenant with Abraham do many in the church, and most in the world today deny to be everlasting?
What does such denial reject?
5. This covenant was previously given to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 14:4-7, 18-21. What change did the LORD make at this time, to further demonstrate his faithfulness to keep the covenant that he had made with Abram? v 5
6. What kind of covenant did the LORD make with Abraham? v 7
Define the duration of such a covenant.
What is the possibility of revoking such a covenant?
7. What was Abram and his descendant’s obligation in this covenant making process? v 10
8. _________________________is a ________________of the covenant between God and the children of Israel forever. v11
9. If a descendent of Abraham refused circumcision for their male child, what is the result? v 14
10. Is circumcision still binding today for Jewish males? Explain.
11. According to Romans 4:11, what did the sign of circumcision show that was already apparent in Abraham?
12. Why did the LORD give Sarai a new name? vv 15, 16
13. What was Abraham’s response to God’s promise of a son through Sarah? v 17a
14. Why did Abraham have a hard time believing that Sarah would actually be the mother of the promised son? v 17b
15. What was Abraham’s counsel to God to solve the dilemma of Sarah’s advanced age? v 18
16. Abraham put forth Ishmael, the son that he could see, as a substitute for the child of promise that he could not see, and seemed an impossibility. What 5 answers did God give to Abraham denouncing a worldly solution to the need for God’s promise to be fulfill d? vv 19, 21
NOTE: Isaac means “he laughs.”
17. What is the lesson to be learned from God’s answer to Abraham? Luke 1:37
Hebrews 6:18
Isaiah 40:13, 14
Isaiah 46:9-11
Isaiah 25:1
Isaiah 26:3, 4
18. God did not neglect Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar. What did he promise for him? v 20
19. After God’s final response to Abraham, what did God do? v 22
What did Abraham do? vv 23-27
20. Abraham never questioned God’s command for the circumcision of himself and all the males in his household in order that they might participate in God’s covenant, though the procedure itself was very painful; to an adult. What does Abraham’s obedience to God teach us?