GENESIS
Chapters 15, 16, 17 & 21
If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17 and Chapter 21.
Chapter 15:
Verses: 1-3 Abram asks God about an heir as he doesn’t have one. Would his heir be his servant?
Verses: 4-6 God says that the servant will not be his heir and that he will have descendants as numerous as the stars. Abram believed God.
Verses 7-21 God makes a covenant with Abram.
Chapter 16:
Veses 1-4 Sarai was impatient – decided to “help” God.
Verses 5-6 Sarai realizes her mistake and sends Hagar away.
Verses 7-14 Hagar flees from Sarai and has an encounter with an Angel of the Lord who tells her to go back and to name her son Ishmael.
Verse 15-16 Ishmael is born.
Chapter 17:
Verses 1-14: God affirms His covenant with Abram and changes his name to Abraham.
Verses 15-22 God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah and tells Abraham that she will have a son and to name him Isaac.
Verses 23-27 Abraham circumcises all the males in his household.
We are skipping ahead to Chapter 21. We will continue with Chapter 18 in the next blog.
Chapter 21:
Verses 1-7 Sarah gives birth to Isaac. (Sarah is very old – similar to the age of a grandmother).
Verses 8-19 Ishmael scoffs at Isaac and Sarah tells Abraham to send him and Hagar away. God tells Abraham that it is OK – that he will make a nation out of Ishmael also. Hagar and Ishmael leave. They run out of water and believe that death is imminent. But God heard their cries and showed them were the water was.
Verse 20-21 Ishmael grows up and becomes an archer. Hagar finds a wife for Ishmael.
Verses 22-24 Abimelech is concerned that Abraham may go to war against him and wants a peace agreement.
Verses 25-34 Abimelech and Abraham work out the well rights.
Discussion:
Do you get impatient for the promises God has for you? Do you try to “help” God out? How did that turnout?
How impatient are you? Do you want things NOW? Do you understand that God’s timing is different than ours?
Do you think anything is too hard for God? Does everything need to have a human explanation? Do miracles still happen today? What does a miracle look like?
There are consequences when we run ahead of God. Sarah received the promise of God (Isaac) and now she had to deal with the consequences of her impatience (Ishmael). What would you have done?
Abram and Sarai were given new names. When you were younger, did you have a nickname? Is your nickname based on your behavior? Is it a form of your given name such as James/Jimmy? Which do you prefer? Why? As an adult, do you go by the nickname or your given name? Have you ever wanted to change your name – be known by something else? Why?
Discussion for Children:
When someone makes a promise to you, is it hard to wait for it to happen? Do you get impatient? Do you nag that person about the promise?
Sarah made a big mistake by not being patient. Has that happened to you?
Ishmael was jealous of Isaac. Are you jealous when Mom has a new baby? Why?
Crafts/Activities:
Cut out lots of stars.
Write names on the stars – have the kids think of everyone in their family (include cousins, etc.) If you have a family tree already done, use that to get lots of names.
Hang them from ceiling (if possible) to give the illusion of a night filled with stars.
