This week we are continuing our study in the book of Genesis with chapters 19-20, and the “R” rated ending to the Sodom and Gomorrah saga along with another misstep by Abraham and Sarah. This study will help us understand the history and importance of not only the faithfulness of God through His Covenant Promise, but the love He has for His people, even those who are flawed like Abraham, Sarah, Lot and us!

Defending our faith and developing a Biblical worldview based on our understanding of God’s Word takes time and practice, and must be part of a lifetime commitment we make to the LORD. It should form our purpose and identity in everyday life as we grow closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, modeling Him to our family, friends and neighbors. As Christians, it is more important than ever to know what we believe, and why we believe it, and then apply that to who we are on a consistent basis, and this can only be done if we know Jesus and what His Word teaches.

All class sessions include a time for prayer and reflection, a presentation, and a Bible study section. You will find the presentation overview and Bible study questions below with basic answers for your review and, or to use as a leader’s guide.

Presentation

Foundations Bible Study
Genesis Chapters 19-20

OPEN AND REVIEW

Prayer cards: Take a minute and write your name on the index card provided, and add any special prayer request you might have. Exchange cards at the end of the class.

Review:

What did we learn about God’s hesed and the character differences between Abram and Lot in chapters 18-19:29 last week?
What is our focus verse, why is it important, and what other Covenants does it relate to?

Focus verse
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

“Now the Lord said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” “ Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB)

Three Parts of the Covenant:

Land
Nation
Blessing – (relates to the Seed Promise)

God’s Covenant Promise of Messiah, fulfilled in Jesus

Following the Seed Promise of Messiah:

1.Genesis 3:15 – The Adamic Covenant (The Seed Promise begins the scarlet thread)

2.Genesis 6:18 – Noahic Covenant (the Seed Promise carried through the Great Flood, and also affirmed in the “Rainbow Promise” of Genesis 9:8-17)

3.Genesis 12:1-3 – Abrahamic Covenant (Unfolds the Seed Promise with the blessing to come)

4.Genesis 26:3-5 – Promise goes through Isaac (the Abrahamic Covenant passed on to this son of promise)

5.Genesis 28:13-15 – Promise goes on through Jacob/Israel (Seed promise expanded to a Nation)

6.Genesis 49:8-12 – Promise will come through the tribe of Judah (Seed will have the Scepter forever)

7.2 Samuel 7:12-16/1 Chronicles 17:11-14 – Davidic Covenant (The Seed Promise will be a King forever from the line of David)

8.Jeremiah 31:31-34 – The Promise of a New Covenant to come (Seed Promise to be fulfilled)

9.Luke 22:14-20 – Fulfillment of the New Covenant by Jesus (Seed Promise fulfilled in Jesus)

10.1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – The New Covenant repeated and confirmed by the Apostles and early believers

11.Hebrews 9:15 – The reason Jesus is the fulfilment of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8-10 for a deeper study on Jesus’ fulfillment of all that was promised concerning Messiah/Seed Promise)

12.Revelation 1:7 – “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”

Chapter Reading for Step #3: Context
– What does it say?

Chapters 19:30-20:18

19:30-38
20:1-7
20:8-13
20:14-18

Discuss (summarize) the chapter

(Genesis 19:30-38) In this part of the story Lot’s daughters do the unthinkable. Why did they do this and what was the outcome? Going Deeper: Two sons were born out of this situation. What can you uncover about their descendants and their relationship later on with Israel?

³⁰Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. ³¹Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth. ³²Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.” ³³So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁴On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.” ³⁵So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁶Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day. Genesis 19:30-38

In context, part of the reason is understanding the ancient culture they lived in – having children was life’s main purpose and accomplishment, not to mention the means to survival (gathering food, preparing it, daily chores, protection from others etc.)
Also, we must remember that the “Law” had not yet been given, so marriage, and having kids, within families was still acceptable (although not common for father-daughter). The DNA was still OK; it would be about 600 years before God would give direction to not marry within close family when He gives Law in the Torah (The Law of Moses).
Speculating, we can assume this family thought they would never live in a city or area where they could ever marry, let alone have children. Even though they had been in a local town after the disaster, it was reasonable to assume no one would trust them, or may hurt them, since that is why they left it for the mountains (v. 30 says they were afraid to stay in Zoar). They may also have assumed everyone they knew was gone, including Abraham – but we don’t know from the text, nor do we know where they eventually ended up.

Going Deeper:

Lot’s older daughter bore a son: Moab, he is the father of the Moabites; the younger bore a son Ben-ammi, he is the father of the Ammonites.
Both of these tribes would grow to be Nations that were enemies of Israel.
Moabites: Ruth was a Moabite and she married Boaz an Israelite, and they became parents of Obed who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David – a direct ancestor of Jesus! The Moabites, later in the history, become a servant Nation to King David.
Ammonites: The Ammonites were still around at the end of the Old Testament history and were part of the people who tried to stop the Jews from rebuilding Jerusalem after their return from captivity in Babylon.

(Genesis 20:1-18) Abraham and Sarah repeat the same mistake they made earlier in Egypt (12:9-20). How is this story different? Discuss: What example is being set for Abraham and Sarah’s descendants when they repeat these kinds of exploits, and does it make us think how our own repeated behaviors could affect our next generation?

20 Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in Gerar. ²Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. ³But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.” ⁴Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless? ⁵Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” ⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” ⁸So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were greatly frightened. ⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you encountered, that you have done this thing?” ¹¹Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. ¹²Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; ¹³and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” ¹⁴Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.” ¹⁶To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, it is your vindication before all who are with you, and before all men you are cleared.” ¹⁷Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children. ¹⁸For the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Differences:

There was no famine that forced them into Abimelech’s area, they just moved there.
In this story, The LORD had closed all the wombs and inflicted some kind of illness on them, making it impossible for Abimelech to have defiled Sarah and ruined the promise that was to come that next year – Isaac’s birth.
Abimelech seems to have integrity compared to the Pharaoh of Egypt because God agreed with him that he did (v. 6). However, though Abimelech was innocent he was in danger of sinning against God (with Sarah), and the punishment lasted only as long as the sin was possible.
Verse 13 tells us that Abraham and Sarah had agreed to always tell this lie wherever they went.

Additional notes:

Abraham had to pray for Abimelech in order for him to be saved, showing that Abraham was part of God’s sovereign plan, interceding as a Priest(foreshadowing Jesus).
This is the first time in Scripture that the word “Prophet”is used as God said it of Abraham, and this is another foreshadow or type of what Christ would be.
Abraham was also given any land area that he wanted to settle in, instead of being sent out, as happened in Egypt – this would lead to other encounters in the future between Abraham’s people and Abimelech’s people.
Note: Abimelech is possibly a title, or family name, like the Pharaoh of Egypt because a different Abimelech will come up in a future story with Isaac and Rebekah.

Discussion:

Abraham and Sarah’s offspring would know about this behavior (lying and deceiving for their own protection) and would repeat it as Isaac does (see chapter 26), and then later on in the deceitful ways of Jacob (he is known as the deceiver) – Jacob also follows Abraham’s way of taking more than one wife (he ends up with 4).
We don’t often think about the things we do affecting the next generation – thus there is a strong need for Christian Apologetics training, beginning at an early age.

Resources for the next generation:

Summit Ministries and student conferences: https://www.summit.org/
Impact 360 Institute: https://www.impact360institute.org/
ReThink Apologetics student conferences: Sponsored by https://www.str.org/
Ratio Christi (Christian Apologetics’ Campus Ministry): https://ratiochristi.org/

What these groups offer can help serve as an entry point to exploring the truths of the Bible in an exciting and relevant way for the next generation and beyond

Step #5: Application for chapters 19:30-20
– How do I use what I have learned?

Answers here will vary…

HOMEWORK

Read Genesis chapters 21-22, then answer the following questions:

1.(Genesis 21:1-21) In this chapter, the long-awaited son of the promise is born. What is his name and what does it mean? Discuss: What happened that caused Sarah to drive out Hagar and Ishmael, how did God help them and where did they end up? What did God say to reassure Abraham, and why?2.(Genesis 21:22-34) What covenant did Abraham make with Abimelech and why? Going deeper: Give an example where the following names come up later on in the Bible, and in what context: Beersheba and Philistines3.(Genesis 22:1-19) Summarize the story of “the offering of Isaac.” Make a list of how many things you see pictured in this story that foreshadow Jesus and the events of the crucifixion. Discuss: What do you think Abraham felt during this time, and what was said about him in the book of Hebrews? Cross-reference by reading Hebrews 11:1-18 (focus on verses 17-18).
4.(Genesis 22:20-24) In this section we are suddenly given a genealogy of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Discuss: What do you think was the reason for this information at this point in the story, and is there a name you recognize that comes up later on?

Application for chapters 21-22
– How do I use what I have learned?

Please continue to join us each week for Foundations Bible Study and the book of Genesis!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in! Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15