Timeline - Creation To Abram

The first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis. 

This timeline is based on the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11, calculating years from the point of creation. 

It focuses on major events, births, and deaths. Some events lack precise dates and are approximated based on context. The chronology spans from creation to the birth of Abram (Abraham).

Key omitted events without dates: 

• The Fall (Genesis 3)
• Increasing wickedness leading to the flood (Genesis 6)
• God's covenant with Noah and the rainbow (Genesis 9:8–17)
• The Table of Nations (Genesis 10)

This timeline was created using Grok.com

Creation to Abram:

Year 0: Creation of the world in six days (Genesis 1).

Year 0: Creation of Adam and Eve; placement in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2).

Year 0: Birth of Adam (Genesis 5).

Year 100–130: Cain and Abel's offerings; Cain kills Abel (Genesis 4).

Year 130: Birth of Seth to Adam (Genesis 4:25; 5:3).

Year 235: Birth of Enosh to Seth (Genesis 5).

Year 325: Birth of Kenan to Enosh (Genesis 5).

Year 395: Birth of Mahalalel to Kenan (Genesis 5).

Year 460: Birth of Jared to Mahalalel (Genesis 5).

Year 622: Birth of Enoch to Jared (Genesis 5).

Year 687: Birth of Methuselah to Enoch (Genesis 5).

Year 874: Birth of Lamech to Methuselah (Genesis 5).

Year 930: Death of Adam (Genesis 5).

Year 987: Death of Enoch (translated to heaven; Genesis 5).

Year 1042: Death of Seth (Genesis 5).

Year 1056: Birth of Noah to Lamech (Genesis 5).

Year 1140: Death of Enosh (Genesis 5).

Year 1235: Death of Kenan (Genesis 5).

Year 1290: Death of Mahalalel (Genesis 5).

Year 1422: Death of Jared (Genesis 5).

Year 1556: Birth of Noah's sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 5:32).

Year 1558: Birth of Shem (Genesis 11).

Year 1651: Death of Lamech (Genesis 5).

Year 1656: Death of Methuselah (Genesis 5).

Year 1656: The Great Flood begins; Noah, family, and animals enter the ark (Genesis 6–7).

Year 1657: Flood ends; waters recede; ark rests on Ararat (Genesis 8). Noah's drunkenness; Ham's disrespect; Noah curses Canaan (Genesis 9).

Year 1658: Birth of Arphaxad to Shem (Genesis 11:10).

Year 1693: Birth of Shelah to Arphaxad (Genesis 11).

Year 1723: Birth of Eber to Shelah (Genesis 11).

Year 1757: Birth of Peleg to Eber (Genesis 11).

Year 1757–1996: Time of Peleg ("division"); Tower of Babel built and languages confused, scattering people (Genesis 10:25; 11:1–9).

Year 1787: Birth of Reu to Peleg (Genesis 11).

Year 1819: Birth of Serug to Reu (Genesis 11).

Year 1849: Birth of Nahor (the elder) to Serug (Genesis 11).

Year 1878: Birth of Terah to Nahor (Genesis 11).

Year 1948: Birth of Abram (Abraham) to Terah (Genesis 11:26).

Year 1996: Death of Peleg (Genesis 11).

Year 1997: Death of Nahor (Genesis 11).

Year 2006: Death of Noah (Genesis 9:29).

Year 2026: Death of Reu (Genesis 11).

Year 2049: Death of Serug (Genesis 11).

Year 2083: Death of Terah (Genesis 11:32).

Year 2096: Death of Arphaxad (Genesis 11).

Year 2126: Death of Shelah (Genesis 11).

Year 2158: Death of Shem (Genesis 11).

Year 2187: Death of Eber (Genesis 11).

Notes:

This follows the traditional literal interpretation of the ages given in the text (e.g., "Adam lived 130 years and begat Seth"). 

Variations exist in other textual traditions (e.g., Septuagint adds ~600 years to the pre-flood period).

God Says Go - Jacob Delays

If Jacob had faith in God you can't tell it by his works.

Genesis 31:3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.” 

Genesis 31:13  I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, the place where you anointed the pillar of stone and made your vow to me. Now get ready and leave this country and return to the land of your birth.’”

Genesis 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.”

---

When God chose to start a new group of people that would be set apart for himself he chose one ordinary man that didn't do anything at all to have God's favor on his life. Abram probably didn't even believe in God but when he was told to go he was convinced to leave his fake gods behind and step out in faith to an unknown destination.

Fast forward to Abraham's grandson and you find that he had a very different response to God's command to go. Jacob was a hard headed, stubborn man that didn't have very much concern for spiritual things. God told him to go and he made a very long detour before going the right way.

Jacob had a rough upbringing in a dysfunctional family, his father Isaac failed God many times, but Jacob has also had some amazing experiences with God that should have helped him become more concerned about God's plans for his life.

Jacob was always aggressive and made sure that he got his way, he was fighting with his brother before he was born, so it is no surprise that when he was told to go he decided to go somewhere else. God says go in Genesis 31:3 and Jacob doesn't go to the right place until we get to Genesis 35:1-3.

After a lengthy delay with Laban he finally starts his trip (Genesis 31:1-55), Jacob meets some angels (Genesis 32:1-2) and then he meets his brother. (Genesis 32:3-33:17) But out of nowhere Jacob decides to go to the wrong place.

Genesis 33:14 Please, my lord, go ahead of your servant. We will follow slowly, at a pace that is comfortable for the livestock and the children. I will meet you at Seir.

Esau wanted to help Jacob get home but Jacob wasn't ready to go. Jacob let his brother think that he would be right behind him but he started traveling in the opposite direction. After all of the kindness that was extended to Jacob by his brother he deceived him again. (Genesis 33:14-17)

It seems like God wanted Jacob to go back to Bethel but instead he is buying property at Shechem and he will spend about 6 years there. (Genesis 31:13, 33:18-20) Jacob will look back on this decision with great regret as he recalls the tragic events that are going to happen while he is in the wrong place. (Genesis 34:1-31) 

the pasture was vastly superior in the Jordan Valley where Succoth was located, while Bethel was in the mountains It reminds me of the decision that Lot made to live next to Sodom and the tragic consequences that he had to endure.

Genesis 35:2-3  So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing.  3  We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

For 30 years Jacob has been 30 miles away from where God wanted him to be. He has been in the wrong place and he has been tolerating the wrong "gods." (Genesis 31:30-36) At least he knew that it wasn't a good idea to go back to the place that he named "House of God" with a bunch of little "gods" along for the ride.

Jacob's grandfather, Abraham, was willing to step out without a destination but Jacob wasn't willing to go where God wanted him to be even though it was a familiar location where God had met with him previously.

If Jacob had faith in God you can't tell it by his works. Thankfully God had begun a work in Jacob's life that would be completed despite the wrong turns and setbacks that Jacob would make. 

Genesis 35:9-11  Now that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God blessed him,  10  saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed him Israel.  11  Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants!

God's purpose and plans will come to pass despite ourselves, when he finally returns to God's plan and purpose for his life God restates the promise that has been passed down from Abraham and Isaac.

If we cooperate with God we can be used by him with a lot less heartache, regret and wasted years, just like Jacob we can delay and stay across town when God says go. It may be just 30 miles from where God wants us, so close that it may not seem to matter but God doesn't want us to second guess him and come close to being fully obedient.

Thankfully the gospel message is that we don't have to be perfect, we will make a mess of things but God can use all of it to accomplish his plans if we will return to him. I have confidence that the good work that he started in my life will continue until it is completed on the day that Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6)

The Promised Son Needs A Bride

God's servants need to prayerfully find a bride for his son.

Genesis 24:36-40 “When Sarah, my master’s wife, was very old, she gave birth to my master’s son, and my master has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me take an oath. He said, ‘Do not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. 38 Go instead to my father’s house, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son.’ 

39 “But I said to my master, ‘What if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to go back with me?’ 40 He responded, ‘The LORD, in whose presence I have lived, will send his angel with you and will make your mission successful. Yes, you must find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.

---

In the previous post we looked at the concept of foreshadowing, a lot of prophecy and events of the Old Testament are symbolic of events in the life of Jesus or they are pointing us to events when Jesus returns. The symbolism that is seen throughout the Bible helps verify that all of the writers of this book were inspired by God.

It took forever for the promised son to be born but now Isaac is about forty years old, his mom has already died, his dad probably won't live much longer and Isaac still doesn't have a wife. How will Abraham have so many descendants when Isaac doesn't even have a wife? How could this rich bachelor still be single?

The foreshadowing continues in the life of Abraham and Isaac as the father sends his servant to his homeland to get a bride for his son. If we see Isaac as a type of Jesus, then take the next step and look at Rebekah as a type of the church, the bride of Christ. The story of the servant being sent to get the bride suddenly takes on new meaning that God's people need to understand more fully.

The faithful servant has taken an oath to go back to Abraham's family to find a bride without taking Isaac with him. The servant loves the son and wants to make him happy but how can he persuade the lady to willingly come back with him without a photo or a social media profile to show her?

Genesis 24:12 “O LORD, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.

The servant went straight to God, this huge task didn't seem to cause him any worry, he is confident that with God's help he will be successful. The servants prayer was answered quicker than any of my prayers, in fact his prayer time ended as the answer to his prayer walked up to the well. (Genesis 24:15)

The answer to the servants prayer was so obvious, Rebekah was willing to do everything that the servant requested. The servant was eager to tell the potential bride and her family about his master. He shared about the fame, the goodness and the riches of his master so that a longing grew in Rebekah to meet the father and his son. 

Genesis 24:58 So they called Rebekah. “Are you willing to go with this man?” they asked her. And she replied, “Yes, I will go.”

A lot of marriages in those days were forced but the decision to be the bride was left up to Rebekah, the servant was convinced and Rebekah's relatives were also sure, but she was allowed to have the final say.

Ephesians 5:31-32  As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

Throughout scripture marriage is a metaphor for the relationship of God with his chosen people and for Jesus relationship with the church. Every time the Bible mentions marriage we can find a message from God about our relationship with him.

If you love the father and his son then you will be the faithful servant, you will take the oath to go get a bride for the son, no matter how difficult it may seem. The son is in his home country preparing a place for his bride. He is counting on his faithful servants to fulfill their duty out of love for him.

RELATED ARTICLES

A Bride For Isaac (ligonier.org)

The Lord Will Provide A Son

God's promised son is the only sacrifice that can save.

Genesis 22:1-2  Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” 2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

Genesis 22:7-8 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

---

It is easy to become overwhelmed with the Old Testament and set it aside and stay in the New Testament. If you avoid Genesis through Malachi and jump into the Bible somewhere in Matthew through Revelation then you miss out on a lot of important information.

Genesis explains to us that in the beginning our world was perfect and it tells us that he is the only one that can fix the problems caused by sin. There are a lot of social justice warriors out there today but they are not very effective because they do not address the heart problem that only God can fix. As soon as we messed it up God told us about his plan to make it all perfect again, that's what the rest of the Bible is trying to reveal to us.

God chose Abraham to be the beginning of a special people that would be the lineage of our savior. Abraham wasn't chosen because he was perfect for the job, over the years Abraham slowly progressed through the school of faith, as he learned more about God his faith would grow and he would trust him more.

This story of God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac is very disturbing from our perspective and we have to wonder how God could make such an extreme request. It seems like mental torture for everybody involved. But we have to realize that in the Old Testament we see God interacting with man very direct and often times he asks very great things of them that we never see in our day. 

In the book of Genesis alone there was Noah, Abram, Isaac and Joseph that all did mighty things for God that he would never ask us to repeat. Since we have never experienced God in such a personal and direct way, it can be very difficult to understand this relationship between God and his people in the Old Testament.

Abraham is asked to go to an undisclosed location, a mountain somewhere in the land of Moriah where he would build yet another altar to sacrifice to God, today we know this place as the area that includes the Temple Mount and the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem. Abraham was to go there to offer God the most precious sacrifice. 

Abraham's love and faith in God was put to the ultimate test that reminds me a lot of Job. We will find out whether his blessings were the reason for his obedience or would Abraham be obedient in the most difficult circumstances? God gives us good things but what happens when God wants them back?

Abraham's only verbal response to God was simply "Here I am." The Bible doesn't tell us that he debated with God to try to change his mind and he didn't ask for an explanation. Abraham personally started the task of obeying, he didn't leave it up to a servant to get things ready to go.

After over forty years of following God, he has experienced God and come to know him in a more intimate relationship than anybody that I know of in today's world. That's probably why God made a request that seems so huge to us. Abraham's faith journey brought him into such an intimate, trusting relationship with God that anything short of this extreme request wouldn't really be a true test of his faith. 

Earlier when he didn't trust God, Abraham had Ishmael running around the house as a constant reminder of his lack of faith, if he failed this faith test then he would have Isaac hanging around the house as a painful reminder of his failure, sometimes our sins have long term consequences that we have to live with.

Abraham passed this test, but he wasn't the only one being tested, his only son was old enough that he had to be submissive to God's command in order for it to happen. Isaac could have refused to be involved once he found out that he was the one that his dad intended to put on the altar.

Ancient cultures were killing their children to please their gods but Abraham learned that the only sacrifice that the one true God seeks is a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1-2) God is never pleased with a dead human and it grieves him greatly that we are so willing to rebel by murdering our baby's. 

When he laid himself on the altar, trusting his father and his God, he came of age as the true seed of Abraham and entered on the inheritance, making God his God. At that supreme moment he made himself over to God, he put himself at God’s disposal; if his death was to be helpful in fulfilling God’s purpose he was willing to die. It was God’s will that must be done, not his.

He had familiarized himself with the thought that he belonged to God; that he was on earth for God’s purposes, not for his own; so that now, when he was suddenly summoned to lay himself formally and finally on God’s altar, he did not hesitate to do so.

-Expositors Bible Commentary

This cooperation between father and son are a foreshadow of God the Father and his Son Jesus. The Father was willing to sacrifice his Son but the Son had to be willing to be a part of the plan to save the world.

There are a lot of prophecy's in the Bible that have a dual fulfillment. Abraham's prophecy that God will provide the lamb for the sacrifice was fulfilled that very day but it was also a prediction that would take thousands of years to accomplish.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

John 3:16-17 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

The true lamb of God is the promised son that was represented in the foreshadowing of Isaac, God would never have been pleased with the death of Isaac, only a perfect human sacrifice could pay the penalty for man's sin. Since there are not any perfect humans around, Jesus is the only one that could satisfy God's demand for a sacrificial payment for our sin. (Matthew 10:37-39, 1 Peter 1:18-20)

The Lord has provided, just as he promised way back in the book of Genesis, but we have to believe in the provision. We must see how far short we fall from perfection and realize that God kindness in providing the sacrifice for our sin is our only hope of being with him in eternity. (Romans 3:23)

Isaac Was A Foreshadow of Jesus
The miracle birth was prophesied God issues His command—His will—to sacrifice a beloved son The sons accept God’s will The sons carry the wood God provides a substitute Loved ones grieve for three days Faith in the resurrection

RELATED ARTICLES

Providence And Freedom (ligonier.com)

Four Sacrifices That Please God (bibleinoneyear.org)

Why Did God Require Animal Sacrifices (christianity.com)

A Tale Of Two Sons

God's first promised son was symbolic of the ultimate promised Son.

Genesis 21:1-7  The LORD kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised.  2  She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would.  3  And Abraham named their son Isaac.

 4  Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded.  5  Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

6  And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me.  7  Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”

---

A baby usually brings great joy to the family and to their friends, everybody wants to see the baby and bring gifts to celebrate the new life, but imagine the extra amount of excitement that is experienced when the baby's arrival is a long awaited miracle.

When Issac was born, it was the end of a very great sadness that Abraham and Sarah experienced as they failed to get pregnant over and over again for probably 70 or 80 years of marriage. It was even more heartbreaking to be promised a child but after 25 years the promise was still not fulfilled.

Imagine the heartbreak that the couple had when they attempted to help God with the miracle baby through human effort. Hagar became pregnant and Ishmael was born but instead of joy this only brought more trouble and heartache. 

Reactions To The Promised Child

Sarah couldn't be happier, all of those years of sadness and disappointment are over, the promised son has arrived and the pain and stigma of being childless is gone. Over the years, Sarah was reminded every time she saw Hagar and Ishmael of how wrong she was to try to help God.

Ishmael's reaction to the baby reminds me of the way that his mom Hagar reacted to the news that she was pregnant with Abraham's first child. It seems like Ishmael took after his mom, she got herself in trouble for her treatment of Sarah, so it wasn't a surprise when Ishmael began mistreating Isaac.

We can't be sure about Abraham, his reaction to the newborn isn't clear, the Bible doesn't tell us without a doubt that Abraham was as thrilled as Sarah was. Abraham probably had mixed emotions about Isaac, he may have grown indifferent to the idea of another son, he was willing to substitute God's best and accept the son that he already had as the heir to the promise. (Genesis 15:4, 17:15-21)

I think that part of Sarah's desire to get Hagar and Ishmael out of the house was because she could see that Abraham wasn't as thrilled about the new baby as she was. She must have been hurt as she recalled how happy he was to get his first son and wondered why he isn't so happy this time. 

Abraham has already had fourteen years of bonding with Ishmael, he has already taught him how to be a man and he can already see the leadership skills that would make Ishmael the leader of a great nation, the future for Ishmael looked so bright before Isaac came along.

Abraham must have seen the emotional affect that the birth of Isaac had on Ishmael, for fourteen years the boy had the home to himself and his father's love, he may have thought that his mom should replace Sarah, he may have even heard about Abraham's idea to make him the promised son.

Fixing The Past

Genesis 21:10-12 So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!” 11 This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son. 12 But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.

Abraham's home must of been full of drama and something drastic was needed to settle things down. He became upset at Sarah's demands to send his first born son away but God made it clear that he wanted Abraham to do it. Our flesh can bring us joys that God may need to strip away from us to give us his joy that is much greater. Abraham's home would never be peaceful with both of these boys growing up under the same roof.

Conflict between brothers is a common occurrence in the Bible, it reminds me of the conflict between Cain and Abel, I have to wonder if protecting Isaac is the reason that Ishmael was sent away so abruptly.

So Hagar is sent away again, this time she has her son with her, but just like the last time she leaves without a lot of provisions and finds herself in a desperate situation. Once again, Hagar felt desperate and helpless, she cannot recall God's promises when she learned about the God who sees her.

It seems odd to me that Abraham was so kind and hospitable to complete strangers back in Genesis 18:1-8 but Hagar was treated poorly both times that she left Abraham's household. There doesn't seem to be any reason that Abraham and Sarah didn't show any kindness or hospitality toward Hagar and Ishmael, they could have been more generous in giving them supplies or even an escort to help them get to a safe place. 

I think that it's interesting that Ishmael eventually had twelve sons but his brother Isaac only had two, it would be Isaac's brother Jacob that would have the twelve sons that comprise the tribes of Israel. (Genesis 25:13-15)

It was not through Ishmael the promised seed was to come, but the descendants of Ishmael had every inducement to retain faith in the God of Abraham, who listened to their father’s cry. The fact of being excluded from certain privileges did not involve that they were to be excluded from all privileges.

-Expositors Bible Commentary

God knew the heart of Ishmael when he had Abraham send him and his mother away. It didn't take long to prove that Ishmael didn't have a heart for God. Despite all of the blessings of living in Abraham's household and seeing how intimate his father was with God, and despite the blessings that were promised to him, with all of these advantages Ishmael still walked away from God.

Looking To The Future

Galatians 4:22-24  The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.  23  The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.  24  These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them.

None of the people in this Old Testament story could have understood what was playing out in God's plan and purpose but hundreds of years later the apostle Paul realized the two boys represented the two ways to please God.

God's first promised "son" was symbolic of his real "Son" that would come four hundred plus years later and Ishmael, the son of the servant, is likened to those who are slaves under the bondage of the law while Isaac is likened to those saved by God’s grace and freed from the law through faith in Jesus.

The law is good and living by the law is good but it isn't good enough, virtue and goodness can be lived out for a season but the problem with virtue is that we don't do anything with true virtue and the day will come when we will mess up and the law will be there to show us how bad we are.

Galatians 3:5  I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

I will never follow the law well enough to be qualified to go to Heaven, I can only get there by trusting in Jesus, his work on the cross is far better than any work that I can achieve through keeping the law. 

I must have a miracle birth to become a child of God so that I can inherit the riches that are promised to his children. (John 1:11-13 / 2 Corinthians 8:9)

God's Friends Act Like They Are Not

Two kinds of people in this world and sometimes you cannot tell them apart.

Genesis 20:1-5 Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, 2 Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.

3 But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!”

4 But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.”

---

After the destruction of Sodom in the previous chapter of Genesis, Abraham is on the move again, we don't know why he moved or if he was in God's will but I have to wonder if maybe he was too close to Sodom and he couldn't bear the sight of the destroyed city and the family and friends that he lost. 

We do know that when he moves his insecurities come out, the last time that he moved was to go to Egypt during the famine that was in Canaan, that trip was the beginning of a lot of trouble that continues today.

You would think that he would have learned from the very serious lie and the extreme consequences. In his attempt to save his own life he jeopardized his promised son and his promised future including the lineage of the Messiah. 

It seems odd that he would be so insecure when he has such a personal relationship with God and such amazing promises. But it is a blessing for us to see that God's people have never been a perfect people that didn't mess things up.

The Bible makes it clear that there are two kinds of people in this world and sometimes you cannot tell which is which.

Abraham the troublemaker

Genesis 20:11 “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’

Abraham and Sarah didn't learn from the previous time that they told this same exact lie, King Abimelech looks more like God's friend than Abraham or Sarah, but God is gracious and steps in. God is the only one that can fix this mess and protect the lineage of Jesus.

The integrity of the king turns out to be far greater than Abraham imagined, his lie about Sarah and her willingness to go along with it caused a lot of trouble and tarnished the reputation of God's people.

How could the promised Messiah come from Sarah if she belonged to Abimelech? We can make a big mess of things with our little lies, the little half truth that Abraham and Sarah told had huge consequences that they never dreamed of.

Abraham the peacemaker

Genesis 20:17-18  Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, so they could have children.  18  For the LORD had caused all the women to be infertile because of what happened with Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

Genesis 21:22-24  About this time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his army commander, to visit Abraham. “God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do,” Abimelech said.  23  “Swear to me in God’s name that you will never deceive me, my children, or any of my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so now swear that you will be loyal to me and to this country where you are living as a foreigner.”  24  Abraham replied, “Yes, I swear to it!”

Abraham got right with God and he was restored to his position of ministry and blessing to those around him. He couldn't be a blessing when he was busy being a troublemaker. When we fall away from God and lose our peace with him we also lose our ability to fulfill God's desire for us to bless others.

It would have been very easy for these two powerful men to become enemies but they were able to have a peaceful relationship. First Abraham prayed for his new friend and later he made a peace treaty with him.

God's word shows us that the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise of an heir wasn't dependent on Abraham's success. Abraham put the promise in jeopardy, from a human point of view, several times. 

God's people have never been a perfect people and many times we act like we aren't his people. It is important that we look at the overall direction of our life instead of dwelling on the individual mistakes that we make.

Thank you Lord for using me despite my tendency to follow my old sin nature. Help me to overcome my fight against the world, the flesh, and the Devil so that I can be a blessing to those around me. I will only be successful with your intervention.