Spiritual LESSON of the Call of Abraham

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:2-4

"God called Abraham out of the Chaldees, which by the way is the same thing as Babylon.
Q: Is there a call in these last days to come out of Babylon? 

Are you familiar with it?

--That call goes all the way to Abraham.
The Chaldees was Babylon. God called Abraham out of the Chaldees.

Q: Now why did God do that? 

*There is another principle by which God functions -- the principle of purpose. Purpose than existence. 

In other words, you are alive for a purpose. And if you don't fulfill that purpose, you have no right to live." 

Randy Skeete

The Real Children of Abraham

“They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7. 

Abraham is the father of all them that believe, whether they be

circumcised or uncircumcised. Romans 4:11. 

No one, no matter of what nation or people, will enter heaven except as the child of Abraham. 

The faithful followers of Christ are the real seed of Abraham." 

Sabbath School Lesson 1900

The Great Antitypical Offering

"The history of the system of types and shadows began at the gate of the garden of Eden, where our first parents brought their offerings and presented them before the Lord. Abel showed his faith in the promised Savior by bringing an animal. He not only presented the shed blood of the sacrifice, but he also presented the fat to the Lord, showing faith in the Savior and a willingness to put away his sin.

Of all the sacrifices recorded in the book of Genesis, none comes so near the great antitypical offering as the one required of Abraham when God called him to offer his only son. 

The test of faith was not simply in the fact that Isaac was his only legitimate son, but Abraham understood that through Isaac's posterity the long-promised Messiah was to come; and in offering Isaac, Abraham was cutting off his only hope of salvation, as well as that of the world. 

But his faith wavered not. 

He believed that the same God who had performed a miracle in giving him a son, could bring that son from the dead to fulfill the promise that He had made. 

(By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. Hebrews 11:17-19)." 

Stephen Haskell

How Abraham became a "FRIEND OF GOD"

"Jesus said to Pilate: “Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me”

(John 18:37). Noah’s and Abraham’s hearts were inclined to the things of God, and godliness, truth and righteousness mattered to them and when God spoke, what He said made sense to them. 

God’s words rang true, 

--and they valued truth, 

--and were prepared to pay a high price to honor it. 

Indeed, they loved it and loved the One who was truth (John 14:6). 

Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23). 

--He cared about the things God cared about; they shared common interests and communed together on a deep level.

Conversely, godlessness leads to the suppression of the truth (Rom. 1:18) and those who love evil deliberately avoid it (John 3:19,20). Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) but had little time for the One who could have answered the question. 

Such is the animosity of many towards truth that they unrepentantly assert that God is a liar (John 3:33-34) and even attribute His words and works to Satan (Luke 11:15). 

Adam and Eve fell into sin because they chose not to believe God and to believe Satan instead (Gen. 3:1-13)." 

CMI

Of Abraham's Seed

"According to Jehovah, His Sabbath is a symbol of His relationship with His people: “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:16–17). 

-*-Just in case you may be tempted to think that that was just for the ancient Israelites, do consider the apostle Paul‘s admonition to fellow Christians: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29)." 

AubreyDuncan/AdventMessenger

The Law: From Adam to Abraham - that INCLUDES the Sabbath

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Genesis 26:5

"The brevity of the record in Genesis causes us to overlook many facts of the deepest interest. 

Adam lived 930 years. How deep and absorbing the interest that must have existed in the human family to see the first man! To converse with one who had himself talked with God! To hear from his lips a description of that Paradise in which he had lived! To learn from one created on the sixth day the wondrous events of the creation week! To hear from his lips the very words of the Creator when he set apart his rest-day to a holy use! And to learn, alas! the sad story of the loss of Paradise and the tree of life! 

 
It was therefore not difficult for the facts respecting the six days of creation and the sanctification of the rest-day to be diffused among mankind in the patriarchal age. 

 

Nay, it was impossible that it should be otherwise, especially among the godly. From Adam to Abraham a succession of men probably inspired of God preserved the knowledge of God upon earth. 

 

*Thus Adam lived till Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years of age; Lamech lived till Shem, the son of Noah, was 93; Shem lived till Abraham was 150 years of age. 

 

Thus are we brought down to Abraham, the father of the faithful. Of him it is recorded that he obeyed God's voice and kept his charge, his commandments, his statutes and his laws." J.N. Andrews

Hagar and Sarai: The Allegory Contained Within

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman.  

Howbeit the son of the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son of the free woman is born through promise. 

Which things contain an allegory; for these women are two covenants; one from Mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. 

Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem that now is; for she is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.

Galatians 4:22-26

 

"Abraham made a great mistake and attempted to fulfil God's

promise. A son had been promised him,--a true free-born son who could be his heir. 

It had been expressly stated that a servant could not be his heir. Gen. 15:2-4. 

Nevertheless, he harkened to the voice of Sarai, instead of to
the Lord, and took Hagar, Sarai's Egyptian bondmaid, by whom he had Ishmael. But since Hagar was a bondservant, a slave, Ishmael could be nothing else. 

So Abraham had gained nothing. 

 

Afterwards Isaac, the child of promise, was horn. 

He was free, and could inherit all that Abraham had. 

The history is so plain that no one can misunderstand it.  

 

These two women, Hagar and Sarah, represent two covenants, known respectively as the first and the second, the old and the new.

 One originates at Mount Sinai, 

the other in the New Jerusalem above. 

---In the first one the people promise to keep the law; 

---in the second one God promised to write the law in their hearts by His Spirit.
---The first one can give nothing but bondage, condemnation, and death. 

---The other gives pardon, justification, and life. 

 “for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
Heb. 11:10. 

 

Here we may come and be adopted as free-born citizens. “For ye are
not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto

blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more (for they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so
much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart; and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake). 

---But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and
church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Heb. 12:18-24."

Sabbath School Lesson 1900

God's Plan to Save the Heathen (us)

"In the fall of Adam, all men became heathen--wanderers from the one
true God.

The preaching of the Gospel to Abraham was the proof that God would justify the heathen through faith; for Abraham was born a heathen. “The father of Abraham and the father of Nachor” “served other gods.” Joshua 24:2. 

The very existence of the Jewish nation, therefore, and their separation from the nations of earth, was a standing witness to the fact that it was God's plan to save as many heathen as would believe."  

Sabbath School Lesson 1900

Papal Notes - Christ vs. Francis on Abraham

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15

"A “common prayer” was offered for Muslims, Jews, representatives of different Christian churches and other Iraqi religious minorities during the meeting with Pope Francis to celebrate their “common father in faith,” Abraham. Pope Francis called on the different monotheistic religions to end their divisions and “row together on the same side” as children of the same God. Here are some highlights from Pope Francis’ speech published by the Vatican Press Office:

“We need to move beyond ourselves, because we need one another. The pandemic has made us realize that “no one is saved alone” (Fratelli Tutti, 54). Still, the temptation to withdraw from others is never-ending, yet at the same time we know that “the notion of ‘every man for himself’ will rapidly degenerate into a free-for-all that would prove worse than any pandemic” (Fratelli Tutti, 36). Amid the tempests we are currently experiencing, such isolation will not save us.” 

“Brothers and sisters of different religions, here we find ourselves at home, and from here, together, we wish to commit ourselves to fulfilling God’s dream that the human family may become hospitable and welcoming to all his children.” 

“As children of Abraham, Jews, Christians and Muslims, together with other believers and all persons of good will, we thank you for having given us Abraham, a distinguished son of this noble and beloved country, to be our common father in faith.”

“The way that heaven points out for our journey is another:

the way of peace. It demands, especially amid the tempest, that we row together on the same side. It is shameful that, while all of us have suffered from the crisis of the pandemic, especially here, where conflicts have caused so much suffering, anyone should be concerned simply for his own affairs.” 

Pope Francis constantly spoke of Abraham as “our common father

in faith.” He stressed that it is this connection to Abraham that unites Christians, Jews, and Muslims. 

---However, Jesus clearly taught that it was not the carnal descendants that counted, or our fleshly connection to Abraham that mattered. What matters to God is whether you are the spiritual seed of Abraham. In fact, Jesus denied that the Jews of His day were the true children of Abraham because they did not live his life or manifest his same character. Read John 8:37-44." AdventMessenger

ARCHAEOLOGY: Abraham's Ur

 

"The city is known as Ur of the Chaldees. It was an important center

of Sumerian culture and is identified in the Bible as the home of Abraham.

 

This military standard is from the ruins of the royal tombs at Ur of the Chaldees in ancient Mesopotamia.

The decoration on each side is divided into three levels (registers) which can be read from bottom to top. One side shows scenes of peace and the other scenes of war.

 

--The war side shows a Sumerian army and scenes of warfare. On

the bottom level are chariots pulled by donkeys which are trampling enemies. The chariots move faster as they move from left to right. Further up the levels there are infantry soldiers with cloaks carrying spears, enemy soldiers being killed with axes, prisoners being paraded naked and presented to ruler who appears at the top carrying a spear and larger than all the other figures.

 

--On the other side of the Standard, the bottom two levels show

workers of all sorts carrying bags on their shoulders, probably containing fresh produce, and backpacks supported by headbands. There are men leading donkeys as well as bulls, sheep and goats; others are carrying fish. At the top there is a royal banquet. The ruler, wearing a woollen fleece skirt, is seated before his guests who are also dressed similarly, though less extravagantly. The banqueters are served by attendants and entertained by a singer and musician playing a lyre. 

 

----The peace side of the Standard shows how the city, and in particular the ruler, draws upon the agricultural and natural resources of its territory. .... Agricultural surplus could be used to trade exotic foreign goods, such as the materials used to decorate the Standard, which came hundreds or thousands of miles from the Persian Gulf (the white shells), Afghanistan (the blue lapis lazuli) and India (the red stones). 

----On the other side, the Standard portrays warfare as a means of protecting the wealth of the city-state from outsiders. 

 

 The royal standard of Ur is important in the study of Biblical

archaeology, it reveals the fact that the original home of Abraham, the city of Ur really existed. Genesis 15:5-7 - "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I [am] the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." BritishMuseum/BibleHistory

ARCHAEOLOGY: Extinct Geese Species in Egypt Near Abraham's sojourn there

And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there... Genesis 12:10

 

"The Meidum Geese painting was found in 1871 in a tomb located near the Meidum Pyramid, which was built by the pharaoh Snefru,

The tomb belonged to the pharaoh’s son, the vizier Nefermaat, and the painting itself was supposedly found in a chapel dedicated to Nefermaat’s wife Itet.

As members of the royal family, the pair was granted a large mastaba tomb close to the pyramid of the king and could employ the most sought-after artists of the day to help in its decoration.

The geese were depicted below a scene showing men trapping birds in a clap net and offering them to the tomb’s owner.

While it is not uncommon to find scenes of fowling in the marshes in Old Kingdom tombs, this example is one of the earliest and is notable for the extraordinary quality of the painting.

“The painting, Meidum Geese, has been admired since its discovery

in the 1800s and described as ‘Egypt’s Mona Lisa’,” said Dr. Romilio..

Apparently no-one realized it depicted an unknown species.

“The strange but beautiful bird was quite unlike modern red-breasted geese (Branta ruficollis), with distinct, bold colors and patterns on its body, face, breast, wings and legs.” SciNews

"Christians" use Abraham's Age to Attack Scripture

 Recently in cyberspace a "progressive" Christian tried to undermine lifespans in Genesis among the first generations following the flood...in other words another liberal "Christian" denying Scripture...

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Genesis 17:17

"Genesis 17:17 — THE CLAIM: Abraham’s doubt about conceiving a child undermines the idea of patriarchs living for literally hundreds of years....THE ATTACK ON SCRIPTURE-

Genesis recounts the story of Abraham and Sarah who were old in age and had no children of their own. God appears to Abraham and says he will have a son in his old age, and

then in Genesis 17 it reads, “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child?’” So Abraham thinks it’s biologically impossible for someone past the age of 100 to have a child. But this seems to contradict the ages of his ancestors, also known as the early patriarchs, who were supposed to live for hundreds of years and have children in their old ages. … More importantly is the fact that, based on what Genesis 12 says, Abraham’s own father Terah would have had to have fathered Abraham at his own age of 130.

RESPONSE by CMI--There are several problems with Jones’ reasoning. 

First, Abraham’s skepticism need not imply that this was a problem for earlier generations, just his own. 

This is true even if some in those earlier generations were still alive in Abraham’s day. It is true, for example, that Terah did not father Abraham until the age of 130 (compare Genesis 11:32; 12:4; Acts 7:4). 

But Abraham could have realized that lifespans were declining, so once he himself reached 100 he was already ‘old’, unlike his ancestors. Compare Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, who said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning” (Genesis 47:9). 

This makes good sense if the patriarchal ages are literally accurate, and had gradually declined just as Genesis portrays. It also shows Jacob understood he was already near the end of his life at 130 (he died at 147), even though his grandfather Abraham lived to be 175 and his father Isaac 180. Isaac similarly thought he was approaching death at 133 because his eyesight had failed, although he actually had 47 years left to live.

 Second, the difficulty in conceiving a child likely had more to do with Sarah’s age than Abraham’s. Genesis 18:11 tells us that Sarah was post-menopausal, and it is significant that, in Genesis 17:17, Abraham mentioned not only his own age but Sarah’s as well. After all, Sarah had been barren in her youth, so a fortiori she would hardly be expected to be fertile after menopause." CMI

Spiritual / Prophetic Lesson of Nimrod & Abraham

"This account of the apostasy of Israel and their destruction was not written for nothing. These words were written for us, and we must heed them in our day.

Now we come to the last days of Judah. 

Read the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. 

They are present truth to-day for Seventh-day Adventists, just as much as is the book of Revelation. 

Jeremiah and Ezekiel are written for us upon whom the ends of the world are come, because these books were written in the days when the end of Judah was come; and the destruction of Jerusalem, and the times that attended it, are simply recorded to point out to all the people of the world the times when the end of the world and its destruction are near, and to warn them concerning the events that will attend it, and the troubles that will accompany it.

There is to-day a Babylon and an Egypt. To-day there are people of

God in Babylon and in Egypt. And to-day the Lord calls, "Come out of her my people;"(Rev. 18:4) and, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." (Matt. 2:14)

Look at it again: 

Q: Where was Nimrod?

A: He was in Babylon, and governed the realm of Babylon. 

 

Q: Where was Abraham?

A: He was in the country ruled by the kingdom established by Nimrod. But God called him out of that country. That country was Babylon both spiritually and physically. And more than this: Nimrod was the son of Cush, and Cush was the son of Ham, and Egypt is the

land of Ham. 

 

So that in Nimrod there was both Egypt and Babylon. And when God called Abraham, he called him out of both Egypt and Babylon. And "if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal.3:29) And ye are called out of both Egypt and Babylon."

A.T. Jones

Q: What is the Point in Deuteronomy? A: "Choice"

"Throughout the history of God’s relationship with humanity, choice has been integral.

---God chose Abraham and His descendants (Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them,....Deuteronomy 10:15),
---and He appeals to Israel to choose Him in return (I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live...Deuteronomy 30:19). 
---God clearly outlines the implications of choosing Him or not, so that, to borrow the apostle Paul’s words “...are without excuse” (Romans 1:20)."
BooksOfBible

Lesson of Genesis 22:2

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah;..... Genesis 22:2

"The example of Abraham is recorded in sacred history for the benefit of his believing children.

This great act of faith teaches the lesson of
--implicit confidence in God,
--perfect obedience to his requirements,
--and a complete surrender to the divine will.
In the example of Abraham we are taught that nothing we possess is too precious to give to God."
Signs Of The Times 1875 E.G.W.