Genesis 11

God’s plan of blessing for the believer

Warm-up: What picture(s) or emotions cross your mind when you hear the word ‘patriarchs’?

Read Genesis 11:2-12:9

Background and context: Abram means exalted father or my father is exalted. For the later part of his life, he was called Abraham, often glossed as av hamon (goyim) father of many (nations) after Gen 17:5, although it does not have any literal meaning in Hebrew. According to Biblical chronology, Noah only passed away at the age of 950 when Abram was already 58 years old. Abram’s roots were in Ur (today’s Iraq), but somehow – we are not told exactly how – God spoke into his life and called him to leave his country and to move to “the land I will show you”. Within the Bible narrative of how God revealed himself to mankind, Abraham is the first among the ‘patriarchs’ with whom God entered a covenant relationship with the promise to multiply his offspring – at a time when he had none.

• The lifespans of Abraham’s ancestors sound extraordinary (e.g. Noah is said to have lived another 350 years also after the flood, and lifespans only decreased twofold for his sons, and then again twofold with Peleg): How do you picture the author feeling about writing this?
• If you plot this chronology, you find Noah was still alive when Abraham was born: Does this have any implication for how you interpret this story?
• Prolonging longevity may come within reach of modern biotechnology: Does the Genesis story influence what you think of the outcome and whether this is a desirable objective?

2) Gen 11:31 Whose idea was it to move to Canaan, and how did that plan start to unfold?

3) Why did God specifically call Abraham? Did God reveal to Abraham why he chose him? Does the reader get any information on the reasons? (if needed: 1 Cor 1:26-29)

• 11:2-3 reveal the purpose, but not what caused God to choose Abraham
  • What was that purpose?
  • What is meant by “blessing” in this text? Hint: How did other people bless Abraham? How are “all peoples on earth” blessed through Abraham?

4) How did Araham respond to God’s calling?

• Was he right to take Lot with him?
• What could it mean that Abraham built altars in the places where God had appeared to him?

5) Application

• What do you find important to learn from this story about the origin of the nation of Israel?
• How would you have reacted in Abraham’s place when he was promised “to your offspring I will give this land”?
• What aspect(s) of Abraham’s calling do you think apply also to you? Why? 2Thes 2:13-14