Lesson 6 – God’s Covenant with Abram

God chose Abram (later called Abraham) and gave him faith to trust His promises to save His people. God gives us faith in Jesus, our Savior.

Opening

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This lesson will use the Bible, the Bible Exploration Guide and the Lesson 6 Leaflet from the Student Pack. The front cover shows how the artist sees the Abraham looking at the stars in the night sky. Also colored pencils or crayons will be needed.

Listen to the hymn “How Firm a Foundation”. Then looking at the lyrics to this hymn which part makes you think of the word promise?

Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, thank You for caring for Your people and for blessing us with faith. Please help us grow in our faith today as we study Your words for us. Through Christ we pray. Amen.

God Speaks

This lesson is about God's covenant promises for Abram. We'll also learn about how God changes Abram's name.

On page 2 of the leaflet look up the Bible references in Part A and match them with the promises on the bottom of the page. Check your matches below.

 Part A

1. Genesis 15:1 (e) l am your shield; your reward shall be very great.

2. Genesis 15:2-4 (a) Your very own son shall be your heir.

3. Genesis 15:5 (f) Your offspring shall be as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Print out the student page at the end of the lesson and follow the directions.

 At this time in his life, did Abram have descendants?(Sarai

was barren, unable to have children, before God's promise to her.

What was God's promise to Abram regarding descendants? God said that Abram would have as many descendants as the stars.

Why did this promise confuse Abram? Abram and Sarai had no children, and they were old. He wondered how they could still have descendants when his wife was past the age of childbearing.

Did God's promises always make sense to Abram? No

Even when God makes promises that seem impossible, remember: He is God, and He can do things that to us seem like they could never happen.

How would you describe God's relationship with Abram based upon what you know about God and His promises? God could be trusted; God provided for Abram; He is full of grace; He gave Abram many blessings. God is always faithful to His promises.

Read Genesis 15:6.

How did Abram become righteous? Was it because of something he did? No. He was righteous because of faith.) This verse says that because Abram believed the Lord and His promises, he was considered righteous by God.

 Abram could have doubted God. In fact, he asked God how he would know for sure that he would possess the land God had promised to him. It seemed like the things God was promising could never happen. Abram and his wife were old. His wife was past the age of childbearing. But Abram believed that God could do what He had promised.

Read Romans 4:18-24.

What does it say about what Abram believed in? It says that Abram was "fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised."

Abram's faith was based in God's promises. God promised to be gracious and to bless Abram, and Abram-by God's grace placed His faith in these promises from God.  God's promises were the beginning of Abram's faith. God gave faith to Abram and not only made promises, but also kept those promises.

Genesis 16 tells us that Sarai and Abram tried to help God instead of waiting on God's timing to fulfill His promises. They doubted God's promises. But God forgave their sin of doubting and kept His covenant promise to save His people through Abram's descendant.

Read Genesis 17:1-8.

Abraham's new name is tied to God's promise to make Abraham a great nation. Within this promise of descendants is also another promise. God was promising that one of Abraham's descendants would be very special.

Who is God referring to? A descendant of Abraham, almost two thousand years later, would be Jesus God's only Son.

The Bible traces Jesus' family line way back to Abraham,  and even further back to Noah and to Adam and Eve.

Often, Hebrew names have special meanings and tell something about the person. The name Abram meant "exalted father." Then God changed his name to Abraham, "father of a multitude." Both Sarai and Sarah meant "princess." God promised Abraham and Sarah that kings and the King of kings, Jesus, would come from their family. This promise was so special that God gave Abraham and Sarah new names to mark the occasion.

On page 2 of the leaflet look up the Bible references in Part B and match them with the promises on the bottom of the page. Check your matches below.

Part B

4. Genesis 17:15-16 (b) God will bless Sarai; God would give Abram a son through her; from her will come kings of people.

5. Genesis 17:17-19 (g) Your wife Sarah will bear a son, that you should call Isaac.

6. Genesis 17:20 (d) God will bless Ishmael; he will be the father of twelve princes.

7. Genesis 17:21 (c) God will establish His covenant with Abraham's son Isaac.

We Live

Read Genesis 15:7-21.

God restated His promise of giving the land to Abraham and gave him a visible symbol that He knew Abraham would understand, because it was the way people made covenants in the land of Ur where Abraham had come from. It was God's way of guaranteeing to Abraham that His promises were sure and real.

God's promises to Abraham, sealed in a covenant, are similar to Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

In these Sacraments, God speaks the message of His mercy in Christ through forgiveness and life in the promised land of heaven.  He gives us something to see-water, bread, and wine-to make it all the more sure for us. In this visible sign, God binds Himself to His promise. That is evidence of His grace.

On page 3 of the leaflet, write the words from the stars on the blanks below the stars based on the numbers in the stars, starting with number 1.

God promised that Abram would become a great nation. In Genesis 15, God tells Abram that the number of his descendants would be like that of stars in the sky.

Who was Abram's most important descendant? Jesus, the Christ.  Christ was the descendant who was born to break sin's hold over each of us. Christ was the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation for mankind.

When completed, the message on page 3 should read: He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Abraham. Psalm 105:8-9a

By faith, given to us in Baptism and nurtured in us by God's Word and the Lord's Supper, we are spiritual descendants of Abram and ones who receive the blessings God promised, especially the blessings of forgiveness, new life, and salvation in Jesus Christ.

Like Abram, we sin when we fail to trust God's leading of our lives, questioning His directions and failing to follow Him.

What are some ways that young people your age are like Abram, sinful and distrustful of God? We rebel against our parents and fail to honor our teachers. We give in to peer pressure instead of making God-pleasing decisions in life. Yet God still promises to guide and bless us and does so through His Son. Like Abram, we are sinful people and deserve eternal death and damnation as the penalty for our sins. But Abram's most important descendant, Jesus, is, by God’s gift of faith, our Savior from sin. Though we sin daily and even our best efforts to please God are spoiled by poor motives and failures, Jesus stands by our side before God and makes us pleasing to Him.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:3

What this Bible verse mean? No one can be a Christian without the Holy Spirit converting us.

The Bible is our only source for the clear teachings of the Church, what are called “doctrines" from the Latin word for teaching. We have those doctrines explained for us in Luther's Small Catechism.

 When we say the Apostles' Creed, which is a summary of the doctrines taught by the apostles Jesus chose, we are acknowledging that we cannot believe in Jesus on our own. The Third Article is printed on page 3 of the Leaflet.

In the explanation, we say, "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith"

What is reason? Being able to think clearly through arguments, understanding things.

What is strength? My abilities either physical or some other way.

This portion of Luther's explanation of the Third Article says I cannot believe in Jesus on my own. I can't decide that I want to believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit does the work. I don't have the ability to trust in Christ on my own. Instead, God gives the promises of and eternal life and then provides me with the faith to believe His promises.

In the Bible Discovery Guide , read about Abram’s journey on page 10. Pages 11 through 13 provide information about nomadic  life in old testament times.

Our lives are, in some ways, like Abraham's. He lived in a tent and moved around. He had no permanent home. We are not in our permanent home yet either. When you go to heaven, you will be in your permanent home, where Jesus has prepared a place for you.

Before Jesus began His suffering for the punishment of our sins, He gave His disciples and us these words of comfort from John 14:2-3. Read these verses.

What does Jesus mean? He would rise again from the dead and ascend  to heaven. He promised to return to earth to take us to heaven.

We remember that God always keeps His promises and that He gives us the faith to believe in Him. We will be with Him in heaven someday.

We Live

Listen to the hymn "How Firm a Foundation".

Page for the of leaflet provides a summary of key points on the lesson and devotions for the week.

Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for teaching us in Your Word about Abraham and the faith You gave him. Thank You for giving us the gift of faith through Baptism and through the hearing of Your Word. Thank You for forgiving us when we doubt Your promises. Please increase our faith and help us tell others about the good news of salvation found only in Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.