God's Choice of Abram -- 2/1/09

Sunday, February 1, 2009

GOD’S CHOICE OF ABRAM
Gen. 11:10-12:4

Who is the great man of faith in the Bible? It is Abraham. Listen to this statement from Dr. Lewis Jordan…
It is difficult to find a merely human character who plays a more important part in the Bible than Abram, the patriarch. In the New Testament, Abram is the great example of faith. In the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews when we have that long string of names who are designed to exemplify faith, the greatest space is devoted to the life of Abram. It would seem as if the author of that epistle regarded him as the extreme example of faith.

We can easily expand on that. Who is the great example of a man who was justified by faith rather than by works? It is Abraham. Paul speaks of the blessing of Abraham coming on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. And when our Lord Jesus told the story about the rich man and Lazarus, where was Lazarus taken? To the bosom of Abraham. In the New Testament, believers are not referred to as the children of Isaac or the children of Jacob, but as the children of Abraham. Yes, he is indeed a key figure in God’s plan.

By the way, this man is introduced to us as “Abram” here in chapter 11 of Genesis. Later his name will be changed to “Abraham,” which is more familiar to us. You will probably find me using the names loosely. Forgive me when I call him “Abraham” before his name was changed.

This morning we come to the last part of Genesis 11, where we find another genealogy. This genealogy is important because it contains the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, the Savior. But how are we going to get from here to there? Remember the history from Adam to Noah, from innocence to the place where even the thoughts of their hearts were only evil continually. We thought things would be better when those eight people stepped off the ark. And they did begin well, building an altar and offering burnt offerings to the Lord, but it didn’t last long. That was in Genesis 8. By chapter 11 and two or three centuries later, the human race was once again in rebellion against its Creator. In 11:1-9 we saw that rebellion crystallized at Babel, where they desired a city, a tower to reach to heaven, and to make a name for themselves. Of course, the Lord was well aware of their scheme. He brought judgment through confusing their language and scattering them over the earth.

We might get the impression that this is going to be an endless cycle – man’s sin multiplies, God’s judgment comes, they make a new start, sin multiplies, God’s judgment comes again, etc. But here in the last part of chapter 11 and the first part of chapter 12 we are introduced to a new aspect of God’s plan. Something is about to change. Before we talk about it, let’s read it from God’s Word. Read Gen. 11:10-12:4...
These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11. And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 12. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: 13. And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 14. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15. And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 16. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: 17. And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19. And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21. And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23. And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 24. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25. And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

I. The Genealogy of Chapter 11 -- Shem to Abram (11:10-26)

Remember that we read the list of Noah’s descendants in chapter 10. You will also remember that the account of Shem’s descendants was brief in comparison with that of Ham and Japheth. Furthermore, follow Shem’s line in 10:22-25… Shem > Arphaxad > Salah > Eber > Peleg and Joktan. No sons of Peleg are listed, while 13 sons of Joktan are recorded. There is no reason to list Peleg’s descendants in chapter 10, because they are going to be listed here in chapter 11. Most likely, Shem was not the youngest of Noah’s sons, but he is listed last because that makes it natural to move directly form Shem to Abram. That is important because Abram is the most important human character in the book of Genesis. Chapters 12-50 are all about Abram (Abraham) and his descendants – Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons.

Let’s just note a couple of things about the genealogy here at the end of chapter 11. First of all, it is truly a genealogy. Notice that the ages are given, where they weren’t present in chapter 10. Here there is great precision. You will also note that only the one son of each man is listed. For example, we know from chapter 10 that Eber had two sons, Peleg and Joktan, but here in chapter 11 only Peleg, the oldest son, is mentioned. The great concern is to preserve the lineage of Abraham, and ultimately of Christ.

Another feature that is hard to overlook is the fact that the life spans are decreasing dramatically. Just take a look at the ages of 11 generations…

Noah....................... 950
Shem...................... 600
Arphaxad............... 438
Selah....................... 433
Eber........................ 464
Peleg....................... 239
Reu......................... 239
Serug...................... 230
Nahor..................... 148
Terah..................... 205
Abram................... 175

What a decrease. In the space of a little more than 300 years the life spans went from Noah’s 950 years to six generations that averaged just over 200 years.

You will also note that they were having children at a much younger age. Noah was 500 when he began to have children. Shem was a hundred. After that, the first child was born when the father was in his 30’s or younger (with the exception of Terah and Abram).

II. The Immediate Family of Abram (11:27-32)

When we come to 11:27, you will notice that familiar phrase “Now these are the generations…” That is how chapter 10 began: “Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah – Shem, Ham, and Japhetht” (10:1). Then we find the same phrase in 11:10, “These are the generations of Shem…” Now in verse 27 we are introduced to the generations of Terah. With Terah we come to the immediate family of Abram. And what relation was Terah to Abram? That’s right, he was the father of Abram. Perhaps the easiest way to grasp the relationships of verses 27-29 is through the use of this little chart… [I was not able to capture the proper format for the chart. However, I think the notes below will communicate what is necessary]

Some believe that the Haran who was the father of Milcah was the same as Haran, the son of Terah. It is possible, but we are not told. It seems to me that it that were the case, the text would tell us so.

You will notice that Haran died before his father Terah. That is likely why Haran’s son Lot is mentioned. In a sense, he takes the place of his father. Though the sons of Nahor are not listed here, we know the names of the eight sons born to him and Milcah from Gen. 22:21-22. And Bethuel, of course, was the father of Rebekah, who would later marry Abram’s son Isaac. But at this time, the main family members are Terah, Nahor, Abram, and their nephew Lot.

In verse 26 we are told that Terah lived 70 years and begat three sons. In the order listed, they are Abram, Nahor, and Haran. That does not mean that Terah and his wife had triplets. It simple means that they had the first of their sons when Terah was 70. There is some question about which son was the oldest. Were we given no other information, we would assume that Abram was the oldest, because he is listed first. However, we are given some more details.

11:32 tells us that Terah died in Haran (likely named after his deceased son) at the age of 205. 2:4 further tells us that Abram was 75 when he left Haran. Now if Terah was 70 when Abram was born, that would mean that Abram was 135 when Terah died. It certainly seems that Terah died in Haran, and then Abram departed from Haran when he was 75. The picture becomes even clearer when we read the words of Stephen in Acts 7:4, “Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Charan (= Haran); and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell.” When Terah died at 205, 75-year-old Abram left Haran. That, of course, poses a problem. If Abram was born when his father was 70, he would have departed Haran at age 135, not 75.

It seems best to understand that Nahor was born when Terah was 70 and that Abram was born 60 years later, when his father was 130. Then why is Abram listed first in Gen. 11:26? Surely it is simply because Abram will be the main character throughout the rest of the book of Genesis. Abram is the focus of this genealogy.

III. God’s Sovereign Choice of Abram

When we began this morning, we were considering the idea that God is about to reveal a new aspect of His plan. He would not go on continually wiping out the world or scattering its inhabitants every time mankind rebelled against Him. No, the Lord had something else in mind. It is with the introduction of Abram that we are exposed to that plan. To put it briefly, God is going to choose one man through whom He will bless the world, and that one man is Abram. This is the reason for the careful details of the genealogy in chapter 11. You will notice that the genealogy stops at Abram. Moses takes us carefully from Shem to Abram, because Abram is the man through whom God is going to work in an unusual way. The introduction of Abram’s family sets the context for the story that will unfold in the following chapters.

Let’s read again 12:1-4…
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

We are not going to take the time this morning to develop the details of the promises the Lord made to Abram. What I want to emphasize is God’s choice of Abram. This is the man God chose to be the father of the nation, which would come to be known as Israel. In this man Abram all the families of the earth would be blessed. It would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of this single individual Abram (Abraham).

Look again at 12:1, “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.” When did the Lord speak to Abram and tell him to leave his country and kindred? While the King James (and NIV) translates it “The Lord had said,” other translations (ESV, NIV) render it simply “The Lord said.” Did the Lord speak to Abram while he was in Ur? Or was it when he was in Haran? There is a difference of opinion about the answer to that question. This is one of those times when we need to take a look at other passages of scripture, particularly Acts 7:2-4…

And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3. And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 4. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

Clearly God spoke these words to Abram when he was in Ur of the Chaldees. Some believe that the Lord spoke again to Abram after his father died in Haran. In other words, these verses in Genesis 12 constitute a second call to Abram. I don’t think such a second message was necessary, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. What is important to know is that God first appeared to Abram in Ur.

So what was life like in Ur? History and archaeology tell us that Ur was a highly developed city. Leon Wood makes this statement: “Further, it is altogether likely that the time of this leaving occurred either during or shortly after the period when Ur was actually the leading city of the Middle East, which means that any other locality God might choose had to present less cultural advantages” (Genesis: Study Guide Commentary, p. 58). It had a large library and was a center of learning. Religiously, Ur was a center for the worship of the moon god. Hebrew scholars even connect the name “Terah” with the Hebrew word for moon.

So what does this mean? Was Abram’s family a bunch of idolaters? The scripture is not silent concerning that question. Let’s read Josh. 24:1-2...
And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

“Beyond the flood” simply means “beyond the river,” and the reference is to the great river, the Euphrates. He is not talking about them living before the flood of Noah’s day, for they certainly didn’t live on the other side of that flood. But they had lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. The important fact is that Abram’s family, including his father, served other gods. Yes, they were idolaters.

Now let me ask you another question: What about Abram himself? Was he also an idolater? Some would say, “No, surely he was a worshipper of God, and that is why God chose him.” What do you think about that? This brings us squarely to a subject that we must address, the subject of election. On what basis does God choose people? What was his basis for choosing Abram? We see in this whole section that Abram is the focus. This long genealogy is important because it leads up to this one man Abram. It is through this individual that God will set aside a people for Himself. But why Abram? Why not Nachor? Why not some other man in a previous generation?

This is not a trivial question that has no bearing on life. No, it is a question that leads to other questions. If you are a child of God, how did that happen? Did God choose you? If so, on what basis did He choose you? It is difficult to talk about God’s choice of Abram without also considering His choosing of people down through the centuries.

I want to strongly suggest to you that Abram was an idolater just like the rest of his family. Do you find it unusual that God would choose a man who worshipped idols? Let’s make one thing clear -- every person here this morning who is a child of God was chosen out of idolatry. 1 Thes. 1:8-9, "For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. 9. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." Now we can certainly see how the Gentiles who lived in Thessalonica would have turned from idols, but what about the Jews? Acts 17 makes it clear that Paul began his ministry in Thessalonica by preaching in the synagogues, and some of the Jews believed. How is it that these Jews turned from idols? We must understand that all people have participated in idolatry. Your idols may not have been the kind you make with your hands and to which you physically bow down, but you nevertheless had your idols. Even in the Old Testament, we can read about idolatry among Jews… (Ezek. 14:3-6)
Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? 4. Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 5. That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 6. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Do you see? They were guilty of setting up idols in their hearts. Anything which looms larger than God is an idol, though it may have no physical representation.

You see, there are some who believe that God wouldn’t choose Abram, if he were an idolater like all those around him. But I remind you that God is still choosing idolaters. What is it that causes God to choose a person to be His child? What did God see in Abram that caused Him to choose Abram to be the father of His holy people?

Turn with me to John 15. Let’s read John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." Let’s apply that directly. You did not choose Jesus; Jesus chose you. As Jesus put it in John 6:44, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." As with us, so it was with Abram. Abram didn’t choose God; God chose him.

The biblical term for this teaching is “election.” Though it is not popular in some circles, nonetheless election is a very crucial biblical doctrine. One of the key texts is Eph. 1:3-7…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

We who belong to God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. God elected us to be His. And those who have been chosen by Him were predestined to be His children through Jesus Christ. We find the same truth in Rom. 8:28-30…
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Many people get bent out of shape concerning predestination. In reality, predestination is not the issue as much as election. Those whom God elects (chooses), He predestines to be conformed to the image of Jesus. From the beginning, God has planned and ordained that those who are His be made like Jesus. But the only ones who will be made like Jesus are the ones God has chosen from the foundation of the world.

But wait a minute. Aren’t Christians those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ. That is absolutely correct. Come back to Eph. 1. After talking about how we have been chosen in Him from the foundation of the world, Paul then says that we have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no contradiction between election and saving faith in Jesus Christ. Those who have been chosen by God will repent and believe. There are no exceptions.

God chose Abram, and God has been choosing people ever since. But now we must come to the question at which we have been hinting: Why did God choose Abram? On what basis did He make His choice? For that matter, why does He choose anyone? Child of God, why did He choose you? The prevailing view among evangelicals today (according to Dr. Lewis Johnson, and I would certainly agree with him) is this: God looked down through time. He saw that Ron Tyson would believe in Jesus Christ. And so God chose Ron Tyson on the basis of that foreseen belief. That view is often supported with passages like the one we read in Rom. 8:28-30, where we read, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” (29). But a view of the entirety of scripture teaches us that this is not the meaning of foreknow in this passage. Paul isn’t talking about mental knowledge of future actions. Rather, he is talking about the kind of knowledge he wrote about in Phil. 3:10, “That I may know him…” This is not mental knowledge about something, but rather the personal knowledge of personal acquaintance. Apply this kind of knowledge to God. Ps. 1:6, “For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” He is not saying that the Lord has mental knowledge about the righteous, for He certainly has the same mental knowledge of the ungodly. The Lord knows the righteous in the sense that He chooses to set His love upon the righteous. Back to Rom. 8:29. When Paul says that God foreknew them, he is saying that God set His love, His choice, on them beforehand. The “foreknew” of Rom. 8:29 is the election of Eph. 1.

So why did God choose Abram? Because He as the Sovereign God chose to do so. That’s it. But didn’t he see something good in Abram? Didn’t he detect something in Abram that he didn’t detect in those around him? No. God instilled in Abram something that wasn’t in those around him. It is the same today. Didn’t God see something in you that He didn’t see in those who would reject Him? No. A thousand times NO. He instilled something in you that was not present in those around you, and that something is life, His life.

Do you see the problem with the view that God chose us because He knew ahead of time that we would repent and believe? That view misses the whole purpose of election. And what is the purpose of God’s election? We find that purpose revealed in I Cor. 1:26-31…
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29. That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Why does God choose those whom He chooses? That no flesh should glory in His presence, that if anyone boasts, He must boast in the Lord. In other words, God’s practice of election based on nothing in the man He chooses removes every ground of pride within man. If God chose me because He foresaw that I would repent and believe, then I have room to boast. I can still say, “Yes, salvation is of God, but I still had the good sense to choose to follow Jesus. I did something that many others haven’t done.” When we truly understand God’s election, there is no longer room for boasting.

Do not misunderstand. Election does not do away with the need to repent and believe. There will not be a single person in heaven who did not repent and believe. The key is in understanding why a person repents and believes in Christ. Does he do it because he has the good sense to do so? What the scripture teaches is that no man in himself is capable of repenting and believing in Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus says, “No man can come to me except the Father draw him” (John 6:44). This truth is emphasized in Eph. 2:1-3. There Paul declares that we were all dead in our trespasses and sins. We all were children of disobedience and were under the wrath of God. We certainly needed to escape God’s wrath, but the problem was in the fact that we were dead. We weren’t sick; we weren’t disabled; we weren’t weak… but we were dead. After making this statement, would Paul then say, “BUT there were a few who were able to rouse themselves up and crawl out of the grave”? No. Read what he says in Eph. 2:4, “BUT GOD…” The only one who wasn’t dead in trespasses and sins was God Himself. The God who was alive gave life to us who were dead. That is the context in which we then read Eph. 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast." That which we know as repentance and faith is a gift from God. God granted that gift, and it wasn’t based on anything in us.

So God chose Abram. Does that mean that God chose all of Abram’s descendants? Let’s read it in Romans 9, where Paul pours out his concern for his fellow-Jews. Rom. 9:1-13…
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2. That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 4. Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5. Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. 6. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. 10. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11. (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12. It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

No, not all Abraham’s descendants were chosen. In verse 8 Paul makes it clear that God’s election was not based on physical descent, but rather upon the promise of God. And then he gives a powerful illustration. Abraham’s daughter-in-law Rebecca was pregnant with twins. Before the children were ever born, God said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” History would reveal that the older twin Esau would become a servant to the younger twin Jacob. It was through Jacob that God’s purpose would be carried out and that the Messiah would be born. Paul maintains that it is highly significant that the Lord revealed this to Rebecca before the children were even born. But why is that important? Verse 11, “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.” In other words, let it be clear that God’s election is not based upon anything in man; it is totally of the Sovereign God who calls whomever He will. And if you think that makes God unjust, you are not the only one. Paul anticipated that objection in verse 14, “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid (may it never be).” In dealing with this objection, Paul then gives us this great truth: "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy" (Rom. 9:15-16).

Of course, there are still many people who cry out in the face of election: “It isn’t fair.” That is true; it isn’t fair. If God were fair, He would send every person in this universe to hell, because we were all rebellious, self-absorbed God-haters. That would be fair. No one could accuse God of injustice. Praise His holy name that He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, just as He chose Abram out of a pagan culture and made him the father of a great nation.

As we will see later, God’s choice of Abram and His choice of us who are now in Christ are closely connected because of the close connection between Abraham and Jesus. But we will save that for a later time.

I encourage you to be reading Genesis 12 and the chapters that follow, which give us some of the details of Abram’s life. Also, please read what Heb. 11 says about Abraham. We will likely be talking about that next week.