- WHAT promises did the Lord make Abram when he called him to leave his home and kindred?
- Where are these promises recorded?
- When were they renewed to him?
- After Abram had separated from Lot, what did the Lord tell him to do?
- What did he promise to give him?
- What did he say in regard to Abram’s seed?
- As years passed on, what did Abram begin to fear?
- Of what did the Lord assure him?
- How long did the Lord say that Abram’s seed should dwell among strangers?
- Did the Lord foretell the affliction of his people in Egypt?
- What did he say should happen in the fourth generation?
- What covenant did the Lord then make with Abram?
- How was this covenant ratified?
- How did the Lord perform the ceremony on his part?
- How was his Spirit represented?
- As years rolled by, and Abram and Sarai were still childless, how did they begin to feel?
- What did Sarai do?
- Was the Lord pleased with this?
- What effect had it upon Abram’s happiness?
- What was the name of Hagar’s son?
- What finally had to be done?
When God called Abram, he made him very precious promises. These are recorded in Gen. 12:2, 3, and were renewed to him at different times. After he had separated from Lot, the Lord told Abram to look over the land in every direction, and to walk throughout the length and breadth of it; for he would give all that land to him and to his seed forever. He said also, that his seed [descendants] should become as the dust of the earth, so that a man could no more number them than he could number the particles of dust upon the earth. Years passed by, and Abram, having no children, began to fear that the promises would not be fulfilled, supposing that some servant born in his family might be his only heir. But the Lord assured him that he should have a child of his own to be his heir. Then, after telling him that his seed should dwell among strangers four hundred years, and showing him how they should be afflicted in Egypt, the Lord assured him that in the fourth generation the people then dwelling in the land should be driven out, and that Abram’s seed should then possess it as their own. Then the Lord entered into a solemn covenant with Abram, that he might know that these promises would be fulfilled. This covenant was ratified, according to the custom of those times, by passing between the bodies of the animals that had been slain for the purpose. The Lord performed the ceremony on his part by the agency of his Holy Spirit, which was represented by a burning lamp. As time passed on, and Abram and Sarai had no children, they began to doubt again, and to lay plans of their own for the fulfillment of the promises. Sarai gave her maid, Hagar, to Abram for a wife; and Hagar had a son, whose name was Ishmael. This displeased the Lord, and made so much trouble in the family that finally Hagar and Ishmael had to be sent away.