Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Genesis 12,1-4. 5. Trinity

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Genesis 12,1-4. 5. Trinity

Genesis 12,1-4 3722

5. Trinitatis 51

Marcellina, Virgin, ✠ 397

17. Juli 2022

1. ℣ Yahweh is my Light and my Salvation:

℟ Whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27,1).

Praise, laud and thanks be to You, God the Lord, who delivers His people from their misery and gathers us unto Your Glory, making us members in Your eternal Church on earth, Your chosen City, that trusts completely in You and takes comfort in Your great grace. Amen. (Preis, Lob und Dank sei Gott dem Herren elkg 274,1 2021 Petrus Herbert 1566).

2. »Now Yahweh said to Abram: „Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.“ So Abram went, as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.«

3. Yahweh is a covenant-making God. He delights in making promises to mankind. He takes great joy in blessing His creation. By chapter 12, Yahweh had made 3 covenants: He promised Adam and Eve to send a Savior who would redeem them (Genesis 3,15); He promised Noah to never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 9,11); and He promised Abraham to bless him and multiply his descendants.The first and third promises followed on the heels of a grievous sin. Adam and disobeyed Yahweh’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But what was Abraham’s great sins?

4. Abraham was an idolater. He was born and lived in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11,31). That made Abraham a Sumerian, and Sumer is on e of the oldest civilizations that we know of that grew from the descendants of Noah after the Flood. Ur was an important Sumerian city-state on the bank of the Euphrates River in what is now southeast Iraq, and its patron deity was Nanna/Sin/Suen, the moon god, and it was renowned for his temple, the Ziggurat of Ur. The other major center of Sumerian Suen worship was Haran/Harran, where Abraham was living at the beginning of chapter 12.

5. Before he died, Joshua reminded the Israelites: »Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: „Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.“« (Joshua 24,2). Suen is most likely the idol Abraham originally worshipped.

6. That Yahweh spoke and appeared to Abraham sets Him apart from all the idols. Suen and the other Sumerian idols were distant objects of worship, and they did not personally interact with men. Worship of Suen revolved around priestesses at the temple who were of the royal family. Abraham forsook Suen and worshipped Yahweh.

7. This God of Abraham is a God of action. He is not distant, but involved in the lives of men and women. The idols, by contrast, do not speak, do not answer and do not pay attention to the pleas of mankind (1. Kings 18,29).Hence, Ezekiel calls them poop idols (גּלּוּלי) (Ezekiel 6,4-6).

8. Yahweh blesses people. He blessed Abraham and promised that through Abraham all nations will be blessed (Genesis 22,18). Abraham was the great grandfather of the Tribes of Israel. Yahweh promised to make Israel as a light for the Gentiles, so that His salvation may reach to the end of the earth (Isaiah 49,6).

9. Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise. The Gospel according to Matthew tells us: »Jesus went and lived in Capernaum in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali … Galilee of the Gentiles — the people dwelling in the darkness have seen a great light, and for those who dwelling in the region and shadow of death; on them a light has dawned« (Matthew 4,13-16; Isaiah 9,1-2).

10. »From that time Jesus bean to preach, saying: „Repent, for the reign of heaven is in your midst“« (Matthew 4,17). We take advantage of Yahweh favor and blessing for granted. We mistreat our neighbor. We do not fear, love or trust Yahweh with all our heart. Jesus call for us to repent of these our sins!

11. The reign of heaven is the work of God in Jesus Christ on behalf of His people (Gibbs). In the eyes of the God of grace we sinful, imperfect people are called by Him to follow Him and worship Him (Gibbs). In the midst of conflict and oppression, trouble and uncertainty, we may rest secure in our identity in Jesus (Gibbs). Yahweh has blessed us through Abraham’s offspring who is Jesus Christ. This Jesus suffered, was crucified and resurrected for us to redeem us back to God the father! In His Light we see Light, for with Jesus is the Fountain of Life (Psalm 36,9).

12. My heart with joy is springing;

I am no longer sad.

My soul is filled with singing;

Your sunshine makes me glad.

The sun that cheers my spirit

Is Jesus Christ, my King;

The heav’n I shall inherit

Makes me rejoice and sing (If God Himself Be for Me Paul Gerhardt 1607-76 lsb 724,10)

This is most certainly true.

13. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4,7). Amen.

14. Let us pray. O God, who has prepared for them that love You such good things as pass our understanding, pour into our hearts such love toward You so that we, loving You above all things, may obtain Your promises, which exceed all that we can desire. Amen. (Trinity V Vespers, 1. Collect The Daily Office 1965).

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Parables of Atonement and Assurance: Matthew 13:44-46. https://www.issuesetcarchive.org/articles/bissar54.htm

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Genesis 12,1-4. 5. Trinity

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