This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love helping you understand God's Word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you'd like help to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resources designed to help you stay strong in your faith.
All delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you'll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That's connectwithskip.com. Before today's teaching, stay with us for a special invitation from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
Have you ever dreamed of visiting Israel? Leni and I want to invite you to join us for a life-changing journey through the land of the Bible in April of 2027. You can walk where Jesus walked. You can worship on the Sea of Galilee. You can celebrate baptisms at the Jordan River, and we're going to share communion at the Empty Tomb.
You'll also have the option to attend the Epicenter Summit in Jerusalem, where I'll be speaking alongside of Joel Rosenberg. Greg Laurie, and Graham Lotts, Jack Graham, and more.
So join us April fifth through April sixteenth. You can learn more today at connectwithSkip dot com slash Israel.
Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Would you turn in your Bibles, please, to the Book of Genesis? Let's begin in Chapter Twelve tonight, and let's finish the Book of Genesis.
Now, if you were with us last week, and I think most of you were, raise your hands if you were. Awesome!
So we moved pretty fast, did we not? Yeah.
So we're going to move as fast at least tonight.
So I need to have you buckle your seatbelts, put your heart in the upright position, and we have now officially taken off. We're in the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis shows to us the beginning of everything except God. The beginning of everything except God. It shows us the beginning of the universe.
The beginning of mankind, the beginning of God's plan to rescue men from sin. It gives to us the beginning of sin itself. It shows us the beginning of the Sabbath day because God rested. The Bible says on the seventh day. It tells us the beginning of marriage.
It shows us the beginning of the family. It shows us the beginning of God's judgment. We see in the flood of chapter six, seven, and eight. It shows us the beginning of human government, which comes in chapters ten and eleven. The beginning of nations, and now, now we focus the beginning of the nation of Israel.
That's what the rest of this book, you might say, deals with. Last week it was all about the beginning of the human race, from chapter twelve to fifty. This is the beginning of the Hebrew race, God's chosen race.
So the book of Genesis, as we said last time, can be seen by looking at four great events followed by four great people. The four great events we covered last time: formation of the heavens and the earth, fall of mankind, the flood, the great judgment that encircled the earth, and the fallout of man's rebellion against God in those last two chapters, ten and eleven.
Now we go and look at four great people: Abraham, and his son Isaac, and then Isaac's son Jacob. And then one of Jacob's sons, Joseph. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph.
So, if chapters one through eleven are about primeval history, then chapters twelve through fifty are patriarchal history. Again, the first eleven chapters are about events. The last section of the book of Genesis, twelve to fifty, is about people. And one thing you will discover—that's what God is more interested in. There's more description given to people than to events, even creation.
I mean, God's whole creation is summed up in two short chapters. But when He wants to talk about Abraham, He'll give you fourteen chapters. When He wants to talk about Joseph, He'll give you fourteen more chapters, because that is what God is most interested in—not the events. But in people, and that is what the book of Genesis does. It is God reaching people.
He gets a hold of a man named Adam, a couple named Adam and Eve, a nation called Israel, and finally the whole world. When we get to John three sixteen, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
So the theme of the book of Genesis, you might say, at least the theme of this portion of the book, is God's selection of a nation so that He can bring forth His Son, the Messiah, who will fulfill the promise that He gave in Genesis chapter three, verse fifteen: the seed of the woman who will come and destroy the rulership of of Satan himself.
So we're going to begin in chapter twelve with Abraham. We have looked at the lineage of Adam, and then the lineage of Adam was very selective in that it eliminated the line of Cain and the line of Abel and focuses on the line of the third son Seth.
Now we're focused on the line of Shem. One of Noah's sons after they left the ark that we saw last time, chapter eleven introduces us to Abraham or Abram as he is called. But I'm going to pick it up in chapter twelve, verse one.
Now Abraham—that's how we know him best. Abraham is highlighted in three world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He plays a major role, which indicates his importance. And for our purpose, the amount of scriptural real estate that is devoted to Abraham is noteworthy. As I mentioned, fourteen chapters.
So, chapters one through eleven—I don't know if you remember from last week—covers about how many years? Two thousand years, about two thousand years, two thousand plus years. Chapters twelve through fifty cover just around three hundred years or so. That's what it's limited to, but it's about people.
Now Abraham is important in our Bibles. One chapter in the book of Romans is devoted to him. Two chapters in the book of Galatians is devoted to him. He is called in those sections the father of those who believe. The father of those who believe.
Why? Because it will say Abraham believed God, and God accounted it to him as righteousness. Then we'll get to Hebrews chapter eleven, where you have a whole listing of people who believed God, and Abraham is one of them. By the way, three times in the Bible, Abraham is known as the friend of God. Isn't that a great title?
Isn't that a great nickname? Who are you? Oh, I'm God's buddy. He is the friend of God. In fact, today to this day, Arabs refer to him as Khalil, which is friend, and Al Khalil is friend of God, and that's the name they give to Hebron because that was the place that he bought a cave for himself and his wife to be buried.
Well, as I said, the story begins in chapter eleven in Ur of the Chaldees, that's his hometown. He is called to leave that place and go to a place God tells him. His father was a pagan worshiper, and his wife is infertile at the time. That sets the stage for chapter twelve, verse one.
Now the Lord had said to Abram, "Get out of your country and from your family, from your father's house, to a land that I will show you." So he leaves. He goes upriver to Haran until his father dies. Then continues his journey to Canaan. Verse two, God says, "I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing." Now, can I just say at this point, I think this shows, at least in part, the irony of God, or even the sense of humor.
Of God, God tells a man who has no offspring and has a wife who is completely and totally infertile, says, "Hey, you know what? I'm going to make you a great nation." He's thinking, "Nation? I don't even have first kid yet." But God promises him a nation against all odds. He tells this man who has no child. With a wife who can bear no child, that he's going to be a great nation.
I will bless you, verse three, and I will bless those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Please notice that verse, because everything from this verse all the way to chapter fifty. Flow out of this verse. All of God's program from now on will flow out of this verse.
In you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. The rest of Genesis, yea, the rest of the Bible, has this as its theme: how God will bless the world through the offspring of Abraham, namely Christ.
So Abraham or Abram, as he is called here, which means exalted father. Departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Now God has big blessings in store for this guy, but before he can see big blessings, he has to separate. From old relationships, he has to cut things from the past out of his life before he can go forward. And I think God calls all of us to do the same. Maybe not this, but He calls all of us to make a clean break from our past. It's called repentance in the Bible, and to start all over.
Jesus even said, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." So, to the extent that we are willing to leave our old life, that will be the extent to which we will enjoy the new life.
So, he is called to leave, and he is called to be blessed in a new place. In this section, five times God says, "I will." This is what I will do. This is what I will do. This is what I will do. The emphasis in the early part of chapter twelve is what God is going to accomplish.
Why is this important? Because sometimes, brothers and sisters, we get a little bit cocky, do we not, in our Christian walk, and we think I'm going to do something great for God.
Well, good on you with that attitude, but can I just say you can't do nothing for God until you realize what God has done for you, and what God can do through you. God does not choose exalted people; He chooses foolish people, weak people, insignificant ones. He's on the lookout for those who will admit their deficit and their need of Him. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. The Bible is a big book—sixty-six books filled with history, poetry, prophecy, letters, laws, and more.
It's easy to lose sight of how it all fits together. That's why Pastor Skip Heitzig wrote his new one-year devotional, Soaring Above It All. It gives you a panoramic view of Scripture, helping you understand the key people, events, and themes from Genesis to Revelation, while deepening your walk with God. Request soaring above it all as our thanks when you give fifty dollars or more today to help connect with Skip share clear verse by verse Bible teaching with people everywhere. Give now at connectwithskip.com/offer or call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight.
Now here's more from Pastor Skip.
Well, he gets to Canaan, the new land. Verse seven: The Lord appeared to Abram and said. To your descendants, I will give this land. Please mark that this land, what today we call Israel, that land of Canaan. God is going to make a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes of Israel for that piece of real estate.
It is a land covenant. And there he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountains east of Bethel. He pitched his tent with with Bethel on the west, and I on the east.
Now, when you see that little word A I, I've heard people pronounce it A I, but it's pronounced I. Think I, I or or pirate I, matey. That's how you pronounce it. That's the city of I, a little bit in that area, in the center portion of the land. With eye on the east, and he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
He called on the name of the Lord.
Now, in chapters twelve and thirteen, we have a problem. He's in the land, and the land is called the land of promise or the promised land. He gets to the promised land, and you know what he finds? A famine. A famine in the Promised Land.
I thought it's supposed to be a land flowing with milk and honey. It's a land of promise. He gets there and he finds a famine in the land. You know, if I were Abraham, what I'd be thinking about now? Did I hear God right?
Is this? Was I following the GPS coordinates the right way? Should I have taken a left at Heron or a right or somewhere else? Kept that Tigris-Euphrates river thing going on. Because why is there a famine in the land of promise?
Why would God allow this, folks? This is called faith one and one. Your physical muscles will never develop unless they meet resistance. Unless you add pressure to those muscles, when you lift weights and you are tearing down a muscle, you are adding pressure and resistance because in tearing it down, it leaves it now open to be built back up.
So when it comes to faith, our faith muscles will never grow on a steady diet of blessing after blessing after blessing. That's how we like it. I don't want to go through the valley of the shadow of death. I like to be airlifted from mountain peak to mountain peak. Thank you very much, God.
But your faith won't grow unless you find famine in the land, because that's where your faith kicks in. That's where you have to trust the Lord that He has called you here.
So there's a famine. He decides to go to Egypt to figure this thing out and to get some food. He lies about his wife, saying she is my sister. In so doing, he endangers his wife. God resolves it; he gets her back, and he returns back to the land of Canaan.
Also, Abraham, or Abram, as he is called still, and his nephew Lot get into a little bit of an argument, a little bit of a tiff. They say we don't have enough land for our growing families and livestock.
So Abraham says, "Look, Lot, you can just pick whatever place you want, and I'll take what you don't want." So he looks at the well-watered plain of the Jordan, and he goes towards Sodom. But wouldn't you know it, God is so good to Abram. After Lot leaves and gets the best portion of the land, so to speak, God says, "Hey, I want you to look north." And I want you to look south, and I want you to look east, and I want you to look west. Every single place you can see with your eyes in all directions, I've given you as a covenant with you and your offspring forever. When we get to chapter fourteen, we smell war.
We have nine kings, five and four, who are battling against each other. Four are Shemite kings against five Hamite kings. You know what I mean when I say Shemite, descendants of Shem, descendants of Ham. Those kings are fighting each other. We are told that five kings made a coalition with a guy named Kedar Leomar.
He's mentioned in this Bible text. Kedar Leomar is. The head king to whom these other nations are paying taxes or tribute, so he is controlling them for twelve years. In year thirteen, they decide to rebel. When they rebel, a battle breaks out.
Cederleomer and his contingency win the battle. He takes the spoils of war with him, but and the reason this is in the Bible, he takes Lot with him. Abram's nephew. Abram hears that his nephew has been taken captive in this battle, so he gets 318 of his trained servants. He had a he had quite a household.
He had on his payroll a militia, 318 paid, trained servants who were people of war who could fight this battle, and he wins the battle.
So he beats the four kings, and we come to chapter fourteen, verse seventeen. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh, that is the king's valley, after his return from the defeat of Kedar, Leomer, and the kings who were with him. Then watch this name Melchizedek. He'll be important in other portions of the Bible. Then Melchizedek.
King of Salem brought out bread and wine. That name Melchizedek comes from two Hebrew words put together. The first is Melch, which means king, and the second is Sedek, which is righteousness.
So his name Melch. Sedek is king of righteousness or lord of righteousness. That's what his name means. Notice what he is—the king of Salem. Salem means peace.
Salem was the name given to a city before it was called Jeru-Salem, or city of peace. That's ancient Jerusalem.
So, king of righteousness, who is called king of peace. Brought out bread and wine. That's interesting in and of itself. He was the priest of God Most High, in Hebrew El El Yon, or the Sovereign Lord.
So whoever Melchizedek was, he was a monotheistic worshipper. He believed in one God, not many gods like the Canaanites believed in, but one God. He was a monotheistic monarch who lived. In that region, verse nineteen, he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abraham of El Elyon, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all.
Now this is an obscure incident, and everybody asks the question: Who was Melchizedek? And the reason they ask who Melchizedek was because this isn't the end of them. We read in Psalm one hundred and ten, "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." It's a reference to the Messiah who would come, that the Messiah would both be like Melchizedek, a priest and a king.
Now you know in ancient times priests were never kings and kings were never priests. They were always separated. Even in Judaism, the tribe of Judah, the royal line, that's where the kings came from. The tribe of Levi, that's where the priests came from. You did never mix them.
Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. And so the psalms say, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," looking forward to Jesus Christ, who will not follow the line of Aaron. He's of the tribe of Judah, but he is also a king and a priest. Our great high priest. In Hebrews chapter seven, Melchizedek shows up again, and there the author says that he is without father.
Without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.
So who was he exactly?
Well, again, I'm going to let you take your pick.
Some say, number one, he was Shem, the son of Noah. How they come up with that, I still really have no clue. But I've read it, so I share it with you.
So let's just dismiss that because I just think that's wacky. But you may not, so you may want to believe that. Number two, he was simply some monotheistic Canaanite king. He was a guy, a real guy, who lived there in that town, and he believed in one God. That's a possibility.
The third, because of the way. Psalms and Hebrews treat Melchizedek.
Some have speculated, "Oh, he's much more." If he has no father, mother, no genealogy, if he has neither beginning of days nor end of days, this must be third explanation: a theophany, theophany, an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament, a pre-incarnate representation of Christ, a theophany, or, or more directly, a Christophany. An appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament, our great High Priest and King of Kings. When we get to chapter 15, we have the elaboration of an unconditional covenant.
Now you're going to hear us talk about covenants as we go through the Bible. They're big in the Bible. You need to know what they are. Basically, there were two kinds. I say basically.
I don't want to get into too much detail. There were unconditional covenants and conditional covenants. An unconditional covenant. Let's call it a unilateral covenant. That is, one party makes a promise and will fulfill it.
A bilateral covenant. That is a conditional covenant. There's conditions on both sides. Both parties have to do things for that covenant to stay intact. This is an unconditional covenant that we're reading about here.
Now, in chapter 15, Abraham is about 90 years old when God makes his covenant with him. Basically, he makes a promise to Abram that he's going to have what he always wanted and more. He's going to have a son. That's what he wanted. Oh, but he's going to have much more.
He's going to have a heritage of offspring. A nation will come out of him. Nations will come out of him, and with that will come many hardships. To this family of Abraham. Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Before we go, remember that your generosity helps share clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching with people everywhere, helping them know God more deeply and live out His truth. And this month, when you give fifty dollars or more, we'll send you Pastor Skip's brand new devotional, Soaring Above It All, as our thanks. This one-year journey through the Bible will help you see how Scripture fits together, understand its key people, events, and themes, and grow deeper in God's Word each day. Give today at connectwithSkip dot com slash offer or call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
