25 lesson plans for children, young people and their teachers.
Lesson 6 God calls His chosen person – Abraham Bible reference – Genesis 12 verse 1 to 25 verse 11. After revealing the beginning of our world, the Bible now begins to focus on the ‘people of God’. Not all people are ‘people of God’! Every person is made by God and is loved by God. But only those who listen to the call God gives them, and then live the way that His call demands, are real women and men of God. Abram is our first example. In Genesis 12 verses 1-4 Abram follows God’s calling for his life. He is to leave behind all that is well-known to him – the place, the people, and even his closest family. He is to go where God shows him. Hebrews 11 verses 8-10 say that he moved “by faith”. This means he was sure that God knew what was best for him. He decided he would follow wherever God led him. ‘People of God’ are those who trust in God in their daily lives. God looks for such people to use, even today.
Stop and discuss (1) Abram was not always known by this name.
Can you find his other name? Copy it out
Can you find the chapter and verse where God changes his name from one to the other? Genesis chapter verse
What does the new name mean?
In these fourteen chapters God speaks to Abraham several times (see the list 3 below). Abraham always has the choice: he can listen to God, or he can ignore God. Every time God calls him, Abraham can either do what God tells him to do, or he can choose to live life his own way. Because Abraham usually trusted God to guide him through his life, God was able to trust him with a great responsibility! Abraham was one of the ‘people of God’.
Stop and discuss (2) Read Genesis 18 verses 18-19. In these two verses, what are three purposes for which God chose Abraham? God always wants His people to be living to His plan, in the place He has provided for them. This is what heaven is going to be! People of God are those who begin to live this way now, in their everyday world. Abraham was not perfect. He and his wife, Sarah, try to help God keep His own promise. They try the culturally acceptable method of having a child through a servant, Genesis 16 verses 1-4. Although this may have seemed a good idea to them, it was not what God wanted. God was going to help Sarah have a ‘miracle’ son, even though she thought she was too old to have a baby, Genesis 17 verses 16, 17, 19, 21; Genesis 18 verses 10-15. Sarah had a son eventually and she called him Isaac. God showed His greatness in being willing to bless both children – Ishmael (a child through the maidservant), and Isaac (a child through Sarah), see Genesis 17 verses 19-22.
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But it was to be through Isaac – God’s chosen son for Abraham – that the whole world would be blessed.
God’s greatness and His grace enable Him to overcome our foolish mistakes. When we go our own way, He can bring us back to His way. His way is always best.
It is easier to trust God when you know Him. Abraham believed in “Yahweh/Jehovah”, Genesis 12 verse 8; “God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth”, 14 verse 22; “God Almighty”, 17 verse 1; “Judge of all the earth”, 18 verse 25; “the eternal God”, 21 verse 33 .
God is so great.The better we know Him, the more we can trust Him.
Stop and discuss (3) Divide the class in to six small groups. Ask each group to look up one of the following Bible passages.
Encourage each group to use their own words and explain, in just one or two sentences, what Abraham had to do in order to obey God.
1. Genesis 15 verses 1-6
2. Genesis 17 verses 8-14,23
3. Genesis 17 verses 15-22
4. Genesis 21 verses 8-14
5. Genesis 22 verses 1-8
6. Genesis 24 verses 1-9
At the end, let each group share their sentences with the whole class.
Answers to ‘Stop and discuss’
1.
Abraham
chapter 17 verse 5
‘father of many’
2. God purposed
1. Abraham to become a powerful nation
2. To bless the whole world through Abraham
3. Abraham would direct his own children in the ways of followingGod.
3.
1. Abram had to believe that God would give him a son from his own body, who
would become a large number of descendants.
2. Abraham had to circumcise himself, and all males over 8 days old in his family
household. This was a sign of God’s covenant promise.
3. Abraham had to believe God could and would give him a son through his wife,
Sarah, even though she was too old to have children. (Hebrews 11 verse 11).
4. Abraham had to provide a start in life for Ishmael, the child of his wife’s servant.
He also had to trust God to provide for them in the long term.
5. Abraham had to believe God would keep His promise through Isaac, even if it
meant having him rise from the dead, (Hebrews11 verse 19).
Abraham had to trust God that his chief servant would find the right wife for Isaac, from among his own people, his own tribe.