Summary of passage: One escaped and told Abram his nephew had been captured. Abram, who was allied with his neighbors, called out all 318 trained men to go with him to rescue Lot. Abram launched a night attack near the city of Dan, routed them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. Abram recovered all the stolen goods, women, and others, and rescued Lot and his possessions, whom he brought back with him.
Questions:
5) Abram is loyal to Lot. Abram is allied with his neighbors so he has diplomacy skills. He spares no expense, requiring all his trained men to fight for Lot; he has some military training (or guidance from God) for Abram divided his men and attacked.
This shows the extent of God’s blessings to Abram in terms of his wealth. Abram had his own trained army to fight for him. This is NOT cheap, especially in ancient times. Metals and weapons (shields, swords, and armor) were expensive–way more expensive than I would say 90% of the population at the time could afford in their LIFETIME.
6a) Abram gathers all his allies and men and we put on the full armor of God (all of our resources available) to fight. Abram stood firm in his belief to rescue Lot and he was ready like we are to be when fighting spiritual battles. Abram had faith he would win as we are to in our battles. We are to pray and use the Word of God. We are not told if Abram prayed before he set out, during, or after.
b) Personal Question. My answer: Full armor of God I would say is the Holy Spirit indwelt. The Holy Spirit will protect your entire body. The belt of truth is God’s truths and righteousness is what Christians are if they accept Jesus as their Savior. The shield of faith in trust in God. The helmet of salvation is our knowledge that we will win and be saved. The sword of the Spirit is the Bible, God’s word. Prayer to God for help to overcome.
These weapons have divine power. We take captive every thought and make it obedient to God and we can defeat every argument or pretension with God’s truth (His word).
c) Personal Question. My answer: Prayer and His Word. Ask and you shall receive. If Jesus chose God’s word to defeat the devil in the desert, then I will as well (Matthew 4). “It is written….”
7) Personal Question. My answer: It is comforting and humbling to know God is with me and I have the knowledge (His Word and Spirit) and He will give me triumphs in life, beginning with His Son who conquered the grave. We are as precious to God as Christ is to salvation. Amazing!
The challenge is to be that sweet aroma to others as I spread His message.
Conclusions: Dreading this lesson when all the questions save one is on New Testament passages. We studied this Ephesians passage in Acts last year, Lesson 25. The questions are basically the same, just tweaked. You can review my answers HERE and HERE.
Review. I guess I’d better get used to this. Seems to be the theme for this year. I was honestly hoping for more in-depth on what’s happening in Genesis, not Ephesians.
Interesting Fact: This is the first use of the word “Hebrew” in the Bible.
End Note: My new favorite website. I wish I could draw simple maps that make everything so clear!
http://www.generationword.com/notes_for_notesbooks_pg/genesis/14_1.htm