TO ALL WHO ARE NEW TO THE CHRONOLOGICAL e-bible STUDY
If you would like the previous days' notes, go to the blog at www.philandpatti.blogspot.com

God told Abram to leave his country, his people, his father’s household and go to a land that He would show him. Yet, Abram took possessions, and people, including Lot. He didn’t obey God completely. Incomplete obedience is disobedience. How often do we obey God only when it's something we want to do, or when it's convenient for us?  How often do we completely ignore God's commands or argue with Him?  Complete obedience is not always an easy thing for us to do.

After Abram obeyed God partially, when a famine came, Abram decided to go to Egypt, instead of trusting God to provide for him during the famine. If Abram had taken only what God told him to take, he wouldn’t have had to worry about taking care of all his entourage. (see the writing on the website www.philandpatti.com under Chronological Chronicles II "Disobedient Abraham".)

Abram is fearful of the Egyptian men so he passes Sarai as his sister. Pharaoh in effect "pays" Abram for the "use" of Sarai when he takes Sarai into his harem. It may have taken years for Sarai to be completely prepared to actually become Pharaoh's wife.  Even though Abram declares that Sarai is his half-sister at another time, other historical writings relate that Sarai was the daughter of Haran, Abram's brother, making Sarai his niece.  And Abram's lie is perpetuated to this day.

When Abram leaves Egypt, he goes to the land of Canaan and there he and Lot discover that there isn't enough room for both of them, their flocks and herds and their families and so Abram gives Lot a choice of where to go. Lot chooses the fertile land (keep in mind that at this time the land surrounding that area was fertile - not so now - it is a desolate place) and pitches his tent among the cities of the plain near Sodom. Bad idea!

The cities of the plain were named after the sons of Ham.  Remember Ham was Noah's son who did a disrespectful thing to his father Noah.  This disrespectful thing was done when Noah was drunk and naked, implying that Ham did something sexually perverse. Was this why sexual perversion was rampant in the cities of the plain?

Notice God tells Abram that He will give him all the land that Abram can see. God tells Abram to walk the length and breadth of the land. This "walking the land" was to show the people there that Abram was claiming the land as his own. But did Abram walk the land? Well, read it for yourself. (Genesis 13:18)

Abram was not a perfect man. He sinned. But God used him anyway! None of us are perfect. We all sin. But God can use us anyway!

Then this man...Melchizedek...just who is He anyway??? See the book of Hebrews, Chapter 7. It explains it very clearly!