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When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

God had promised Abraham he would become the father of many nations through his son via Sarah. They were not patient to wait the decades it took for God to set his plans in motion, but eventually God still began to act. He needed to be sure of Abraham’s faithfulness, and so he called on Abraham to be willing to give up the thing which was most precious to him, his only son. What a sacrifice, yet he was willing to do it. God did not require Abraham to make this sacrifice, but to be willing to. So it is with us, the Bible does not call on all Christians to sell all their possessions in order to follow Jesus. The Lord does call some to do this, think of the rich young ruler (Mark 10, Matt 19), but this is not required to follow Jesus any more than it is required for you to leave your family (Luke 14). We must be willing to give up what is most precious to us, our possessions or even our loved ones, but God is not vindictive or capricious, he will not take anything away from you without a purpose behind it. Trust him today. Be willing to give him your all, he is worth it.

“Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

Before the angles of God brought destruction on Sodom they gave the opportunity for the family and friends of the believer in the city, Lot, to be saved. So it is with us. We have been given the opportunity to save those whom we know and care about. Destruction is absolutely coming. We must try to compel them to believe in Jesus, the only way to escape the wrath to come. They may think you are crazy, or perhaps “jesting,” as they thought with Lot, but that doesn’t stop our responsibility. Tell them about salvation, tell them about Jesus, he’s their only hope.

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

When you encounter God, you change. For Abram that meant a new name, but it also meant following the Lord. He would become the father of many nations, and so he is. All those who call upon the name of Jesus are heirs of Abraham’s promise. This everlasting covenant was made absolutely rock solid by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Have you trusted in Jesus?

Now the Lord 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 the Lord had told him

Some might think 75 years old is well past time to leave your father’s house, but this was the time God told Abraham to leave. He didn’t know where God was sending him, but he went. That’s what faith is, not knowing exactly, but still acting. Faith isn’t just something in our heads, it’s what we do. God’s promise to Abraham is still part of God’s gathering for himself a people. Through Abraham all the world was blessed. All those who follow Jesus, are children of Abraham. You are blessed, if you know Jesus. Choose to be blessed today.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

God blessed his new people, even though it wasn’t a very small group. He have them a job to do, “fill the earth.” Why? Because God was, and still is, gathering for himself a people to worship him. This is why we are to “go and make disciples of all nations.” As they were told to “go” so too we have the same command, spiritual reproduction. Noah’s family was given authority, and so it is with the Great Commission, all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus and it is he who sends us out.

This verse is also great for all the vegetarians out there. God bless you if you don’t eat meat, but don’t abstain from meat because you think it’s somehow more holy to do so. Yes in Genesis 1:30 God said he have “every green plant for food. and it was so” meaning Adam and Eve were vegetarians, but God also told Noah and his descendants they should have a barbecue. Just like Adam and Eve were given all the plants, we are given all the (clean) animals. This is a deepening and expansion of God’s provision for his people. This goes even further through the New Covenant in that we are now given all animals, nothing you eat makes you unclean. God is good, he is always doing more, deeper, better… culminating in the best ever, Jesus Christ! Do you know him?