Promises Made

God caused the flood waters to come and the entire earth was covered. The only ones left living were those that were in the Ark. It rained for forty days and nights. The waters stayed on the earth one hundred fifty days.

1.) Gen. 7 v 23-24....So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground; both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days......

Then God spoke to Noah and told him to go out from the ark, be fruitful and multiply. He made a covenant (promise) with all creation.

2.) Gen. 8 v 22........"While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and Summer, and day and night shall not cease."......

Then God made another covenant with Noah, to never destroy the earth by flood waters again, and He leaves him with a sign of the covenant in the sky.

3.) Gen. 9 v 11...Thus I establish My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.".....

4.) Gen. 9 v 13.....I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.".....

So every time you see a rainbow in the sky, you will know that God is remembering His covenant with all the flesh of the earth. When you look at the rainbow, and remember this promise, just think you and GOD are thinking about the same thing. AMEN!

Now Noah, and his wife, and his sons, and their wives leave the ark and repopulate the entire earth. But not without some trouble. They first tried to make a name for themselves by building a city with a tower stretching to heaven, but GOD is not happy with them. He told them to go out into the entire earth, but they wanted to keep to themselves and think that they had the way to heaven. That is the way some churches are today, they think they have the only way to heaven when in truth, God tells us that the only way to heaven to Him, is through the lamb of God, which is His Son, Jesus. God then caused them to be confused and speak different languages and scattered them. Now we have nations formed and divided, starting with the three sons of Noah, Ham, Japeth, and Shem.

From Japeth and his sons. Among these mentioned is "Javan" an ancient name for the "Greek" people.
Then you have Ham and his sons. Among which is "Cush", an ancient name for "Ethiopia".
Then you have Shem, among who you find "Eber" which has a significant meaning of "Hebrew".

5.) Gen. 11 v 8-9.....So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth....

From Noah, came his son Shem through whose descendants came Abram later renamed as Abraham, father of all nations. Through Abraham, God gives us many promises.

6.) Gen.12 v 3..."I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.".....

7.) Gen. 15 v 5...Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."....

We all wish at some time or other that we could have the faith and obedience of Abraham. Remember the story when God promises Abraham that he will have a son, and he is to call him Issac, and from him will come many more. Then God tells Abraham to go up on the mountain and sacrifice his son to Him. Abraham obeys, but just before he can harm Issac, God stops him and provides a lamb for the sacrifice. God saw that Abraham was willing to follow Him, no matter what the cost. How many of us can say we are that willing? How many of us make sacrifices for the LORD? How many of us give the LORD just a few minutes out of each day? Maybe just enough to read these tid-bits? What kind of sacrifices have you made to the LORD lately?

God makes Abram promises to give him all the land that is filled with milk and honey. He sends him from one place to another giving him the land. Then He tells him, He will make him father of many nations. But Sarai who is later known as Sarah, Abraham's wife wants a child now, she does not want to wait on God's timing. So she tells Abraham to go with her maid, Hagar and she conceives. So Abraham's first son is Ishmael.

8.) Gen. 16 v 15....So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael...

But this is not the son of whom God says many nations shall come. But God blesses Ishmael as well and promises to multiply him with twelve princes and make him a great nation. But He says, His covenant shall be with Issac, and it shall be an everlasting covenant, and shall be for all his descendants.

God changes Abram's name to Abraham which means "father of many nations", so every time someone calls his name they are speaking what God promised to Abraham, to make him father of many nations, even though he and Sarah are already well into their years, him being about a hundred years old, and Sarah being around ninety. God then changes Sarai's name to Sarah and says she will be a mother of nations.

9.) Gen. 17 v 4-5...."As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you father of many nations.

10.) Gen. 17 v 15-16...Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."....

You see God is going to get His way, so we do not need to supply Him a way out, He knows what He is doing. We do not have to provide Hagars for God. He will provide a way for us. Nothing is too hard for the LORD.

11.) Gen. 18 v 13-14...And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."....

So don't laugh when God tells you, that you can have what you say. AMEN!

Once we begin to accept the promises that He made to us through our father Abraham, and start having the faith and the obedience of Abraham then maybe we would see our miracles come to be, and we will learn to trust in Him and not in ourselves for our deliverance. AMEN!

There are so many promises in the Bible from God to us. We just have to have faith and believe that they are made for us and not just for that day and time. AMEN! I pray you will all find the promises you are looking for in the word as we read through the Bible this year.

RTB..Gen. 16-18