Genesis 12 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Genesis 12

WHEN:

• Using the date 1996 B.C. as the year of Abraham’s birth, we can calculate the year Abram left Haran to go to Canaan (the Promised Land).

  Abram was 75 years old when he departed Haran (12:4) which means his journey started around 1921 B.C.

CHARACTERS:

• Abram – The son of Terah. God promised to make Abram a great nation and a blessing to the world.

• Sarai – Abram’s wife who he described as “beautiful in appearance.”

• Lot – Abraham’s nephew who travelled with him to Canaan.

• Pharaoh – The ruler of Egypt.

WHERE:

• At God’s instruction, Abram travelled from Haran to Canaan.

• In Canaan, he visited several places including Shechem and the hill country east of Bethel.

• He then travelled south to the Negeb (the southern region of Canaan).

• Due to a famine (12:10) Abram left Canaan and travelled further south to Egypt.

OUTLINE:

• GOD’S BLESSING TO ABRAM (12:1-9):

  • God told Abram to leave Haran and go to the land of Canaan.

  • God promised Abram He would bless him, make his name great, make his descendants a great nation, and bless all the people of the earth through him. 

  • Abram did as the Lord commanded. He took all his household and his nephew Lot and moved to Canaan.

  • The company went to Shechem, then Bethel, before continuing their journey south.

  • Abram built an altar in Bethel and “called upon the name of the Lord.”

• ABRAM AND SARAI IN EGYPT (12:10-20):

  • Due to a famine in Canaan, Abram decided to go to Egypt for a time.

  • Abram knew his wife Sarai was a beautiful woman and he was afraid the Egyptians would kill him to take her, so he told her to lie and tell people she was his sister.

  • When they met the Pharoah of Egypt, he admired Sarai and took her into his house.

  • For her sake, Pharoah treated Abram very well and gifted him with livestock and servants.

  • But God sent “great plagues” on the house of Pharoah because he had taken another man’s wife.

  • When he realized he had been lied to about the true relationship between Abram and Sarai, Pharaoh confronted Abram.

  • Pharaoh gave Sarai back to Abram and sent them out of the land of Egypt.

APPLICATION:

• God might be using you to lay the groundwork for a plan He will bring to completion 2,000 years from now (that would be 4023 A.D.).

• The promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12, namely the part about all people being blessed through him, came to fruition when Jesus, Abraham’s descendant, died on the cross for the sins of the world.

• Jesus died 2,000 years after Abraham was born.

• We shouldn’t forget that we are part of a bigger story, God’s story.

• The obedience we give God today may be the foundation of great blessings for future generations.