In Genesis 23, Abraham loses Sarah. She was 127 years old when she died and they had lived a full life of tents and altars before God. They were in Canaan living as foreigners. This was the very land God promised Abraham his descendants would be given. He purchases a plot of land at the highest opening bid price and buries Sarah. He essentially makes an investment into the very land God had promised his descendants would claim some day.  He paid the highest price for it ensuring he leaves no debts behind as he now realizes he is just passing through here. This parallels Jesus when He passed through on Earth and took all of our debts to sin with Him on the cross. He paid the highest possible price and invested in us so we could live eternally with Him and be free from the chains of sin and death. 

In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham's faith and asks him to offer his one and only son, who he loves so much and waited 25 years for, as a sacrifice. Abraham knows God's voice, His promises over his life, and that he can trust Him faithfully. Abraham obeys. Just like Jesus carrying His wooden cross on his shoulders, Isaac carries the wood for his sacrifice on his. Just like Jesus rescues us from eternal death, He rescues Isaac. The mountain God directed Abraham to go is believed to be the same area that Jesus died on the cross for us. God sent a ram to replace Isaac in death just like Jesus replaces us. God sent a ram for them for now, but the Lamb was still to come. 

In Genesis 20 & 21, Abraham again makes the same mistake he made with Pharaoh. He tells a king Sarah is his sister. God again swoops in and tidies up the mess. Even after his boo-boo, God refers to him as a prophet. Our callings and commissions in life with Christ do not change when we make a mistake. We are human, mistakes will happen. Then, Isaac is finally born! The promise they waited for has finally arrived after 25 years of waiting! Unfortunately, Hagar and Ishmael are sent away but not before God restores Hagar's hope and faith just like He did in Genesis 16. God redeems, restores, and blesses us in spite of ourselves - - repeatedly.

In Genesis 19, we find a level of sin and wickedness reigning free similar to the days before the flood of Noah's time. God has mercy on Lot and rescues him from the city that is about to be destroyed. Judgment is coming and God is going to rescue the one righteous man remaining. Lot's wife can't seem to let go and looks back instead of urgently running forward in obedience to the direction God sent through His messengers. There's still a lot of sin evident as Lot's daughters take the preservation of their family name into their own hands. We see God's motives and mercy as well as His righteous judgment for wickedness. 

In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham and Sarah and lets them know this time next year, they will have a son. Sarah hears and laughs because they are in their 90's. God asks why she laughed and she denies it instead of just being honest with God who always knows the truth, even when we try to hide or deny things. God asks "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" No, nothing is too hard for the Lord. Abraham intercedes for Sodom as God reveals His plans for the city. He needs Abraham to understand God's ways of balancing righteousness, mercy, and Justice.

In Genesis chapter 17, Abram and Sarai are brought to higher levels of growth and maturity and God changes their names to Abraham and Sarah as He continually changes them into who He intends them to be. God reiterates the eternal aspect of the covenant and requires circumcision as a sign and seal of the covenant. Noah got a rainbow, Abraham gets circumcision. It shows the MUCH higher level of importance, intimacy, and permanence of the covenant. Just like the sign and seal required is eternal and intimate, this covenant is also eternal and intimate. When Jesus died on the cross for us, it changed a wee bit into a heart circumcision. Our hearts changing for God is the sign and seal of the covenant as we chase after God with all our hearts, souls and minds. 

In Genesis 15 & 16, Abram chooses to trust God and believe and God calls him righteous - because of his faith, not actions. God then walks Abram through the cutting of the covenant but only God passes through the pieces of dead animals showing it is a unilateral covenant that Abram cannot mess up. It's a promise God will bring forth regardless of any circumstances or mistakes along the way. God will make a way no matter what. In the very next chapter, Sarai gets impatient, intervenes, and makes a mess of things. God intervenes with compassion and grace, just as He does every single time through the messes we make along the way. 

In Genesis Chapter 14, a war breaks out and Sodom, where Lot chose to live, is taken. The two men went into the land not asking for a war but life doesn't ask our permission to get crazy on us. Abram hears of the news and swoops in to rescue Lot. The man who kept a close knit walk with God goes and rescues the one who inadvertently wandered into the world. Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High pays a visit to Abram. We don't know much about this king and priest other than being both a king and priest is very rare, he's the first priest mentioned in the Bible, and his name means King of Righteousness. The text about him reads very similar to some of the things Jesus did while He was on Earth such as bringing Abram bread and wine, blessing him, and receiving a tithe from him. The one thing we know for sure is Abram's heart is truly invested in God. 

In Genesis Chapter 12, we have a shift in focus from a global view to zooming in on one man and his family. Abram is chosen as a super-star because he obeys God. Obedience is key. He wasn't perfect but he was obedient. The Abrahamic Covenant is spilled out promising that God will make Abram into a great nation, will bless him and nations would be blessed through him, and God is going to give them the land of Canaan. Abram became God's answer to the sin problem. In Chapter 13, Abram and Lot separate and God leads Abram exactly to where He wants him to be and the chapter ends in a quite dynamic faith walk through this newly discovered promised land. 

In Genesis Chapters 10 & 11, we have the breakdown of Noah's three sons and where they migrated and settled to. Before the scattering occurred, the people were trying to settle together in one spot. They all spoke the same language and were trying to build a tall tower up to the heavens instead of scattering like God had instructed. God intervenes and stops the madness and scatters them. He changed their languages so they wouldn't be able to understand each other. They were working hard to build Babylon - a kingdom of mankind and the birthplace of materialism. God steps in and starts to build His Kingdom in the mix of it all. Even in the middle of disobedience and chaos, God has a plan and will bring it forth.