Discuss Genesis 12 Page 2

Humm, I'm wondering; If Adam was God's first human creation and Eve was the second human created why would Adam follow a subordinate? Maybe somebody changed the story? You know humans the are subject to lie. No disrespect intended.

Drew,

Indeed, wickedness has been at work in the world since the Deceptive One beguiled Eve and drew Adam into disobedience to God's command.

Even the people back in the days of Abraham seemed to be so wicked. Killing Abraham to take Sarai. I suppose there has always been evil throughout the entire history of the world.

Hi Giannis.

Part 1

As I promised I would get back to you on your reply and questioning.

Let's start with the verses you gave as the promises that Israel forfeited over to the Church.

1. Genesis 12:1-3,

2. Genesis 12:7,

3. Genesis 13:14-17,

4. Genesis 15:5-7

5. Genesis 15:13-15,

6. Genesis 15:18-21,

7. Genesis 17:4-10,

8. Genesis 21:17-18

You stated, "Abraham and his seed pass to Jesus and His children. and you say according to

Galatians 3:16. Paul atributes these verses to Christ it is obvious that they are for Israel as well.

Let's look at Galatians 3:14-17.

If you notice in the link the promise/covenant was not a land covenant. Verses 2-8 you gave are all the land covenant.

Did you notice in Genesis 15:15-17. God told Abraham he would die before they would enter the land?

Look how Stephen put in Acts 7:4-5.

"and is is after God performed the covenant!!" So when will he inherit it? Hebrews11:8-10.

Now the 1st verse is a preview of both. The Promise his seed going to be given land. "Israel"

( and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. ) "Christ"

This is the only portion associated with Galatians 3:16.

Here is the covenant Paul is speaking of in Galatians.

( And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; AND THY SEED SHALL POSSESS THE GATE OF "HIS" ENEMIES;

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. )

Genesis 22:16-18.

The Gospel was preached even before there was a law to be broken.

Galatians 3:8.

" Important verse"

I removed "if it" because I believe it's in italics and shouldn't be there.

( Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet be confirmed, NO MAN DISANNULLETH, OR ADDETH THERETO.) Galatians 3:15.

Part 1.

DearSpencer, lets talk about God's promises to Abraham.

Lets go to Genesis. The verses that describe God's promises to Abraham are the following:

1. Genesis 12:1-3,

2. Genesis 12:7,

3. Genesis 13:14-17,

4. Genesis 15:5-7

5. Genesis 15:13-15,

6. Genesis 15:18-21,

7. Genesis 17:4-10,

8. Genesis 21:17-18

Now in most of them God gives His promises to Abraham and his seed. Who is this seed. the obvious answer is that it is his biological descedants. Paul in his epistle to Galatians 3:16 disagrees, he says "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.". So we can agree that all the promises given to Abraham and his seed pass to Jesus and His children, Which are they? The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and the 8th. Only one is left the first. You will argue that although Paul atributes those verses to Christ it is obvious that they are for Israel as well, the land covenant as you call it. You are right about that. But that promise that Cannan will be given to Israel by God wasn't fulfiled when Joshua and his descendants conquered that land? Yes it was. So what other promise/covenant given to Abraham is left to be fulfiled? I cannot see any other, correct me if I am wrong. GBU

Brother Spencer,

Thank you for sharing this with us. I found it to be very good reading. Something I wanted to share, and I don't mean to throw a twist of any sort in what's been said by all here, but I find it very interesting that back in Genesis Chapter 12, when Abraham received the promise of God in Genesis 12:3, "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed," it is interesting that when he received that promise, he wasn't Jewish. He was a Gentile. He was called out of the Ur of the Chaldees. He came into Canaan, and he's still Gentile!

Just thought I'd throw that out there, no particular reason, just something I find interesting!

Gianna, many would agree with you, including me.

With the words GOG and MAGOG the Scripture reffers to nations living very far away from Israel probably to the extreme north. Some theologists indentify those nations with the land that is now Russia. Correct? False?

Gog,

I believe to be an evil angel of Satin's horde

Is told by God through the mouth of Ezekiel;

Chaper 38: "Son of man, set thy face against Gog the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal and prophesy against him. And say, thus saith the Lord God; behold I am against thee O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.."

.chief prince? Does that not sound like Scripture using the same term for an angelic creature? Michael, prince of Persia. I believe Satan has more than one prince, quite possibly hundreds.



"And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army..all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya...Gomer and all his bands; the house f Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many peoples with thee."

"After many days thou shall be visited: in the later years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel which have been always waste: but is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them."

"Thou shall ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and many people with thee." This word, band, bands has the meaning of "wings of an army". What does that say to you? Like a 'cloud' to cover the land. Aircaft?

If we break this down to what we might think is a thought and word to how we talk today, God is putting thought and deed into the mind of the great leader of a nation straight north of Israel. Who is directly north of Israel? First of the larger, Turkey, then north of the Black Sea is Ukraine, further northward is Russia. Consider this fact, there are over 25 million Muslims in Russia. The largest Muslim population in Europe reside in Russia according to Wikipedia. How many in the Russian military? More than

In Genesis chapters 12 to 50, there is only one Covenant, that God made with Abram.

Genesis 12:1-3, the Covenant made. But of this Covenant, several 'expansions' to it were made to fully express it. And they are:

Genesis 15:18, God ratifies that Covenant in a national perspective.

Genesis 17:4-6,16, God ratifies that Covenant in an international perspective.

Genesis 17:7, God ratifies that Covenant as an Everlasting Covenant.

Genesis 17:10-14, God ratifies that Covenant by an act of circumcision (also in Stephen's message in Acts 7:8).

So, if you're thinking of these 'aspects' of the Covenant, then one can see & appreciate several Covenants. However, I believe most would deduce that only one Covenant was made with Abram, which composed of these four separate parts of the One.

How many covenants are in Genesis 12-50?

Unandus, is your question in regards to Genesis 12:1-3? This is generally taken as the Abrahamic Covenant - a Covenant promising that from him a great nation would be established, that Abraham's name would be held in great importance & esteem, and all the Earth would be blessed from that nation. Unfortunately, the last promise has not been fully realized yet & will be in the future Millenium, but in Christ great blessing & redemption has been afforded to all who come to Him.

What is the covenant of Abraham 12-50?

First of all your question applies to Genesis 16:1:16, not Genesis 15 where you posted your question. First I will cite the verses that provide the relevant time spans separating the events in question.

Genesis 12:4-5

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Genesis 12:10

And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

Genesis 13:1

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

Genesis 16:3

And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Genesis 16:16

And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Note that none if these events list the month or day of the year that any of these events happened and some of the events listed have no specific time reference at all. In these texts God has reserved these details as hidden things that He alone knows with certainty. He has only chosen to reveal enough information for us to apply logic to verify that these events in His words are possible, if not probable, based on what we commonly know about the span of time a person is a certain age (any day beginning on their birthday that falls within a 1 year span) and the length of time a normal pregnancy lasts (9 months, not 1 year as you have stated).

I don't have space to work out the details for you and there are later events and ages given for Abraham later that refine what you work out. However, calculating fractions is hard using rounded numbers

T E LEVIS

Where are you? Let me know how to pray for you.

God has put you on my heart for a few days. Email me.

This passage shows Abram's wanderings from Haran to Caanan and then to Egypt in the rest of the chapter due to the famine mentioned in verse 10. At this time Abraham committed the first of two errors in concealing the identity of his wife (in the second he called her his half-sister which was technically true). The result of this was the same; God's covenantal marriage bond perhaps was accentuated with the fact that this was a Prophet's wife; who was to be part of great blessings in God's overall plans for the future of His people. Self protection was the motivation here; however clearly Abraham was lacking proper trust in God's faithfulness to complete His promises; which of course repeated later on with the aforementioned same mistake; as well as being convinced to listen to the voice of His wife to sleep with Hagar when the promised offspring wasn't yet produced by Sarah. She even laughed at the Angel (likely Christ Himself) when she was near 90 and Abraham even older at the prediction of a child being born in a year to them. This part of his journey also was part of the process eventually separating him from Lot who barely escaped from the "favorable" dwellingplace he settled as compared with Abraham. Although the beginning of the chapter doesn't mention a covenant; clearly God's Word is enough to ensure a done deal with His own progeny being blessed; as well as the whole earth eventually through the Messiah (the true children or spiritual offspring of Abraham).

Hi Cecil, please read Psalm 37,

I knew a guy named Cecil at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. He adopted a 6month old baby girl that had been horrificly abused. I read your post several times. I closed the ap. Had to pray a little & think on your post. I haven't heard from our friend Cecil since I was a teenager. The MBAFB shut down shortly after those days & everyone moved away.

Cecil, GOD is Just. Have you heard of Moses? In Genesis, Abraham was promised several amazing things, a son from his 'wife', in their old age, etc. Gen. 12:2,3,7, but also that those heirs would be servant in strange land & afflicted 400 yrs. Genesis 15:12-13, if you read in depth you can find GOD's justice. Genesis 12:10-17, Genesis 16:1-16, Genesis 21:9-19 = it was in Egypt, Abraham's children of Sarah's son Isaac's offspring were afflicted.

Genesis 18, shows great mercy of GOD that if 10 righteous were in that land (Sodom & Gomorrah) it would've been spared. That's his Nephew Lot's friends & family. ?, Right here is proof the GOD interecedes on People's behalf when they obey HIM.

GOD's ways are not our ways, Isaiah 55:8,9,

We cannot blame GOD for wickedness of man = Genesis 6:5-6,

Yet GOD shows us mercy & unimaginable love, John 3:16-17, salvation through sacrifice, Psalms 18:25-27,

GOD is merciful, true & Just. If you read the books that go alongside Isaiah you'll get a clearer picture: 2Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah 51, Exodus 22:22, Isaiah 1:17, Isaiah 1:23, Jeremiah 7:6, Jeremiah 22:3, Ezekiel 22:7, Malachi 3:5, Zechariah 7:10, you can start with those verses because that's most of what GOD asked of Israel & Judah. Then please read the Books & chapters.

Then Babylon: 2Kings 20:12-18,19, Daniel 1, 2Kings 25:8-9, I stopped there because that's enough about the evil.

Hopefully these are helpful if you are trying to search for truth & understanding. You can also ask for wisdom James 1:5-6,21,

Job 38:1-41, James 4:12,

* Hebrews 7:25,

I ask you to pray & I will also pray for you, for protection & clarity & discernment in these matters.

I had a friend years ago that had said 'her mother would say something to people she didn't like about fire to cause them fear' a while after that me & that dearly loved friend had a deep discussion about a medical targeted abortion. I pleaded with her not to be afraid but trust GOD, I had told her how so many things that were wonderful about her that would be in that child. She had already had the abortion. Sometime around that she would say "she had dreams about me & house fires, dangerous & was concerned for my family " after saying that to me multiple times, then no longer speaking to me. It literally bothered me over the years, causing unwelcome concerns. Then I would remember what she previously disclosed & GOD's power & protection. Matthew 5:44,

Peoples words spoken over someone can be curses or blessings but GOD says Edify one another & not to curse. Here are some scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 5:8-11, Romans 14:19, warning, Psalms 62:4, Psalms 109:28,

Remember the promises spoken over us by GOD. : Genesis 12:3, Numbers 22:12, Deuteronomy 11, Nehemiah 13:12, Proverbs 3:33,

Proverbs 26:2,

Hopefully this helps remember: John 16:13,

Hi Charles.

The conflict over Israel is not the wrong DNA.

GOD said he will make a nation out of Abraham. Genesis 12:2.

God confirmed a covenant with Abraham and his seed afterwards. Genesis 17:7.

These promises was also confirmed with Isaac and Jacob.

It's the heir of promise given to Abraham.

Down through Isaac and Jacob that is fought over.

See: Galatians 4:29-30. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

The seed that was promised to come that would bless the world is Christ.

Galatians 3:16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

If you study the Genealogy of Christ you will see they're Gentiles in it. Ruth being one. and also Rahab.

God sanctified Israel and gave them the seal of circumcision. "A cutting away the filt of the flesh " Gentiles was considered unclean. but if the wanted to come into the camp and remain they had to be circumcised.

Genesis 17:12. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

TODAY CIRCUMCISION AVAILETH NOTHING.

Galatians 5:6.

Galatians 6:15.

We become that new creature through our new birth in Christ. "Baptism of The Holyspirit ".

God bless.

Hi Charles.

The conflict over Israel is not the wrong DNA.

GOD said he will make a nation out of Abraham. Genesis 12:2.

God confirmed a covenant with Abraham and his seed afterwards. Genesis 17:7.

These promises was also confirmed with Isaac and Jacob.

It's the heir of promise given to Abraham.

Down through Isaac and Jacob that is fought over.

See: Galatians 4:29-30. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

The seed that was promised to come that would bless the world is Christ.

Galatians 3:16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

If you study the Genealogy of Christ you will see they're Gentiles in it. Ruth being one. and also Rahab.

God sanctified Israel and gave them the seal of circumcision. "A cutting away the filt of the flesh " Gentiles was considered unclean. but if the wanted to come into the camp and remain they had to be circumcised.

Genesis 17:12. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

TODAY CIRCUMCISION AVAILETH NOTHING.

Galatians 5:6.

Galatians 6:15.

We become that new creature through our new birth in Christ. "Baptism of The Holyspirit ".

God bless.

Time to wage war. Satan is illegal and so is covid.

A year ago I was just messing with the Search Engine. I typed CHINA in it. Up pops 3 scriptures. I had to search the ancient names of the countries of that time. One scripture names the colors of Chinas' National flag. Their flag has quite a history of flag color changes. I was able to pinpoint pandemic regions over time, to China, the Mideast, South Africa.

Plagues of the Bible are real. We all need to be aware and safe. It's prophesy unfolding; so this needs to be heeded. This is a principality but it still must obey the Name of Jesus.

Satan is a lawyer of sorts. So are we. He's Illegal, and human Believers are LEGAL heirs of the King of Kings, Lord of lords. Covid must bow it's knee to the Name ABOVE all other names.

We are "deputized" with Jesus's Dominion, Power and Authority to defeat satans plans. Humans are legal and devils are not. What was meant for evil will not stand against WHO is inside of us.

We win. We are covered in Jesus Holy Blood.

United States has always supported Israel throughout history until Now. GENESIS 12:2-3

We are seeing the Leaders of this nation turning against Israel by withdrawing our help in times of trouble. Giving Money that was to help Israel defeat her Enemies. Walker If that's how it's going to be; the AMERICAN people must UNITE the Color of Blood__the red party behind our Flag. This is OUR NATION. Somehow we have to revolt against what EVIL POLITICIANS have done against our unity with ISRAEL. The Lords Homeland. It's NOT what they say! It's what they DO NOT DO. Bless Israel. Without that blessing WE'RE NOT A NATION OF GOD ALMIGHTY.

Our ancestors died for nothing if we turn our backs on the God of Israel. Our nation is being cursed.

Change your party affiliation to blood red. Our vote can turn this curse back. It's our United voice! Re-register. Forms at post office. It is legal to switch.

Mishael

Just noticed a correlation between Pharaoh here Genesis 12:17, Genesis 15:13, Genesis 16, Genesis 20:1-18, Genesis 21:9-21, & Books of Exodus

GENESIS 12:1-3. Gods promise to USA

We already know the Biden Administration will not only abandon Israel, but President Biden is also funding the enemy. It's an utter betrayal.

Sign Our Petition Now. ACLJ dot ORG

The U.N. just opened up an investigation of Israel, with accusations of apartheid. This is a brazenly false and dangerous legal attack on Israel - straight from the terrorists' playbook to destroy the only free democracy in the Middle East. We just filed a critical legal letter at the U.N. to defend Israel's interests BECAUSE PRESIDENT BIDEN WON'T. We're their last line of defense at the U.N.

Jihadists are always poised to add rocket attacks on top of the legal attacks at a moment's notice in an effort to eviscerate Israel. Israel is always on Red Alert.

President Biden is also illegally funneling money to Israel's enemies in direct violation of U.S. law, as the Palestinian Authority continues its "pay for slay" terrorist subsidies.

The ACLJ has filed a critical lawsuit over President Biden's illegal anti-Israel funding, and TODAY is a critical court deadline in our case. But we need you to take action with us NOW.

If we can remember the Obama years in office, he gave 450 billion tax dollars to Iran. Their money is still in a bank, and of course they want it back. Maybe those stories are still on Google?

It's not right that our Government is doing this. Our country has always been Israel's friend UNTIL this past year. This guarantee's Jesus's return for Christians will be soon!

Even the Pope said on camera, that Israel should GIVE UP ALL WEST BANK LAND for peace. This is blessing vs curses in Leviticus 26. Read those curses. It's already happening. Our shores are being invaded by foreigners (China, south border crossers, Palestinians in our Congress & smuggled in from Afghanistan. Prove this right or wrong.

M.

On the mountain Abraham was to sacrifice his son is the same mountain Jesus Christ was crucified. Hence, the statement, "GOD will provide the lamb for the sacrifice." Omnipotent omnipresent and the almighty GOD.

Good, you're at the right site. Start reading the WORD written inside by clicking the Books, I like Luke when I started that was great to show me as new study who Christ Jesus was, is & is to come. Hover over the scripture here, should bring you straight to it.

Luke 1:1-4, you can continue to read by clicking read full chapter the scroll down, click tab on edges to next chapter, etc. Many people enjoy Psalms, I didn't enjoy it as much as a new beginner study but do enjoy it much more now after years of study.

Psalms 1:1-3,

U may enjoy Exodus, which actually begins in Genesis 37:1-36, continues : Genesis 39:1-23, Genesis 40:1-23, Genesis 41:1-57, Genesis 42:1-38, Genesis 43:1-34, Genesis 44:1-34,

[Note this scripture chapter 44, Genesis, if you noticed we skipped Genesis 38, because it jumps from Joseph to Judah. Now if you read Genesis 38:1-30, you can understand a few things on deeper level = Judah maybe knows painful loss of children at this point in his life & even the difference of love towards children of his "loved wife". Next very importance of Judah's sacrifice for others, resemblance of Jesus sacrifice being beloved Son of GOD. John 3:16, ]also interesting Tamar, bore to Judah the son in Jesus documented lineage Matthew 1:1-3]

Back to story : Genesis 45:1-28, (forgiveness), Genesis 46:1-34, Genesis 47:1-12 (Redemption) Genesis 47:27-31,

Now note: Genesis 47:13-26 , Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 12:10, Genesis 12:11-16, * Genesis 12:13-20, Genesis 16:3, Genesis 16:6-11, Genesis 15:13-14, Genesis 21:8-21, my own opinion Deuteronomy 32:35-36, Romans 12:19.

These moments in Genesis leading up to how & why Israel came into bondage. Exodus 1:1-8, continue reading Exodus 1:22, please continue to read all of Exodus.

One more encouraging note :) Hebrews 11:22, Psalms 105:1-45,

Furthermore on this site under the 1611 Version tab you can scroll to see more history on the Bible.

Hopefully these inspire a new lifetime desire of deeper study

Wait, wait. The unequally yoked rules originated with the Jews. Genesis 4:26, Genesis 6:2-6, Deuteronomy 7:1-29, 1 Kings 11:1-4, Malachi 2:15, Psalm 122:6, Genesis 12:1-3,

John 8:31, Matthew 27:11, John 18:33, Revelation 7:5

I've always understood this account by focussing on verse 11, "And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake." It seemed that since Abraham moved to Gerar, maybe for better pastures for his livestock, he may have feared for his life since Sarah was "fair to look upon". It would have been common then for the rulers to pick off any woman they desired & if they were married, to bump off the husband so they would be free to marry. Doesn't King David's lust for Bathsheba ring bells here? So Abraham worked on it & decided that since she is my half-sister, then that's what she will be for now.

This same fear arose earlier in Genesis 12:9-20 with Abraham's encounter in Egypt with the Pharaoh. So he used this 'deception' to pass Sarah off as his sister, so that his life might be spared. Very noble of him, would you say?!! But as you stated, Abraham wasn't judged for this deception, which was in fact a half-truth.

Hello Wayne. There are various applications for the use of 'Lord' in the Bible. When you see it capitalized (LORD) as in Genesis 2:4, it conveys to us the meaning, that only Almighty God is referred to here. The Jewish use of Jehovah (YHWH, which is the tetragrammaton of Yahweh), signifies that God, the Eternal, Self-Existent One is spoken of. Of course, Jews won't write or speak this Name, lest they do so incorrectly & offend God. So, in English, you may see it written as G_d, or HaShem (= the Name).

Then you will see the words 'Lord' or 'lord' in the Bible. For 'Lord': the word is 'Adonai', which is also the Name attributed to God & this means, 'master, lord, sovereign'. And sometimes, you can see both of the above together, as in Genesis 15:2: "And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me...", where Lord is not capitalized but God is.

And 'lord' is also seen, as in Genesis 31:35 from the root, 'adoni', used mainly with mankind. And this word can mean: master, lord, sir, even husband, in an older usage.

Hope this helps as you see these words being used throughout Scriptures - and yet, other names have been applied to God, especially compound names which describe the Character or Activity of God.

Why is the word Lord sometimes capitalized (LORD) in the Bible ?

Thank you Jesus!

I reviewed all of the comments in this section and they prompted a few thoughts I'd like to share.

Abraham traveled from Ur to Haran with his father Terah, brother Nahor, nephew Lot, niece Milkah, half-sister/wife Sarah, and servants.

He left his father and brother and their families in Haran and headed to the land God was leading him to. God said to leave his kin and go. I think he took everyone God wanted him to take with him. There is nothing in the text that states that Lot should not have gone with him. He was probably Lot's custodial parent after Haran's death, so Lot was a member of his immediate family.

Interesting how Abraham set up his altar in Bethel. Was this the same place that Jacob wrestled with God, perhaps?

Yet he still traveled south from there. Perhaps he needed to "wander" some to graze his flocks and, perhaps, God hadn't told him to set up a permanent camp/residence yet. It seems there were other events that needed to happen first. I don't know if he had ever been to Egypt before. God felt that Abraham needed to experience Egypt before he takes possession of the promised land area. Maybe the leaders of Egypt needed to know who Abraham was and about the God of Abraham. Everything was going along according to God's plan and Abraham was obedient.

It is interesting that Abraham went up a hill or mountain to offer sacrifices. In previous times inn Shinar, under Nimrod, people preferred to live in the plain and build their own "mountains" to worship their idols. Something to think about. The altars of the Israelites cut not be of cut stones (man-designed) and they did not build temples with images of their God enshrined on top of these like the pagans. God does not want our place of worship to be man-made or idolaterous. (sp?). Thus, we are his Temple and He lives in us as a Spirit. Can't make an idol of that, can we! God made us, formed us in our mother's womb. We are his dwelling place, all God created!