Chronological Bible Study Podcast

CBP Ep 23 - Gen 12-14

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CBP Ep 23 - Gen 12-14

Promises; Lying to Pharaoh; Expounded Promises; Lot in Trouble

Jul 05, 2025

Transcript

Welcome to the Chronological Bible Study Podcast

with Nate and Sandra.

This is episode 23, the technical study of Gen 12-14.

The Bible study process I'm using is straightforward:

First, I expect you to read the chapters we'll be going over and making your own notes and analysis.
In just a moment, I'll summarize the reading, one chapter at a time.
Next, I'll highlight some important verses in each chapter, esp those that apply to our chosen topic of Sex and Marriage.
I'll then compare the reading in different translations which will help bring out translational challenges and bring important words to our attention.
We'll get into a bit of a word study using Strong's and other references to dive deeper into the words used and what they mean.
As needed, I have genealogy charts and maps to help make this a little easier.
Lastly, I'll come to some conclusions on each chapter and collate these conclusions with our prior studies to bring the verses on our topic into focus.

As always, your feedback is appreciated.

Gen 12 Summary

vs1-9 Call of Abram

v1-3 God speaks

Go from your country, kindred, father's house

This is important because Abram only partially obeys this at first.

to the land that I will show you.

We don't always know where God is leading us.

I will make you a great nation.

This phrase and many others conveys the idea of growth and enlargement. God never blesses people by making them smaller and less. He gives them more: children, money, power, control, responsibility, etc.

I will bless you.

God knows what we value most. He works with our godly desires to reward us in our worship of Him. The flaw in the "poverty gospel" which sets itself against the "prosperity gospel" is that God blesses people with wealth and riches and children and health and abundance. God rewards those who follow Him. Job and now Abram are prime examples of it. "Follow Me, and I will bless you." It was implied with Job, but it's stated outright with Abram.

I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing.

"great name" conveys the idea of being famous and held in high honor vs an infamous person who is famous but disrespected.

It's not just for Abram alone. Through Abram, others will be blessed.
"God will only get it to you, if He can get it through you."
Galilee & Jordan vs Dead Sea

I will bless those who bless you.
I will dishonor those who curse you.

A lot of people are quoting this part to defend our military alliance w Israel today. I think this is a poor support for that. This blessing and cursing was on Abram himself. Arabs are also descendants of Abram, but we don't value our alliance with them the same way.

in you all families of the Earth will be blessed.

In the NT, they saw this as part of the prophecy of the Messiah.

vs 4,5 Abram took Lot.

Why? This was a violation of "leaving kindred". Lot was nothing but trouble.
Sometimes, like we saw in Job, family is NOT the help to us we'd wish they were.

vs 7 "To your offspring, I will give this land."

vs10-20 In Egypt

vs11-13 Abram tells Sarai to "lie".
This is not a total lie, but it is a lie since it's hiding the truth of their actual relationship.

vs14-16 Abram's prediction comes true.
They do value Sarai over Abram.

vs17 God afflicted Egypt.
God's not happy with Pharaoh.

vs18-20 Pharaoh knows, gets mad, and kicks them out.
Pharaoh learned the truth and rebukes Abram for his lie.

Highlights

vs2 "And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great; and you will be a blessing."

vs 7 “To your offspring I will give this land.”

Everything about Abram and the Israelites have to do with sex and marriage and children.

vs 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.”

Pharaoh honored Abram's marriage more than Abram seemed to.
Sarai obeyed Abram and went along with the lie. Abram is rebuked, not Sarai.

Gen 12 Alternate Translations & Word Studies

v2 “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing"

"nation" - H1471 - Apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts

"great" - H1431 - A primitive root; properly to twist (compare H1434), that is, to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride)

"name" - H8034 - A primitive word (perhaps rather from H7760 through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare H8064); an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character

"blessing" - H1293 - From H1288; benediction; by implication prosperity

vs 7 "Unto thy seed will I give this land"

OR "To your offspring I will give this land."

OR "I will give this land to your descendants."

"seed" - H2233 - From H2232; seed; figuratively fruit, plant, sowing time, posterity

Gen 12 Conclusions

God called Abram to do certain things. God promised to also do certain things.
Abram has done some of it but not all of it.
Abram also is afraid for his life and doesn't fully trust God to protect him.
Abram was willing to use his wife's beauty to benefit himself.
Egypt respected Abram's marriage more than Abram did.
Sarai is never rebuked for obeying Abram's lie. The blame fell on him, not her.

Gen 13 Summary

Vs 1-13 Abram and Lot Separate

vs 1-4 Back to where they were.
vs 5-7 Too much together.
May your blessings be so numerous that they become a struggle to deal with.

vs 8,9 Choose and go.
vs 10-13 Lot chose Sodom.
"Lot chose for himself" He only thought about what was good for himself and didn't consider the evil neighborhood he was going into.

vs 12 Moved his tent as far as Sodom. I know how this story ends, and this first step is innocent but not good.
Vs 13 even warns us: Sodom was exceedingly wicked.

Vs 14-18 God renews His promises

Now that Lot and Abram are separated from each other (like He told Abram in Gen 12), God expounds on what He promised before. Often when we're "waiting on God", it's because God's "waiting on us" to do what He already told us to do.

Would Abram have even gone to Egypt if he'd separated from Lot sooner and got a new word from God? God didn't send him to Egypt. Abram's flight to Egypt and his behavior in Egypt seemed to show fear and faithlessness. Abram had to grow in faith.

vs 14,15 Land promise: expounds Gen 12:7
Abram gave Lot 1st choice, but Abram lost nothing. God gave Abram the land Lot was on.

vs 16,17 Numerous descendants: expounds Gen 12:2
TECHNICALLY: the word translated "number" means "to weigh out". It's a weight reference, not a particulate count reference. The idea is the same: innumerable descendants.

Highlights

v8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, ... for we are kinsmen."

We should strive to not let strife foment in our relationships: family or in the marriage.

Gen 13 Alternate Translations & Word Studies

No significant translational differences or words to study.

Gen 13 Conclusions

Once Abram separates from Lot like he was originally told to do, God give Abram more details on the promises God is making and the extent of the blessing that Abram will receive.
When God is your source, giving stuff away isn't really lost.
They haven't gotten into the details, but God is promising while Abram is 75 and has no children.

Gen 14 Summary

War of the 9 Kings

Vs 1-16 Battles for political reasons.

Basically, these kings and armies from near Babylon in present-day Iraq stopped getting their protection money. So they travelled northwest along the Fertile Crescent and headed south on the east side of the Jordan attacking and looting. They took Lot when they got near Sodom (v12) then continued on south to the Red Sea before turning back north attacking and looting as they went back toward home.

Abram and his small army met them at a pass in the northern region (v14,15) and ambushed the large army there, rescuing Lot. He even pursued them far along the journey as a deterrent from them attacking again. Until Abram attacked them, they were successful in their raid. Afterward, not so much.

vs 17-24 Melchizedek

vs 18 Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of God Most High.
vs 19,20a Melchizedek blesses Abram.
vs 20b Abram tithes (gave 1/10 to Melchizedek)
| vs 21 Keep the wealth, give us the people.
vs 22,23 I will keep nothing.
vs 24 Those who came with me can have their share.

Highlights

vs 18 "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)"

A priest-king is unusual. His identity is unknown to us. He is not given any parentage or identifier other than his relationship to the city of Salem which later became known as Jebu-salem then Jerusalem.
The word "Salem" means "peace" and is similar to the Hebrew word for peace: "Shalom". IOW, he's the "king of peace".

vs 20 "And Abram gave [Melchizedek] a tenth of everything."

This is the first reference to anything resembling a tithe (to give a tenth).

vs 23 "that I would not take ... anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ "

Abram depended on God for his wealth, not warfare or trading.

Gen 14 Alternate Translations & Word Studies

No significant translational differences or words to examine.

Gen 14 Conclusions

Foreign kings come and attack Sodom, taking Lot captive.
Lot had moved from in a tent outside the city to living in the city of Sodom.
Abram goes to rescue Lot and everything, defeating the larger army.
Getting too interested in worldly affairs will get you swept up with it, take you captive, and need rescuing.
Abram, a godly man with over 300 men trained for war in his camp, was prepared and acted.