Tag Archives: Abraham

God builds a nation (Genesis 12-35), September 11, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Welcome back to our study of “The Story,” God story of His plan to bring us back to Him. Last week we talked about the Garden of Eden, why we are no longer in it, the curse of evil we all inherited because of Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey, and God’s working to redeem us – to bring us back into fellowship with Him. The story of the Garden is the first of five major movements in God’s word, His story. Today we begin the second movement, the birth of the nation of Israel.

Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com – or Genesis chapters 12-35

When I was a kid, I’ll have to admit I wasn’t the most athletic person in my community. I was always the geek. Loved reading and science and math. I enjoyed learning more than running around outside getting all hot and sweaty. So one of the things I remember about that time of my life are the games we had to play in school in which someone was made the captain of each side and those captains began to choose their team from all the kids around them. If I wasn’t the last person picked, I was next to last just about every time.

I just wasn’t very good at sports and so I never got picked early. I could write well, debate, take tests of all kinds and perform at the top of the class in those areas. But sports? Not so much.

A strange thing happened on one of those fields one day, though. One of the best players on the field was a friend. On this particular day, he was chosen as the captain of one of the teams. I was at the back of the crowd of kids trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.Trying not to be as embarrassed as usual. I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on at the front of the crowd because I knew I’d be one of the last one’s whose name was called.

But my friend, the captain that day, made the first pick and he called my name. He had to call it twice, though, because I was in shock. No one picked me first. The other captain called a name and then my friend called the name of the second least likely to be asked to play. Then when he called the third name for his team, it was another geek, least likely to play any kind of sport. And that’s how it went until everyone was picked.

I don’t even remember what the score was at the end of the softball game that day, but I remember being called first when teams were formed. I also remember we didn’t win the game, but all of us on that team played our hearts out for our captain. He broke the cultural traditions and put together the worst team you could imagine.

God’s story, beginning at Genesis 12, tells of the selection of two unlikely people. If we were trying to build a nation, we wouldn’t pick Abram and Sarai. We would probably find the son of some wealthy king and spark a new nation from him. We would probably look at the pedigree of those who applied and like the majority of the world, we would peruse all those resumes to pick the very best couple we could to form this new nation.

But God’s story is a little different. He chooses some of the most unlikely people to carry out His plan so there is no question about His intervention in the story. Abraham and Sarah (God changed their names along the way) were old. She was barren. They had no children. How was a great nation to start from an old couple with no children. He was already well past retirement age when his son Isaac was born. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90.

Then about fifteen years later, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son. The heir to his property. The one who was promised as the means of building a new nation that would bless all the other nations of the world.

These 20 plus chapters in Genesis tell the story of how God chooses the way my friend did that day on the field. There is one really important difference, though. On the softball field, that broken team didn’t play very well. We played hard, but we lost. But when God chooses someone to carry out His work, when we do what He asks, the plan never fails. The plan doesn’t fail because God doesn’t fail. He intends to use men and women like Abraham and Sarah to bless others.

Was Abraham perfect after God chose him? Not by a long shot. That’s one of the things that’s different about His Story. He tells us the good and the bad about the heroes in scripture. God’s story doesn’t hide the disappointment, the disobedience, the sin in the lives of those upon whom His kingdom is built. It’s one of those “tell all” kinds of stories. We see behind the curtain and see all the warts and wrongs and brokenness of those God chooses to do His work.

What that tells me, when I read stories of Abraham and his deceit with Pharaoh or the story of Jacob lying to his father and stealing his brother’s birthright or the story of Judah sleeping with his daughter-in-law, is that God can use all the people the world would never pick. He looks at the back of the crowd at those who are least likely to succeed. He finds those who the world would snub their nose and question why God would think to use “that person.”

God knows what He is doing, though. God works through some of the least likely for two reasons, I think. First, when those least likely carry out His plan and others around see the success of God’s work through the efforts of the least likely to succeed, there can be no question that God is part of the plan. There is just no other way to explain how things work because we cannot see around the bend in the road. We can’t see how everything will work because we live in the lower story of God’s word while He operates in the upper story.

God not only sees what’s ahead, but intervenes to make sure His plans happen as He intends. Second, when we read about people like Judah and Jacob and Abraham and the mistakes they made yet were honored by God when they returned and followed Him, we can understand that God can use you and me too. He can take us with all our warts, all our brokenness, all our failures and turn us into instruments of His love and part of His great plan.

The question is whether we will be part of His plan or fighting against His plan. The choice is ours to make. God won’t force us to follow Him or accept Him as our redeemer. He won’t push us to do something we refuse to do. He will let us choose our own path. But we also suffer the consequences of taking the wrong path. He tells us how best to live. His word gives us instruction on how to get along with others, how to succeed in life. How to treat our children and our spouse. How to find Him and His redemptive power in our lives. But still, God lets us choose. He knows the best path for us and if we will look up and follow Him, He will show us which path to take. But we still get to choose whether we will take it or not.

So here we are at the beginning of the nation of Israel. God made it possible for Abraham to bless the world through his offspring. Abraham decided to accept God’s offer and to follow Him. You can look at the first chapter of the New Testament and discover just how blessed the world is because of Abraham’s faithfulness. Jesus is his descendant. Both Mary and Joseph trace their heritage back to this man who decided to trust God and follow the path He laid out.

So what can you do? Can you change the world for God? No. Neither could Abraham. But God can change the world through you just as He changed the world through Abraham. An unlikely candidate for greatness, but God change that in Abraham. You might think you are an unlikely candidate for greatness. But God can use you to carry out His plans and make all things good as you carry out His purpose in your part of His creation.

So what will it be?

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

El-Roi (Genesis 16:13), June 8, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Today the name of God we consider is El-Roi, the strong one who sees.
Scripture
1. Genesis 16:13
2. She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Devotional
1. El-Roi, the strong one who sees
2. I expect we have all hit that point in our life at one time or another when we think no one care about us. No one sees our plight. No one would notice if we just disappeared from the face of the earth.
3. Drama of the Old Testament
  1. Unlike the stories of other heroes
  2. Points out the flaws and failures of those we should emulate
  3. Abraham, father of the Israelite nation
  4. Promised a son who and progeny that would be the spark of a nation that was innumerable
  5. At 100 he had no children
4. Sarah gives her maidservant to Abraham in an effort to help God along
  1. Common practice for barren women
  2. Servant acted as surrogate and their child became the heir of the estate
  3. Adopted into the family
  4. Hagar became arrogant and took liberties with Sarah she should not have taken
  5. Sarah drove Hagar and Ishmael away
5. Hagar, though a servant, lived in luxury and wasn’t prepared to survive in the desert
  1. Alone
  2. Lost
  3. Without hope
  4. In despair, resigned to die in the wilderness
6. God, in His strength and power, sees her
  1. God does not abandon her as Abraham did
  2. God sees her despair and hopelessness
  3. God recognizes her need
  4. God intervenes and provides water and food for Hagar and Ismael
7. Important aspect of the story
  1. God doesn’t take Hagar out of her difficult circumstances
  2. He tells her to go back into the situation from which she fled
  3. God puts her back under Sarah’s thumb
  4. Bt with a promise
  5. Ismael will also become a great nation, and he did
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Jehovah-Jirah, The Lord will provide (Genesis 22:13-14), June 3, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
What a beautiful name for God. Jehovah-Jirah, the Lord will provide. Do you believe that today?
Scripture
1. Genesis 22:13-14
2. 13 Abraham glanced up and saw a ram behind him with its horns caught in the thicket. He went over, dislodged the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 From that day forward, Abraham called that place, “The Eternal One will provide.” Because of this, people still today say, “On the Mount of the Eternal, all will be provided.”
Devotional
1. It’s a beautiful story.
  1. Abraham is old
  2. Isaac, the promised descendant through whom a nation will be built is a teenage
  3. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah
  4. Load up the caravan with everything necessary for the journey and sacrifice, didn’t tell anyone yet
  5. Leaves servants at the base of the mountain
  6. Isaac carries the wood
  7. Isaac lets his 115 year old father tie him up after he builds the altar, arranges the wood, and crawls onto the altar
  8. Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son
  9. Lifts the knife and starts to plunge it into his son’s chest
  10. An angel grabs his wrist
2. God points Abraham to a ram caught in the brush
  1. Spare your son and sacrifice the ram
  2. The Lord will provide
  3. He provided a substitute for his son
  4. He provides a substitute for our punishment
  5. He provides a substitute for our penalty of death
  6. God provides what we need when we need it
3. Today worship Jehovah-Jirah, the Lord will provide
  1. Think of those times in your past God came through at just the right time and provided for you
  2. Think of His faithfulness to your needs
  3. Know He stands beside you as Jehovah-Jirah today, the Lord will provide
  4. Not all our wants, but all our needs, in just the right way and at just the right time
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

It’s best to be generous (Luke 16:19-31) December 11, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 John

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 16:19-31
Jesus There was this rich man who had everything—purple clothing of fine quality and high fashion, gourmet meals every day, and a large house. Just outside his front gate lay this poor homeless fellow named Lazarus. Lazarus was covered in ugly skin lesions. He was so hungry he wished he could scavenge scraps from the rich man’s trash. Dogs would come and lick the sores on his skin. The poor fellow died and was carried on the arms of the heavenly messengers to the embrace of Abraham. Then the rich fellow died and was buried and found himself in the place of the dead. In his torment, he looked up, and off in the distance he saw Abraham, with Lazarus in his embrace.
He shouted out, “Father Abraham! Please show me mercy! Would you send that beggar Lazarus to dip his fingertip in water and cool my tongue? These flames are hot, and I’m in agony!”
But Abraham said, “Son, you seem to be forgetting something: your life was full to overflowing with comforts and pleasures, and the life of Lazarus was just as full with suffering and pain. So now is his time of comfort, and now is your time of agony. Besides, a great canyon separates you and us. Nobody can cross over from our side to yours, or from your side to ours.”
“Please, Father Abraham, I beg you,” the formerly rich man continued, “send Lazarus to my father’s house. I have five brothers there, and they’re on the same path I was on. If Lazarus warns them, they’ll choose another path and won’t end up here in torment.”
But Abraham said, “Why send Lazarus? They already have the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets to instruct them. Let your brothers hear them.”
“No, Father Abraham,” he said, “they’re already ignoring the law and the prophets. But if someone came back from the dead, then they’d listen for sure; then they’d change their way of life.”
Abraham answered, “If they’re not listening to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be convinced even if someone comes back from the dead.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I don’t know if you’ve ever been around burn victims. It’s pretty terrible. Being stationed at Ft Sam Houston, Texas for the last few years of my service, I saw patients in the burn center more often than I’d like to remember. Most of them had recently returned from Iraq or Afghanistan, victims of explosions on the battlefield in which fuel in the vehicles they were riding also caught fire before they could be extracted. Some of those soldiers were 60, 70, and 80% of their body surface covered with disfiguring burns. It’s a horrible, painful injury and recovery is also long and painful.

The average burn victim undergoes more than 20 surgeries during the first two years of recovery and usually never gets full range of motion of limbs affected by the burns. We still haven’t been able to perfect plastic surgeries to heal disfigurement, so every time a burn victim looks in the mirror, there is the constant reminder of that fateful day that changed their life forever. Post traumatic stress disorder often accompanies the injury and causes frequent nightmare interrupting much needed sleep and disrupting the healing process. Burns are horrible injuries.

Every time I read this story, I’m reminded of those soldiers I visited on the burn wards at Fort Sam Houston. And I think about how horrible hell must be. To continually exist in a place of fire and brimstone as Jesus describes it, always burning but never being consumed by it. Always experiencing that agony with no hope of the pain ever stopping. And in hell, there are no drugs to ease the pain, no narcotics to allow even the shortest, restless sleep from the intense agony.

Then I think about the rich man’s request. Just the amount of water that can be held on the tip of Lazarus’ fingertip to cool his tongue. Have you ever tried to quench you thirst with the amount of water that you can hold on the tip of your finger? It’s not much water. If you stick your whole finger in a glass of water you’ll only get about two or three drops of water off the end when you pull it out. But that was the rich man’s request. He was in such agony, such torment, he would be happy with just the amount of water that would fall from Lazarus’ fingertip.

I don’t know about you, but I never want to go to a place like that. Was the scene real? It seems to me that the parables Jesus gave the crowds were more often based in reality than not. They seemed to be scenes He had witnessed and then shared with those around Him. These were not Aesop’s fables with animals living out morals to be learned. Jesus’ parables always had truths in them that could easily be seen in every day life. So had Jesus witnessed just this kind of scene before He came to earth in human form? In His glorified form, had the Son of God witnessed the rich man plead for Abraham to send one of God’s children across the divide with just a few drops of water to cool His tongue?

There is always more truth in Jesus’ parables than not. I don’t want to find out, do you? I think that means we need to be generous with the things God entrusts into our care. Think about it.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

You can pass the test (Genesis 22), Jan 8, 2015

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The background for today’s devotion comes from Genesis 22.

Some people look at My test of Abraham’s faith and decide they could never measure up, so they give up. But they don’t understand Me or what I do in helping My children grow in their trust in Me. I don’t test everyone in the same way. Nor do I want anyone to fail any test I give them. I want to act as a good teacher so all who follow Me learn well and pass every exam.

I knew when I asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son he had a high probability of passing My extreme test of his faith. I watched him through his life and knew his trust had grown to the point of complete obedience to Me. I knew he often didn’t understand what I asked of him, but he followed My will without question. I knew he trusted Me to see him through this task also.

If you look at his conversation with his servants and with Isaac, you see his trust shining through. When he left his servants at the bottom of the mountain, he told them, “We will worship, and then WE (meaning he and his son) will come back and meet you here.” Abraham didn’t know how, but he knew I would make a way of escape somehow.

As Isaac carried the wood for the fire to top of the mountain and helped Abraham build the altar that day, he asked about the ram for the sacrifice. Abraham’s answer, “God will provide.” Again, he didn’t know how I would do it, but he had faith in Me. He trust I would fulfill My promises to him and held on to that truth to the end. Even as he tied his son and placed him on the altar and reached for the knife to plunge it into his heart, he trusted Me.

My test for Abraham was extreme. He was prepared to take an extreme exam. As the patriarch of My chosen people, I needed someone who others could look to that could take such an extreme test. I prepared him for it throughout his life to that point. He was ready. He’d had plenty of practice leading up to it.

I will test you, too. But never past the limits of your ability to handle it. I never want you to fail. You can choose to fail, but you never need to fail. You can ask for My help. My tests are always open book. You can always ask the teacher for help. I will always give you the answers. You may not always like them, but I will give them to you. I promise. Trust Me to the end. It always pays off.

Ready – Genesis 22
Set – Genesis 22; Luke 8
Go! – Genesis 20-22; Luke 8
Genesis 22
After a period of time, God decided to put Abraham to the test.

Eternal One: Abraham!

Abraham: I am right here.

Eternal One: 2 Take your son, your only son Isaac whom I know you love deeply, and go to the land of Moriah. When you get there, I want you to offer Isaac to Me as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. I will show you which one.

3 Abraham did as he was told. Early in the morning he got up, saddled his donkey, and taking two of his trusted servants with him and his son Isaac, he cut the wood for the burnt offering and traveled to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of the journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place far in the distance.

Abraham (to his servants): 5 Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to meet you here.

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and set it on the shoulders of his son Isaac to carry. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. The two of them walked on together.

Isaac (to Abraham): 7 Father!

Abraham: I am right here, Son.

Isaac: Look, we have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham: 8 God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

The two of them continued to walk on together.

9 When they finally arrived at the place God had shown him, Abraham took some stones and built an altar there and arranged the wood carefully on top of it. Then he bound up his son Isaac with rope and laid him on the altar on top of the stack of wood. 10 Just as Abraham reached over to grab the knife that would kill his son, 11 the special messenger of the Eternal One called his name from heaven.

Special Messenger: Abraham! Abraham!

Abraham: I am right here!

Special Messenger: 12 Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to harm him. I know now that you respect the one True God and will be loyal to Him and follow His commands, because you were willing to give up your son, your only son, to Me.

13 Abraham glanced up and saw a ram behind him with its horns caught in the thicket. He went over, dislodged the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 From that day forward, Abraham called that place, “The Eternal One will provide.” Because of this, people still today say, “On the Mount of the Eternal, all will be provided.”

15 The special messenger of the Eternal One called out to Abraham yet a second time from heaven.

Special Messenger: 16 Listen to the solemn vow the Eternal One has spoken: “Because you have done what I asked and were willing to give up your son, your only son, 17 I will reaffirm My covenant of blessing to you and your family. I will make sure your descendants are as many as the stars of the heavens and the grains of sand on the shores. I reaffirm My earlier promises that your descendants will possess the lands and sit in the gates of their enemies, 18 and from your descendants all the peoples of the earth will discover true blessing. All this is because you have obeyed My voice.

19 Then Abraham returned to the place where he left his trusted servants. They traveled together—Abraham, Isaac, and his servants—back to Beersheba where Abraham lived on for some time.

20 After this happened, Abraham was informed that Milcah had also given birth to many children by his brother, Nahor. 21 Uz was the firstborn, then came his brother Buz, Kemuel (Aram’s father), 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Nahor, Abraham’s brother, had eight children in all by Milcah. 24 Not only that, but Nahor’s concubine (whose name was Reumah) also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Trust Me! (Genesis 12), Jan 5, 2015

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The background today comes from Genesis Chapter 12.

Monotheism, worship of Me, grew up from Abram, whose name I later changed to Abraham. The Hebrews, Christians, and Muslims all came from his progeny. Too many people look at Abraham as someone with a special dose of religious power and give him much more credit than is due him. Abraham was like most of the other men of his day with one exception. He, like Noah, did what I asked him to do, even when it didn’t make much sense to him.

I had a plan for him. I started the plan with his father, but his father stopped his travels before he crossed the barren territory to the land I wanted to give a chosen leader. Abraham continued that journey when I called him out of Ur to a land he didn’t know. A land he would never own personally. While alive, Abraham traveled its length and breadth, but never settled in it to own more than the gravesite of his wife Sarah, the cave of Machpelah.

As you study Abraham’s life, you’ll see he feared for his life and lied to the Pharaoh, allowing his wife taken into the Pharaoh’s harem. He didn’t trust Me to give his wife children so he bore children through Sarai’s maid and later through concubines. All those children became enemies of Israel. Abraham sometimes lied. Sometimes lost his temper. Sometimes failed to listen to Me. Sometimes failed to trust Me. Sometimes did things you would consider abhorrent sins. Yet over time, Abraham grew to become one of the most revered leaders of all the monotheistic religions.

So what was it about Abraham? Why do we think he is so special? I think there are xx reasons.
– He is the patriarch of the major monotheistic religions
– He was the one with whom I made My covenant through which to bless all nations
– He wasn’t always right, but he always made things right when he failed Me
– Mostly, Abraham believed I would do what I said I would do; he had great faith in Me, more than in himself

That’s what made Abraham great. Trusting Me more than man. Trusting Me more than himself. Like Noah, Abraham believed in Me and did what I asked him to do, despite the opposition or the ridicule it brought him. He trusted Me with his possessions and with himself.

Ready – Genesis 12
Set – Genesis 12; Luke 5
Go! – Genesis 12-14; Luke 5

Genesis 12
One day, the Eternal One called out to Abram.

Eternal One: Abram, get up and go! Leave your country. Leave your relatives and your father’s home, and travel to the land I will show you. Don’t worry—I will guide you there. 2 I have plans to make a great people from your descendants. And I am going to put a special blessing on you and cause your reputation to grow so that you will become a blessing and example to others. 3 I will also bless those who bless you and further you in your journey, and I’ll trip up those who try to trip you along the way. Through your descendants, all of the families of the earth will find their blessing in you.

4-5 Without any hesitation, Abram went. He did exactly as the Eternal One asked him to do. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. He took with him his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, all of their possessions, and all of the persons they had acquired for their household while in Haran; and they all set off toward the land of Canaan. When they reached Canaan, 6 Abram kept going through it to a sacred place called Shechem where the oak of Moreh stood. (At this time, the Canaanite people were living on this land, so Abram could not take it as his own.) 7 There the Eternal appeared to Abram.

Eternal One: I am going to give this land to your future generations.

So, out of honor and respect, there Abram built an altar table to the Eternal One, who had appeared to him and spoken these words of promise. 8 After that, Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel, and there he pitched a tent and made a home for himself and his family between Bethel in the west and Ai in the east. Here Abram built another altar table for the Eternal One, where he called upon the name of the Eternal frequently. 9 Then Abram journeyed south toward the Negev region.

This is the southernmost part of the land God promises to give Abram. One day his children will possess it.

10 Now at this time, there came a severe famine in the land of Canaan. Food was scarce, so Abram made his way to Egypt to live there for a while as a foreigner. 11 As Abram was about to enter Egypt, he pulled Sarai his wife aside.

Abram: Sarai, you are a very beautiful woman, and I am well aware that 12 when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “Look, she’s his wife”; then they will kill me and let you live so they can have you for themselves. 13 Tell them you are my sister so that nothing will happen to me because of you. In this way you can save my life.

14 So when Abram came into Egypt with Sarai and his family, the Egyptians did indeed see that Sarai was very beautiful. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they told Pharaoh just how beautiful she was. So Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s house and made part of his harem. 16 She pleased the Pharaoh, so he treated Abram very well, giving him gifts of sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Eternal One was not pleased and began afflicting the Pharaoh and his household with skin diseases because of what was happening to Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram to come before him.

Pharaoh: What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me this woman was your wife? 19 Why did you say she was only your sister, so that I felt free to take her to be one of my wives? Here she is—take your wife, and get out of here!

20 And Pharaoh gave his men orders to make sure Abram went on his way along with his wife and all of his belongings.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.