Part 2: God’s Merciful Intervention

Scripture Covering this Period:

• Genesis 12-50

Dates:

• c. 2000 - 1850BC

Main Points:

1. God sets His plan of redemption in motion by making a covenant with Abraham, which He passes on to Isaac and Jacob. God promises to:

• Make a great nation of Abraham’s descendants
• Give his descendants the Promised Land
• Bless all families of the earth through this family

2. God is faithful to His covenant and gracious to those who have faith in Him—even if they do not always act by that faith.

3. By God’s design, this chosen family ends up in Egypt.

Summary:

Part 1 of the Bible shows us that, when left to themselves, humans do not choose God or surrender to His rule. So what does God do? He intervenes and initiates a plan to redeem the world that is rebelling against Him. He chooses an imperfect man—Abraham—not because of anything he did but because he responded with faith to God’s promise. When God called Abraham to “go” to an unknown land, he went. God’s sovereign plan is shown to be always at work, even when it looks like everything is falling apart.