From Genesis 12 to 14 Abram has encountered God and trials. There seems to be a pattern in scripture: God blesses and then tests. Abram was blessed to be called out, then tested with famine, blessed with abundance and tested with family strife; blessed with an abode and tested with danger and love for Lot, blessed with God’s victory and tested with Sodom’s tawdry wealth; blessed with a promise of a seed and tested with an impatient wife. Each time Abram came to know a different facet of God’s character and His plan for him. This week Abram will once again come “face to face” with who God is and what God desires. As Moses wrote and the children of Israel listened, they too came “face to face” with God and that is God’s desire for us as well. Would they then and will we today apply Psa 62:8  Trust in him at all times, you people! Pour out your hearts before him!
PRINCIPLES: God promises and then He tests our faith; Waiting on God in times of barrenness is a vital link to blessings; Stepping out ahead of God brings confusion 
OUR AIM this week is to come face to face with God and to know that in times of barrenness He is still at work. In what area do you sense barrenness and will you wait on God for His direction? 

DAY ONE: Genesis 15 Adonai Jehovah Reaffirms His Promises to Abram 
1. After Abram’s “mountain top” experience, hearing Melchizedek tell him you are blessed, you belong to the Most High God and your victory came from Him, why then would God come and say to him:  “fear not”?

2. This is the first time in scripture that the phrase “the word of the Lord came”. How did the Lord come to Abram and what three focal points did HE promise him? Thinking through our “4C’s” which one does this verse match? 

4. What extravagant request did Abram make of Lord God in vs. 2 and what was God’s response? Recall: Gen 11:30; Gen 16:1; Ps. 62:8? 

5. Moses wrote: Gen 15:7 and Ex 20:2. How would hearing these words encourage the Israelites in their current circumstance? In what way does it verify that Abram and they are serving the same Adonai Jehovah = Lord/Master;  the independent and self-existent God of revelation and redemption?  Are you following the same God? 1 Peter 1:3-4. 

6. Why would Moses tell them of this prophecy? Gen 15:13-14. 

DAY TWO: Gen 16 Barrenness of one; El Roi Hears and Sees Our Plight 
7. As we begin this chapter we are confronted again with Sarai’s barrenness that Abram questioned God about in chapter 15. What happens in chapter 16 and what principle had they not yet learned about God’s working? Ps 27:15; Ps 37:7a and 37:34a. 

8. Who is Hagar and how did she become a part of Abram’s “family” unit? 

9. Read Genesis 3:12 & 17 and Gen 16:2 & 6.  In what two areas did both Adam and Abram relinquish their role as headship over their wives? 

Of all three participants  in this chapter, which one is seen as the more faithful? What evidence would you give to prove that statement? 

DAY THREE: Gen 16 cont’d
11. Hagar fled to where? _______________ Who met her? __________________________Where did He meet her? _______________________What did He ask her? _____________________ and ________________________ How does Ps 62:8 fit in with her circumstance? 

12.  El Roi (the God who sees) met Hagar (whose name means flight) in the wilderness. What did he call her that sheds light upon her child’s right to the inheritance? Have you ever experienced this same plight as Hagar and heard God’s voice? 

13. What were Hagar’s two “orders” and one promise. List them.  Hagar was to name her son Ishmael (whose name means the God will hear). How might his name be a constant rebuke to Abram over the remaining years of his life? 

DAY FOUR:  Genesis 17 El Shaddai  Reaffirms His covenant with Abram
14. How old is Abram and Sarai now in this chapter? How many years have elapsed? _____

15 . In chapter 15, God reveals Himself as Adonai Jehovah, in chapter 16 God reveals Himself as El Roi, and now in chapter 17 God reveals Himself as El Shaddai…The All Sufficient One/ the One who Satisfies/ The Giver of Strength. In what way would God be El Shaddai to Abram at his age? 

16. Noah walked “with God”, El Shaddai  told Abram to walk “before” Him and be perfect. The Israelites were told in Deut 13:4 to walk “after” God.  Think how you might explain this to a struggling believer: we are to walk with/ before/after God? 

17. From Gen 17:5-14 find the five parts of the reaffirmed covenant that God made with Abram.

18. What is the sign of the covenant that God required? 

19. How did Abram respond to what God said? How do you respond when God reveals His plans to you? 

DAY FIVE: Application: Which person are you most like? Abram/Sarai/Hagar? Where are you in your walk--- barren or fruitful? How do you handle waiting on God for His plans to be revealed and carried out?