Running the Race - Part 22

The lesson on September 18, 2022 was part 22 of the “Running the Race” study. This lesson starts with a review of Hebrews 11:10 where is tells of Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker was God. We then looked in the original account in Genesis and learned that Abram didn’t follow the instructions God gave him showing how the heroes of faith in chapter 11 are believers who are shining forth their faith obedience with a fraction of light being reflected from the white light that is Christ. However, we quickly learn that this list if made up of sinners and fallen people which showed the error of their ways but yet were found faithful in how they ran their race and are a cloud of witnesses for the Hebrew believers. We then continued to look at the word “translated” in relation to avoiding death which was covered in the previous lesson. We looked at Acts 7:15 which is a recount of how Jacob died in Egypt and when “he and our fathers were carried into Sychem and laid in he sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money”. So, in this case, Jacob did die but his bones were “translated” into another location. We learned that redemption if for a purpose, it is not an end in itself. Redemption is the start of your race and you are to continue on to perfection so you will receive a reward of witness. Noah was the last witness we looked at in Gen 9:1-7,8:13,21.

The scripture reading was from Genesis 12:1-5 KJV “1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 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: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 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.”