Genesis 12 Scofield
Read Genesis 12 · Matthew Henry on Genesis 12
12:2 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:
“And”
For analysis and summary of the Abrahamic Covenant, (See Scofield "Gen 15:18").
12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
“appeared”
12:8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
“Beth-el”
One of the sacred places of Canaan, meaning, house of God Gen 28:1–22, (See Scofield "Gen 35:7").
It is characteristic of all apostasy that Jeroboam chose this sacred place in which to erect an idol 1 Kgs 12:28; 1 Kgs 12:32. (Cf) 1 Kgs 13:1–5 and of divine judgment upon apostasy that God should decree the destruction of Bethel, despite its sacred memories; 1 Kgs 13:1–5; 2 Kgs 23:15–17; Amos 3:14; Amos 3:15.
God never hesitates to cast aside that which no longer serves His purpose Rev 2:5; Rev 3:16.
12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
“famine”
A famine was often a disciplinary testing of God's people in the land. (Cf) Gen 26:1; Gen 42:5; Ruth 1:1; 2 Sam 24:13; Ps 105:16.
The resort to Egypt (the world) is typical of the tendency to substitute for lost spiritual power the fleshly resources of the world, instead of seeking, through confession and amendment, the restoration of God's presence and favour.
Public domain (1917). Text from the BibleSupport.com e-Sword module.
12:1 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:
“Now the Lord”
The Fourth Dispensation: Promise. For Abraham, and his descendants it is evident that the Abrahamic Covenant (See Scofield "Gen 15:18") made a great change. They became distinctively the heirs of promise. That covenant is wholly gracious and unconditional. The descendants of Abraham had but to abide in their own land to inherit every blessing. In Egypt they lost their blessings, but not their covenant. The Dispensation of Promise ended when Israel rashly accepted the law Ex 19:8. Grace had prepared a deliverer (Moses), provided a sacrifice for the guilty, and by divine power brought them out of bondage Ex 19:4 but at Sinai they exchanged grace for law. The Dispensation of Promise extends from Gen 12:1 to Ex 19:8, and was exclusively Israelitish. The dispensation must be distinguished from the covenant. The former is a mode of testing; the latter is everlasting because unconditional. The law did not abrogate the Abrahamic Covenant Gal 3:15–18 but was an intermediate disciplinary dealing "till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made"; Gal 3:19–29; Gal 4:1–7. Only the dispensation, as a testing of Israel, ended at the giving of the law.
See, for the other six dispensations: (See Scofield "Gen 8:21").
INNOCENCE (Gen 1:28) CONSCIENCE (Gen 3:23) HUMAN GOVERNMENT (Gen 8:21) LAW (Ex 19:8) GRACE (John 1:17) KINGDOM (Eph 1:10)