Genesis 15 - "Abram Assured and Re-assured"

If you are like me, then I suspect that you have times in your life when you need assurance and re- assurance that you are indeed doing the right thing or whether you are on the right road. Often we tend to become anxious and fearful of the future in the light of present developments. Those can be dangerous times, depending who we are listening to. The Bible always directs us seek God and His Word. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God” (James 1:5). In the Christian ministry I have often needed to ask the Lord for assurance as to whether I was doing the right thing, and in doing so I have needed to search His Word. The counsel of Christian friends and colleagues who have drawn my attention to the Word of God in various matters has been invaluable.   

In the text before us we have a situation in which we find Abram in such a position, and the situation arises as a result of the happenings in Chapter 14 and even before that! Let’s take a step back and take it from the beginning. We had met Abram in Chapter 12. He was a pagan man from Ur in Mesopotamia. God, the true God and Creator of the Universe did the unthinkable and spoke to him and revealed Himself to him. He said to Abram, “Leave your  country and your family to go to a land which I will show you.” We are not told how it was that the LORD spoke, but it was such a powerful encounter that there was no doubt in Abram’s mind that the LORD God had spoken.

Abram’s move to the Promised Land would, however, not be without its challenges. We now must also remember that he is a descendant of Adam, whose original sin has affected the spiritual DNA of his entire offspring.  Abram leaves Ur, by God’s command and by His promise of blessing, but he also leaves Ur as a fallen man, and it is going to show.

  

We see these two sides of Abram’s nature, portrayed in Chapter 12.  One side portrays the real faith which he has in the God who has called him and who is going before him to the Promised Land [2:1-9]. The other side portrays his faithlessness, when upon arrival he faces a drought in Canaan. Instead of trusting God to provide, he is moved by   fear, anxiety, doubt and this causes him to go to Egypt for help. There he encounters   even more severe challenges, when he almost loses his wife and even his life [12:10-20]. Were it not for God’s sovereign love and grace to Abram, he would have never escaped from Egypt.

Chapters 13 and 14 are beautiful chapters as we see Abram resolutely trusting in his God. He makes a  good decision as to where he should live in the promised  land, while his nephew Lot  makes  a disastrous decision, based on what his eyes and his heart desire. He chooses to live close to the fallen world of Sodom. When Lot is taken captive and carried away   by an invading army, Abram, full of faith rescues him with the help of his God against an overwhelming army.  This remarkable victory does not go unrecognised, particularly by Melchizedek [1] the king of (Jeru) Salem, one of the many kings of a city state in that area. In the book of Hebrews we see that he prefigures the Lord Jesus Christ as a prophet- priest-king. Melchizedek recognizes a kindred spirit in Abram, and Abram does the same, as he pays homage to this king of Salem, in the giving of a tithe of everything that he had.  

Chapter 15 starts with these words, ”…after these things the Word of the LORD came to Abram.”  What things?  The reference is obviously to the recent wars in Chapter 14.  War has a very unsettling effect on people, creating anxiety about the future.  Am I going to be safe here? Does my family have a future here?  Abram’s greater concern however  relates to his family’s  future, with regard to his childless status: “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless… behold you have given me no offspring…” [vv.2, 3]. There is as yet no physical offspring to make this promise come true.  At this stage, the arrangement is for Eliezer of Damascus, a son born in his home, whom he had adopted, to be the heir.  Abram in his mind has  much reason  to be worried about  the promise of God.

This is the first time in the Bible that the oft repeated and majestic phrase is used, “the Word of the LORD came to Abram…”.  When we are anxious the most reassuring voice is the voice of the Father. And so, Abram need not fear! The God who is faithful to His promises is directing Abram’s heart with certainty and progressively, and while He does this, He is teaching Abram many lessons along the way.  God does not dump His purposes on us all at one time. God is leading Abram, step by step. Our journey with God is designed for one step at a time, and always accompanied by faith in the promises of God. “Fear not Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  [v.1]   And God comes to him with the reassurance that His promise first given in Chapter 12 will stand. He will have his very own son [v. 4] and through him his offspring will be as numerous as the stars of the sky [v.5].  As a result of this   we read, “And he believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness” [v.6].  The first hurdle is overcome.  By faith in the  Word of God  his anxiety is settled. The apostle Paul in Romans 4 and Galatians 3  explains  and establishes  the great doctrine of  “justification by faith alone” on this  text.

In verse 7 we find the second hurdle. God also promised Abram that he would possess a land as his inheritance. [v.7] The recent conflict in the Jordan valley   has raised for him some serious questions about his future.    Again, Abram anxiously asks the LORD: “How am I to know that I will possess it?”   

The answer comes by way of another strong assurance from God.

God reminds him again, that He has brought him here from Ur.  [v.7]. God had brought him from that land of idols, from the kingdom of darkness, so to speak,   into this place where he will bless him and his descendants.   God cannot lie. He cannot go back on His words, but Abram struggles, and the typical manifestations of our fallen nature in such matters are, as already  indicated, doubt and anxiety. These are ultimately rooted in unbelief. We do not trust God to be true. This is a typical sin associated with the fall. There is very little difference between the doubts which the devil sows into the mind of Eve, “Has God really said?” [Gen. 3:1] and the doubt that Abram expresses here: “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”   The fact is that God has promised this to him at the very beginning [Gen. 12:2,3]  of his encounter with him.

O the grace and the patience of our God!  Knowing his weakness, God is willing  to bear with him and  provide   Abram  with more assurance.  He begins with these weighty words:  “I am the LORD.” [v.7] We hear these words again  in Exodus 6:2,6,8  and 20:2  in the context of the   giving of the 10  commandments, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the  house of slavery”.  I Am is here. Do not fear!  God is about to establish a strong bond, a covenant with Abram to provide Him with the needed assurance for the future.  Remember that Abram did not have  the full revelation that you and I  have,   living  as people  under the  full revelation of the New Covenant by which we have been made secure  with God  by the Holy Spirit  through  the knowledge  of Jesus’ death on the cross, for us! 

So, how did the assurance come?  In a way which Abram would have understood! A covenant!

God tells Abram to bring to him a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon [v.9].  Abram slaughters the animals and cuts them in half (except the birds) and lays the pieces opposite to one another.  This all is deeply significant.  Blood is to be shed, depicting the seriousness of this transaction!  Only clean, mature,   animals were to be used in this process, ranging from a heifer to a pigeon. The dove and the pigeon were included because the sacrifices must be within the reach of all.   But the cutting of the animal sacrifices is particularly significant, because it underlies the symbolism of covenant.  The Hebrew   idiom for making a covenant can be better translated as “cutting a covenant”.  In the ancient Near East   such covenants were common,  and the parties to such a covenant would walk between the pieces  of carcass and say to each other , “As it is to these animals , so it will be to me and to you if we break the terms of this covenant.”  Making a covenant was the strongest form of assurance in the Ancient Near East. It was thought of as unbreakable.  And so here, God was saying to Abram that by this act, He was absolutely committing Himself to Abram’s future in terms of the land.

The unclean birds  of prey that  wanted  to come  down on the carcasses [v.11]  are pertinent reminders   that the terms of the covenant,  and the people  of the covenant  are forever attacked  by evil, unclean forces, and it is a tiring  battle to keep these away .  Abram fell asleep, probably from exhaustion, and a dreadful and great darkness fell on him. [v12] Many of God’s people, in their battle to remain faithful to God in the midst of life’s trials have experienced the dark night of the soul, and again I remind you that it is only the God who calls you, who keeps you in such times! But when you have come through these times you will have found yourself to having been greatly strengthened in your assurance by this experience.

In the midst of the darkness comes the prophetic assurance of v. 13: “Know for certain…. God shows Abram a panorama of the history of his descendants.  He shows him that they would have to endure a four hundred year exile. This points forward to the times of the Exodus under Moses, when they had to suffer slavery in Egypt, and when  God was refining them and preparing them for the Promised land. They would learn that by suffering they would inherit the kingdom of God. But they would leave that   land and when they left, God promised Abram that they would come out with great possessions.  Abram would not see that day. He would have died years before in a good old age. Abram himself would not see that day, but the fourth generation would, and they would come out of Egypt, as numerous as sand on the seashore.   And  God is doing so much more than our simple minds can fathom. 

The Amorites, the people of the land of Canaan  in the meantime would be piling up their sins and iniquities (Behold the patience of God towards  sinners!), and then Abram’s descendants would return under Joshua as God’s instruments of wrath upon Canaan, and the land would be theirs. 

Thank God   then, that our days, that history , that the future  are in His hands.  There is nothing more reassuring  than that !

SUMMARY

The 15^th  Chapter of Genesis  is  a key chapter  in the Bible, containing key  Bible doctrines : 

·          Strong emphasis on the doctrine of  Assurance,  which is rooted in the promises of God.  Twice in this chapter God answers Abram’s  fundamental questions  concerning his future.

·         Strong teaching on the nature  of  justification by faith, a key doctrine in the Bible by which we are reminded  that the faith by  which we  are justified  is possible , because of God’s prior working  in our life. Abram was called. That calling showed itself in a corresponding  faith in God, which  proved him to be a righteous and therefore a justified  man.

·         A strong reminder of the unbreakable nature  of the covenant. For the Christian the New Covenant in Christ’s blood   speaks of a better  covenant, since this  covenant is sealed  in the blood of the Son of God , who loved us and who gave Himself for us.

·         A strong reminder  that  our confidence in God is continuously assaulted and sometimes severely battered.

·         A strong reminder that  history and future is in God’s hands.  God tells  Abram accurately what must happen to his  people. 

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[1] Lit.  “King of righteousness”

Genesis 14: 1- 24 "War and Grace"

Genesis 14 begins with the first recorded war in the Bible. It happens in that same Middle East, twenty centuries before Christ, and it still remains a volatile region twenty centuries after Christ. 

Since the beginning of human history it appears that no place on the earth has been subjected to as many wars as this piece of land upon the face of the earth.  

Mankind in general will easily resort to conflict, and war is always the ultimate conflict.  

Human nature simply has not changed since the fall.  Job comments: “For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.”  [Job 5:7]. 

Trouble and conflict in this fallen world is inevitable.

Last time we noted that there was a conflict between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen, but they resolved their conflict by separating   from one another.  That is one way of doing it, and the history of the world has many such examples. Europe’s many wars have led to many of its peoples separating and migrating to other parts of the world.  And so Lot and Abram separate over conflict. Lot, who was given the first choice of the land by Abram, chose the well -watered Jordan valley [13:10]. Little did he know that this region would not only soon become  a battleground, but also the breeding ground for widespread sexual immorality of all kinds. This would result in a terrible judgement of God, particularly upon Sodom and Gomorrah, major cities of that valley. 

Abram, by contrast appears to have lived in peace.

We begin with the first recorded war…

Chedarlaomer, the ancient equivalent of Saddam Hussein of Iraq, along with the help of four neighbouring kings invades the area in which Lot now lives. The names of the four kings are :

• Amraphel king of Shinar (Babylonia - see 10:10, 11:2 part of modern Iraq)
• Arioch king of Ellasa, (modern Turkey or northern Syria 
• Chedarlaomer, king of Elam (part of modern Iran). He leads the alliance. 
• Tidal, king of Goiim-  the Hittites (modern Turkey )

These  four invading kings fought against  the five kings of the Jordan valley :

•  Bera king of Sodom  (whose name means in evil or characterised by evil)
•  Birsha king of Gomorrah (whose name means in wickedness or characterised by wickedness)
•  Shinar king of Admar (whose name means  Sin, the moon god is father)
•  Shemeber king of Zeboiim (whose name means, “The name is powerful”) 
•  Bela (that is Zoar).

We are told that these five kings in the Jordan valley had been subjected to the rule of Chedorlaomer of Elam[1]  for twelve years. In the thirteenth year they rebelled against his rule and therefore Chedorlaomer came to punish them, along with his alliance   in the 14^th year [14:4]. 

The mother of all battles[2] was eventually fought in the valley of Siddim – the region of the Salt sea or Dead sea [14:8]. The kings of the Jordan valley, where Lot lived, lost the battle and began to flee and we read that some of them even fell into the tar or bitumen pits, a  reminder of  the fact that this is an oil rich area.   

Chedorlaomer and his alliance looted  the cities of  Sodom and Gomorrah,  and in that process they also  took Lot and  his  possessions.   Again, remember that Lot had chosen this place because it appeared  attractive to his eyes, and yet  now, in a short space of time, he lost everything  and it  now seemed that he would become a slave  of these invading nations. This is where the story becomes interesting!

Abram, living with his allies at the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, is blissfully unaware of all these happenings in his peaceful surroundings, when he   receives word of these things. He could have shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, that was Lot’s choice. I could have told him so…”, and he could have left Lot in his misery.  Instead, he mobilised his 318 trained men [14:14] and also some his Amorite allies [14:24] and he went to rescue his nephew against heavy odds. Abram sets off with his army and he defeated them, recovering   all the loot and people,   and also Lot and his people and possessions [14:16].

We are beginning to get to know the pattern of  Abram's thinking and actions. He is a man with clay feet, subject to error and temptation and failure just like the rest of us, but there is an   observable and an uncommon display of grace in his life and in this instance he was like the Lord Jesus  toward Lot. Jesus had mercy on us  while we were yet sinners.[Rom. 5:8]  And like the Lord Jesus he  will defeat his enemies,  delivering us from their power  and freeing us by the  power of his grace, restoring all that we had lost. 

ABRAM  AND MELCHIZEDEK, KING OF SALEM [14:17-24]

But the story does not end here. In fact it comes to an unexpected climax.  The defeated king of Sodom whose name, Bera means  'characterized by evil' comes  to  meet Abram in the valley of Shaveh (the King’s Valley), but before we can figure out  what  will happen here,  another mysterious king, Melchizedek (lit. king of righteousness)  the king of Salem (i.e. Jerusalem - Shalom – peace; Hebr. 7:2- see also Psalm  76:2)  comes  on to the scene. 

Canaan, at  this time  was a confederation  of  kings/  rulers  of  so called  city states.  The king of the city state of Sodom and the king of the city state of Salem come to meet Abram after his victory. Word certainly gets around concerning Abram’s victory! But there is a profound contrast between the two kings. 

The one is a representative of God and the other is a self- centered politician. 

Melchizedek, king of Salem,  gets the first chance to have a word with Abram. And it is deeply significant. He presents him bread and wine [14:18].  Even more significant are the words with which he greets Abram:  “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand” [14:19,20]. 

Before   the evil king of Sodom can have a word with Abram,   there is the Word of God from the mouth of the king who at this time is  God’s representative, a priest of the Most High. This shows us that God at this time already had His people everywhere.  The significance of this meeting lies in the perspective given to Abram. Who is it that gave Abram the victory? It was God most High (El Elyon), Possessor (Owner/Creator) of heaven and earth,  “who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”  The temptation to have himself applauded by earthly kings is  thereby immediately taken away. Instead, he hears :  “Abram, to God be the glory, great things He has done!”

But who is this  Melchizedek, the king of Salem   who is also priest of God Most High?  He is mentioned in   Psalm 110, and then  in Hebrews 6:20 where  he is connected to the Lord Jesus… who   is “ a priest forever, after  the order of Melchizedek”. 

In Hebrews Chapter 7 follows an exposition of this fact and that  is all we find written of him  in the Bible. 

Melchizedek is a total mystery of a man. There is no record of  his  genealogy.“He is without father or mother, or genealogy, having  neither beginning of days nor end of life” [Hebr. 7:3].   We are not told how he became   a priest of the one true God. It is simply stated as a fact, and Abram recognizes him as such. 

The Jewish priesthood does not trace their line from him, but from Aaron and from the Levitical priesthood.  But he is, of course a priest of the Most High God long before the Jewish nation existed. Please note that the Lord Jesus, our eternal High priest ALSO did not come from the priestly tribe of Levi. He was from the line of Judah, and God   Almighty overruled and appointed Him as our special high priest.  

Furthermore, also note that Melchizedek had no successors to his priestly office. His priesthood was unique. In the same way the ministry of Jesus had no, and needed no successors. His work was unique and perfect. It was done. It was finished. 

And then notice also how Abram approached Melchizedek. He presented him with a tithe of everything he had captured from the enemy. By this Abram was saying that everything he owed belonged to God Most High, the Creator of heaven and earth, whom Melchizedek represented. This is all deeply instructive and significant.   Melchizedek is the king of righteousness and he is the king of Salem (peace). He  foreshadows  what will happen later under king David  of Jerusalem, a thousand years later when  the temple  in Jerusalem  shall become  the place that  God   would  call His dwelling place on earth. 

Approximately another thousand years later it shall be the place  where  the Lord Jesus in His triumphal entry  is  recognized as the Son of David. In Jerusalem  He, as our High priest and the offering lamb  at the same time, offers  Himself up  on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  He is the   true Priest ,Prophet  and  King of  all true Jews and gentiles.

Melchizedek, long before  all this, was already the indication and promise  of the reign and rule of the coming Messiah. 

BACK TO  THE  KING OF SODOM.

The difference between the king of righteousness and the king of evil could not be greater. 

The King of Salem came with a special fellowship meal, and he came with a blessing. 

The king of Sodom came with nothing. He came, not to primarily thank Abram but to tell Abram, "Give me the persons, but take  the goods for yourself” [14:21].  He made his demands as if he was the king in charge. But in reality he was the defeated king, and Abram had the moral right to decide what was going to happen to the spoils of war. To the victor belong the spoils. Abram owes him nothing at all.

Note  Abram’s reply, “I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor  of heaven and earth, that I would not  take a thread or  a  sandal strap or anything that is yours ,lest  you  should say ‘I have made Abram rich’.  I will  take  nothing but what  the young men have eaten and the share of the  men who went with me – let  Aner, Eshcol and Mamre take their share .”  [14:22-24].  Abram will  not  be indebted to an evil king. 

His reward is with God.  

REFLECTIONS

The  history of our world is  the history of war and grace, of curses and blessings,of  naked  self - centered materialism, the trust  in things and political systems,   and of faith  in God, of allegiance to God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth.

Where do you belong? 

Where are you rooted?  

With whom are you spiritually and actually associated? 

Who is speaking into your life, Bera or Melchizedek? 

Who will make you rich? The world  or the Lord Jesus?

The world is  divided into  two  kinds of people, and these lines are not drawn along the racial, ethnic, linguistic divide.   Biblically speaking they are drawn along the lines of those that trust God and love God, and those that trust in themselves and their political systems   and  material goods. 

They are  either people of war or of  grace.  That division has existed since the beginning of time, since the days of  wicked Cain and  righteous Abel. 

Today if you hear his voice , says the writer to the Hebrews,  in his gospel appeal,  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [Hebr. 3:7-8,15; 4:7]. Now is the day of our salvation. 

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5

Amen

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[1] Not far from Ur where Abram had come from

[2] A term used  by the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.  On January 6, 1991, in a speech marking the 70th anniversary of the modern Iraqi Army, he boasted that Kuwait was eternally part of Iraq and predicted a long struggle in the Persian Gulf against the “tyranny represented by the United States.” Saddam told the people of Iraq: “The battle in which you are locked today is the mother of all battles…Our rendezvous with victory is very near, God willing.” http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2010/01/saddam-hussein-and-mother-of-all.html

Genesis 13:1-18 Making the Right Choices based on God’s Promises

The story and the life of Abram, who became Abraham [17:5] is recorded for us in Genesis Chapters 12 -25.  

In Chapter 12 we read of God’s call of Abraham to leave his country and kindred to go to a land which God would show him. Along with the call comes a set of wonderful and great promises: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” [Gen.12:2]. He takes his nephew Lot, his brother’s son with him to the Promised Land called Canaan,   which is named after the cursed son of Ham.   God was planning to reverse the curse in this land and to make it a land of promise. All this foreshadows God’s great plan in terms of the new creation, the new heaven and the new earth [Rev. 21:1].   At Christ’s second coming the curse with which the earth has been cursed in Genesis 3 will be finally lifted, “and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” [Hab.2:14]  

As he arrives in the Promised Land however, a challenge confronts him and his family. There is a terrible drought, and he leaves there to seek temporary relief in Egypt. This presented him with further troubles, relating to his wife Sarai.  He almost lost his wife to Pharaoh due to a   lie concerning her which he told Pharaoh   in Egypt, when he said that she was his sister. But by the grace of God he was helped. We read of this in vv.  11- 20 and we asked the question whether Abram did right to go to Egypt for help, when he could have in fact relied upon the Lord to sustain him in Canaan in the midst of this drought, as He would indeed sustain Moses and Israel in their 40 year long journey through the desert into the Promised Land. All this reminds us that Christians, the called-out people of God, on their way to our heavenly city can indeed make bad choices, based on a lack of faith and a lack of biblical thinking and motivated by fear. If it were not for the grace and mercy of our faithful and merciful God, who forgives us in Christ we would never find our way out of Egypt back into the Promised Land. 

With that unhappy experience in Egypt behind him he, in Chapter 13,  returns  with all his family to  the promised land  where  he  finds his next challenge, and   in this challenge we shall find him a wiser  man. “So Abram went up from Egypt…into the Negev” (v.1).

1.                   The first thing we learn is that Abram returned to Canaan.  He left the place of compromise and deceit and he returned to the place of promise. As he retraces his steps we are reminded that this is the way of repentance.  The biblical idea of repentance[1], both in the Greek and the Hebrew,   contain the thought of turning away from one’s error or sin. Abram turns away from Egypt and returns to God’s design for him.  That is what you must do that when you have fallen into sin. You repent by confessing your sin, and by leaving the place of sin, and by returning to the place of blessing. That is the story of the prodigal son [Lk 15:11-32].  Zacchaeus the tax collector [Luke 19:1-10] demonstrated his repentance when he confronted by Jesus. He confessed his sin. He went to the people from whom he had unfairly exacted tax money and he paid them back with interest, and from then on he walked with God.  

Abram returned and he came to “Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first, and there he called on the Name of the LORD.” [13:3, 4 cf. 12:8]. Griffith Thomas says: “Whenever we backslide there is nothing else to do but to come back by the old gateway of genuine repentance and simple faith.”[2] 

So, Abram went back to the place where he had first worshiped God in the Promised Land, and there he found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  We need to stop here for a moment and consider a fact that runs through the biblical narrative.  We often find that it is not the enemies of God, but God’s people themselves who are the cause of the problems that exist in this world. Many a time we  who are the church are quick to condemn the sin and hypocrisy of the world  around us, but fail to take the log out of our own eyes [See Romans 2:21-24]. If it had not been for God who had intervened on Abram’s behalf in Egypt there is no telling where he would have found himself at the end of the day.  And so it is with us.

So then, there between Bethel and Ai, Abraham found himself in that place in which he would meet with God once again. This is important for it influences the story line which follows from here.    

2.                  A new challenge arises, and it comes from his nephew, Lot. Another challenge!  The life of faith is rarely straight forward!  Now, both of these men, in the course of time, had grown very wealthy (v.2). Between them they had so much livestock that they found it hard to live together any longer.   We read in vv. 6-7 that “the land could not support both of dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot.”  This is a real moment of tension, and sinful people can easily make such a situation worse.  But, at this moment Abram was living in the recent experience of the grace of God extended to him, and because of this he has become wiser and therefore instead of angry words and strife he can also extend grace to Lot.  Do you see what experiencing God does to you?  Knowing the grace of God experientially helps us to be more thoughtful, self-denying, and kind.   And so Abram took the initiative in vv.8-9 and he spoke to Lot about the problem. And this time he makes the right choice based on the promises of God.  These are the words of a man who had been humbled by God!  He was back in that place of trusting in the promises of God. Now remember that God and not   Lot had been promised to be the father of a great nation [12:2] (the mystery of election). He had been promised this when as yet he had no child and no son to carry on the family line. 

Lot would later become the father of the Ammonites and the Moabites, by an incestuous relationship with his daughters [19:30-38]. These tribes would become sworn enemies of Israel in time, but Abram believed that this land was his by God’s promise. Therefore he could say to Lot in a peaceful way, “Listen! Take what you want. I will take what is left!” Abram kept reminding himself whose he was, remembering who had accepted him and who loved him. Lot was not born of the chosen seed of the woman, and so we will see in time that Lot will become an obstacle to Israel.  Therefore this parting actually becomes a blessing. It becomes necessary.  This is worth reflecting on.  As Christians we often think face situations   in which we do not realise that those who are close to us can actually become obstacles in our Christian progress, particularly if they prove to be self- centred pursuers of their own agendas and not of God’s agenda, and this leads to a parting of the ways.  Fighting on every hill is not good. We have to choose our battle carefully. We need to be as peaceful as we can afford to be.  David had too much blood on his hands.  Let God sort Lot out!  This is Abram’s confidence. By faith he knew that the last page had not yet been written, and he could trust   God in this. And so he made the right choice based on the promises of God. When your eyes are on Jesus and His promises for you, then you will not easily be tempted to live for the quick fix!  Let the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus direct your agenda. Keep Christ before your eyes. David says in Psalm 16:8, “I have set the LORD always before me, because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”  

And so Abram humbly says to his nephew, “You choose.” The Bible says that “whoever humbles himself will be exalted. [Matt 23:12]. Remember this principle as you live your life in this world! And as a church we must also remember this. As we participate in kingdom work, remember that the best way to remove those obstacles which prevent our reforming and building and expanding is to humbly walk with God, and according to His Word, and to be like the Lord Jesus, meek, just and patient.

Now Lot’s choice was based on what his eyes saw and desired. It was purely physical, and selfish. He quickly grabbed that which he thought was best:  “He saw that the Jordan valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt…” [v. 10]. Little did he   know that this was the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, filled with wicked great sinners against the LORD” [v. 13]. Little did he know this this land was soon to be judged with fire and brimstone.

“Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom.”[v.12]   so, it is clear now that Lot had abandoned the land of promise in which the operative principle was to live by faith in God’s promises. Abram, by contrast   will be blessed and he will become the sole inheritor of the land.

3.  The Lord Confirms The Blessing Coming On Abram After Lot Had Separated From Him. [Vv. 14-17] “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”  In Chapter 15:18 God will provide specific details. The land will be from the Nile to the Euphrates.  The land would actually stretch far beyond Abram’s physical sight.   Again we learn the principle that we walk by faith and not by sight.  God promises exceedingly, abundantly, above that which the eyes can see. [Eph. 3:20, 21]

Abram’s offspring eventually received a substantial portion of the promised land of Canaan under Joshua, but not all.  Under David more of the land was taken, and under Solomon it became a reality…but not really, because God had even more in mind.  Abram is going to be the father of much more than a people who will a territory in the Middle East.  Abram’s offspring would be heir of the world.  [Rom. 4:13]. So here we are!  Children of Abram, offspring of the promises of God in Windhoek.  A vast multitude is being called out from every corner of the world, and all those who profess faith in Jesus are of the promised offspring of Abram, the father of our faith.  

As we speak from the perspective of this chapter, the Canaanites and Perizzites were still living in the land, and yet God told Abram to consider it as his own.   They would not be there much longer.  “So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mare at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord” (v.18). He is surrounded by enemies, but what God promises He will do. Nothing will separate Abram from the love of God, not even his temporary unbelief and lapse of faith in Egypt. God has promised. He is faithful, and Abraham knows it, and he is thankful and humbled because of it.

CONCLUSION:

Dear child of God, I don’t know where you are in your life’s journey. It is possible for you to be here today in the presence of God’s people and of God and yet, in your heart, be in Egypt. To you God says, “Repent and return!” Humble yourselves in the sight of God and He will lift you up.

Dear Child of God, trust in God. Be patient! Be kind to those who disagree with you. Let go of the aggressive pursuit of your own desires, and your restlessness and unbelief.  God is in charge.     In Christ you have received far better promises than Abram. You do not see it now, but by faith fix your eyes on them and on Jesus.  All things are yours.  This inheritance is ours. It is secured for you  by the Lord Jesus Christ and  it is guaranteed to you  by the Holy Spirit.  

Do not fear the strongholds of Satan and the kingdoms of men.  

Christ has already conquered them by his life and death. 

Walk and live in this this world in the confidence of the gospel! 

Amen.   

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[1] Greek: metanoia, literally to have a change of mind; Hebrew: There are two words for repentance in the Old Testament Hebrew.  One word is “nacham” which means “to be sorry” or “to regret” but the overwhelming majority of the time it is used (391 times) it means “turn” or “return” (“shuwb”).

[2] Quoted in: Philip Eveson: The Book of Origins, p. 261, Welwyn Commentary, Evangelical Press 2001 

Genesis 12:10-20 : Abram’s First Trials as a Man called of God

The story of Abraham in Genesis 12-25 is filled with many profound truths upon which our faith is built. Indeed, I want to say that this portion of Scripture is the "Gospel according to Abraham”. Think about that for a moment. What is the Gospel? It is the Word of God’s covenant love made personally known to an undeserving sinner. That is how the gospel of God came to Abraham. God, in His free, sovereign love chose to manifest Himself to Abraham, an undeserving pagan from Ur, telling Him that he would become the father of many people in the world. These, like Abraham, would be endowed with the gospel gift of faith to believe in the One Living and True God of the Universe. 

However, as we read the story of Abram’s faith and walk with God, we begin  to notice very soon that this loving call to belong to God does not come without some severe challenges. Behind us we have 11 chapters of Genesis. Beginning with Chapters 1 and 2 – the  good creation of the world,  follows the fall of man in Genesis 3. Here  we find the beginning of our many challenges.  Before the fall, man had only one challenge, “You may eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” [Gen. 2:17]  

A flood of problems follows after the fall. Life has become, as we would say, “complicated”. Life following the fall is filled with trials. Even believers are not spared from the effects of the fall and from trials. We shall learn that Abram and his offspring, men and women of faith are kept by grace alone and helped by Almighty God through their various trials.

So then, we have the story of Abraham before us. Last time we considered the call of Abram. At that time we had noted that Abram had not been looking for God! God was looking for Abram. Furthermore, Abram did not dream his own dreams for the future. He did not write his own job description. 

God’s mission became his mission: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land  that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation…” [12:1,2]   

A great promise! But it will all happen in the context of many trials for Abram.  The first trial was the fact that Sarai his wife could not have children [11:30]. The next trial was that he would have to leave his country, his familiar surroundings and his family to go to a foreign and distant land.  Following this there would be the great rigors associated with trekking 1500 kilometres to the place of promise in Canaan. Canaan would be occupied by a hostile, evil people upon whom a Divine curse had been made in Genesis 9:25.  But there would still be more! God is testing the man whom He has called. He is testing him at the very core of his being, namely with regard to His promises made to Abraham:

(i)                 In terms the promise made with regard to his offspring, the obstacle is a barren wife.

(ii)          In terms of  the promised  land the obstacle is  that  he has hardly arrived when  he has  to leave  for Egypt, because  of the severe famine. In fact, we shall learn that he is never really able to settle down in the land of Canaan.  Hebrews 11 reminds us that Abram died without the promises of God being fulfilled to him with regard to the physical land of Canaan.

(iii)             In terms of the promise that he would be a blessing to the nations, he saw very little of it. He received the promise by faith, and with hindsight we know that God did honour his faith in generations to come.   

In every promise made to Abram, God tests him. We need to grasp the significance of this.  The God who calls us into His loving covenant tests our faith through many trials. Jesus said that we must enter the kingdom of God through many sufferings.  Our trials are not designed to make us fail, but to purify us and to show us that, in the end, we stand by grace alone and not by our own goodness and efforts. We learn that it is not our ability to successfully pass every trial  that makes us acceptable to God. Rather, we learn that the gracious  hand of God continues to lead us, enabling  us to persevere with Him  through the many  complexities of life, despite our many  our failures.  I have known this for many years, but oh, how little I still understand this!  

We learn that in the midst of Abram’s failings, God persevered with Abram, and we know that Abram did persevere to the end. We need to know this, because God tests and matures us in exactly the same way today, and that sets the stage for the incident that we see here.

Abram has to learn what we all need to learn with such great difficulty -  to trust God  and to put no confidence in the flesh. He and we  must learn   that  we cannot  have children of promise, we cannot possess this land, we cannot be a blessing to the world without the help of God. He has to learn to live by trusting in God alone.

V.10  A Famine  leads Abraham into  Temptation

"Now there was famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was severe in the land."  Here comes a trial of faith. Did God bring   Abram here, only to let him and his people of the promise die of hunger?  Surely not!  There is something greater behind this, and the greater plan was this testing and strengthening Abram’s faith. Faith is both a  free gift of God and  at the same time  it is something that needs to be developed in each true believer. Very often we learn only through our mistakes and our failures.  The decision to go to Egypt was a mistake!  Remember that God had called him out of Ur and then out of Haran to start a new community, by taking possession of the land of cursed Canaan. He was to leave his country, his people and  his father’s household and  become the father of  a new way of living and thinking under the direction of YAHWEH.   

His promised land was Canaan and not Egypt. Now you may ask, “but what do you do when there is a famine in the land?” Is that not what Jacob did? Did he not settle in Egypt at the time of another famine in order to survive. Isn’t that  a responsible action (Gen. 47)?  

Well, maybe at face value, but it appears that God intended to show Abraham the nature of His faithfulness IN and THROUGH the drought in Canaan. I also remind you that Jacob’s going to Egypt did not prove to be an ultimate blessing to the nation.  We have to be very careful in being tempted to escape short term problems, for they often produce more problems than they solve. God is committed to His people in their hardships. He is committed to providing for them their daily bread, as He did when He led His people out of Egypt back to Canaan in the day of Moses. You will remember that daily miracles were the order of the day as God’s many people moved through waterless and barren deserts.  Would God not provide through the drought? Would He not hear prayer for daily bread? Would the rain not finally come and end the drought, as has happened here in Namibia at this time, in response to the pleas of many of our people? 

It seems that Abram did not trust God in this trial.  And in so doing he almost lost his wife and his life!  He did not gather Sarai and Lot and all the people with him saying, “Now we must pray for God’s daily provision until He finally sends the rains and end this terrible drought and famine?”  Instead, Abram looked to Egypt, the bread-basket of that region at this time. Egypt  remained  a great  temptation for the people of God at all times. 

Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 30:1-3 had to remind the people of his day: “Woe to the obstinate children, declares the LORD, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge. But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace”.

The tendency to want to solve our problems by taking shortcuts is ever with us.  We find ourselves often in the same predicament as did Abram. The Gospel of Jesus has found us in our pagan places. We have heard the call of Jesus to follow Him, and that is where faith is challenged. Jesus calls us to love Him more than we love this world. He calls us to live as citizens of heaven. He calls us to live in faithfulness, obedience, perseverance to him despite our trials. He intends to grow us through these. Is that not what James has in mind in Chapter 1:2-4?  

But we are so very tempted to take shortcuts in our life with Christ. We seek solutions that sound so very reasonable, but which if you think about it, encumber us and enslave us rather than truly help us. Abram is trying to find his own way out of a dilemma.  He is trusting the Lord, but a man has to live,  doesn’t he?  Can you see how quickly our faith  can be undone?

And so, Abram, went to Egypt, and  as he went away from the famine in Canaan, his worries started to increase in Egypt! 

That wasn’t supposed to happen, right?  

But, knowing something about the culture of the Egyptians (and the  heart of man in general)  and their fancy for pretty women, what would the Egyptians do with his beautiful wife? And so he starts planning and scheming to evade a new problem [vv.  11-13]. 

And, sure enough, it happens! [vv 14-16] 

His plan to survive is back-firing. 

His life is now in greater danger in Egypt than it was back in the famine of Canaan. Sarai, who he  deceitfully  presented as his sister,  is now in the hands of another  man. And in her place he received sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants and camels” (v.16). He has lost Sarai and gained animals.   But in reality he has lost the most important person in relation to the fulfilment of the covenant blessing. He literally had no future without Sarai.  Without her, the wife of his covenant,  there could be no future blessing.

How can this poor decision be reversed?

How can God make Abram  into a great nation now?  How is  the Messianic line  going to develop?  How  will Jesus, the Messiah, born of the line of David, in the ancestry of Abraham come? 

Answer:  God intervenes! If God did not constantly intervene in our lives, picking us up when we fall, bringing us back when we go  astray, patiently bearing with our unbelief, forgiving our sins and restoring our souls – then what helpless, hopeless men and women we would  be? 

BUT  THE LORD… v.17   Thank God for the great  But's  of the Bible!  God, through painful plagues revealed to Pharaoh  that Sarai was in fact Abram’s wife, and what Pharaoh was doing here stood in the way of God’s great plan.  I remind you  that God did say to Abram,  as he was about  to leave the city  of Ur,  “I will bless those  who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse…”  (v.3). 

These were not empty words. God’s promise stood.  And so Pharaoh and Abram learned a very big lesson that  day. Pharaoh had  the wisdom not to strive with God , and we learn that Abram is no hero. He is a weak man, BUT he is a chosen  son of God , and that fact makes  the big difference.

And so,  the thing that needs to happen, happens. 

Chapter 13:1 reads, “So Abram went up from Egypt… into the Negeb “… back into Canaan, the land of promise,  where he belonged.  The incident has a happy ending, yes, but it is obtained by the humiliation of Abram and the discovery of the weakness of his unbelieving heart.

This part of Abram’s life  is not recorded to encourage you to  think  that you  may sin so  that grace may abound. It is written to remind us that we all have hearts like Abram, hearts that seek shortcuts, hearts which doubt the  goodness  and faithfulness of God. This  is written  to remind us that God loves  His people and that He extends grace to us,  despite  ourselves. 

God is determined  to save His people, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.  Our unbelief will not stop the advance of God’s kingdom. And it is all ultimately rooted in the depths of His covenant love  for us. 

And that love  was made known to us  supremely in Jesus  Christ  who laid down His life for ALL our sin!  Amen. 

Genesis 11:27 - 12:9 "The Call of Abram"

A year ago, we ended our studies in the first 11 Chapters of   Genesis.  We shall now consider the next section in Genesis 12 - 25, under the general heading, ‘Lessons from the  life of Abraham’. Today  we want to simply  focus on the  call of Abraham, who was originally called Abram[1].

The story of Abraham begins actually in Chapter 11:27: “Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot…”. At the head of the families in this section is Terah, not Abram. We would have expected Abraham to lead this new section, since after all, he shall be the father of the Hebrew nation as well as the father of the greater family of faith which will include the gentiles.[2] But Terah is mentioned as the first patriarch. The reason for this is that Terah was not only the father of Abram, but he was also the grandfather of Lot (the son of Haran, one of Abram’s two brothers. He was also the great grandfather of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, and the great-great grandfather of Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob. The roots of the nation of Israel revolve around what Terah produced.[3]  But Abram is undoubtedly the main character of these chapters. 

He was born approximately 2000 years before Christ, and 4000 years from where we find ourselves today in history. He was born in Ur of the Chaldeans (11:28), also known sometimes as the Land of Sumer and Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. Ur was once a port city on the river Euphrates and was situated near the Persian Gulf. Ur was located in today’s modern Iraq. The whole region has silted up since then. Ur has a very old history. Archaeologists have discovered the evidence of an early occupation at Ur (ca. 6500 to 3800 BC).  “These early levels were sealed off with a sterile deposit of soil that was interpreted by excavators of the 1920s as evidence for the Great Flood of the Book of Genesis”. [4]  One of the famous structures, dating back to the time of Abraham is the Ziggurat at Ur, a huge structure like the pyramids of Egypt.  The evidences point to a series of advanced civilizations. But the structures did not serve to glorify Yahweh, the living God.  The Ziggurat was built in honour of the moon god. Joshua makes mention of the fact that Abram’s family worshipping other gods [Josh. 24:2,15].

Before we get to the 12^th chapter it is important to note that Terah and his family had set out for Canaan (11:31), but on the way there they settled in Haran, about 900 kilometres northwest of Ur. Haran was also a strategic trading centre, also noted for its worship of the moon god. Stephen,   the martyr tells us in Acts 7:2 that Abram’s call had come to him in Mesopotamia, in Ur before he had come to Haran.   Haran was not to be the place for Abraham and his offspring. God’s original purpose was for him to settle in Canaan.  Many set out on a journey and never arrive  at their destination, the promised land. Many a person has begun  a Christian  pilgrimage only to get stuck in a place or position  where they never get further in their walk with Jesus. But Abram does not get stuck in Haran. He leaves his father Terah and his extended family behind, and accompanied by his wife, Sarai  and servants  and his  nephew Lot,  he heads for the  land of promise. And so Genesis 12 becomes an important,   pivotal passage in Genesis.  All that follows from here will have a huge effect upon the world.  

This section then begins with a divine calling. God called a man named Abram, a pagan man living in a pagan culture, a man who wasn’t looking for YAHWEH, the true God of the Universe.  But God was looking for Abram, and  He calls him, and this becomes the pattern of God’s dealings with His chosen people. All God’s children are sought out by God, chosen by God, and born of God. [John 1:12,13]  No one decides to be born. No one gives birth to themselves. And so it is with the spiritual birth. God always initiates the process. He calls His people with an irresistible call, and they respond. This was true of   all the famous leaders of the Bible ….Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus, and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. It was true of the apostles whom Jesus called one by one and by name. It was true of Paul the apostle, called on the road to Damascus, not very far from   the ancient city of Haran.  This call is also true of every believer in history. It is true for you and me who have saved by the Lord Jesus and believed in the Lord Jesus.  God calls us in many ways. 

• The North African church father Augustine (354- 430 AD) hearing children reading words from a book in a garden, was led to read the Scriptures which convicted him of sin and which led him to confess the Name of Jesus.  
• Martin Luther first called upon God in a thunderstorm.  This  produced a series of events   which led to his conversion.
• John Newton, in 1748 aboard a slave ship encountered a severe storm off the coast of Donegal, Ireland and almost sank. Newton awoke in the middle of the night and, as the ship filled with water, he called out to God. The cargo shifted and stopped up the hole, and the ship drifted to safety. Newton marked this experience as the beginning of his conversion to Christ. 
• Your own testimony may not be as dramatic in its beginnings. The call of God may have come to you at an early age through the faithful testimony and prayer of your parents or grandparents.  But it always begins with that particular call from God. This is the mystery of the doctrine of election- a theme  that is found through the entire Bible!    

Abraham was 75 years old when God called him and his wife Sarai to leave Haran to go to the land of Canaan.  And so we read:  “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him” (12:4).  He did three things: He left his country, his kindred, and his father’s household.  (12:1).

A word of caution. Sensitive Christians, wanting to be obedient to the Lord sometimes struggle with a text such as this. How do we apply this text to ourselves?  Does this mean that you must be like Abram, when you become a Christian?  Does this mean that you have to leave your home, friends and country and move somewhere else? I hope to offer you some helpful counsel. In the first place understand that you are not Abram. His calling was a unique calling. God had a unique work for Abram.  He was going to become the father of a new nation called Israel. But more than that, he was going to become the father of all true believers through the ages.   

But there are some principles that do apply to us:

1.   We all have to leave, what John Bunyan in his Pilgrims Progress called, the ‘City of Destruction’.  When we are converted we are called to walk away from our former way of life and set our hearts on pilgrimage. We set our eyes on the road that leads us to the heavenly city, the city prepared by God for those called by Him. Hebrews  11:8-10 shows how this was true  of Abraham. Now understand this. The land of Canaan is symbolic and typical  of the heavenly Jerusalem, the city that has foundations, who’s Designer and Builder is God. Having received the call from God, we must respond with repentance, by which we turn our backs on our old life, the life in the city of Destruction, and follow the way that the Lord Jesus calls us to follow. In this we become the children of Abraham, the father of faith. This does not mean that we must leave Windhoek. It means that we must leave our sinful ways. The next point will make this clearer.

2.      We leave our former friends in the city of destruction and we find our new friends in a new fellowship called the Christian church.  Here we are called to find our closest friends. They are called our brothers and sisters in Christ. They are people like us, who have heard the call of God to leave their life of sin, and to follow the Lord Jesus in the fellowship of His body, the church. These people are God’s people, and therefore they are our people. You leave behind your drinking and drug buddies, the gossips and slanderers,   and all those who are described in Galatians 5:19-21. You join the people committed to the lifestyle encouraged in Galatians 5:22,23.  We shall see a little later in our studies that when Sodom and Gomorrah were to be destroyed by God, because of their wickedness, Lot’s wife could not leave the city of destruction. Her heart longed for her former companions, and she kept looking back, and therefore she too was destroyed. This brings us to the next  point.

3.      We leave our  father’s household. Notice that Terah had actually intended to go to Canaan with his family, but they never got there because they settled in Haran (11:31). Terah never got to where God wanted the family to be. And so Abraham, who heard the clear call of God, had to move on. When we become Christians we are called to love God more than our family. That is what Jesus teaches in Matthew 10:34-39.   Although we honour our father and mother as never before when we become Christians, we can never replace that love with a greater love than we have for God. Although our families are to be loved and cherished as a gift from God, families often have  sin patterns and reluctances  to  fully serve God. The  Christian family member often feels the pain  of having to separate  from them to serve the purposes of God.

THE BASIS OF ABRAM’S CONFIDENCE: THE  PROMISES OF GOD

“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and  will make your name great, so that  you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [12:2,3].

The God who came to Abram, comes to him with an amazing offer of such magnitude that we can scarcely comprehend it.  Let me put it to you in simple language.
(i)                 God promises to make the family of Abram into a great nation.
(ii)         He will be uniquely blessed by God in this sinful world. Those who turn against him will experience God’s wrath on them.   God loves and protects His people.
(iii)              Abram’s influence will be seen and felt in all the families of the world. Everywhere there will be men and women of faith in every part of the world and among all nations, at all times, until the Lord Jesus comes again! Men and women of  the kind of faith that Abraham possessed  are being born again  right now in Africa, China, India, South America, etc. “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (v.3).

We pass over a few details and we come to v.6.   Abram meets the Canaanites.  There will be huge battles between his grandchildren and theirs in time to come. This land was the region settled by the descendants of a man called Canaan. We have met him before in Genesis 9:25. He was the cursed son of Ham. Canaan’s offspring became a most evil civilization, steeped in idol worship and cruelty and depravity.   This was the land that YAHWEH called Abram to possess.   He did that by building altars in key places. He did it in Shechem (v.7). He did it near Bethel (v.8). These altars were like stakes in the ground or beacons   in the whole land, saying that this land belonged to YAHWEH and his called out people. 
God honoured Abram’s faith. Almost a thousand years later the descendants of Abram were living in the land. They had been led into it and had conquered it under Joshua. He made his final speech to them just before he died, and where did he make it? Under the great oak tree still standing there in Moreh. (Josh. 24:25-28).  
YAHWEH triumphs over the pagans!  Abram had left his mark on this land. But Abram would not become the ruler of this land. His offspring would. And that is a story that waits to be told at another time.

REVIEW AND SUMMARY : The Call of Abraham

From our text we have learned  concerning

1.      the irresistible  call to belong to God
2.      the call to be obedient to God
3.   the call to trust God  with his future dealings in the world. God’s promises are certain and faithful. Do not be intimidated by the times that you are living in.  Ur  and Sodom  are symbolic of all the evil civilizations that  now lie buried in the   sands of time.

Amen !

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[1] Abram : Not a spelling mistake!  Abram means  “exalted father”.  In Chapter 17:5  we shall see that God renames him Abraham, “ father of a multitude”

[2] See Romans 4

[3] Philip Eveson: The Book of Origins ,p.244

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur ;  UR: The first Phases  – Sir Leonard Wooley, p.13 ( King Penguin Books, 1946)