The Zone Gathering

Today’s Bible Drill Wednesday comes to us from Rick Shaffer, fearless leader of the Thursday Night Capitol Hill Life of Christ small group. Check out Rick’s blog here.

This is the first of a two-part series on Abraham, focusing on Genesis 12-13.

Abraham
What comes to mind when you think of Abraham? Many will turn to Hebrews 11 and the so called ‘Faith hall of fame.’ However, the story of Abraham’s life in Genesis 12-25 gives us a window to look back and to see just how he became the man of faith that we see in Hebrews. Over the next two weeks I’d like to take a look at the connection between the stories in Genesis chapter 12 and 13 and how they were an integral part of shaping Abraham as godly man of faith.

Chapter 12:

There are two important events that happen in chapter 12. Abram (his name change comes later) has an important conversation with God and he travels to Egypt and makes a big mistake!

In the first half of this chapter Abram receives a command and a promise of blessing. “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Abraham was 75 when he left the land of Haran to follow off into the unknown that God called him to and God blessed him with an amazing promise!

Abram arrives in Canaan, and God shows him the land that his descendants will inherit. Abram builds two altars, at the oak at Moreh and one at Bethel, where he also calls on the name of the Lord (12:6-8).

Things to consider:

God called and challenged Abram to leave all that was familiar and to follow a path that only led to the next foot step. Abram answers the call and is obedient to follow. What happens? God blesses Abram with an amazing promise. What are you willing to give up to receive the ultimate blessing from God? It may not have to be leaving and going to some unknown land, but it might be something that is so dear to you, that it sure feels like you are! I think God’s intent here is to challenge us to give up those things we hold most dear, so that we can receive a blessing beyond our wildest imaginations!

Another important thing to note in this first part of the chapter, Abram builds an altar and Calls upon the Lord. He is intentional about marking the place where he received a blessing or call from the Lord. Kind of like when Pastor Mark talked about making altar’s in our lives to mark significant spiritual moments. This will be important for Abram in chapter 13.

Despite showing great faith as God brought him to the land of Canaan, Abram is presented with his first test of faith and ends up in a prickly situation when a famine hits the land of Canaan. Assessing the situation, Abram makes the decision to head for Egypt (12:10). Note in the text that it does not say that this was a command from God, but rather Abram’s own decision. When they arrive in Egypt Abram fears for his life on account of Sarai’s beauty, thinking Pharaoh will have him killed so he can take her for his own. Abram lies and tells Pharaoh that she is his sister, which allows Pharaoh to take her into his household. WAIT! What did Abram just do? He gave his wife to another man just to save his own skin!

Further, he probably feels incorrectly justified in his decision when Pharaoh presents him with a blessing (12:16) for the gift of his wife. But Abram’s plan quickly turns into a disaster. God is displeased and strikes Pharaoh’s house hold with plagues because of the sin that he been committed, albeit in ignorance. Pharaoh calls upon and confronts him about why he did this (12:20), and then asks him to leave Egypt.

Where did Abram go wrong here? The first clue comes in his decision to head for Egypt. The text does not say he prayed about this decision or that God had told him to go. Rather, Abram makes the decision on his own to deviate from the path that God was leading him down and to go his own way. God had been faithful to this point, but when faced with his first (documented) test, Abram fails and heads his own way. The end result leaves Abram on the road back to Canaan and repentance.

God had every right to abandon Abram and allow him to suffer and wallow in his own mistakes, but thankfully that is not the kind of God Abram is getting to know.

Notice that even in the midst of sin, God blesses Abram with numerous livestock and servants (12:16), which he is not required to return to Pharaoh when he leaves. God also protects Sarai, the woman through who God will fulfill His promise to Abram (that in itself is a miracle), by striking Pharaoh’s house and preventing him from sleeping with her. God is faithful to fulfill his promise even when Abram messes up and is undeserving.

The challenge from this story is this; will we trust God and prove faithful when our circumstances seem bleak, or will we abandon Him and go our own way.

May God strengthen you to stay the course and prove to be a good and faithful servant!

Next week we’ll look at chapter 13 and see if Abram learns his lesson!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2006 at 9:03 am and is filed under Bible Drills. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.