|
|
|
|
Studies in Genesis, Lessons of Faith, Lesson XXX, Genesis 13:1-4
God had brought Abram to a new land, a land called the Promised Land, a land to become Israel, a land in which God intended to incarnate His only begotten Son that He might seek and save that which was lost.
Abram was a student in faith and as a student we see him fail and we will see him pass.
He has failed in faith with his adventure regarding the famine in God’s land and the alluring prosperity in the world’s land, Egypt.
And as we have seen that allure of the world’s goods brought Abram to deceive and to sin against the Pharoah in order to save his own skin at the risk of his wife Sarai. But God intervened in Abram’s life, not because of Abram but because God is a promise keeping God and God had said in Chapter 12: 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. Note in this promise there is no condition placed upon Abram except to get out of thy country and from thy kindred and then comes God’s “I wills.” I will make of thee a great nation, I will bless thee, I will make thy name great, I will make of thee a blessing, I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse them that curseth thee. So God is in every situation of Abram for God has work to do to bring everything about that is wrapped up in His promises. So Pharaoh does God’s will and uses him to point Abram in the right direction, the direction God intended for him, as he is expelled from Egypt. We read of this in:
Genesis 12:20, And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
And in Genesis 13:1-4, And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel (House of God), unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; 4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
So all of Abram that entered Egypt excited Egypt plus the sheep, the oxen, the asses, the men and maid servants and the camels given to Abram for Sarai’s hand.
God had protected Sarai’s purity and Abram’s life was preserved.
Within all this turmoil God’s promise to bless Abram was kept, even in this faithless venture.
Herein God again displays his divine grace and providential care of Abram for he has promises to keep and no man will hinder that even this man who is to become our father of faith.
So Abram, the student of faith retraces his steps to the altar he had made between Bethel and Hai, where he had called upon the name of the Lord.
Herein is a lesson of faith: Leave the path of faith and God will return you to the place of departure in order to make things right before continuing on.
God expects repentance from all who sin in order to be cleansed so as to walk righteously on the path of faith.
God had brought famine to the land and Abram had run from the famine.
But famines are a part of life and God-sent, many times as a test of faith.
God wants so much for you to have a strong faith and nothing grows strong unless tested.
Try growing your bodily muscles in the easy chair of life.
It can’t be done for muscles only grow by being tested over and over again.
If you or I wish to avoid famine the consequence is to face Pharaoh, meaning to face the consequence of the world.
Faith reminds us that no matter what famine we face God is greater than any famine or any Pharaoh.
Abram believed God would give him a land, a seed, and a blessing.
But in this time of faithlessness he doubted God had the means to bring this about.
The lesson in all this is that God always provides for what He promises.
Jesus said, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel.
So this is the command, but will God provide the means?
Yes, for with God’s promises always comes that which is needed to carry out His command.
Abram had heard the Lord and His promises but instead of obeying God and seeing his provision during a famine he chose to help God carry out His promises by seeking the world’s help.
So he left the test of faith and brought upon himself the need to be rescued by the Lord.
Abram could not see God as He was but he saw a small God, a God incapable of supplying his large host of animals and people during a famine and so Abram’s faith failed.
But as I said God’s plan does not depend upon our success for God’s will, will be done.
God’s promises are not abolished by our failures.
Abram’s failure did not cause God to think to discard him and seek another to carry out his plan.
Strong faith knows a big God, a God wherein nothing is impossible.
What is it to God to supply during a famine for this is the same God who will keep the seed of Abraham alive with manna and quail in the deserts of Sinai after coming out of the same Egypt that Abram had just left?
I previously mentioned God wanting us to have a strong faith but this means we have faith in a strong God remembering and knowing the God of the Bible and seeing His acts and knowing that at any time His help is there for the asking.
It is a faith that sings this hymn of the faith in sincerity and belief.
For it is a hymn declaring “I have Christ in My Heart” What
though wars may come,
And what a wonderful message to remember
as we go through perilous times. But so many say they have faith but faith misplaced is simply vain.
It is who, not what, you have faith in that makes the difference.
Do you have Christ in your heart?
Now Abram did not have the scriptures so Abram did not have the opportunity to know God as we do.
But would we do anything different even though we have opportunity to know God in a much deeper way?
So what Abram needed was not lessons in increasing his faith, but an increase in his faith by learning the greatness of his God.
The Apostle Paul told Timothy in:
2 Timothy 2:15, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
And the Philippians in Philippians 2:5, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
And in Romans 12:2, And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
God’s will was for Abram to face the famine with God at his side and in time his mind would be transformed so that he would prove what was good and acceptable and the perfect will of God.
We are to know God by having the mind of Christ and if this is true, faith will be a strong faith for it will be in a strong God, a God who never fails.
But Abram did not have this mind for Abram at this time was governed by what we call situation ethics.
Situation ethics is what it says.
Ethics are determined by the situation, not from a sovereign God.
Abram saw himself with his physical eyes in a situation in which there was no solution that was morally right.
Abram did not know Paul’s words to the Corinthians in 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
God’s word never puts us in a situation where we must sin.
The world lives by situational ethics.
Whatever suits the times governs, for this system of ethics only depends upon the efforts of man and never has in its precepts the existence of a sovereign God.
A God who is able to deliver His people, regardless of the circumstances.
Legal abortion exists because of situational ethics.
The woman reasons: I cannot have a baby at this time because I do not have the resources, mental or physical to do this.
I am in a situation that will not permit this and therefore I choose to destroy this little being within me.
There is no God in this thinking, there is no God in situational ethics.
Moses, without faith, and living within a situational ethics mind would have totally surrendered at the Red Sea.
For there was no escape, the oncoming hordes of Pharaoh’s armies on one side and the Red Sea on the other.
And remember also the army of God, an army of angels leading horses and chariots of fire in order to protect his prophet Elisha and his servant.
To those of the city there was no hope as the Syrians surrounded them for they did not have the eyes to see God’s provision.
Read in 2 Kings 6:15-17, And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Through Elisha's prayer, his servant gained the ability to see not just the physical dimension, but also the spiritual dimension.
Then he could see the angelic army that God had sent to protect them.
Elisha knew this God of provision and power and in faith he asked that the eyes of his servant be opened.
But situational ethics would loudly declare there is no hope, but God’s word would remind all that God is sovereign and with God all things are possible.
We are always to remember that our God is a sovereign God and always able to deliver His people from situations which appear hopeless and therefore demand from the world a sinful response to solve a problem.
Bob Jones Sr. said this: It is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right.
All of us have Abraham in us for we all share the same nature and we all fail in faith but what a blessed truth it is to know that we may fail but God never fails.
Abram was tested by famine and he looked at the facts but the facts excluded God and he therefore chose to doubt God’s presence and power in the face of death by famine.
But God showed his faithfulness by preserving him and even prospering him.
Again we read Paul’s second letter to Timothy in chapter 2 verse 13.
13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
And being Himself, a promise keeper, God brought Abram to the place where he should have been.
God knew Abraham before the foundations were laid for the Earth.
He also knew me and you and he determined to do something about it.
Again we turn to the Apostle Paul who enlightened us as to this predetermination in:
Romans 8:29, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
So here we learn that it is all of God and none of us for we are indeed predestinated to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
So it was all of God and none of Abram.
As we study his and Sarai’s life we will see God’s hand in all that comes about. |