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Genesis 12:10: The trials of faith.

^“10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.” NIV

The life of faith is not trouble free. God does not inoculate against all pain. So we see the early onset of trial during Abram and Sarai’s pilgrimage. It was not just the case that there was a ‘’famine’’ in the land. This famine was ‘’severe.’’ But it didn’t indicate that this couple were out of God’s will. They were very much in it. A time of trial is an opportunity to grow in faith and prove God. In this next story we are going to learn how not to handle a crisis.  For now, let us note that the presence of trouble does not indicate the absence of God. Nor does it mean that you are out of His will.

‘The God of glory, who had sent him forth, was responsible for his care in Canaan, even though famine prevailed. He ought to have stayed quietly in the position to which God had called him, leaving the Almighty to provide.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary,’ p. 19.

But he didn’t, as we will see.

Genesis 12:4: ‘’So…’’

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.” NIV

This could have been a different story. What if Abram had put his hands over his ears – metaphorically or literally – and refused to hear? What if he had not obeyed? It doesn’t bare thinking about.  Whenever God speaks; when you hear his call (1), there has to be a ‘’So…’’ (4).

There needs to be a positive ‘’So…’’

For Abram this meant following the God he was just getting to know into the largely unknown. It entailed leaving behind a sophisticated culture for the life of a pilgrim.

When God calls He may only show you the next step. But that’s fine. Take that one, and then you’ll have light for the next.

What has God been saying to you? What is your ‘’So…’’ going to be?

PRAYER: Lord, teach me to know that I can trust you, and help me to follow wherever you lead. As daunting as it may seem when you call, I know I will never regret following you.

Genesis 12:2-3: ‘Sea of Galilee Christian’?

“‘I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.’” NIV

Abraham was blessed that he might be a blessing.  This will always be true. God blesses His people, not that we may be containers of blessing, but conduits.

Somebody asked, ‘Do you know why the Dead Sea is dead, whereas the Sea of Galilee is teeming with life?’ The answer he gave was along these lines: ‘The Dead Sea only has an inlet, but Galilee has both an inlet and an outlet.’ What comes in goes out; there is a flow through.

God gives to us that we may share. As we have freely received, so let us freely give.

PRAYER: Make me a channel of blessing today

Genesis 12:2: Fame

” ‘I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.” NIV

‘’I will bless you and make you famous…’’ (New Living Translation).  God has undoubtedly done this with Abram. He is as good as his Word. Centuries after his death, people are still speaking and writing about Abram. His name is esteemed by Jews and Muslims as well as Christians. But all that God did with him and through him was, in the final analysis, about Jesus.

On the day when I was reflecting on these words about Abram, there was a news announcement to say that the ‘famous’ evangelist, Dr. Billy Graham, had died at the age of 99. Ultimately, I suggest, there is no explanation for the phenomenon of Billy’s ministry other than God. He chose this man for a big purpose. He gave him a large platform, high visibility and enormous spiritual influence. His brother-in-law, Leighton Ford, himself a great preacher, said, ‘We young evangelists used to joke that Billy would just have to say, ‘John 3:16, come forward’, and people would come to Christ!’ Such was the anointing on him. I believe God raised up this fine man, and made him well known.

But when the Lord makes someone’s name great, it is for the sake of His Name. It is that He might be glorified in and through that person. I thought it entirely appropriate that on the BBC news’s coverage of Graham’s death, Jesus was mentioned several times. The evangelist would have liked that. He was all about glorifying Jesus. He knew that if God had given him fame, it was so that he might spread abroad the fame of Jesus’ Name.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether you serve in anonymity or in the spotlight; whether you minister to thousands or just a few. The key thing is to know your calling, and serve God’s purpose for you in your generation.

PRAYER: In my life, Lord, be glorified…today.

Genesis 12:2-3; Divine pottery.

‘I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.’

‘Great lives are trained by great promises.’ Dr.Joseph Parker.  I like Warren Wiersbe’s comment that: ‘We are not saved by making promises to God; we are saved by believing Gods’s promises to us.’ ‘The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT),’ p.58  God repeatedly said to Abraham: ‘’I will.’’ It was for Abraham to believe that God would do as He said, and set out in confidence. I heard Rick Warren say that the Holy Spirit meets us where we step out in obedience. We don’t wait to feel Him before we obey. Rather, we do what God tells us to do, and in that place of obedience we experience the Holy Spirit’s power to enable us. We are to trust that God will do what He says He will do, when we do what He tells us to do. For example, don’t wait to feel the Spirit before witnessing. Witness because the Lord tells you to, and there you will experience the Holy Spirit. But, ‘If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat.’ Ronald Dunn said, ‘Too many Christians are looking for the feeling of the Holy Spirit.’ He may well have been right.

Christianity starts with a call: ‘’…follow me, and I will make you…’’ God has the right to shape us and form us as He chooses. We are clay. He is the Potter. He knows what He is doing. The big issue is not who we are, or who we think we are (or what we think we are not, even). It’s who He is, and what He wants to do in and through us.

When God called Moses, the man who was to become a great leader, was not short of an excuse or two. When Moses said to God, ‘’Who am I…?’ (Exodus 3:11), the Lord didn’t answer that question. He said, ‘’I will be with you…’’ (Exodus 3:12). That was enough. It always will be.

PRAYER: Have your own way Lord, have your own way. You are the Potter, I am the clay.

Genesis 12:1: The call

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” NIV

Note: ‘’The LORD had said to Abram…’’ This was the beginning of the process. When Abram was in Ur of the Chaldees, God called him out of idolatry (see Joshua 24:2). It was a work of grace. The inhabitants of the city of Ur were devoted to Nannar, the moon-god. At one time, Abram did not know the true God and he did not do anything to deserve knowing Him, but God graciously called him. ‘’You did not choose me, but I chose you…’’ (John 15:16). That’s how it was with Abraham. This is still how it is with everyone called to faith in Jesus.     Stephen, in his speech recorded in Acts 7, says: ‘’The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran’’ (2). We are not told how He appeared to Abram (as he was then called), but in the encounter Abram must have realised the vanity and folly of idol worship He was called ‘out of darkness’ into ‘marvellous light.’

However, not only was Ur an idolatrous centre, archaeological findings have revealed that it was also a sophisticated place. They had running water available in their homes, for example. It can’t have been easy to ‘’Leave’’ the luxury they enjoyed, but that is just what Abram was instructed to do. Nevertheless, first steps in the life of faith may be tentative. Abram’s were. Looking back through (11:27-32) you will see that Abram did not immediately leave his ‘’father’s household.’’

 His brother Nahor did not leave Ur at all. Warren Wiersbe characterises him as ‘the man who ‘stayed’, while Terah he describes as ‘the man who stopped’, and Lot as ‘the man who strayed.’ But his story is still to unfold.

Jesus’ call to discipleship is a costly one, no less than Abram’s was. Anyone embarking on the life of faith must be willing to pay a price (Luke 14:25-27). ‘God must reduce us to a minimum before he can work through us to the maximum.’ F.B. Meyer.

Genesis 11:27-32: Aiming and missing

^“27 This is the account of Terah’s family line. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive. ³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there. ³² Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.” NIV

It is sadly true that, on this Christian journey, we can have good intentions, but fall short of them (31b). Yet it’s not the falling short that is the problem per se. It’s the ‘settling’ for less than God’s best. We embark with the best of ambitions; we are full of idealism. But then we ‘settle’ for considerably less than we initially set our hearts on. That’s the story of many a Christian life. The ‘launch’ was explosive. This person flared across the night sky spectacularly. But then they just fizzled out.  Our short section for today introduces us to the tragedy in Terah’s family. He had to bury one of his three sons. That must always feel unnatural. So we come to get a feel for why Lot was with his uncle Abraham for some of the ensuing story. Perhaps the fact that Abraham had no children of his own made it more likely that he would care for his nephew.  We are also introduced to a vitally important detail in the Abram and Sarai story – the fact that she was ‘’barren’’ (30:12). The promises of God are tested by the hard realities of life. We are shortly going to read chapter 12:7, and we need to remember chapter 11:30. We will be caused to marvel afresh at how, by faith, impossibilities may be overcome. Dr. Joseph Parker observed that, ‘Great lives are trained by great promises.’ When the promises of God’s Word collide with the harsh realities of life, you can be sure that the promises will come out unscathed. Abram and Sarai were unlikely candidates to have a family and build a great nation. ‘But God’s ways are not our ways (Isa.55:8-9), and by calling and blessing a barren couple, the Lord revealed the greatness of His power and His glory…There’s quite a contrast between man’s ways at Babel and God’s ways in calling Abraham and Sarah. The world depends on large numbers of powerful people in order to accomplish things, but God chose two weak people and started a new nation…Babel was built by the energy of the flesh and the motivation of pride, but the nation of Israel was built by the grace and power of God and in spite of human weakness.’ Warren W. Wiersbe.

Genesis 11:10-26: God in the detail

^“10 This is the account of Shem’s family line.  Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. ¹¹ And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹² When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. ¹³ And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. ¹⁵ And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁶ When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. ¹⁷ And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁸ When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. ¹⁹ And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. ²¹ And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. ²² When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. ²³ And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁴ When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. ²⁵ And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁶ After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.” NIV

It is often said that ‘the devil is in the detail’ and I think we understand what is meant by that. You can make an ‘in principle’ decision which seems wonderful on paper, but when you come to implement it, unexpected details keep swimming out of the organisational swamp to bite you!  But when I thought about this further list, my inclination was to state: God is in the detail. It might be possible to read this genealogical table and see it as just another (boring?) list of names. But you’d be wrong. God is in, over, under, through this list, overseeing the process of establishing the chosen line – His own people. He knew all these people by name. He was aware of the intimate details of their lives. He cared about them. They were part of His great purpose. God had promised that He would send a deliverer, the seed of the woman (3:15), who would defeat Satan and bring salvation. Noah’s prophecy revealed that God was going to bless the world through the line of Shem, the ‘Semites’ who were the ancestors of the Hebrew people (9:26-27). ‘’Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber’’ (10:21). (It seems likely that the word ‘Hebrew’ comes from ‘Eber by the way). So God was in control of these movements – these comings and goings: beginnings and endings. People were born and died, but God’s purposes marched on.  ‘The important thing about this genealogy is that it records the faithfulness of God in watching over His people and fulfilling His promises. What to us is only a list of names was to God a ‘’Bridge’’ from the appointment of Shem to the call of Abraham.’ Warren W. Wiersbe.

Another thing you may spot in reading this is the decreasing life-span in the human race. Noah lived for 950 years (9:29). From there, the list ‘dwindles down to Nahor’s 148 years. The post-flood generations were starting to feel the physical consequences of sin in the human body.’ Warren W. Wiersbe.

PRAYER: I thank you Lord that ‘history is HIS story.’ I am grateful to know that your eye is on the sparrow and your hand is on each detail.

Genesis 11:1-9: Which line do you belong to?

“Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.  ³ They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’  ⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’  ⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel  – because there the Lordconfused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

In Genesis 11 we see two lines. You have the line from Babel; and the line of Shem – from which Abraham, and ultimately, the Messiah, would come. To which of these two lines do you belong?  In the Bible, Babel (Babylon), is not just a geographical location. It stands for an entire system: this world’s system. It’s been pointed out that it represents worldly pride, moral corruption, and revolt against God. The world system opposes God, hates Christ, and appeals to what is base in human nature. People either belong to the Heavenly Jerusalem or the earthly Babylon. It’s of note that in the book of ‘Revelation’, Babylon is identified as prostitute, while the Holy City from heaven is called the bride of Christ (17:1,2; 21:9ff). Babylon is ‘doomed’. It’s only a matter of time and then this ‘city’ will be overthrown. It’s important to know that you belong to the line of God’s people. Get out of the crumbling edifice that is Babylon. You can do this by asking Jesus to save you. He ‘’…gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father’’ (Galatians 1:4).

‘What humanity can’t achieve by means of its ‘’proud towers,’’ Jesus Christ has achieved by dying on a humiliating cross. All who trust in Christ are one in Him (Gal.3:27) and will share heaven together, regardless of race, nation, language, or tribe (Rev.7:9)…

In one sense, Pentecost is a reversal of Babel, for the people present in Jerusalem at Pentecost heard the praises of God in their own languages (Acts 2:1-12). The day will come when people from every tribe and nation will worship Jesus Christ (Rev.15:4) and the judgment of Babel will be done away (Zeph.3:9).’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘The Wiersbe Bible Commentary’ (Old Testament), p.53.

‘…Pentecost and Heaven will undo the wreck of Babel. See Rev.7:9.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.18.