Following Abraham’s Faith – Part 2

Well it is time to begin another look into Abram’s (Abraham’s) journey with the LORD.

Ge 12:11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

 13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

 

The situation that Abram finds himself in during the scriptures that we read above is the result of him not asking or questioning the LORD about the famine that was in the land when he arrived there.

 

Let’s see what he walked through in this time; he moves from where he was sent by the LORD and he immediately gets into fear.

 

Ge 12:11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

 13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

 

Here he begins to get into a self-defense mode even to the point of lying about who Sarai was. She is his half-sister but she is also his wife.

 

I know that the bible speaks of Sarai as a woman of faith but I’m sure she had to deal with his denial of her as his wife and the possibility of this creating offence in her toward him.

 

If Abram had taken the time to say ok LORD what do I do now? I believe that the LORD would have spoken to him and given him further instructions.

 

However he did not ask so he had to walk out the situation to its conclusion.

 

What we are doing here is looking at Abram in his journey and we will see as we read that he did grow in faith and trust toward the LORD and it can help us in our journey. We can learn that we don’t have to make the same missteps that he did.

 

Gen. 12:14 ¶ And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

 15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

 16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

 

It would seem that Pharoah gave to Abram these cattle and servants because of Sarai. He obtained these from Pharoah at the expense of the his failure to speak to the LORD about his move down to Egypt.

I wonder if we could talk to Abraham today what he would say about the situation. Would he have some wisdom for us to learn about asking the LORD questions?

We see that in the midst of the mess that Abram made that the LORD did protect both Sarai and Abram.

Let’s think on this a while and let it settle in our hearts before we go further.

4/8/2008

Let’s pursue our journey with Abram a little further and see if we might gain more insight from Abram’s journey of faith!

Abram had to endure the rebuke of a heathen because of his own failure to commumicate with the LORD before he went down to Egypt.

Ge 12:17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
 18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
 19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

He now goes back to Bethel; Ge 13:3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, 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 made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

 

I wonder if in calling on the LORD that he might have acknowledged to the LORD that he had missed it by going south to Egypt? Very likely he did.

 

Next we see that he has to deal with another area of disobedience.

 

Ge 13:5 ¶ And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
 6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
 7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

 

The LORD had told him to leave his father’s house and his kindred. Lot was his nephew. It seems to me that by taking Lot with him he missed doing what the LORD had said.

 

Lot and Abram are so prosperous that the land won’t support the both of them.

 

There comes a strife between Lot’s men and Abram’s men so Abram makes a decision.

 

Ge 13:8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

10 ¶ And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

Abram demonstrates to me in this that he is again trusting the LORD. He allows Lot to make the first choice of where to go with his herds. Lot being the self-centered man that he was chose the well-watered plains of Sodom. Leaving Abram to go to the hills where there is not as much water or grass.

 

Now once again the LORD speaks to Abram and gives him more good news.

 

We see Abram trusting the LORD to provide for him and his herds even in what would seem to be a bad situation. 

 

Ge 13:14 ¶ And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

I believe Abram’s completed obedience in separating himself from Lot as he had been told brought this further statement of good news from the LORD.

 

Ge 13:18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

 

Here he sets about obeying the LORD’S word to walk through the land. Just as the LORD later told Joshua; Jos 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you….

Abram was laying claim to the land by walking through it as the LORD had said.

 

We too like Abram must learn to obey the LORD and follow HIS directions so that HE may bring on us and to us all that HE has spoken and purposed for us.

 

We will stop for a while and rest and meditate on what we have seen in Abram’s journey of faith so that we too can grow in our walk with the LORD.