Abraham Series 3

Faith Restored

We are thankful for the fact that the heroes of the Bible are real people who fail like we do - but when we saw the behavoiur of Abram, our spiritual forefather, responding to a famine in the land of promise - we examined the account in Genesis 12, last week … his behaviour is a little too much.

Remember the story - There is a famine in the land of promise … no food. Abram panics. We can understand the panic - it’s not good, but we can understand anxiety. Abram becomes SO anxious that he takes matters into his own hands and leaves the land of Canaan to live in Egypt. That’s more of a problem. Sure - especially when, as Genesis 12:10 puts it - the famine was ‘severe’.

But when Abram becomes terrified his 70 year old wife is so drop dead gorgeous, that the Egyptians will kill him so they can have her - terrified to te point he tells his wife to lie about their relationship: “If anyone asks … you’re my SISTER … “ - well, then we are disgusted. Partly very impressed … but mostly disguested. Most of us, even with our many failings and faithless responses … even we wouldn’t stoop so low.

Abram survives the situation, but only because the Almighty God doesn’t leave him to the consequences of his own self-centeredness. God doesn't abandon his people. He intervenes and brings the shame faced Abram and his wife Sarai, out of their Egyptian bondage.

This is the kind of material God chooses to build for himself a saint. You are here this morning - - you have taken a dead-end detour right off of the road of faith. Even as I speak, you are having a hard time listening, because you are busy wrestling with doubts - - those thoughts that: “there is no hope for you”.

You began a walk with Christ, but that was years ago. There have been many miles since then, and many decisions that you look back on and realize that they weren’t about loving God, they were about looking out for what you wanted. You are wondering, “Has my hard-heartedness finally been too much?” “Is that God saying, “Don’t bother. I am finished with you.”?

I want to encourage you today to listen to God’s voice in Genesis 13. Wherever you are right now: Faith Can Be Restored.

READ GENESIS 13

1)Abram Demonstrates His Faith Through Worship vv. 1-4

2)Abram Demonstrates His Faith Through Trial vv. 5-13

3)God Rewards Abram’s Faith with a Promise vv. 14-18

1 FAITH RESTORED IN WORSHIP, vv. 14-18

We pick up the story with the caravan of people and possessions making its way back into the land, back to where it started.

Stage by stage, up from Egypt it surges ... inch by inch, mile by mile. Egypt - the land of Abram’s humiliation; the land of this family’s slavery; the land where Abram had proved the devastating consequences of what so many of us have discovered for ourselves: trying to manage life outside of the Lord’s direction. Egypt’s now in the rear view mirror, as the family of promise follows the road back INTO the LAND of promise. Did you notice that Abram’s return to Canaan is recorded with as little commentary as possible. His journey from Egypt up to Canaan is a silent one.

That’s no surprising. Have you ever been stuck in a car with someone, after an ordeal like that? What do you talk about, how do spouses communicate, after you just finished handing your wife over to a foreign king … to save your backside?

“So … how was your day? What was it like in Pharaoh’s palace? Good food?” Not a chance. You just turn the stereo up a little and stare straight ahead.

It is a humbled, greatly chastened man who leads his little company back to Canaan.

Out of the lush, fertile Nile region of Egypt they climb. First stop is the arid land of the Negev in the south (the very root of the name “Negeb” - means dry or parched.

In verse 3, they move camp again, and again - making their way ever further north, until they get to Bethel - where he had his altar at the beginning - Abram’s back home

Along the road trek wave after wave of possessions: sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, servants and most importantly - - not a possession at all, but a wife, Sarai. The woman who was looked at, talked about, passed from man to man and used as a shield for her husband to hide behind, rather than protect - Sarai was treated like an object - UNTIL God stepped in. When everyone else was doing TO this woman … God acted in His sovereign power FOR her. Hear this women - you who feel like a pawn and powerless to defend yourself in this world You who have been acted ON. Genesis 12 is no hero story of a cagy, fearless human protagonist. It’s a testimony to the stubborn faithfulness of God to His promise. He cares about you.

V. 2 describes Abram’s status as he leaves Egypt. “Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.”

There are female donkeys (the transportation of the rich) … there are even camels (the prestige symbols of the super-rich), that’s very special .... but v. 2 tells us that Abram is also rich in silver and gold. That’s nothing short of amazing for a wandering shepherd.

See the foreshadowing the exodus from Egypt, hundreds of years later, when this man’s descendants, the Israelites are rescued by God and set free from their Egyptian slave masters to come back to the land

… but Exodus 12 tells us that after the plagues, the Israelite slaves don’t leave town UNTIL those very masters load them up with gold and silver - it’s a voluntary plundering.

Abram’s not just rich - the text tells us that he’s now “very rich”. Did you catch that, in v. 2? The Hebrew word behind our translation here, is important: cabod: “Heavy, severe”. This is the same word used in chapter 12:10, to describe just how harsh the famine was that sent Abram down to Egypt in the first place. Don't miss that: Heavy - severe is the famine. That's a test. Now, 'heavy/ severe' is the abundant wealth. This is going to bring another test - more about that in a couple of minutes ...

But for now - ‘get’ what the narrator is saying: “God is SOVEREIGN and STUBBORNLY FAITHFUL”. Abram schemed and planned and nearly perished in a foreign country ... But God wouldn’t allow that to happen. When God steps in, not only do Abram and Sarai survive, but just as the famine almost overpowered this family with death, now God overwhelms them with wealth.

Aged Abram gets it. He marches back into the land he never should have left - and returns to the practice, the discipline that he never should have stopped.

Remember the very first thing he does, when he enters this land of promise for the FIRST time, back in chapter 12: he criss-crosses the whole thing and builds altars to the LORD throughout: at Shechem, at Bethel and at Hebron. But when the famine hits and he decides to head down to Egypt, there is not a single mention of building an altar, not a single mention of worship, or even of calling on the name of the LORD. In fact, the ONLY words Abram speaks in that whole Egyptian debacle, in chapter 12, are when he tells his wife to lie and save his skin.

Don’t miss that fact. Abram let his personal worship slide. When you let your worship slide, you end up as a fearful manipulator of people.

The only way back to the road of faith, is for Abram to re-establish worship at the center of his life - - to begin listening to God again. So he retraces his steps. Back to where he arranged the rocks of his first altar. 13:3-4, “(Abram) journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, (4) to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord."

Worship. See the smoke wafting from the burning offerings on the altars, smell the aroma of the animal sacrifices being consumed by the flame. 1 John 1:9 tells us if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Abram is surely confessing his sins that flowed from his faithlessness .... and he consciously puts the LORD back on the throne of his own vision. It’s like the man is putting his glasses back on - those of us who need help seeing can understand: when you don’t have your glasses on - you can’t see straight. And worship is the prescription that helps us see the world around us, clearly:

Natural forces - famines that terrify ... they are not in control: God is.

The Pharaoh, people in the positions of power: they are not Sovereign: the LORD is.

Do you see the implications for us?

So much clamors for our attention: We’re constantly bombarded by sounds of urgency: The phone goes - a text comes in ... and the tyrannical urgent takes over ...

“Hurry! You’ve got a job to do! Hurry, the kids are calling! Hurry, somebody wants something from you.!”

Our culture’s pace is frantic. “There’s no time to worship God you can’t even see!”

Christian, it is critically important that we guard our altars. That we protect that time when we draw away from the crowds, as Jesus did - - - to feed on God’s word, commune with Him in prayer: and to make sure we see clearly: God is on the throne.

If you want to live in the peace and rest that comes from a life conscious of God’s all-sufficient strength in the storm - you need to guard your altar of worship.

2 FAITH RESTORED AND TESTED, vv. 5-13

No sooner does Abram get back to worship, than the promise of blessing again comes under threat. “I will make you into a great nation," God said. "I will make YOUR name great,” God told him. In chapter 12 a severe famine hits and there is the threat of need. Here, in chapter 13, there is, ironically - a severe wealth - the threat of abundance.

Abram has seen it coming. The land they’re living on, the streams and wells that bring the water, those precious sources of life - they are so fragile. It was such a short time ago that there was nothing but parched brown famine. The land is being stressed - and everyone knows it. But what begins as snide comments between servants of two different masters, has now increased to outright argument.

“Hey, get your animals out of the way: this is Abram’s flock. They need water!” charge his herdsmen.

“So what?!” counter Lot’s servants.

“Well, Abram’s the head of this family!”

“Big Deal! We were here first, and we’re not moving until the last sheep gets its fill!”

Easily-exhausted pasture becomes a more and more hotly disputed commodity. And to top it off - the two parties are not alone in the area. Just in case we’ve forgotten already, Verse 7 tells us that the Canaanites are still there too, so are the Perezzites. There’s just not enough room to maneuver - something has to be done. If a war is to be prevented, if peace is to be preserved. Somebody has to do something.

So who’s going to be the peacemaker? Now the narrator makes it clear that the problems are Lot’s responsibility. Look at v. 1, “Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had ... and Lot WITH HIM, into the Negev.” v. 5 “And Lot, who went with Abram.”

God’s call had come to Abram. The promise of blessing was given to him. Lot is the guest - - - he is going with Abram. Lot is following Abram like a dog follows a butcher - he has gotten rich from the scraps that fall from Abram's table. That’s okay - it's been a good gig and God promised that Abram would be a blessing to others. But now they are so blessed that they can't carry on together anymore.

And it’s on Lot to see signs of trouble and move on. He should say - "You can have it - God promised it all to you; Everything I have is only because I've been following you anyway - not to mention, you are my uncle and I should defer to my elder out of respect." Lot SHOULD have done something like that. But he doesn’t. He's a freeloader. He is not grateful to his uncle, who has loved and blessed and led him by the hand.

Abram takes charge, in v.8, "Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen."

“Let’s not have any quarreling . . . we are family.”

Do you see the change here? This is a very DIFFERENT Abram than the one working so hard to manipulate his circumstances to cling to survival.

This time we see an Abram who’s free - - he is able to be generous.

As they stand together on the heights of Bethel, the 2 men look out on the Promised land, spread out before them like a map. On 3 sides, there is not much that would appeal to the eyes of a shepherd. Barren, white limestone hills hide the fertile valleys nestled between them.

But on 1 side, there is an exception. To the southeast, the waters of the Jordan river provide sustaining water to a broad valley. The lush fertility of the area is obvious, even from this distance.

Verse 9, "Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left."

“You choose your direction” says Abram. “Whatever you choose, you can have. I’ll go to the other side and take what’s left.”

Lot doesn’t have to think long before he makes a decision. Over to the left is brown barrenness, pock marked with little oasis dots of green - that’s going to be a struggle for survival. The right is a complete contrast - it is a territory lush green with vegetation. And it’s got cities - civilization!

“Ah, I’ll take that side”, he says, and points to the patch of green. Notice how he chooses: v. 10: “And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw ..." The action drops to slow motion as Lot makes his choice. “He lifted up his eyes ...”.

Verse 10 continues, "He saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar ... v. 11, So Lot chose for himself ALL the Jordan valley, and Lot journeyed east.”

And Abram. Abram moves back into the rocky, arid hill-country. Lot pitches his tents near the economic and cultural centers of Sodom and Gomorrah; Abram looks for a place to live among the hostile mountain tribes of Canaan.

In this story, it appears that the nephew has just taken Uncle Abram for a ride.

But, before we come down too hard on this man, the Bible tells us in 2 Peter, he was a righteous man. He’s not being malicious here.

Lot’s problem was that he went through the same educational system that we did. He grew up being told:

"You HAVE to look out for number 1. Nobody is going to give you anything! Take everything you can get - or you will be stuck in a plan 'B' life - and once you get everything - - you had better build up big walls around it to protect it all.

“Lot lifted his eyes and saw.” He chose by sight. He will the choose the comfort and ease that he can see over the promise of God that he cannot see.

And there is something else - look further on in v. 10, "Lot ... saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD." Stop right there. The garden of the LORD - does that sound familiar? That's the garden of Eden. What the narrator is saying here is that, when Lot looked out - he didn't ONLY see a way to make more money and get richer ... but there is something deeper going on: Lot sees the beauty of the garden and thinks to himself - "Ahhh - finally, here is a way to get back to Eden."

What do I mean by that?

Remember the movie Chariots of Fire? The story is about Eric Liddell, the great runner and Christian missionary. There was another important character in that story — his name was Harold Abrahams. He was Liddell's main competition. He was also an Olympic runner from Britain and he went on to win a gold medal. There was a scene in the movie where he’s practicing to win the 100 yard dash - relentlessly toiling to train. Somebody is talking to him about it, and he says the reason he’s working so hard to win - ISN’T just to get the gold medal. He says that, when the gun goes off, "(I have) 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence."

Abrahams is saying, "I don't just need the gold medal. I need to know I'm significant, I'm important, my life means something - that I am worth something."

Is there something for you like that - in your life? Standing out at school? Building a successful career or business? Finding a special someone to love you and marry you? What you need to realize is that the root of the issue is NOT the good marks, not the financial or career success - not even the special person you think will meet your need. So what are you really looking for?

Human beings don't know who they are. We don't know what we're worth. We don't know what we're made for. We have a deep spiritual insecurity. Someone said, "God died in the 19th century. Man died in the 20th century." And it's true.

In all the things we run after - we are trying to find what we were made for. That's why Harold Abrahams says, "I don't just need the gold medal. I need to know I'm significant, I'm important - that my life means something." And when a person says, "My great desire is that someone of the opposite sex will love me and want to marry me," you are not just after love. You're after an assurance that you are loveable.

And that's why it is so fascinating that v. 10 tells us that the Jordan Valley was like the 'garden of the LORD' - the 'Garden of Eden'. Because it was there - in the Garden of Eden - where we knew who we were. We as humans knew we had value there. We knew what we were worth, because in the garden of the Lord, we were walking with God. But we've lost that at the fall. Ever since God banished Adam and Eve from the garden - the human race has been wandering - we don’t know who we are … we don't know what we're worth - - and we’re desperately trying to get back into the garden.

We’re groaning for significance and purpose and dignity and rest.

Lot’s just doing what we’re all doing. He doesn’t just want to get rich. He set his heart on riches and his hope on riches in such a way that shows us he spiritually turned this into the thing he believed was going to finally complete him. It won’t.

it’s not that hard to understand that when you get married, saying, “Finally! The garden of the Lord. Now my life will be a garden. Now I’ll know who I am. Now I know I’m lovable …” If you go into marriage that way, if you go into parenting that way, if you go into your career that way, it’s like taking a three-ton truck and putting it onto a one-ton bridge. It’s going to break!

It’s putting three tons of spiritual expectation on a finite thing. It’s going to crack. It does crack. You can even see it here. The quarreling, see? The anger. The grumpiness. The irritation. He is an ambitious man. He has set his heart on riches. He is driven now. He’ll even take advantage of Uncle Abram and his blessings. The irritation is inevitable. Frustration is inevitable. Lot has looked spiritually at success and money. He has looked at it, and he says, “Ah. It’s like the garden of the Lord.”

The problem is - Lot wants paradise - the Garden of the Lord - WITHOUT the LORD - and that is simply impossible. And the problem in our society today is that we want all the benefits that Christianity has brought - human rights and compassion and freedom … but we don’t want the Christ who alone brings the blessings - and it can’t be done.

Catch the ominous note in v. 11-12, "So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and Lot journeyed east. (Then the middle of v. 12) ... Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked - GREAT sinners against the LORD."

As we see Lot begin down the hill into the fertile Jordan valley, we know how the move tragically turns out for him. His choice here is the beginning of his downfall - he starts here and sinks deeper and deeper and deeper, until he’s an absolute joke in history.

He separated himself from the blessor and he ends up a buffoon. He wants to do good … but everything he touches fails. He fails at everything.

He wants to be a good citizen - but they reject his influence.

He wants to be a father but his sons in law thinks he’s joking

He wants to be hospitable, but it all backfires.

He wants to be leader in his family - but his wife turns into a pillar of salt and his daughters use him to get pregnant.

In everything he does - there’s no blessing

Everything Abram does - flourishes … everything Lot touches, turns into a joke - because he does it independantly from the agent of blessing.

Great lesson for us: When we try to live our lives - and GET for ourselves APART from Jesus Christ - the ultimate agent of blessing and God in human flesh … it all falls apart.

Verse 10: “And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw ....”.

In the words of John Calvin: “Turning his back on his blessed uncle and discounting the danger of sinful Sodom, he fancied he was living in paradise, but he was nearly plunged into the depths of hell”

What a contrast with his uncle. Abram is no longer a prisoner to what he can see. He has worshipped. He knows who is on the throne. He knows His God is Faithful - and so he is set free. He doesn’t have to fight for himself. He is free to live generously. Free to love.

There is a version of pop psychology that says we cannot love others until first we are able to love ourselves. There is an element of truth there, but it doesn’t go deep enough. The Bible says that we cannot love, truly love, until we feel secure enough to take the risk of looking out for others instead of ourselves. When the Bible says, in 1 John 4:14 that we love because God first loved us, it is underlining that truth.

It is saying that when I can trust God’s love and care for me, then I am more well-adjusted and better able to love others than when I simply have a good dose of self-esteem. When I really believe that I am secure in the loving arms of my heavenly Father, then I am finally free to stop worrying about how I am doing and can start being concerned about how you are doing.

There is a story from the life of the Indian Christian missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh. He ministered in the early 20th century. On one particular occasion, he was Trekking with a companion through a high pass in the Himalayas, when they came upon the figure of a nearly frozen man. The poor fellow was lying unconscious in the snow. Singh began immediately to try to revive him. But his traveling companion protested: “If we burden ourselves with this fellow - We’re going to lose our own lives.” Singh insisted that they stay and help the man. The companion waited for awhile, but eventually became dismayed at the futility of the effort, threw up his hands, abandoned his companion and his rescue effort - and walked on alone. “I’m not sticking around here to freeze!”

Somehow Singh managed to get the body of the man up on his shoulders and continued to walk, carrying him. The physical exertion warmed him and the frozen man, and eventually revived him. Soon the two men were walking side by side. Two days later they came upon the frozen body of Singh’s original companion, who had chosen to travel alone. Reflecting on the experience, later, Singh said it was a living illustration of what Jesus meant when he said, Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it (Mk. 8:35)

Our Lord taught that one day, we are all going to lose our lives, our selves, by death. We don’t have a choice about that; one day each of us will let go. Our choice is only when. And the difference between a Christian and an unbeliever is essentially here - that a Christian chooses to die to self now, by surrendering the sovereignty of self to the sovereignty of God. The Christian follows Abram’s example: we let go of what we have now for the sake of something that God will give in the future.

Oh, everything within us cries out “no”. “ I must be in control” I must hold on. I must touch.” But as Abram models, the road of faith, is the road of freedom. In the words of the missionary martyr, Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who will give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Oh that we would live in the freedom that Abram discovers in our text.

Now you can never be like Abram here if all you are doing is trying to follow his example. You can only be like Abram if you believe in the one to whom Abram points. Remember that Abram's whole life is pointing forward - to his descendant to come - and the Good News of assurance comes in the last section.

3 FAITH REWARDED WITH A PROMISE, vv. 14-18

Our story doesn't end with Lot in the lush landscape and Abram left to struggle in the hardscrabble leftovers of Canaan. The story ends with God speaking to Abram again.

This is significant. Through the whole Egyptian fiasco, God doesn't say a word to the man. Not one. Why should he? Abram was taking care of himself - find his own solutions to fix his own problems.

How often do we find the same thing - in our Christian lives? See our problems and panic with the size of the need - “I can't wait for God to act - "Look at this crisis I have to solve - I can’t wait for God to act - can’t stop to pray - I have to do something - NOW!”

And suddenly, the heavens go silent, as it were.

When that happens - just know that it’s NOT because God has forgotten you - It’s because - as the loving Father - He won’t let you get away with trusting yourself. That's a dead end road of misery. His silence is meant to get your attention.

And here, in chapter 13, after Abe has demonstrated a restored faith - God speaks again.

vv. 14-18, "The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, 'Lift up your eyes and look'." Stop right there - "Lift up your eyes" - that's what Lot did, before he made the choice of which territory he wanted. Now it is God himself telling Abram to do the very same thing.

And God gives him a promise. Back to v. 14, "... Look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you."

Wait a minute, hasn’t God already made these promises to Abram? Look back at Chapter 12:2-3, "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."

12:7, "Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land'."

So the promises have been made before - but do you see what God does after Abram's faith is restored? He INTENSIFIES the power of the promises - He pumps them up - - God’s already promised to make a nation of this man of faith - now the LORD clarifies that he will make his descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth - and as IMPOSSIBLE to count.

God’s already promised to give this land to Abram - now He says that ALL THE LAND Abram sees from his perch - will be his - and his offspring's forever.

2000 years later, Jesus, the real Son of Abram, is taken up to the top of a high mountain. Satan takes him there and said - "All that you can see, I will give to you - all you have to do is worship me." Do you see the connection here?

Satan’s temptation is that he was saying to Jesus - "You can have all of these things without sacrifice, without suffering, without humiliation, without the cross, without fulfilling the mission to die and rise again. I can give them to you. Right now!"

And Jesus answers by saying: "NO! … First of all -those things you’re offering ALREADY belong to me. You can’t give me what I already own. And second, I came to lose everything. I came to be forsaken by my father. I came to give everything away."

The difference between Abram and Jesus is that God takes Abram up and says, "These things do not rightfully belong to you - but I am going to give them to you." Satan takes Jesus up and says, "These things are yours by right - take them now." But Jesus refuses them! He says no. And the reason he gave up his ultimate wealth - is so that he could have a relationship with you.

2 Corinthians 8, "... Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

So that you could receive a share of his heavenly inheritance. So that God the Father could adopt you as His child. And so that when you have blown it by your schemes in Egypt - when you have let the Lord down so badly by your foolish decisions - and getting yourself into a heap of trouble - your faith can be restored. Your father doesn't right you off because of your failure - any more than you right off your toddler who keeps forgetting to listen to your voice.

Oh, Christian - know the freedom of restoration with God. Repent of your sins - and then get up out of the mud in holy freedom and joy - march through the land - knowing that the God who has called you is patient, longsuffering and will. work. out. your. good. And He never fails