Blessed to be a Blessing
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Over the past few weeks we’ve been travelling through Genesis in the Old Testament, and we started with the beginning, we’ve moved through Adam and Eve and their children - through 10 generations to Noah, and now 10 more generations and we get to Abram.
We’ve discovered themes throughout our journey:
God pursues even when the creation of Humankind runs or hides.
God is merciful and filled with grace.
God speaks and sometimes those he chooses to speak with, Humanity, listen and sometimes they don’t.
God’s law is always for what is best for the created ones.
And so much more. If you’d like to catch up on our sermons in the series Casket Empty, they are all posted online at:
www.faithlife.com/missionwoodschurch
We are also on Facebook: just search for Mission Woods Church, and our sermons are posted there.
Last week we completed the journey through the Creation narrative and this week we get to the second period of the Old Testament in our series which is entitled ABRAHAM.
C - Casket
A - Abraham
S - Sinai
K - Kings
E - Exile
T - Temple
This is a significant turning point in the story of redemption in the Bible marked by God calling Abraham out of Ur. This all begins in chapter 12 of Genesis.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
God doesn’t do this without a promise though, listen to the promise that God gives to Abram:
And 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.
And then in verse 3 we read, “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him...
Immediately several things stand out to me.
God commands Abram to leave everything he’s known - his country, his extended family, and even his own family.
God commands Abram to go someplace yet to be named.
Abram goes!
It is important at this point that we recognize that Abram wasn’t necessarily exclusively a Creator God worshipper. They like the people around them often served other Gods as well, and yet, the Lord God, our Yahweh Elohim comes and speaks to Abram directly and asks him to get up and leave everything that is familiar and go to where God will lead him. And what does Abram do? He goes!
So Abram goes and begins travelling around. They leave Haran and go to the land of Canaan and even though it is occupied the Lord appears and says to Abram
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Canaan is the modern day Israel.
Notice how God is speaking directly to Abram! Now knowing that Abraham’s family worshipped other gods of the nations we need to know that this demonstrates that God did not call Abraham because he was a good person or because he was righteous.
No! God calls Abraham out of God’s grace and by election (God’s choice).
You would think he would stop there, but he doesn’t - the Lord seems to be leading him on, and he goes on and we find out that due to a famine he ends up in Egypt. As he’s about to enter Egypt he says to his wife Sarai what she should say to the Egyptians should they ask about their relationship:
Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”
Because of this ruse, Sarai is taken into Pharaoh’s house, and Abram is blessed as Pharaoh deals very well with Abram during this time. But somehow Pharaoh finds out about the deception and sends Abram and Sarai away.
Lot and Abram separate after this, and it is at the end of chapter 13 that we see the Abaramic Covenant being made.
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and 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.”
Wow, that’s a promise.
As we continue on through chapter 15 we see the breadth of the land that God is giving to Abram and his descendants:
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
The Lord made a covenant with Abram - not because of anything that Abram has done - it is the Lord’s choice, and note that first statement - “To your offspring...”
This is significant - at the beginning of chapter 15 Abram and the Lord have an intense exchange where God tells Abram not to fear.
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
I love this!
Abram in the midst of his doubt is not leaving the conversation with the Lord. He’s laying out what the results are going to be, and God too remains in the conversation.
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Now just because Abram stayed in conversation, does not mean that he still trusts that God can fulfill all of his promises on his own, and Sarai seems to be having the same difficulty.
We open in Chapter 16 with Sarai recognizing that she has borne Abram no children - so, what should we do - let’s help God do what God has said he would do.
Do you see the flaw in this logic? It demonstrates a lack of faith rather than a strong faith.
What we see happen is Sarai giving Abram her servant Hagar.
And we read that Abram listened to the voice of Sarai - does that sound familiar? Abram had heard the voice of the Lord, he’d spoken directly with God and yet he listens to the voice of his wife Sarai.
Reminds me of Adam listening to Eve. Adam had heard directly from the Lord and yet he chose to listen to his wife Eve. (Genesis 4:17)
What do we learn?
What do we learn?
What we see happening here relates to issues of faith, and it causes us to reflect on ours:
Abram wasn’t the perfect person
Abram did what God asked.
Abram also doubted
God remained faithful to God’s promise.
How do we apply this?
Self examination - be honest before God.
What promises has God made?
Trust God will do as God said.