Abram's Faith

ABRAM’S FAITH Test of Faith #1 - Leave Home and Follow Me - PASS

In Genesis 12, God challenged Abram to leave his home and follow God to a land "that I will show you." Abram passed this test and followed God even though he didn't have all of the details. Verse 4 says,

So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Test of Faith #2 - Egypt - EPIC FAIL

But then in the exact same chapter, Abram's faith is tested again and he fails. When Abram left to go to Egypt because of a famine, he told his wife Sarai to tell them that she was his sister in verse 13.

So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”

Now why was this significant? Well, in Genesis 12:1-3 God had made a promise to Abram that He was going to make a nation of people out of him. This obviously means that Abram would not die before he had children. At this point, Abram didn't have any children. Instead of taking God at his word, he became fearful and didn't exercise faith in God. If he had, he would not have worried about these men killing him if they knew Sarai was his wife (common practice if a man wanted to take another man's wife) In chapters 13-14 the focus of the story switches to Abram's relationship with his nephew Lot. They part ways in chapter 13 and then Abram rescues Lot in chapter 14.

Test of Faith #3 - Abrahamic Covenant - PASS

In chapter 15, Abram exercises faith in God again. God initiates a covenant with Abram which theologians have called The Abrahamic Covenant. And we have one of the most famous verses in the Old Testament in verse 6. It says,

And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Without going into all of the theological implications of this, Paul uses this statement in the book of Romans 4 to prove that exercising faith in God was ALWAYS the means of salvation and not observing the law. Why? Because when Abram exercised faith in Genesis 15 and it was credited to his account as "righteousness," the OT law had not yet been given.

Test of Faith #4 - Hagar - EPIC EPIC FAIL

In chapter 16, we see Abram's faith fail once again. Instead of trusting God that God would fulfill His promise and grant him children, he followed his wife's suggestion to have children through her servant Hagar. This was a HUGE mistake and led to all sorts of trouble in their household. There is a beautiful lesson here about how God cared for Hagar as she was trying to run away that we don't have time to delve into, but I encourage you to read it again. She is a woman who didn't feel "seen" by anyone. And yet she gives God a new name in verse 13 El Roi, the God who sees me.

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”

I could stay there for a long time but let's move on.

Test of Faith #5 - Circumcision - PASS

In chapter 17, God challenged Abraham to circumcise all of male members of his household and he obeyed. Finally, in chapter 18, he is promised a child through Sarah and Sarah laughs. Abraham then intercedes for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.