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Reading Gen.12.

The Ups and Downs of the Life of Faith

We have already seen that Abram was born into a pagan family and that he grew up in an environment of moon worship even though he was a descendant of Shem the godly line.

We have already considered just how the call from God came to him and the promises that the Lord appended to that command. And we finished last week by briefly taking note of how Abram responded to that call with the obedience of faith as we read:

v.4 "So Abram went, as the LORD had told him."

Now we are going to consider more of what this obedience meant. Abram begins the life of faith and we will consider through this chapter some of the ups and downs that he knew. Through it all we will see that more than Abram's faith it is the faithfulness of the LORD that is the most important thing.

The call comes clearly to Abram – God tells him to get up and get going. And that is just what Abram does. Surely this is the way to respond when the voice of God is clearly heard calling us. No delay, no excuses, no prevarication just ready and prompt obedience.

Abram is young in the faith although he is 75 years old and he makes a good start.

Not only does he start straightaway but he also buys, as it were, a one way ticket. He leaves Haran leaving nothing that belongs to him behind. To use another analogy, he is burning his bridges behind him. He is setting out on the path of obedience and has no intention of going back again to his old life and ways. He's not hedging any bets by leaving a certain stock behind him – just in case it doesn't all work out – no he sets off on the path of obedience with all of his eggs in the one basket called faith.

And again Abram serves as a fine example at this particular point. He is whole-hearted in his obedience. Half-heartedness and a continual looking back at something left behind is not the way to succeed in the life of faith.

Half-heartedness or lukewarmness is not really compatible with the walk of faith with a God who is wonderfully committed to His people! Jesus warns of the dangers of such behaviour in Rev.3 where the church in Laodicea is addressed for being neither hot nor cold. The call is to repentance and to a proper zeal.

Early in the gospels Jesus spoke of the need of a single-minded commitment in those who would follow Him – He simply declared the utter impossibility of trying to serve two masters at the same time.

Abram as a young believed set out with his eyes fixed on obeying the Lord and looking to Him to keep His promises!

Whether the journey was easy from Haran to the land of Canaan or whether it was difficult we don't know. Our author wasn't interested in the journey but was far more interested to record Abram's behaviour when he arrived in the Promised Land.

It is often the case that the Lord makes the early adventures in the life of faith straightforward for the young believer. As a mother takes special care over a toddler taking his first steps so the Lord watches carefully over His young ones in the faith. The mother doesn't love her adolescent any less but she no longer watches over every step in the same way and the Lord too expects growth and progress from His people.

So we next read of Abram is the land. In fact he passes through the land until he arrives at a place called Shechem.

This is the land the Lord has told him to go to and so Abram begins to walk through the land. He's no tourist but is much more like a man who has just received an inheritance and he's out to investigate it all. He's like a landowner who walks over his fields to see what state everything is in.

Abram has come to Shechem and here the Lord decides to reveal more truth to Abram. Up till now the order had been given to go to a certain place – it was maybe implicit that this land would become a special place for Abram but now it is all made explicit. This land where Abram now finds himself will one day become the property of his descendants.

There is no note at this stage that Abram wondered how that might be given the fact he had no children and that his wife was barren. This would later become an area in which Abram would be tested in his faith.

There is however the brief note that there were Canaanites in the land. The land was occupied and already with this short statement there is hint of trouble to come. These folk practised all kind of abominable things in their perverted religious practices and would not willingly or easily be displaced.

Indeed God speaks to Abram at the oak of Moreh which probably had a pagan shrine – the land was unclean and far from welcoming.

Abram however has begun to walk through the land as a prospective new owner – he walked unharmed with his company of humans and animals. He will continue to walk the length of the land unharmed even though it is in hostile hands. Here is not secretive skulking of a worried and frightened man – rather this is the walk of a man whose trust is in the Lord who has told him where to go!

And Abram responds to this fresh promise of the Lord with an open declaration of his faith. God has appeared graciously to him and Abram responds by building an altar and in worshipping the Lord. And this was to become something of a feature of Abram's life. He would only be able to pitch his tent on a temporary basis but he would build altars to the Lord. These were acts of public declaration of faith – not only that Abram was reclaiming the land for the Lord!

Up till now Abram does not seem to have encountered any problems. The 500 mile journey from Haran was no problem and walking through the land of Canaan was no different. The Lord has given him fresh promises too – what a life! But we're not told that the Lord gave detailed instructions to Abram as to where to go. Abram continues his walk through the land – always in a generally southern direction. He passes between Bethel and Ai stopping to build another altar and then continues on towards the Negeb/Negev/the south.

And now for the first time we read of a problem confronting Abram. What is he to make of it and how will he respond?

The fact that Abram meets with a problem does not mean that he has done something wrong or lost his faith and neither is the presence of problems in the life of a Christian a sure sign of faithlessness or disobedience in his life. Being a believer does not mean that a person floats through the world a foot off the ground without a care in the world. A believer has to face many of the same worries and concerns as anyone else and oftentimes even more – but the believer has a Lord who watches over him and who loves him.

The problem that met Abram was a famine. What will he do? He's in the land the Lord sent him to and now there's a famine. The Promised Land on earth is not the perfect place even though it would be a place of much blessing – earth would remain a place of pilgrimage only - the better country to which Abram and the other heroes of faith looked was a heavenly home not some place on earth where imperfections and shortages abound.

Well we're told that Abram simply got up and went off to Egypt. This was the natural place to go. And there is no hint in the text that it was sin for Abram to go there. Sadly however nor is there any hint in the text that Abram looked to the Lord for guidance!

The solution at times will appear to us too to be so obvious so natural that prayer will not even be thought necessary. What happens next should stand as a warning to us all.

Abram's trip to Egypt is something of a sorry affair. As we read of this "Father of the faithful" we find that this hero has feet of clay. It is not to commend Abram for his behaviour in this episode. However his waywardness does afford a wonderful opportunity for the Lord to demonstrate the type of gracious commitment He has towards His people. That is not to excuse Abram in any way – we are certainly not to sin that grace might abound – but it does show that the Lord will not be thwarted in accomplishing His purposes by the frailties of His very frail people!

We've already said that to go to Egypt was not sin but we cannot say the same about his economy with the truth as he acts deliberately to deceive in order to protect his own skin.

What a position he places his wife Sarai in! Even if the truth was being told it was only being told in order to deceive. Abram didn't want to lose his life even if it meant his wife might draw the unwelcome attention of some men in Egypt.

Perhaps Abram thought if there were problems, if some amorous Egyptian took a shine to Sarai, then he Abram would be able to prolong some negotiations and then make good their escape. Perhaps... But he couldn't do anything when the Pharaoh became involved!

But it wasn't just Sarai who was being put at risk. What about those Egyptians who might be led astray into adultery? Abram doesn't seem worried about his actions leading others into sin.

And what about the promises of God about Abram's offspring? Wouldn't that promise be compromised by such deception? But we all know something of Abram's self-centredness. Just as we all look to find ourselves first in a group photo we're shown so we are all equally adept at looking out for N°1.

So there is Abram now sitting in his tents a rich man – the bride price or dowry has added to his already considerable wealth – but his wife is in the harem of another man!!

Abram has born false witness and encouraged his wife Sarai to do the same and where has it got him? He's now in a real mess.

But the LORD God is not powerless to sort out the mess Abram has got himself into and, Praise God, He's not powerless to get us out of our messes either!

We sometimes hear folk say something like this don't we? "Well you got yourself into this mess it's up to you to get yourself out of it."

I wonder what would have happened to Abram if the Lord had adopted that attitude. But the Lord didn't and doesn't. He deals graciously with His people. Abram was worthy of God's favour when the Lord called him. He is not worthy in this situation in Egypt of receiving the Lord's help but grace doesn't take account of our worthiness or unworthiness. That is just the point of grace!! It is God doing what we don't deserve!!

So God breaks in to retrieve the situation – just note what it is necessary in order to get Abram back to the land of Promise.

1.       Plagues are sent on the Egyptians – and not just any old plagues great ones at that. It seems a bit unfair doesn't it? After all the Egyptians haven't really willingly done anything wrong. But the story is not told in order to focus upon the Egyptians it is told so that we might see how God looks after His own!

Sarai is in a harem and she shouldn't be there. She is the wife of Abram and offspring will be born to that couple as the Lord fulfils His promises.

But what a sad state of affairs! The promise had declared that nations would be blessed through Abram and here the first nation he encounters is cursed with plagues!!

2.       Just how Pharaoh knew the plagues were related to Abram we're not told but know he did and so he confronts Abram. In this confrontation he severely rebukes Abram for his moral failures in the lying deceit he had practised. How embarrassing that must have been for Abram! His sin has found him out and that because God chose to make it known to a pagan.

We sometimes wish we could sin and get away with it – after all so many in the world seem to do just that it doesn't seem fair to us either when we are caught in the web of our own sin. But God will not abandon His people in their sin. He desires holiness in His people and works to promote and secure it. The day for us to start worrying is just when God does not do anything about our sin but lets us carry on "enjoying" it for that would be an indication that we don't really belong to Him at all!! Every child of His He chastises and He disciplines the one He loves, the writer to the Hebrews tells us.

3.       Abram has to leave Egypt. Humanly speaking he's lucky to get away at all – but our understanding is not of luck but of divine providence protecting him. Nevertheless, his experience was doubtless not very pleasant – after all he is effectively deported! It would appear that Abram was escorted away out of the land of Egypt whether he wanted to go or not. Remember he'd gone there to escape a famine and now would be returning to that place.

Let's not forget the fact either that when those who carry the name of the Lord are caught out in moral failure and downright sinful behaviour that reflects badly upon the Lord Himself whose Name is thus brought into dishonour. Another indication of His amazing grace that He so closely identifies with such wayward people!!

And of course we see most clearly that identification in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ as He took our sins upon Himself and hung and died for us. For us He was made to be sin who knew no sin that His righteousness might be credited to our account!!

We are often ashamed of ourselves – our outward behaviour may sometimes pass muster but we know the attitudes and secret thoughts of our hearts. We are often ashamed of other Christians and sometimes want to distance ourselves from them. But Praise God he does not do that to us!!

The Bible is shot through with grace and we read it again in these lines with which we close from the Book of Hebrews:

Heb.2:11 "He is not ashamed to call them brothers" and Heb.11:16 "God is not ashamed to be called their God."

Amen.