Hebrews 10:26-31
This passage deals with the sin of apostasy. It where you lead your life in rejection of Jesus Christ.
Not every unbeliever is an apostate but every apostate is an unbeliever. Judas is the world's most famous apostate. He had the light with him and yet he still rejected Jesus. Saul was an apostate. He knew what was right but he rejected it.
In the last days there will be widespread apostasy. See 1 Timothy 4:1-2. Apostasy is an intentional withdrawal from the faith..
1 - The characteristics of an apostate person (vs 26)
There are two things to watch out for:-.
The truth is received. (vs 26) The person has received the truth and the truth has been rejected. It is a person who has heard the message or been to church. This person has really understood the truth but does not live by it.
The truth is rejected (vs 26) - An apostate will walk away and reject the truth. Sooner or later the sinner will return to sin. They have never been saved in the first place.
The Child of God will come back to the Lord when they fail. The apostate will willfully sin. The Christian will lapse into sin and loathe it. The apostate will leap into sin and love it.
How do you know the difference between a Christian and an apostate? You can't know. The only soul you should worry about is your own. We need to examine our own lives.
No one who is saved is going to keep habitually in sin. The Holy Spirit will convince and convict the Christian.
.2 - The causes of apostasy
There are four that are the main reasons:-.
Persecution. See Matthew 24. People can't take what others are going to say to them if they become a Christian.
Deception. Matthew 24:11. Some people don't hear the right teaching. They hear a false gospel and go along with it because it is what they want to hear.
Temptation. See 2 Timothy 4:10. Some people start thinking about their sin and what they are going to have to give up. They don't want to change their lifestyle.
Indecision. Matthew 24:11. They mean to get saved but they never do. Not to decide is to decide against Jesus. See Hebrews 2:3.
.3 - The consequences of apostasy (vs 26-31)
We cannot chosse the consequences of our apostasy..
Our payment is forfeited (vs 26) - There is only one sacrifice that can remove sin. If you reject this sacrifice then there is no more hope. There is only one way to be saved. There is only one medicine for the sick soul. If you reject this medicine, then you die.
The punishment is forthcoming (vs 27-29) - The greater the sin, the greater the judgment. See 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8. Going to Church won't get you to Heaven. There was judgment for breaking the Ten Commandments. There is greater punishment for rejecting Jesus Christ. There are three indictments:-
1.Trampling under foot the Son of God. You have accounted it to be worthless. We trample on something that is of great value.
2.Taking lightly the blood of the covenant. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is a holy thing.
3.You insult the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person. He delivers the grace by convicting us of sin. People kick him aside and don't respond. They continue in their sin. This is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
The pain is forever (vs 30-31) - It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God if you have rejected Jesus Christ. Are we doing what we can to see people getting saved. The Lake of Fire awaits those who are lost. We don't like to talk about eternal punishment but the Bible teaches it clearly. It is for those who have rejected Jesus Christ.
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM
Genesis 12:1-20
With the call of Abram, later named Abraham, God began a people whose descendants are living in ethnic purity to this very day. God had promised that He would send a Deliverer to undo the curse of sin that befell the human race when Adam and Eve sinned.(Gen. 3:15) After Cain killed Abel, God gave them another son whose name, Seth meant "the appointed one". God later choose Noah, a descendent of Seth and a righteous man, to save mankind when God judged the wicked men on the earth in the Great Flood. Through Noah's son Shem, in the ninth generation, God choose another man named Abram (meaning "exalted father") to be in the lineage of Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
God had promised that He would send a Savior and salvation to man. His plan was to call this man Abram, and from him make a great nation of people who would be, not only the people from whom the Messiah would come, but also they would be God's chosen nation, a witness of God to all the earth. (See Deut. 7:7-8, 28:37, Isa. 43:9-10)
THE CITY OF UR
When God called Abram he was in a city in Babylonia, named Ur of the Chaldees. Ur was a very advanced city and was believed to have been founded some five hundred years before the time of Abraham.
Ur, could be compared to a modern city, having libraries, schools, a system of law. It was a rich city and many valuable treasures have been discovered including elaborate jewelry.
The false religion of astrology which was begun at Babel was practiced there as it was in all Babylonia. Abraham's father, Terah according to Joshua 24:2, worshiped idols. Jewish tradition refers to Terah as an idol maker. Ur was an idolatrous city worshiping many different Gods such as the god of fire, moon, sun and stars. Sin was the name of the chief idol deity of Ur. Ningal, was the wife of the moon-god, Sin, and was worshiped as a mother God in many other cities. Ur was a evil and sinful city as can be seen in the worship practices of the moon-goddess, Ningal. Every female in the city at some time in her life would have to take her turn in serving as a priestess prostitute in the temples.(1)
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM
Genesis 12:1
With a father who worshiped idols and a city dedicated to wickedness, Abraham was not raised in the best of environments. Yet, when God called, Abraham believed God and by faith followed God's instructions. Hebrews 10:8, states that: "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whether he went."
Abraham heard the voice of God. There is no hint that when God spoke to him that he questioned who God was. Further, he did not confuse the voice of God with the idols and false Gods that his father worshiped. He knew who was speaking to him. It is apparent that he believed that it was God that was speaking to him and because it was God, he believed the promise that God made to him. Abraham's call was a call to salvation and a call to service. God called Abraham to eternal life. A new life that began when he by faith trusted God's Word to him. "Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) The call to salvation is a call to a new life. Many miss this truth. Before Abraham, could accept the promises of God he had to believe God and receive eternal life. Hebrews 11:8, says, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." Abraham first exercised saving faith and the evidence of his having saving faith was that he trusted what God said. God told him to leave his country, his relatives and his father's house and go to a land that He would show him. Abraham's faith was tested and proven in that he did what God said. He showed his faith, by putting his trust in the Lord, and acting upon God's word.
Abraham's life was changed! His trust in God set him on a new course for his life. It is that way for one who believes today and receives eternal life by believing God and trusting in God's son the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is set on a new road. The old road, marked by a life of sin and self serving, is abandoned! The new road is one of believing, obedience and serving God, by serving others. Years ago, after preaching a message on this very subject of a Christian's service to others as God's instrument, an unfaithful church member became very offended at being called a servant. He said he was a child of God, a son of God, and not a servant! I replied that one could not be a child of God without being a servant. So many miss this truth. God's called to salvation is a call to a changed life. God's call is to a new life of serving God. Many profess to know Christ and have eternal life yet, absent from their lives is commitment and service. Being a Christian to many is a Sunday affair. During the week, it is business as usual. In everyday life service to the Lord takes a back seat to the every day affairs of life. It anything conflicts with their responsibilities to the Lord, these responsibilities go lacking.
It seems to be a paradox that many who profess to know the Lord believe they have exercised saving faith and have had their sins forgiven, yet they do not seem to have the faith to turn their lives over to the Lord. Saving faith is a faith that does turn ones life over to the Lord. You can not accept salvation without accepting what goes with it. God plan is that the saved man then lives the rest of his life by faith. Nothing else will please Him. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
The Bible's example of the actions of a saved man has always been that those who receive salvation by trusting in the Lord, live changed lives.
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
Genesis 12:3-4
God made a covenant, (contract) with Abraham. This covenant was an unconditional one. God did not say, "Abraham, if you do certain things, then I will do certain things". God's promise to Abraham was unconditional. God said, "Abraham, I WILL make of thee a great nation, and I WILL bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou SHALT be a blessing: and I WILL bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee: and in thee shall all the families of earth be blessed". Genesis 12:2-3 Note that there is no condition in the covenant for Abraham to fulfill. That is why it is an unconditional covenant. God was promising to do these things and nothing could prevent it.
The Covenant was fourfold:
(1) God would make Abraham's descendants a great nation.
(2) God would bless Abraham materially and make his name great.
(3) God would protect Abraham by blessing those that blessed him
and cursing those that opposed Abraham.
(4) God would bless all the families of the earth through Abraham.
God fulfilled His promise to Abraham:
(1) Abraham's descendants became the nation of Israel. Until this very day the child of Abraham, the Jews have remained an ethnically pure people. They, of all the peoples on earth, are the only people on earth that can make that claim. It seems it would be impossible for a people to remain ethnically pure for four thousand years. And in truth it would be, except that God made an unconditional promise to Abraham. The continuing fulfillment of that covenant can be seen today. The Jews have been scattered all over the earth in every continent. Almost every city in the western world has a population of Jews. For example, many peoples from all over the world have come and settled in the United States. However, most immigrants in a generation or two lose their ethnic identity and become simply "Americans". However, the Jews have remained a pure people and retained they identity as Jews. Clearly God has done this and is keeping His promise made to Abraham.
(2) Abraham was richly blessed materially, and also in his descendants. Although the Jews have suffered great persecutions throughout their history, they are not know as a poor people. They have always been powerful in business and had great economic and political power. Their power in Europe was the cause of Hitler's great hatred of them. At the heart of his plan for a new Germany and Europe was the elimination of all Jews and their influence from Europe. Today, in the United States and Europe, the Jews are very powerful people. They have great economic and political power. Although the present day Israel, is one of the smallest countries on the earth, it is one of the most powerful. Its economic, political and technological power revels even that the USA and the USSR. Surely the hand of God is all this.
Further, the name of Abraham is a world renowned name. He is the father of not only the Jews, but of Christianity, and all the Arab world as well. The three great religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam all look to Abraham as their father. Apart from the Jesus Christ, no name is as well known as that of Abraham.
(3) God promised to bless those that blessed Israel and curse those that cursed them. Every government that has persecuted the Jews has fallen even to modern times. The Russian government, which has had a national policy of persecution of the Jews, is in shambles. However, the United States, who has always been the friend of the nation of Israel, has prospered greatly. No matter how intense has been the persecution of Israel, God has protected them. In 1967, in what is called the Six Day War, the tiny nation of Israel utterly destroyed all the combined efforts the Arab nations which surround them. It has been called one of the greatest military victories in history. Against impossible odds they repelled everything the Arab threw at them. They not only defected these forces, but took great amounts of land including in the south the Gaza Strip to the Nile River, the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. Surely God's protecting hand is upon this small nation.
(4) God also promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham. History shows that the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, changed the whole world. The history of western civilization is the history of the spread of Christianity. Even our calendar dates from the birth of Christ. The moral teaching of Christ and the New Testament, have shaped to a large degree all of western nations. The United States Constitution was based on Biblical standards of morals. Those nations which are identified as "Christian", have prospered greatly.
The greatest value of God's promise has been that through the Lord Jesus, salvation is freely offered to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Today in this the Church Age, God is saving mostly Gentiles. The Gospel is being carried around the world, however, not by the Jews God's chosen people, but by the Gentiles. Truly, among every nation on earth, men have heard the Good News (the meaning of the word "Gospel") and have receive by faith, salvation through Jesus Christ.
We can see that God has kept His promise. Satan, has done all he can to defect the plan of God, yet his efforts have been to no avail. God promise stands and will stand till God's plan is completed.
ABRAHAM BEGINS HIS JOURNEY TO THE PROMISED LAND
Genesis 12:4-6
When God called Abraham he was in Ur of the Chaldees. He then journeyed with his father Terah, Lot his brother's son, and Sarah his wife and traveled east to the city of Haran. Haran was some six hundred miles north east of Ur. We do not know how long Abraham remained in Haran, but he was seventy five years old when he left and then journeyed south toward Canaan. Abraham's father, died in Haran. God had told Abraham to leave his father's house. Genesis 11:31, states that it was Abraham's father Terah who took Abraham and left Ur. It is possible that as long a Terah lived it would have been difficult for Abraham to leave. Following his father Terah, Abraham journeyed, not south toward Canaan, but north west. After his father's death Abraham was free to leave. While in Haran, Abraham appears to have prospered because verse 5, says when he left he took with him, "all their substance that they had gathered and the souls (people) that they had gotten in Haran."
Abraham then journeyed south, with Sarah and Lot, and all the herds and flocks of cattle with those that tended them. Taking Lot with him seems to have been an act of disobedience. God had said he was to leave his family. It was a mistake and caused Abraham great difficulty, nevertheless, in time, God separated Abraham from Lot.
Abraham's southern journey took him through the city of Shechem, unto the tree of Moreh. The New King James Version, translates the phrase "the plain of Moreh", however it is literally translated, the "tree of Moreh". This area is identified as being near modern Nablus, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizum. This is some thirty miles north of Jerusalem, west of the Jordan River in the center of Palestine. The land was occupied by the Canaanites.
GOD REVEALS THAT THIS IS THE PROMISED LAND
Genesis 12:7-8
God appears again to Abraham and tells him that this was the land God would give him and his descendants. Abraham then built an altar and made a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord. Abraham moved again and journeyed about twenty miles south to Bethel. He again built an altar and prayed to God.
ABRAHAM JOURNEYS SOUTH TO EGYPT
Genesis 12:9-20
Because there was a famine in the land of Palestine, it appears God told Abraham to journey further south. Apparently the famine did not reach into Egypt and so Abraham with his herds entered into Egypt.
Abraham at God's direction had traveled a great distance. He had done so believing in God's promises to him. However, upon entering Egypt Abraham's faith waned. Realizing that Sarah was a beautiful woman he became afraid that when the Egyptians saw her they would kill him and take her. She must have been a very beautiful woman.
According the Oriental tradition, a man could kill a husband and take his wife, however, if she was not married, custom demanded that he must deal with her family to have her. Abraham in stating he was her brother was assured that any one wanting Sarah would have to come to him. Genesis 20:10, states that Abraham was telling a half-truth. Sarah was in fact his half sister. This deception of Abraham, was repeated once more by Abraham (Gen. 20:2) and later in Genesis 26:7, by his son Isaac.
Abraham's sin was that he was not trusting God. He had believed the promises of God, yet he waned in trusting God in the everyday affairs of life. He thought he was acting wisely. It appears he did not even take into account what God had promised him. Part of God promise was to bless them that bless Abraham and curse them that cursed him. God had unconditionally promised to protect him.
As Abraham thought, the Egyptians saw Sarah's beauty and she was taken to the Pharaoh's house. The Pharaoh was not bound by the customs and the people, and he simply took Sarah. It is interesting to note that she was sixty five years old. She later died at one hundred and twenty seven years old. She was in the prime of her live when they arrived in Egypt.
Abraham proposed because of the matter, in that the Pharaoh gave him gifts of many cattle. The Pharaoh did not fair well because God sent serious plagues on his residence. The Bible does not say how the Pharaoh knew the source of the plagues, but some how he knew and confronted Abraham about the matter. In Genesis 20:2, when Abraham pulled this dame deception on Ablimelech, the king of Gerar, God spoke to the king and revealed the whole matter to him. Further, the Bible says God prevented Ablimelech, from having relations with Sarah. It is possible that God did the same thing here. The Pharaoh then sent Sarah back to Abraham, and commanded them to leave with all their possessions.
At various times in Abraham's life he sinned and did not live trusting in God's promises. It should be noted that in the New Testament, there is no reference to Abraham's sin. He is presented as an example of faith to be followed. We are not to follow in Abraham's failures, but should pattern our lives after his faith. God forgave him, and greatly used him, however no one should see this as a license to sin. Abraham's conduct was disgraceful as all sin is. The Apostle Paul addressed this issue in writing to the Romans. He said, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2)
God preserved Abraham even when he sinned. This is a picture of God's protection of all believers. God has promised to preserved all believers and we call this the doctrine of "eternal security". When God promised to save all that believe and trust Him as their savior, it was an unconditional promise. He did not base our salvation on us doing something that would merit us His favor. No, in fact He offers salvation free, when we by faith receive it. He saves us and keeps us saved!
END NOTES
1. Halley's Bible Handbook, Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Pub. House, Grand Rapids, page 95.
See too:
http://www.eternallifeministries.org/rm_abraham.htm
http://www.foxlakechurch.org/The%20Call%20of%20Abraham.pdf
With the call of Abram, later named Abraham, God began a people whose descendants are living in ethnic purity to this very day. God had promised that He would send a Deliverer to undo the curse of sin that befell the human race when Adam and Eve sinned.(Gen. 3:15) After Cain killed Abel, God gave them another son whose name, Seth meant "the appointed one". God later choose Noah, a descendent of Seth and a righteous man, to save mankind when God judged the wicked men on the earth in the Great Flood. Through Noah's son Shem, in the ninth generation, God choose another man named Abram (meaning "exalted father") to be in the lineage of Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
God had promised that He would send a Savior and salvation to man. His plan was to call this man Abram, and from him make a great nation of people who would be, not only the people from whom the Messiah would come, but also they would be God's chosen nation, a witness of God to all the earth. (See Deut. 7:7-8, 28:37, Isa. 43:9-10)
THE CITY OF UR
When God called Abram he was in a city in Babylonia, named Ur of the Chaldees. Ur was a very advanced city and was believed to have been founded some five hundred years before the time of Abraham.
Ur, could be compared to a modern city, having libraries, schools, a system of law. It was a rich city and many valuable treasures have been discovered including elaborate jewelry.
The false religion of astrology which was begun at Babel was practiced there as it was in all Babylonia. Abraham's father, Terah according to Joshua 24:2, worshiped idols. Jewish tradition refers to Terah as an idol maker. Ur was an idolatrous city worshiping many different Gods such as the god of fire, moon, sun and stars. Sin was the name of the chief idol deity of Ur. Ningal, was the wife of the moon-god, Sin, and was worshiped as a mother God in many other cities. Ur was a evil and sinful city as can be seen in the worship practices of the moon-goddess, Ningal. Every female in the city at some time in her life would have to take her turn in serving as a priestess prostitute in the temples.(1)
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM
Genesis 12:1
With a father who worshiped idols and a city dedicated to wickedness, Abraham was not raised in the best of environments. Yet, when God called, Abraham believed God and by faith followed God's instructions. Hebrews 10:8, states that: "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whether he went."
Abraham heard the voice of God. There is no hint that when God spoke to him that he questioned who God was. Further, he did not confuse the voice of God with the idols and false Gods that his father worshiped. He knew who was speaking to him. It is apparent that he believed that it was God that was speaking to him and because it was God, he believed the promise that God made to him. Abraham's call was a call to salvation and a call to service. God called Abraham to eternal life. A new life that began when he by faith trusted God's Word to him. "Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) The call to salvation is a call to a new life. Many miss this truth. Before Abraham, could accept the promises of God he had to believe God and receive eternal life. Hebrews 11:8, says, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." Abraham first exercised saving faith and the evidence of his having saving faith was that he trusted what God said. God told him to leave his country, his relatives and his father's house and go to a land that He would show him. Abraham's faith was tested and proven in that he did what God said. He showed his faith, by putting his trust in the Lord, and acting upon God's word.
Abraham's life was changed! His trust in God set him on a new course for his life. It is that way for one who believes today and receives eternal life by believing God and trusting in God's son the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is set on a new road. The old road, marked by a life of sin and self serving, is abandoned! The new road is one of believing, obedience and serving God, by serving others. Years ago, after preaching a message on this very subject of a Christian's service to others as God's instrument, an unfaithful church member became very offended at being called a servant. He said he was a child of God, a son of God, and not a servant! I replied that one could not be a child of God without being a servant. So many miss this truth. God's called to salvation is a call to a changed life. God's call is to a new life of serving God. Many profess to know Christ and have eternal life yet, absent from their lives is commitment and service. Being a Christian to many is a Sunday affair. During the week, it is business as usual. In everyday life service to the Lord takes a back seat to the every day affairs of life. It anything conflicts with their responsibilities to the Lord, these responsibilities go lacking.
It seems to be a paradox that many who profess to know the Lord believe they have exercised saving faith and have had their sins forgiven, yet they do not seem to have the faith to turn their lives over to the Lord. Saving faith is a faith that does turn ones life over to the Lord. You can not accept salvation without accepting what goes with it. God plan is that the saved man then lives the rest of his life by faith. Nothing else will please Him. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
The Bible's example of the actions of a saved man has always been that those who receive salvation by trusting in the Lord, live changed lives.
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
Genesis 12:3-4
God made a covenant, (contract) with Abraham. This covenant was an unconditional one. God did not say, "Abraham, if you do certain things, then I will do certain things". God's promise to Abraham was unconditional. God said, "Abraham, I WILL make of thee a great nation, and I WILL bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou SHALT be a blessing: and I WILL bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee: and in thee shall all the families of earth be blessed". Genesis 12:2-3 Note that there is no condition in the covenant for Abraham to fulfill. That is why it is an unconditional covenant. God was promising to do these things and nothing could prevent it.
The Covenant was fourfold:
(1) God would make Abraham's descendants a great nation.
(2) God would bless Abraham materially and make his name great.
(3) God would protect Abraham by blessing those that blessed him
and cursing those that opposed Abraham.
(4) God would bless all the families of the earth through Abraham.
God fulfilled His promise to Abraham:
(1) Abraham's descendants became the nation of Israel. Until this very day the child of Abraham, the Jews have remained an ethnically pure people. They, of all the peoples on earth, are the only people on earth that can make that claim. It seems it would be impossible for a people to remain ethnically pure for four thousand years. And in truth it would be, except that God made an unconditional promise to Abraham. The continuing fulfillment of that covenant can be seen today. The Jews have been scattered all over the earth in every continent. Almost every city in the western world has a population of Jews. For example, many peoples from all over the world have come and settled in the United States. However, most immigrants in a generation or two lose their ethnic identity and become simply "Americans". However, the Jews have remained a pure people and retained they identity as Jews. Clearly God has done this and is keeping His promise made to Abraham.
(2) Abraham was richly blessed materially, and also in his descendants. Although the Jews have suffered great persecutions throughout their history, they are not know as a poor people. They have always been powerful in business and had great economic and political power. Their power in Europe was the cause of Hitler's great hatred of them. At the heart of his plan for a new Germany and Europe was the elimination of all Jews and their influence from Europe. Today, in the United States and Europe, the Jews are very powerful people. They have great economic and political power. Although the present day Israel, is one of the smallest countries on the earth, it is one of the most powerful. Its economic, political and technological power revels even that the USA and the USSR. Surely the hand of God is all this.
Further, the name of Abraham is a world renowned name. He is the father of not only the Jews, but of Christianity, and all the Arab world as well. The three great religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam all look to Abraham as their father. Apart from the Jesus Christ, no name is as well known as that of Abraham.
(3) God promised to bless those that blessed Israel and curse those that cursed them. Every government that has persecuted the Jews has fallen even to modern times. The Russian government, which has had a national policy of persecution of the Jews, is in shambles. However, the United States, who has always been the friend of the nation of Israel, has prospered greatly. No matter how intense has been the persecution of Israel, God has protected them. In 1967, in what is called the Six Day War, the tiny nation of Israel utterly destroyed all the combined efforts the Arab nations which surround them. It has been called one of the greatest military victories in history. Against impossible odds they repelled everything the Arab threw at them. They not only defected these forces, but took great amounts of land including in the south the Gaza Strip to the Nile River, the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. Surely God's protecting hand is upon this small nation.
(4) God also promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham. History shows that the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, changed the whole world. The history of western civilization is the history of the spread of Christianity. Even our calendar dates from the birth of Christ. The moral teaching of Christ and the New Testament, have shaped to a large degree all of western nations. The United States Constitution was based on Biblical standards of morals. Those nations which are identified as "Christian", have prospered greatly.
The greatest value of God's promise has been that through the Lord Jesus, salvation is freely offered to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Today in this the Church Age, God is saving mostly Gentiles. The Gospel is being carried around the world, however, not by the Jews God's chosen people, but by the Gentiles. Truly, among every nation on earth, men have heard the Good News (the meaning of the word "Gospel") and have receive by faith, salvation through Jesus Christ.
We can see that God has kept His promise. Satan, has done all he can to defect the plan of God, yet his efforts have been to no avail. God promise stands and will stand till God's plan is completed.
ABRAHAM BEGINS HIS JOURNEY TO THE PROMISED LAND
Genesis 12:4-6
When God called Abraham he was in Ur of the Chaldees. He then journeyed with his father Terah, Lot his brother's son, and Sarah his wife and traveled east to the city of Haran. Haran was some six hundred miles north east of Ur. We do not know how long Abraham remained in Haran, but he was seventy five years old when he left and then journeyed south toward Canaan. Abraham's father, died in Haran. God had told Abraham to leave his father's house. Genesis 11:31, states that it was Abraham's father Terah who took Abraham and left Ur. It is possible that as long a Terah lived it would have been difficult for Abraham to leave. Following his father Terah, Abraham journeyed, not south toward Canaan, but north west. After his father's death Abraham was free to leave. While in Haran, Abraham appears to have prospered because verse 5, says when he left he took with him, "all their substance that they had gathered and the souls (people) that they had gotten in Haran."
Abraham then journeyed south, with Sarah and Lot, and all the herds and flocks of cattle with those that tended them. Taking Lot with him seems to have been an act of disobedience. God had said he was to leave his family. It was a mistake and caused Abraham great difficulty, nevertheless, in time, God separated Abraham from Lot.
Abraham's southern journey took him through the city of Shechem, unto the tree of Moreh. The New King James Version, translates the phrase "the plain of Moreh", however it is literally translated, the "tree of Moreh". This area is identified as being near modern Nablus, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizum. This is some thirty miles north of Jerusalem, west of the Jordan River in the center of Palestine. The land was occupied by the Canaanites.
GOD REVEALS THAT THIS IS THE PROMISED LAND
Genesis 12:7-8
God appears again to Abraham and tells him that this was the land God would give him and his descendants. Abraham then built an altar and made a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord. Abraham moved again and journeyed about twenty miles south to Bethel. He again built an altar and prayed to God.
ABRAHAM JOURNEYS SOUTH TO EGYPT
Genesis 12:9-20
Because there was a famine in the land of Palestine, it appears God told Abraham to journey further south. Apparently the famine did not reach into Egypt and so Abraham with his herds entered into Egypt.
Abraham at God's direction had traveled a great distance. He had done so believing in God's promises to him. However, upon entering Egypt Abraham's faith waned. Realizing that Sarah was a beautiful woman he became afraid that when the Egyptians saw her they would kill him and take her. She must have been a very beautiful woman.
According the Oriental tradition, a man could kill a husband and take his wife, however, if she was not married, custom demanded that he must deal with her family to have her. Abraham in stating he was her brother was assured that any one wanting Sarah would have to come to him. Genesis 20:10, states that Abraham was telling a half-truth. Sarah was in fact his half sister. This deception of Abraham, was repeated once more by Abraham (Gen. 20:2) and later in Genesis 26:7, by his son Isaac.
Abraham's sin was that he was not trusting God. He had believed the promises of God, yet he waned in trusting God in the everyday affairs of life. He thought he was acting wisely. It appears he did not even take into account what God had promised him. Part of God promise was to bless them that bless Abraham and curse them that cursed him. God had unconditionally promised to protect him.
As Abraham thought, the Egyptians saw Sarah's beauty and she was taken to the Pharaoh's house. The Pharaoh was not bound by the customs and the people, and he simply took Sarah. It is interesting to note that she was sixty five years old. She later died at one hundred and twenty seven years old. She was in the prime of her live when they arrived in Egypt.
Abraham proposed because of the matter, in that the Pharaoh gave him gifts of many cattle. The Pharaoh did not fair well because God sent serious plagues on his residence. The Bible does not say how the Pharaoh knew the source of the plagues, but some how he knew and confronted Abraham about the matter. In Genesis 20:2, when Abraham pulled this dame deception on Ablimelech, the king of Gerar, God spoke to the king and revealed the whole matter to him. Further, the Bible says God prevented Ablimelech, from having relations with Sarah. It is possible that God did the same thing here. The Pharaoh then sent Sarah back to Abraham, and commanded them to leave with all their possessions.
At various times in Abraham's life he sinned and did not live trusting in God's promises. It should be noted that in the New Testament, there is no reference to Abraham's sin. He is presented as an example of faith to be followed. We are not to follow in Abraham's failures, but should pattern our lives after his faith. God forgave him, and greatly used him, however no one should see this as a license to sin. Abraham's conduct was disgraceful as all sin is. The Apostle Paul addressed this issue in writing to the Romans. He said, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:1-2)
God preserved Abraham even when he sinned. This is a picture of God's protection of all believers. God has promised to preserved all believers and we call this the doctrine of "eternal security". When God promised to save all that believe and trust Him as their savior, it was an unconditional promise. He did not base our salvation on us doing something that would merit us His favor. No, in fact He offers salvation free, when we by faith receive it. He saves us and keeps us saved!
END NOTES
1. Halley's Bible Handbook, Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Pub. House, Grand Rapids, page 95.
See too:
http://www.eternallifeministries.org/rm_abraham.htm
http://www.foxlakechurch.org/The%20Call%20of%20Abraham.pdf
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM (Genesis 12:1-9)
Rarely does one individual turn the tide of history. Among those few whose lives have proven to be pivotal in the human experience was a man named Abraham. This figure from the ancient past has impacted the spiritual landscape for over four thousand years, reaching into the lives of people in three different faith systems.
What was it that made Abraham such a significant player on the human stage? In a word, faith. Abraham, or as he was originally named, Abram (“exalted father”), first appears in the Scriptures in Genesis 11:26-32 as the son of Terah and husband of Sarai. He was a resident of the city of Ur in the land of the Chaldeans near the modern Persian Gulf. A brief scan of other Scripture passages shows us that Abraham’s father was a pagan idolater (Joshua 24:2) who apparently became a devotee of the true and living God (Genesis 31:53), possibly through his son’s influence.
God appeared to Abraham in Ur and instructed him to leave that land in favor of a new, promised land (Acts 7:2-3). Abraham believed God’s promise and, by faith, ventured forth as a spiritual pilgrim (Hebrews 11:8-10). As such, Abraham became an example to all who seek God, the God we can encounter only through faith.
Abraham’s story begins in earnest in Genesis 12:1-9, where we read about God’s covenant to which Abraham responded with obedience and worship. From these opening pages of Abraham’s story we learn that God wants us to believe Him, to take Him at His word, to engage in a living relationship with Him through faith.
The Covenant: Faith prompts us to listen to God (12:1-3). God spoke to Abraham. More specifically, God appeared to Abraham (Acts 7:2-3). This took place while Abraham was still a resident of Ur. Ur was a magnificent city in Abraham’s day, one of the few centers of advanced civilization. Leaving Ur meant that Abraham would have to make some significant sacrifices. However, Ur was also a center of pagan idolatry.
God wanted Abraham to forsake this idolatrous setting. Therefore, He instructed Abraham to leave Ur. Furthermore, God promised to bless Abraham in an unusual way. He established an unconditional covenant with Abraham. God spoke, and Abraham listened. The Lord God instructed Abram to separate himself and go to an undisclosed land (12:1). Genesis 11:27-32 informs us that Abraham’s father and family migrated from Ur to the city of Haran in Mesopotamia. There they lingered for an unstated period of time until Terah’s death. Abraham then continued his journey in obedience to God’s command.
The Lord, Yahweh God, had instructed Abraham to separate himself. Specifically, God told Abraham to leave his homeland, to leave his kindred or extended clan, and to leave his father’s house or more immediate relatives.
Separation is an element of faith, particularly when it comes to separation from sin and from people who might entice us into sin. God commanded Abraham to make a clean break with his past in order to enjoy a new future with Him. Abraham’s new future would include a new location, a land that God would eventually reveal to him. The text makes it clear that when Abraham set out in obedience to God, he didn’t know his final destination.
God chose to reveal that land of promise to Abraham only after Abraham began his faith journey. We rarely know the end of our faith journey at the beginning. The Lord God promised to bless Abram, making him into a great nation and giving him a great name (12:2).
God announced His covenant to Abraham, a covenant that wasn’t conditioned on Abraham’s obedience. Abraham would only enjoy the benefits of that covenant, however, if he did respond to God and leave his homeland. In this great Abrahamic Covenant, God promised the patriarch a great heritage. God would make Abraham into a great nation. So far Abraham had no children, and his wife Sarah was unable to conceive (Genesis 11:30).
In order for Abraham to become a great nation, God would have to accomplish a great miracle. God promised to further bless Abraham and give him a great name. This means that Abraham would become renowned throughout history, as indeed his name has come to be known by so many men and women of faith. God would bless Abraham personally, giving him an extensive heritage and an impressive reputation. In this way, Abraham would be a blessing to others. The Lord God promised to bless others through Abram, extending this blessing to all people on earth (12:3).
Abraham would not be the only recipient of God’s blessing as a result of this grand covenant. God promised that those who bless Abraham will themselves be blessed. When we honor Abraham and his descendants, the Jewish people, we enter into the place of God’s blessing. In contrast, those who despise Abraham and his descendants fall under God’s curse. Furthermore, God promised that all families, or people groups, on earth would be blessed through Abraham. God’s covenant with Abraham was a significant step in His redemptive plan. Because of His love for His fallen people, God designed a plan to redeem us from our sins. That redemption, that blessing, would come through Abraham.
Today we know that through Abraham’s ultimate descendant, Jesus Christ, all people can enter into the blessings of God. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and restore us to fellowship with God. That saving work of Christ is available to all.
When we believe, as Abraham believed the promise of God, we enter into the blessing of God’s covenant. God spoke to Abraham and He has more recently spoken to us through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Abraham listened for God’s voice. We, too, must listen to the truth of God through His Son and through His Word. In Jesus Christ we can enter into the manifold blessing of God. The Journey: Faith prompts us to obey God (12:4-5). By faith Abraham listened to the voice of God, and by faith he obeyed. He entered into both a physical and a spiritual journey. The physical journey took Abraham from Ur, through Haran, to the land of Canaan. The spiritual journey, lasting a lifetime, took Abraham to a better, heavenly abode (Hebrews 11:13-16).
Abram left his homeland at an advanced age in obedience to God (12:4). Genesis 12:4 states that Abraham was seventy-five years old when he began his faith journey. We’re never too old to start fresh with God! Abraham left Ur just as God had instructed. After his father Terah died in Haran, Abraham continued his journey.
Abraham’s brother Nahor and Nahor’s family stayed in Haran. Abraham, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and a number of servants associated with Abraham left Haran to find their new home wherever God would lead them. Lot is specifically mentioned twice in this passage. Some have concluded that Lot’s presence was an indication of Abraham’s merely partial obedience, since God had commanded Abraham to separate from his family. However, the Scriptures never assign guilt to Abraham for including Lot. The fact that Abraham took Lot with him may, in fact, speak more to the patriarch’s tenderness and selflessness. After all, Lot’s father—Abraham’s brother—had died, and Abraham may have become a spiritual mentor to his nephew. The thrust of Genesis 12:4 is clearly the obedience of Abraham. Abraham left “as the Lord had told him.” Abraham listened to God’s voice and by faith obeyed. Abram took his wife, his household, and his possessions to the land of Canaan (12:5). Journeying south and west from Haran, Abraham, Sarah, Lot, and Abraham’s servants took all their possessions to the land of Canaan.
Abraham had apparently accumulated a great deal of wealth during his lifetime. He had also acquired a sizeable entourage of servants. Later, in Genesis 14:14, we read that Abraham had 318 trained men who were born in his household and who served as a small army when needed. Abraham must have had a great number of servants. In fact, many of his servants may have been more than mere servants. They may have embraced the God whom Abraham served by faith. Abraham, his wife, his nephew, and his host of servants journeyed to the land of Canaan. They were sojourners, anticipating God’s promised blessing in a land that was yet unknown to them. As it turns out, God would grant Abraham the land of Canaan.
The Altar: Faith prompts us to worship God (12:6-9). Abraham was truly a man of faith. By faith he listened to God. By faith he obeyed God. By faith he worshiped God among strangers in a strange land. Abram sojourned in pagan Canaanite territory until he reached the village of Shechem (12:6). Having arrived in the land of Canaan, Abraham and his entourage journeyed through the central hill country to the village of Shechem. Shechem at this time was probably a sizeable community. It was a center of Canaanite culture, as this verse indicates. Near Shechem, apparently, was a great tree that may have become associated with a local pagan cult. The mention of this tree coupled with the reference to the Canaanites in this verse seems to emphasize the contrast between the pagan worship of the local residents and Abraham’s faith in the true and living God.
Our faith journey will likely take us into the territory of unbelievers, but our faith need not waver. God is greater than any object of devotion that may capture the imaginations of the people around us. The Lord God appeared to Abram and promised to give him the land of Canaan (12:7a). It was in the midst of Canaan’s pagan society that God chose to break His lengthy silence and once again speak words of encouragement to Abraham. It was at Shechem that the Lord, Yahweh, appeared to Abraham for a second time. In that self-revelation God assured Abraham, promising to give his offspring the land in which he had recently arrived.
Canaan was to be the land of promise for the people of promise. Abram built an altar to the Lord God at Shechem (12:7b). Having once again heard the voice of God, Abraham built an altar, a place of worship. This altar was dedicated to the worship of Yahweh God in contrast to the gods of the Canaanites. It was Yahweh who had spoken to Abraham back in Ur. It was Yahweh who had promised to make Abraham into a great nation and to bless all nations through him. It was Yahweh who had again spoken to Abraham, promising him the land of Canaan for his descendants. Abraham had obeyed Yahweh God, and now Abraham paused to build an altar and worship this God.
Abram traveled to the village of Bethel where he built another altar to the Lord God and proclaimed His name (12:8). Even though God spoke to Abraham at Shechem, Shechem could never be the final stopping place for this spiritual nomad. Abraham would always be on the move. For one hundred years Abraham would sojourn in this land of promise, never establishing a permanent residence because he had set his sights on a heavenly home (Hebrews 11:13-16). So Abraham left Shechem and journeyed south to the hills of Bethel near Ai. Bethel means literally “the house of God.” There Abraham pitched his tent for a time. There he again built an altar to Yahweh God. Abraham sensed that wherever he went, God was with him. Abraham’s tent—a sign of his unsettled, pilgrim way of life—was accompanied by an altar—a sign of his faith in God. At Bethel Abraham “called on the name of the Lord,” referring to an act of public worship. The phrase could be interpreted to mean that Abraham proclaimed the name of Yawheh, publicly declaring his allegiance to Yahweh God in contrast to the pagan gods of the neighboring Canaanites.
Abraham was a man of faith, and his faith was no private matter. Those who came to know Abraham would have come to know about his God. Abram continued to sojourn in southern Canaan (12:9). Abraham eventually left Bethel and moved farther south toward the region known as the Negev. Although unstated, we could understand the pattern there to be the same as that at Shechem and Bethel. Abraham likely pitched his tent and built another altar to the Lord God. He was, after all, a man of worship, a man of faith.
By faith Abraham had listened to the voice of God, obeyed the command of God, and engaged in the worship of God. He would also enjoy the blessings of God. God would indeed make Abraham into a great nation, give him a great name, bless him, and bless others through him. It’s impossible to imagine human history without the spiritual influence of Abraham. Abraham’s example teaches us to believe God and to engage in a living relationship with Him through faith.
What was it that made Abraham such a significant player on the human stage? In a word, faith. Abraham, or as he was originally named, Abram (“exalted father”), first appears in the Scriptures in Genesis 11:26-32 as the son of Terah and husband of Sarai. He was a resident of the city of Ur in the land of the Chaldeans near the modern Persian Gulf. A brief scan of other Scripture passages shows us that Abraham’s father was a pagan idolater (Joshua 24:2) who apparently became a devotee of the true and living God (Genesis 31:53), possibly through his son’s influence.
God appeared to Abraham in Ur and instructed him to leave that land in favor of a new, promised land (Acts 7:2-3). Abraham believed God’s promise and, by faith, ventured forth as a spiritual pilgrim (Hebrews 11:8-10). As such, Abraham became an example to all who seek God, the God we can encounter only through faith.
Abraham’s story begins in earnest in Genesis 12:1-9, where we read about God’s covenant to which Abraham responded with obedience and worship. From these opening pages of Abraham’s story we learn that God wants us to believe Him, to take Him at His word, to engage in a living relationship with Him through faith.
The Covenant: Faith prompts us to listen to God (12:1-3). God spoke to Abraham. More specifically, God appeared to Abraham (Acts 7:2-3). This took place while Abraham was still a resident of Ur. Ur was a magnificent city in Abraham’s day, one of the few centers of advanced civilization. Leaving Ur meant that Abraham would have to make some significant sacrifices. However, Ur was also a center of pagan idolatry.
God wanted Abraham to forsake this idolatrous setting. Therefore, He instructed Abraham to leave Ur. Furthermore, God promised to bless Abraham in an unusual way. He established an unconditional covenant with Abraham. God spoke, and Abraham listened. The Lord God instructed Abram to separate himself and go to an undisclosed land (12:1). Genesis 11:27-32 informs us that Abraham’s father and family migrated from Ur to the city of Haran in Mesopotamia. There they lingered for an unstated period of time until Terah’s death. Abraham then continued his journey in obedience to God’s command.
The Lord, Yahweh God, had instructed Abraham to separate himself. Specifically, God told Abraham to leave his homeland, to leave his kindred or extended clan, and to leave his father’s house or more immediate relatives.
Separation is an element of faith, particularly when it comes to separation from sin and from people who might entice us into sin. God commanded Abraham to make a clean break with his past in order to enjoy a new future with Him. Abraham’s new future would include a new location, a land that God would eventually reveal to him. The text makes it clear that when Abraham set out in obedience to God, he didn’t know his final destination.
God chose to reveal that land of promise to Abraham only after Abraham began his faith journey. We rarely know the end of our faith journey at the beginning. The Lord God promised to bless Abram, making him into a great nation and giving him a great name (12:2).
God announced His covenant to Abraham, a covenant that wasn’t conditioned on Abraham’s obedience. Abraham would only enjoy the benefits of that covenant, however, if he did respond to God and leave his homeland. In this great Abrahamic Covenant, God promised the patriarch a great heritage. God would make Abraham into a great nation. So far Abraham had no children, and his wife Sarah was unable to conceive (Genesis 11:30).
In order for Abraham to become a great nation, God would have to accomplish a great miracle. God promised to further bless Abraham and give him a great name. This means that Abraham would become renowned throughout history, as indeed his name has come to be known by so many men and women of faith. God would bless Abraham personally, giving him an extensive heritage and an impressive reputation. In this way, Abraham would be a blessing to others. The Lord God promised to bless others through Abram, extending this blessing to all people on earth (12:3).
Abraham would not be the only recipient of God’s blessing as a result of this grand covenant. God promised that those who bless Abraham will themselves be blessed. When we honor Abraham and his descendants, the Jewish people, we enter into the place of God’s blessing. In contrast, those who despise Abraham and his descendants fall under God’s curse. Furthermore, God promised that all families, or people groups, on earth would be blessed through Abraham. God’s covenant with Abraham was a significant step in His redemptive plan. Because of His love for His fallen people, God designed a plan to redeem us from our sins. That redemption, that blessing, would come through Abraham.
Today we know that through Abraham’s ultimate descendant, Jesus Christ, all people can enter into the blessings of God. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and restore us to fellowship with God. That saving work of Christ is available to all.
When we believe, as Abraham believed the promise of God, we enter into the blessing of God’s covenant. God spoke to Abraham and He has more recently spoken to us through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Abraham listened for God’s voice. We, too, must listen to the truth of God through His Son and through His Word. In Jesus Christ we can enter into the manifold blessing of God. The Journey: Faith prompts us to obey God (12:4-5). By faith Abraham listened to the voice of God, and by faith he obeyed. He entered into both a physical and a spiritual journey. The physical journey took Abraham from Ur, through Haran, to the land of Canaan. The spiritual journey, lasting a lifetime, took Abraham to a better, heavenly abode (Hebrews 11:13-16).
Abram left his homeland at an advanced age in obedience to God (12:4). Genesis 12:4 states that Abraham was seventy-five years old when he began his faith journey. We’re never too old to start fresh with God! Abraham left Ur just as God had instructed. After his father Terah died in Haran, Abraham continued his journey.
Abraham’s brother Nahor and Nahor’s family stayed in Haran. Abraham, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and a number of servants associated with Abraham left Haran to find their new home wherever God would lead them. Lot is specifically mentioned twice in this passage. Some have concluded that Lot’s presence was an indication of Abraham’s merely partial obedience, since God had commanded Abraham to separate from his family. However, the Scriptures never assign guilt to Abraham for including Lot. The fact that Abraham took Lot with him may, in fact, speak more to the patriarch’s tenderness and selflessness. After all, Lot’s father—Abraham’s brother—had died, and Abraham may have become a spiritual mentor to his nephew. The thrust of Genesis 12:4 is clearly the obedience of Abraham. Abraham left “as the Lord had told him.” Abraham listened to God’s voice and by faith obeyed. Abram took his wife, his household, and his possessions to the land of Canaan (12:5). Journeying south and west from Haran, Abraham, Sarah, Lot, and Abraham’s servants took all their possessions to the land of Canaan.
Abraham had apparently accumulated a great deal of wealth during his lifetime. He had also acquired a sizeable entourage of servants. Later, in Genesis 14:14, we read that Abraham had 318 trained men who were born in his household and who served as a small army when needed. Abraham must have had a great number of servants. In fact, many of his servants may have been more than mere servants. They may have embraced the God whom Abraham served by faith. Abraham, his wife, his nephew, and his host of servants journeyed to the land of Canaan. They were sojourners, anticipating God’s promised blessing in a land that was yet unknown to them. As it turns out, God would grant Abraham the land of Canaan.
The Altar: Faith prompts us to worship God (12:6-9). Abraham was truly a man of faith. By faith he listened to God. By faith he obeyed God. By faith he worshiped God among strangers in a strange land. Abram sojourned in pagan Canaanite territory until he reached the village of Shechem (12:6). Having arrived in the land of Canaan, Abraham and his entourage journeyed through the central hill country to the village of Shechem. Shechem at this time was probably a sizeable community. It was a center of Canaanite culture, as this verse indicates. Near Shechem, apparently, was a great tree that may have become associated with a local pagan cult. The mention of this tree coupled with the reference to the Canaanites in this verse seems to emphasize the contrast between the pagan worship of the local residents and Abraham’s faith in the true and living God.
Our faith journey will likely take us into the territory of unbelievers, but our faith need not waver. God is greater than any object of devotion that may capture the imaginations of the people around us. The Lord God appeared to Abram and promised to give him the land of Canaan (12:7a). It was in the midst of Canaan’s pagan society that God chose to break His lengthy silence and once again speak words of encouragement to Abraham. It was at Shechem that the Lord, Yahweh, appeared to Abraham for a second time. In that self-revelation God assured Abraham, promising to give his offspring the land in which he had recently arrived.
Canaan was to be the land of promise for the people of promise. Abram built an altar to the Lord God at Shechem (12:7b). Having once again heard the voice of God, Abraham built an altar, a place of worship. This altar was dedicated to the worship of Yahweh God in contrast to the gods of the Canaanites. It was Yahweh who had spoken to Abraham back in Ur. It was Yahweh who had promised to make Abraham into a great nation and to bless all nations through him. It was Yahweh who had again spoken to Abraham, promising him the land of Canaan for his descendants. Abraham had obeyed Yahweh God, and now Abraham paused to build an altar and worship this God.
Abram traveled to the village of Bethel where he built another altar to the Lord God and proclaimed His name (12:8). Even though God spoke to Abraham at Shechem, Shechem could never be the final stopping place for this spiritual nomad. Abraham would always be on the move. For one hundred years Abraham would sojourn in this land of promise, never establishing a permanent residence because he had set his sights on a heavenly home (Hebrews 11:13-16). So Abraham left Shechem and journeyed south to the hills of Bethel near Ai. Bethel means literally “the house of God.” There Abraham pitched his tent for a time. There he again built an altar to Yahweh God. Abraham sensed that wherever he went, God was with him. Abraham’s tent—a sign of his unsettled, pilgrim way of life—was accompanied by an altar—a sign of his faith in God. At Bethel Abraham “called on the name of the Lord,” referring to an act of public worship. The phrase could be interpreted to mean that Abraham proclaimed the name of Yawheh, publicly declaring his allegiance to Yahweh God in contrast to the pagan gods of the neighboring Canaanites.
Abraham was a man of faith, and his faith was no private matter. Those who came to know Abraham would have come to know about his God. Abram continued to sojourn in southern Canaan (12:9). Abraham eventually left Bethel and moved farther south toward the region known as the Negev. Although unstated, we could understand the pattern there to be the same as that at Shechem and Bethel. Abraham likely pitched his tent and built another altar to the Lord God. He was, after all, a man of worship, a man of faith.
By faith Abraham had listened to the voice of God, obeyed the command of God, and engaged in the worship of God. He would also enjoy the blessings of God. God would indeed make Abraham into a great nation, give him a great name, bless him, and bless others through him. It’s impossible to imagine human history without the spiritual influence of Abraham. Abraham’s example teaches us to believe God and to engage in a living relationship with Him through faith.
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