Introduction. Abram
had heard and responded to the Call of God to leave
his country and to go to a land, which He would
show him. We noted, "The Singularity of this
Call, The Clarity of this Call, as he was to leave,
not only his country, but his father's house as
well.
We also noted the
reality of a Covenant Promise, which related to
this call. It was Individual, National, and Universal
Blessing would be Abram's portion because of his
obedience to God.
But as Abram's new
adventure with God was just beginning, his initial
obedience was only partial, for we find Abram wasting
time in Haran…For six years he lived in a barren
place because he did not sever the ties of the flesh;
he took His father and Lot with him.
Then, after his father
Terah died, Abram was once more on the move "Walking
By Faith" until he arrived in the land of Promise.
We see him "Worshipping & Witnessing"
as he builds an altar and called on the name of
his God. He pitched his Tent and built an altar.
A tent and Altar, this was all that Abram had. To
the end of his life, he was what man called a "Nomad".
But this man was
now walking with God on the path of Faith, learning
more of the great attributes of the God, who had
called him out of darkness into the light of His
Salvation. Back in the land of Chaldees, Abram's
brother Nahor built a city and called it after his
own name. The World may have considered Nahor a
great success and Abram a great failure, but with
God it was the other way around. Abram was the real
success.
Nahor's name means
"Snoring" I am reminded that this man
was asleep, and unconscious, to his spiritual need.
The old nature, which man has inherited from Adam,
delights itself in outward things; it settles downs
comfortably in this world, asleep to the danger
the soul faces without a saving faith in Christ.
On the other hand,
the believer has been aroused to his need before
God, and has, through faith, received the spirit
of Christ. He is now a Pilgrim and a stranger in
this world, with no permanent dwelling place. Yet,
he has all that he needs " A tent and an Altar"
Abram, openly acknowledges
his God, he recognises His Presence and he directed
his worship towards Him, approaching Him with sacrifices
and praise, abiding in close fellowship with Him
.
Abram was dwelling in the place of real blessing,
but soon he was to learn that the path of a separated
man is never an easy one
Gen 12:9 And Abram
journeyed, going on still toward the south.
Gen 12:10 And there
was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into
Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous
in the land.
Suddenly Abram's
circumstances changed, for this is ever a changing
world. The dark cloud of famine had appeared in
the sky of Abram's Faith. His first test has arrived
a famine in the land of promise.
This famine constituted
a new experience for Abram. As far as we know, he
had never experienced a Famine before, either in
Ur, or in Haran. Imagine what might have been going
through his mind "I came all this way for this!
I thought that this was going to be a land of Blessing".
1. The Pressure Upon
Abram
The rains, which
usually fell in the latter part of the year, had
failed; the crops were burned up long before the
harvest time. There was no grass to feed the flocks,
and precious little water to drink. We can well
imagine the complaining and the murmuring Abram
would have had to listen to, from those who were
close to him; even his servants and herdsmen would
have brought pressure to bear upon him.
No doubt Carnal Lot
would have made his voice heard. Uncle Abram, you
were out of your mind to leave our own country to
travel to this unknown land. Now we are going to
perish and its all your fault!
Abram you obeyed
this new God whom none has ever seen. One who was
full of promises but He has failed to deliver. We
are going to perish along with the livestock".
Yes, Abram would have had to listen to a lot of
complaints from those who had travelled with him
from Ur.
Then Abram would
have had to listen to the taunts of the Canaanites
who dwelt in the land.
"Where is your God now, this invisible God
to whom you offer sacrifices, build Altars and worship"
Where is the God that you say, brought you to this
land?
After having travelled
all the way across the desert, Abram now faced the
danger of being wiped out in the land, where God
had promised to bless him.
A stranger in a strange land surrounded by a strange
and hostile people. He also had the responsibility
of vast flocks of flocks and herds and now he was
faced with disaster!
Had Abram made a
great mistake? How would we have reacted in such
a Crisis? How did Abram react? Abram went down into
Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous
in the land.
Abram took decisive
action. He went down into Egypt, but he not only
went down geographically he went down spiritually.
His place of departure was Bethel (the house of
God) he left his Altar, his place of Worship.
He acted on his own
initiative. He had not consulted God as to what
he should do and this was the root cause of all
the evil, which followed. He had now forsaken the
"Path of Faith" he was out of step with
God and soon he found himself in the depths of lying,
compromise, disobedience and dishonour.
Forsaking the path
of Faith, for whatever reason, always brings complications.
A whole series of events now followed in Abram's
experience, which stemmed from his lack of trust
in God.
There were two things
that Abram did not expect to find in the land of
Canaan---the Canaanites and the Famine--- but both
of these were there in the Sovereign purpose of
God, to test his Faith. Abram failed his first test
and he went down into Egypt. It is always a downward
path when one gets out of step with the Lord.
The land of Egypt,
in scripture, is often symbolic of the world, a
world which is no friend of Grace.
Isa 31:1 Woe to them
that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses,
and trust in chariots, because they are many; and
in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they
look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek
the LORD!
Abram, in his hour
of crisis failed to look to the Holy One! Instead
of saying, "although, there is plenty in the
land of Egypt, I will stay in the place where the
Lord has brought me, I will remain here until He
tells me to move on! I will trust Him to meet my
need during this time of famine".
Abram took his eyes
of the Lord and he went down, straying away from
his God. After his seasons of communion and fellowship
with the Lord, after his mountain top experience
with God, Abram soon found himself a backslider.
The Ephesians strayed out of the "Will of God"
by leaving their first love! Beloved, Believers
who are in the Egypt of bondage today, know deep
in their hearts, that they have left their Bethel.
They have left the house of God, the Altar, the
place of worship and communion with God.
Robert Robinson had
been saved out of a tempestuous life of sin, through
George Whitefield's ministry in England. Shortly
after that, at the age of twenty-three, Robinson
wrote the hymn.
Come, Thou Fount
of every blessing,
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Sadly, Robinson wandered
far from those streams and, like the Prodigal Son,
journeyed into the distant country of carnality.
Until one day -- he was travelling by stagecoach
and sitting beside a young woman engrossed in her
book. She read out a verse she thought was beautiful
and asked him what he thought of it.
Prone to wander --
Lord, I feel it --
Prone to leave the God I love.
Bursting into tears,
Robinson said, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy
man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would
give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy
the feelings I had then."
How easy it is for any of us to stray away from
the Lord and to lean upon our own understanding
in times of trial. Abram's mind was focused on the
Famine and he had forgotten the promises of God.
The One, who would
feed his descendants in the wilderness with Manna
from heaven, would also have feed him during the
famine. The One who ordered the birds of Prey the
Ravens, to bring meat to Elijah while he was at
the Brook Cherith, would have provided for Abram.
The One, who fed the five thousand with five Barley
loaves and two small fish, could also have fed the
father of the faithful and his travelling companions.
Friends, in New Testament
language, Abram needed to learn, what we must continue
to learn as we travel the Path of Faith. It is the
teaching of the Lord Jesus.
Mat 6:31 Therefore
take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or,
What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be
clothed? for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye
have need of all these things.
God knows all about
our Needs,-- Trials, and the Burdens we bear and
knowing He Cares for us! The believer can say from
experience
Amid the Trials that
I meet,
Amid the Thorns that pierce my feet!
One thing remains supremely sweet
Thou thinkest Lord of me.
The Cares of life come thronging fast
Upon my soul their shadow cast
But their gloom reminds my heart at last
Thou thinkest Lord of me.
The lesson that the
Lord is teaching us from this experience is, let
him who thinks that he stands take heed lest he
fall. For, many will be the attacks of Satan along
the "Path of Faith" for this path is never
an easy one to follow.
Yet there was something
far deeper and more sinister in all of this! This
was not just a time of testing for Abram; it was
the time when Satan made his first move to destroy
Abram.
So that he would
not have descendants. Then there would be no heir
of promise. For the Promised Messiah, the seed of
the woman would come from the lineage of Abram.
Satan was trying to frustrate the purpose of God
concerning the promise of a Saviour, who would come
into this world to deal with the problem of man's
sin.
Beloved, beware,
for his tactics have not changed! He is still seeking
to frustrate the purposes of God, in the life of
the Church and in the lives of His people.
Satan is ever seeking to draw the people of God
down into the Egypt of this world, drawing us into
by path meadow and away from God, to mar our testimony.
Like Abram, we must
learn to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Lord,
trusting Him at all times, bringing everything to
Him in Prayer.
Trust in the Lord
and don't despair,
He is a friend so true, no matter what your troubles
are
Jesus will see you through.
1.The Pressure Upon Abram
2.The Perils that
faced Abram
A verse, 11-20 Forsaking
the path of Faith always brings its own complication
and perils, which soon grip the heart with fear.
As he approaches Egypt, Abram's Faith has gave way
to fear. Abram's wife Sarai was a most attractive
woman, and Abram begins to reason like an unsaved
man. verses 11-13)
In ancient times,
it was standard practice if a man wanted to secure
himself a wife from another man, all that he had
to do was to murder that man. Then he could legally
claim all of that man's possessions including his
wife. Abram was well aware of this degenerate behaviour
among the heathen. He had seen this in operation
in Ur.
He began to fear
for his life; yet he did not seek God concerning
his fears. Fear imprisons, fear paralyses fear disheartens,
and, most of all, fear puts hopelessness at the
heart of life.
Then Abram's "Fear" gave way to "Falsehood
and deception"
Gen 12:13 Say, I
pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well
with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because
of thee.
What a selfish despicable
request! It's a wonder that Sarai ever spoke to
him again.
We might ask, is this really the same man who left
Ur. of the Chaldees, and put his trust in God and
travelled miles on the path of Faith?. Is this really
the man who was called "the father of the faithful?
It is the same man?
What a web of falsehood and deceit he was now spinning.
There is no knowing just how far a child of God
will sink when they get out of touch with God. How
deceitful the heart is, and above all things and
it is desperately wicked.
Of course, Abram
could have sought to justify himself, by pointing
out that after all Sarai was his half sister. In
the sight of God a "Half Truth is a whole Lie"
All heaven, must have wrung its hands, as the news
of Abram's lie was made known.
Instead of Depending
on God Abram had turned to Deception. He was now
Trembling instead of Trusting. There was Fear where
was there was Faith. Abram was prepared to defile
the one who was a chosen vessel unto the Lord, and
through whom He would fulfil His promise concerning
his seed. Only for the intervention of God, the
womb of Sarai would have been contaminated by a
Satan controlled king.
How far-reaching
are the consequences of man's sinful folly? We sin
against God, we sin against our better selves, and
ultimately our sin effects the lives of others.
How easy it is to go down into the realm of a cold
hearted, fear filled backslider out of touch with
God. How did Abram get himself into such a dilemma?
Was there more to this than the Pressure of the
famine?
Verse 9. Gives us
the answer "And Abram journeyed, going on still
toward the south. He moved on before God had told
him to do so! He went ahead of his Lord instead
of walking with him. Abram, failed to keep in step
with the Lord and he went down.
Abram, went down to Fear, Falsehood, and this was
quickly followed with Frustration..
Gen 12:14-15 And
it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into
Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was
very fair.
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended
her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into
Pharaoh's house.
When Abram arrived
in Egypt his suspicion became a reality. Pharaoh's
spies, who were constantly on the look out for beautiful
women, quickly spotted Sarai's beauty and her attractive
foreign features and soon she was taken to Pharaoh's
house, and made her part of his Harem.
How this must have
inflicted on Abram deep feelings of guilt and shame.
He had saved his own life but he had lost his wife
to Pharaoh. He had lost the one who was to be the
mother of his children, the chosen one of God, through
whom the line of the Messiah would come.
Friends, life is
a journey on a un -travelled road. There are times
when panic can overwhelm us, as we contemplate what
lies ahead of us. There are times when we get off
course, and soon are filled with doubt and fear.
We need to always
be sure that we are going in the right direction.
We are travelling in the right direction when we
are walking close to God. Then and only then can
we walk in power and not in panic.
Phillip Brooks -
"The great Easter truth is not that we are
to live newly after death -- that is not the great
thing -- but that we are to live here and now by
the power of the resurrection"
Verse 16 Informs
us that Abram was "Favoured in Egypt"
Gen 12:16 And he
entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep,
and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants,
and she asses, and camels.
This sudden accumulation
of wealth may have delighted Lot I can almost hear
him say, "Cheer up uncle Abram! Look here is
another flock of sheep on its way to you from Pharaoh"
Abram would just
groan! He had lost Sarai, He has lied about their
relationship! He had lost his self-esteem. He had
failed his God! He had played the fool.
Yes in Egypt, he had acquired great riches, but
the price tag had been very high.
Many, since Abram,
have travelled the same road. They have become rich,
prospered in material things but have become spiritual
bankrupts. How important it is that we stand fast
in the faith, ever asking the Lord to increase our
faith. A Faith that is victorious over every dark
cloud that appears on our horizon.
Oh, for a Faith like
the Saints of old
Heb 11:33-34 Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge
of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens.
Lord Increase our
Faith
Give me O Lord a Faith Serene,
That rests in Thee Alone
Assured that Divine Grace has made me all your own
1.The Pressure upon
Abram
2.The Perils that
faced Abram
3.The Punishment
because of Abram
Gen 12:17-19
And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with
great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. The
Lord sent plagues upon Pharaoh because of Sarai.
The Lord would not have His chosen vessel to remain
a captive in an Egyptian harem. Sarai would be a
free woman in every sense of the word.
There is of course
typical teaching from Sarai's plight.
In Gal 4:22,23…
The Apostle Paul reminds us that Abraham had two
sons. One by the Bondwoman, the servant Hagar…that
son was "Ishmael" The Other was Isaac,
the son of promise and he was born of the free woman
Sarai when she was well past the age for child bearing.
God miraculously gave life where there was but death.
This was what He
does through His Son of Promise the Lord Jesus,
all who trust in Him for Salvation are free from
the power of Satan, death, and hell
When Abram went down
into Egypt he not only failed to protect Sarai,
he put the purpose of God in salvation in jeopardy.
But God stepped in and Plagues the house of Pharaoh
He protected His chosen one! It was not long before
Pharaoh, sent for Abram
18 And Pharaoh called
Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done
unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was
thy wife?
19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might
have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold
thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
What is this that
you have done? Why did you not tell me that she
was your wife? Why did you say that she was your
sister? These were searching questions for an ungodly
man to ask a believer. This highlighted his failure.
These question must have pierced Abram and embarrassed
him
How embarrassing
for the Believer, when he is found out by the Ungodly.
When lies, falsehood, and deception are exposed.
How, grievous this is to the Lord and how damaging
to His Work. Abram's deception not only affected
him, but his whole household. A Christian, who is
out of touch with the Lord is ever open to the scorn
of the ungodly
How sad it is to
note, at that moment in time that a pagan king looked
more moral man than one who was a Believer in the
living God. Abram's deception is recorded for our
learning, and is a warning to us to keep in step
with God and not to leave the path of faith.
The Punishment because
of Abram
The Place where God
drove Him
Ch 13--1-4
There was only one
way for Abraham to go, only one place for him to
get back on track, back to renewed fellowship with
God. He went back to Bethel, and there he called
on the name of the Lord.
We do not find him
building Altars in Egypt, neither do we read of
him calling on the name of the Lord. But God, in
His great mercy brought the wander back to Himself,
and he is still doing the same today. Oh how the
Lord loves the backslider.
As we reflect on
this Incident from the life of Abraham, may we say..
I would have the Saviour with me
For I dare not walk alone
I would have His presence near me
And His arm around me thrown
Then My soul will fear no Ill
While he leads me; where He will
I will go without a mummer
And His Footsteps follow Still.
