Abram: Lessons in the Call of God (Genesis 12:1-20)

Today we are beginning a new series exploring the life and faith of Abraham, our spiritual father. He is the first person in the Bible to be called "A friend of God".  Can you think of anything more wonderful than for Almighty God the Creator of the Universe to call you his friend? Jesus said to his disciples, "you are my friends, if you do what I tell you". (John 15:14).  It really means the same thing.

In the next few Sunday evenings lets see from the story of Abram how we too can know God better, not just as a distant figure but as our closest friend. Tonight our theme from chapter 12 is “Lessons in the Call of God”. And we're also going to try and re-live the journey's Abram made. First we need to know a bit of geography to understand this story. North is that way. The town of Haran is up there in the north of Lebanon. Down here flows the river Jordon from Mount Hermon to the Dead Sea back there. The Music Group are in the Mediterranean sea. Over here is Shechem. You lot are the Canaanites who already live there and you worship idols and do naughty things in your spare time.... And you lot are floating around in the Persian Gulf.  Abram starts out with his family living in the city of Ur. Ur is down there in modern Iraq. The two rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris flow down this aisle, through the prosperous city. So you lot are the Chaldeans and you worship Nannar the Moon-god which is not much better than the Canaanites. Some nations worshipped the sun because they realise we depend upon it for everything.

Others like the Chaldeans worshipped the man in the moon. They thought the moon was more powerful than the sun because it could shine in the dark. People can be pretty silly can’t they, when they don't worship the one who created the universe.

When God saw the mess the world was getting into, and how far away from him people were wandering He decided to pick a family through whom he could start again. Abram was his man.  So would you like to imagine you’re Abram and his family living in Ur for the moment? Make yourself at home but no worshipping the moon... Abram and his family lived there. But don’t get too comfortable because, the first lesson we learn is that like Abram, we must:

1. Hear God’s Call & Follow His Lead (Genesis 12:1)

^“The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)

The Lord spoke to Abram in a very definite way. This was an unambiguous call. But this was not an easy call.  Imagine being asked to leave your country, leave your family, leave your roots and start a new life… at the age of 75. Where to Lord? “Don’t worry, you don’t need to know that, I’ll show you…”  Imagine if you'd lived in Virginia Water all your life and one day the Lord said “Leave your country, your people and your father's household...."? What would you do? Maurice and Laura believe God said that to them ‘go’ and that’s why they are returning to Pakistan next week. Richard & Fiona believe God has told them to ‘go’ and that’s why they will be moving to Oxford next week.

Abram didn’t know where he was going - he just knew who he was going with. Isn’t that true of us? Do we know what will happen in the future? God does. That is enough. So Abram obeyed and took his family south into the land of Canaan down to Shechem. Did you have a nice Summer holiday? Go camping? Mike and I camped out in my mother’s garden -  for two nights in the rain. It was quite an experience. It got kind of damp and took days to dry out the bedding. Great fun for a week in the sun but how would you like to live in a tent for the rest of your life? Through the winter as well as the summer? Living in a tent - aged 75?

Recently I’ve been thinking more about our retirement. Where we might live and how we ought to begin making provision, and then in the news this week there was the story of Kenneth Clarke, the conservative MP who wants to stand for party leader and become Prime Minister, at the age of 65. He’s not for retiring. Its never too late to start a new life. Its never too late to begin again. Its never too late to hear God’s call in your life. God calls us to follow him without usually telling us where we are going, so that we have to trust him.

Notice it was God who takes the initiative. Abram wasn't looking for God. God was after Abram. God chose Abram, God called Abram. God has chosen you too. God has called you also. Hear God’s call and follow his lead, irrespective of your age, irrespective of your upbringing. Without knowing what the consequences will necessarily be. God knows what he is doing. That is the daily adventure of being a Christ follower. God has a plan for your life, just as significant as the plan he had for Abram. So the first lesson is? Hear God’s call and follow his lead.

2. Trust God’s Promises & Obey His Word (Genesis 12:2-9)

With the call came the promise. When ever God says "Go" He always promises “I will…”

2.1 Abram Believed God’s Promises (12:2-3)

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)

What did God promise Abram?

1. Inheritance  “I will make you into a great nation” (12:2)

2. Influence   “I will make your name great”  (12:2)

3. Insurance  “I will bless those who bless you” (12:3)

Inheritance, influence, insurance. Now let me make one digression into a contemporary controversy that impacts our attitude to the Middle East today. Notice this promise here was made to Abram. No one else. Certainly not to you and Abram’s Jewish descendants living 4000 years later in Israel today. And yet if we are to believe folk like Pat Robertson, God has been kind to America because America has been kind to the Jews. Some Christian leaders speculate that the British Empire declined when we refused to give all of Palestine to the Jews. This verse, Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you,” has probably been abused more than any other verse in the Bible. It’s been used to con Christians into showing favouritism toward the Jewish people instead of recognizing God loves all people. It’s been used to deceive Christians into believing God will bless them materially if they give financially to pro-Israeli Christian ministries. That’s sick. How do we know they are wrong? Because we must look to Scripture to interpret Scripture.

And we look to the NT to interpret the OT. The New Testament forbids us from viewing one particular race as the true children of Abraham. The Apostle Paul explains how this promise made to Abraham has been fulfilled.

“Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:6-9)

That is why Jesus could say “Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56) In some way God gave Abram an insight into how these promises would be fulfilled in you and me, and in the world-wide Church of all nations which is the New Israel.  The only thing that was probably on Abram’s mind though was having children. He and Sarah were old enough to be great grand parents. They'd left it a bit late to start a family now. But Abram believed God. He may not have known God very well, but he took God seriously. Faith responded to the personal call to do God's will. You may feel you don't know God very well. It doesn't matter how much you know, but its who you know and what you do with what you do know. The Bible is packed full of promises that are for you. Let me give you my all time top ten favourites.

1. No Condemnation (Romans 8:1)

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

2. Never Forsaken (Hebrews 13:5)

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

3. Perfect Peace (Isaiah 26:3)

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

4. Clear Guidance (Psalm 32:8)

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8)

5. Answered Prayer (Psalm 37:4)

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

6. Victory over Satan (James 4:7)

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

7. Burdens Carried (Matthew 11:28)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

8. Strength Renewed (Isaiah 40:31)

 “but those who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

9. A Secure Future (John 10:27-28)

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28)

10. No More Tears (Revelation 21:4)

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Far, far more glorious promises than Abram ever knew. How much more can we trust Abram's Lord who has shown himself to be faithful over four millenia. But how did Abram become a friend of God? What did he have to do? Abram lived before Moses so he didn't even know the Ten Commandments. Abram became a friend of God because he believed God's promises.

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:1-3)

Paul goes on:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:18-25)

Faith alone was sufficient then, and faith alone is sufficient now. We don't become friends of God by being good, because we can never be good enough on that score. We become his friends when we trust Him for what He's promised to do. God made incredible promises to Abram of an inheritance, or influence and insurance. So what did Abram say? "Thank you very much, but not today?" No, he believed God's promises. How do we know? We know because he got up and left Haran and headed south.

2.2 Abram Obeyed God’s Word (12:4-5)

“So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” (Genesis 12:4-5)

It must have been hard to make such a move at 75 years old. To leave the security of his birthplace, his home land, his friends. Moving house is never easy. Do you remember ever moving to another house? There's the decisions about what you can take and what you must leave behind, there's the packing up and chucking out. And they didn't have Pickfords to help in those days. Obeying God mean't more than this to Abram though. He wasn't just moving from one town to another. He was also giving up his settled lifestyle.  He dared to be different. He was willing to leave the comfortableness of the city of Ur with its well built and drainage system and libraries, to live the life of a wandering nomad living in a tent with no electricity, no piped water, no bathroom no loo. Can you imagine that? His Chaldean friends must have laughed at old Ab. They despised people who lived in tents. Nomads were considered uncivilised barbarians. It was not easy for Abram to leave for that kind of life style. It is never easy to go against other peoples expectations, to ignore what other people think, to dare to be different whether you are 75 or 5. What matters is knowing what is right and doing it. A few years ago a well known fish paste manufacturer became a Christian. On a train journey soon after his conversion he gushed his testimony to a sceptical passenger who put up for as long as she could without getting a word in edgeways. Eventually she burst in; "Yes Mr Shipham, thats all very well, but will it make you put more mackerel in your fish paste?"  Thats the test isn't it. Obeying God was the evidence that Abram really believed God's promises. And it was all worth it for God blessed Abram in the most wonderful way possible.

2.3 Abram Worshipped In God’s Presence (12:6-8)

“Abram travelled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.....and called on the name of the LORD.” (Genesis 12:6-8).

The more Abram trusted God, the more Abram enjoyed Him, the more they became friends. Where ever Abram journeyed he found the Lord was there too. Where ever he put the tent for the night he called on the name of the Lord. We don't know exactly how Abram worshipped God. If I were Abram I could do no better than respond in the words of Augustus Toplady's confession,

"Nothing in my hand I bring, helpless to thy cross I cling. Naked come to Thee for dress, helpless come to Thee for grace. Vile I to the fountain fly, wash me, Saviour, or I die."

A relationship with God begins there. Sometimes you hear people say "I wish I had your faith..." or "I admire your faith". Their idea of "faith" has a magic or superstitious ring about it. If only I had some, life would be so different. But that's not how the Bible describes faith. As we have seen, Paul tells us that those who believe in Jesus share the faith of Abram (Romans 4:11-12). In other words his life is more than just an example of a man who believed in God. He is rather a prototype. He is the first man in the Bible to show clearly what faith means. Faith for Abram and for us begins with God and His Word. Genesis 12:1 begins, "The Lord said to Abram..." This eliminates right away some of our magical ideas about faith. It doesn't suddenly descend on us in a vacuum.

God spoke and Abram trusted. Notice the first word of each promise? “I”. God’s sovereign initiative. Faith is simply trust. Our faith grows as we trust God with more of our life.

What lessons have we learnt so far? We must:

1. Hear God’s call and follow his lead.
2. Trust God’s Promises & Obey His Word

Abram had a simple faith, yes, but this was no easy faith. It was based on a developing relationship that would be tested. And, as we shall see in a moment, God’s promises could even handle Abram’s failures.  The third lesson we learn is this: We must

3. Honour God’s Name & Act with Integrity (Genesis 12:11-20)

“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.” (Genesis 12:11-20)

Its one thing to bring sacrifices to the altar on a Sabbath. It’s another thing to be faithful to God in the week. To honour him in your behaviour, in the way we treat other people. Who acts honourably in this story? Pharaoh not Abram! Why does Abram lie? Abram lied because he was afraid. He did not believe God would protect himself and Sarah in Egypt. He did not continue to believe the promise God made to provide children (12:7). In a couple of weeks time we shall see Abram do this again in Genesis 16 when he fathers a child through Hagar rather than wait for God’s time for Sarah.

How do you react under pressure? What would you have done? What will you do, because one thing is sure, you will be tested by famines like Abram. You will be tested by fears like Abram. You will be tempted to compromise like Abram. Perhaps you are facing that pressure right now. What should you do? What is God saying to you about that financial transaction, about that deal, about that relationship with someone who is not your partner? Honour God’s name by acting with integrity. Honour God’s name by acting with integrity. The best lessons are those we learn from other’s mistakes rather than having to find out for ourselves. Learn from Abram’s life and you will be blessed. Develop the faith of Abram and God will use you to fulfil his perfect will. Three Lessons in the Call of God. From the call of Abram, lets learn to,

1. Hear God’s call and follow his lead.
2. Trust God’s Promises & Obey His Word

3. Honour God’s Name & Act with Integrity

Lets pray.