Reassurance

Genesis 15 is a pivotal point in the entire Bible, with God outlining his promise to Abram in a dramatic way, and with the introduction of the doctrine of Justification by Faith. Abram had just repudiated the offer of material gain from the king of Sodom and had affirmed his faith in “the Lord, God Most High, Creator of Heaven and Earth.” God, cognizant of Abram’s whole-hearted commitment toward Him came to Abram in a vision and promised to be his Protector and his Reward.

Abram had other things on his mind besides God’s protection and God’s reward. What about that long-ago promise that Abram would have a son? Abram reminded God that so far no son has been given, and wondered aloud if his only recourse was to declare his trusted servant as his heir.

God had intervened to comfort Abram, and He assured Abram that a son would indeed be born to Abram and his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Genesis 15:6 declares: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” The situation had not changed, but in dialogue with God, Abram was reminded that God was trustworthy and would keep His promises. Communication with God was enough to remind Abram of God's character and to restore his faith.

The Apostle Paul quotes this verse twice in his epistles (Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6) and the Apostle James cites it as well (James 2:23). This brief little sentence is of outmost importance to Christian belief. We do not (cannot) earn our way to heaven; rather, God responds to our faith in Him by crediting us with righteousness—a righteousness that we do not possess in ourselves. Derek Kidner says that “this story and the argument of Romans 4 present faith not as a crowning merit but as readiness to accept what God promises.”

How amazing that Abram was ready to accept what God had promised, even though, humanly speaking, time was irrevocably running out for the possibility of a birth to him and Sarai. God didn’t only affirm that the promise of a son would be fulfilled, He also reiterated that Abram would come to possess the land where he now lived as an alien.

Abram was not afraid to ask questions. How would he gain possession of the land? God did not only make him a promise in this instance; He actually renewed the covenant through enacting a Near Eastern royal land-grant treaty with Abram. This solemn, sombre ceremony must have had great impact on Abram. Here he was in the midst of dreadful darkness, but also in the presence of God--symbolized by the smoking firepot and blazing torch. The slain animals illustrated the self-maledictory nature of this covenant—“may it be so done to me if I do not keep my pledge.” God reassured Abram in a very tactile and dramatic way that His promises was sure and not just fluffs of Abram's imagination. Not all the news of the future was comforting, however, as God told Abram that his descendants would be aliens, strangers and then slaves in a far-away land. They would suffer for 400 years before God would rescue them. But in God’s perfect timing Abram’s descendants would indeed gain possession of the Promised Land.

Apart from the doctrinal importance of this passage of Scripture, there is also a message of personal comfort to those of us who have prayed for years for the fulfilment of what we believe are promises from God. God may take a long time answering my prayers, but the length of time it takes for Him to act does not mean that He has withdrawn His love, or forgotten me. God was aware of the questions that Abram asked before he asked them. He came to Abram to comfort and reassure him, and to reaffirm that He would bring His plans and promises to fruition. Abram’s responsibility was to continue dialoguing with God, and to believe God. My responsibility is the same. How encouraging to know that as I get to know God better and grow in my commitment to Him, He will comfort and encourage me, giving me the faith I need to believe that He can even do the impossible.

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Military Man

How many times might Abram have wished that he had never included Lot on his safari to the Promised Land? Lot had chosen what looked like the best place to live—in the well-irrigated plain near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The choice turned out to be a dangerous one, as he and his family were caught in the crossfire of war and captured.

If we’ve just regarded Abram as a simple peaceful nomad, we are suddenly confronted with him as a battle commander and military strategist. He called out the trained men in his household and pursued the kidnapping army. Lot may have chosen to desert Abram for the city and selfishly chosen the better land. None of this mattered to Abram as he rushed off, not only to rescue Lot and his family, but all Lot’s possessions as well.

Upon his victorious return, Abram was met by the kings of Sodom and Salem. Melchizedek of Salem, both a priest and a king, blessed Abram, affirming Abram’s relationship with the God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” (Gen. 14: 19 and 20)

In contrast to Melchizedek, whose role was to give glory to God, the king of Sodom presented Abram with an intriguing offer. If Abram gave him the people, Abram could keep all the material wealth for himself. Abram, who had just given a tenth of all he had to Melchizedek was not at all tempted. He had affirmed by his tithe, his recognition of Melchizedek’s kingship in Jerusalem. He had also seen in Melchizedek’s benediction his relationship to the “Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.” So with great insight, he refused the king of Sodom’s offer, boldly stating that he did not want to accept anything that would cause people to think that the king of Sodom had made Abram rich or mighty or powerful. Abram was God’s man and he wanted no alliances that might sully that relationship or God’s reputation.

Paul later wrote about what Abram had so presciently understood: "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?" (2 Cor. 6:14) Our alliances may well cause compromise that is untenable for people who want to walk in communion with God. Paul, reflecting on the various covenants God had made with his people, wrote, "As God has said, 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.'" (2 Cor. 6:16b) Abram wanted, above all else, to walk with God, and he chose to trust God to bless him, rather than being enticed to accept wealth offered by the king of wicked Sodom.

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Test of Faith

Abram was now a very wealthy man, as was his nephew, Lot. They had so many possessions, especially in the form of livestock, that the land where they had settled could not sustain both of them. The situation became difficult enough for quarrelling to erupt between their herdsman.

Abram realized that the situation was pretty untenable at this point. His ungrasping character and his total dependence on God’s provision shine through in this little vignette, in sharp contrast to Lot’s selfishness and longing for the trappings of civilization. Abram suggested that Lot select a portion of land for himself, and Abram would take what was left. Here is the man who had been promised an inheritance of land from God offering to take second-best in order to keep peace in the family! He obviously felt no need to look out for his own interests; his desire to live in harmony with his nephew was paramount.

As Lot looked over the fertile plain of Jordan, he knew what he wanted, and he chose this prime real estate for himself. Abram stayed in the land of the Canaanites, while Lot moved toward the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses tells us in this account that Sodom and Gomorrah weren’t exactly places where a man of God would want to settle, as their inhabitants were wicked and “were sinning greatly against the Lord.”

It would be interesting to know how Abram felt at this point. Might he have felt a tinge of resentment toward his self-centered nephew? Certainly he must have felt a sense of loss and lonesomeness at losing Lot’s company to the allure of the nearby cities. The one family companion who had accompanied him and his wife on their journey was now gone.

God’s intimate knowledge of Abram’s heart and character is revealed at the close of the chapter. He knew the loneliness and the generosity of Abram’s spirit. In His mercy, God again stepped in to reassure Abram and reconfirm His promise. In an interesting parallel to Abram’s showing Lot the land, now God told Abram to look at the land that lay before him. “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land for I am giving it to you.”

What an instructive passage for me as am exposed to both the character of Abram and the character of God! Abram was confident enough in God’s care and promises that he was able to be generous to a nephew who surely did not deserve such largesse. And God, Abram’s merciful Father and Friend, responded to Abram’s generosity and implicit faith by reconfirming all He had promised. So Abram moved, not to the cities, but to the shelter of the great trees at Mamre and he again responded to God’s kindness in worship.

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Detour

When Abram left Haran, God had promised that He would bless Abram, and also that He would protect Him: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” But famine came to the land, and Abram took matters into his own hands and set out for the well-watered land of Egypt. There certainly was nothing wrong in Abram’s looking out for the welfare of his family, but we get no indication that he communicated with God at all about the wisdom of this decision. Matters deteriorated still further when Abram sought to protect himself at the expense of his wife, Sarai. Sure that Sarai’s great beauty would put his own life in danger, he suggested to Sarai that she say she is his sister, so that she could legitimately join Pharaoh’s harem without putting Abram’s life in jeopardy. (Comments could be made about the state of this marriage, if Abram was willing to save his own skin at the expense of Sarai's skin!)

God was not at all pleased about this situation, and caused an epidemic in Pharaoh’s household. It was clear to the ethically-minded Egyptians that something evil was afoot, and when Pharaoh discovered the nature of Abram’s lie, he sent him and his household packing. Interestingly enough, Abram was made very wealthy during his time in Egypt; one would think that he might have had the goodness to refuse the wealth gotten in such an illegitimate way. Obviously, his ethical sense had not matured greatly at this point!

Wealthy Abram headed from Egypt to the Negev. The Bible tells us that “he went from place to place until he came to Bethel…where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.” (Gen. 13:3-4)

This little detour of Abram’s is quite instructive. How often do we allow fear to distract us from the promises of God to protect us and lead us in His ways? And how often do we try to solve problems with our own solutions? Abram saw a problem—lack of food and consequent hunger—and he solved it in his own way without consulting his divine Protector. His emotional reaction of fear was not wrong in itself, but giving into the fear rather than acting on faith, led him on a trip to Egypt and a sin against the Egyptians.

Once he left Egypt, Abram traveled from place to place, seeming to be almost embarrassed to face God again. But eventually he headed back to Bethel where he had first worshipped, and he worshipped again. The old adage says that we can never go home again, but it’s comforting that, in our relationship with God, He longs for us to go home again (see the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15). Abram got sidetracked briefly, but once he was confronted with his sin (by the pagan Pharaoh of all people) he knew where to go—back to the God who had promised to make him great and to protect him in times of trouble.

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Step of Faith

Abraham merits three different mentions in the "amazing faith chapter” of Hebrews 11. The first mention tells us that, “Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10)

If I read Hebrews 11 without reference to the details of the story found in Genesis, I could get discouraged. The author of Hebrews presents Abraham as such a paragon of faith it would be easy to think that no other human being could possibly measure up. But his story is so instructive and so encouraging to me, because the book of Genesis honestly describes his progress from a sometimes faltering God-follower to a man of extraordinary faith, an intimate friend of God. There is hope for me as I examine the way God shaped him into the man who would fulfill God's unique purposes.

Genesis 11:31 gives us a tantalizing detail. The text reads: “Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.” Did God initially call Terah? Something must have precipitated the family’s move from Ur to Haran, but for some reason or other, they only went as far as Haran. The only other mention about this disrupted journey comes in the book of Acts. Stephen, in his historical summary of the Israelites before the Sanhedrin, says in Acts 7:2: “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land [Israel] where you are now living.”

Unfortunately, there are no real clues to explain what happened, so we must move on. Genesis, chapter 12 opens with the second call of God to Abram, to leave his country and his birth family and head to an unnamed destination—a place God would show him. God promised that He would protect Abram and that Abram would become (1) a great nation; (2) a great name; (3) and a blessing to all peoples. This promise will be reiterated and expanded on throughout Abram's life.

God didn’t give Abram much information about the necessity of a move, but something must have happened to deepen Abram's belief and trust in God during the years in Haran. Perhaps Terah’s health had been such that an elongated stop in Haran was necessary for the family, or perhaps it was a lapse of faith. In any case, Abram’s trust in God and His promises somehow increased enough for him to obey the second call with immediacy: “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him….” (Gen. 12:4)

The divine call meant that Abram had to leave the security of a known environment for the insecurity of the unknown. He had to leave the warmth of family relationships to live among strangers, some of whom might be antagonistic to him. He had to leave the comfort and sophistication of life in Ur for the tents of a nomad. In spite of the inconveniences and dangers, the divine call was enough for Abram. He moved to Canaan, pitched his tents on land that God promised his offspring would one day possess, and he built an altar and worshipped.

Abram’s obedience and entrance into a life of total dependence upon God is really a metaphor for the life of a believer. Jesus’ call to us to follow Him is just as radical, although living as we do within the trappings of 21st century comfort, it’s sometimes hard to see it that way. Abram’s focus moved from the petty minutia of daily life to “The Big Picture” of a future, permanent home. He was willing to follow God to an unknown destination and live in impermanent dwellings, because he knew, in the core of his being, that life is transitory and all that really counts are the promises of God. Our call may involve a physical move, as it did for Abram, but more likely it will mean a spiritual move from satisfying our ego-driven goals, to determining to live in God-glorifying ways—ways that will hasten the coming of His kingdom. It will certainly mean looking at the world through the lens of God’s holiness and living a life that is radically cross-cultural. It is not an easy call, nor one to be taken lightly.

Abram’s embryonic faith caused him to obey God’s call and trust God’s promises for future blessing. His initial step of faith would take him on an incredible journey of learning to dialogue actively with God, seeing God’s provide in times of stress and trouble, and coming to trust God’s promises in the most impossible of situations.

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Ziggurat

According to Genesis 10, Noah’s descendants grew numerous enough to become nations and sociologically advanced enough to found cities. We even recognize some of the place names from our study of history—places like Babylon, Nineveh, Assyria, Sodom and Gomorrah. In spite of the population explosion the world was still united by one language.

I actually don’t ever recall hearing a sermon about this story, but it was always part of Sunday School classes. As a child it always seemed a bit ridiculous to think that people would actually suppose they could build a tower tall enough to reach the sky. How absurd! Looking at it from an adult perspective, though, I can’t help but think that many of mankind’s combined efforts seem just as doomed to failure.

Noah’s descendants became urbanized and advanced technologically (Genesis 11:3 tells us that they were making bricks at this point), and they became convinced that, by working together, they could do anything. Why not band together, make a city with a huge tower, and become known all over the world? This early attempt at organization did not even come under the umbrella of trying to improve things for humanity. The whole point of the enterprise was ego-satisfaction: “Come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)

The Lord, knowing the dangers of a joint effort by people whose “every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21), stepped in and thwarted the plan in a masterstroke of communication confusion. God did not want to give mankind the opportunity to band together and promote a godless domination of the world. The languages of mankind were distorted beyond recognition, and the Lord scattered the people “over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:9)

This story fits into the historical and archaeological record of the time. Ziggurats were not unknown in the region (remember diagrams of them in history books?) and the goal of building them had often been reaching the sky or the heavens. It seems that in the case of the Tower of Babel, the people’s goal was to reach heaven themselves, and in so doing, achieve great renown and world domination. They had forgotten their place in the creation order—they were the pinnacle of creation, certainly, but they were not above the Creator.

The biblical account doesn’t really give us much information about the kind of people Noah’s descendants were, but it seems fair to assume that they were godless. There is no record of God communicating with any one of them in the way he had with Enoch or Noah. God had given people the responsibility to care for the rest of creation, but in no sense did He relinquish His ultimate care over the creation to man. Paul’s description in Romans 1:20 is helpful in understanding this story: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

In a short, but vivid story, God shows us the futility of acting outside of His will and He reveals another aspect of His character—His sovereignty is not to be shared. God has created us as reasoning, creative beings, but our creativity and our ingenuity are suitable only within the bounds of His will and direction. If we have the arrogance to make our plans outside of his purview, we should expect that our earth-bound, ego-driven goals will be thwarted or redirected.

The incident on the Plain of Shinar is a reminder of how easy it is to take my eyes off God and spend my energy in worthless, self-aggrandizing pursuits. Revelation 4:11 sets me firmly in my place: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for You created all things and by Your will they were created and have their being.”

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Run with Perseverance

The Bible writes with brutal honesty about its heroes, exposing not only their great acts of faith, but their struggles with sin as well. In Genesis 9 we see Noah pleasing God, and also failing. The honesty of the biblical record is instructive and encourages me to get up and keep trying after I slip and fall.

The story of God’s rainbow is so familiar that it is easy to miss the impact of God’s sovereign act. God received Noah’s offering with great pleasure and he made a covenant with Noah and his sons—a covenant that scholars call the Noahic Covenant. This covenant was a "no-strings attached" covenant--what is called a Royal Grant Covenant, not made by some human ruler, but by the King of the Universe Himself with his creation.

God reiterated the command to Noah that he had previously given Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” There are subtle differences in His instructions though. Man’s sovereignty over creation is restated, but now the animal kingdom will fear man. All the plants are given to man for food, but animals are now also part of man’s diet—with some special instructions. God restates the fact that mankind bears his image, and murder now carries the penalty of death. The sanctity of life could not be more clearly delineated by the Sovereign Lord. And God promises, with a stunning visual display, that natural catastrophe will never again be used to destroy all creation. This promise was made to Noah and his sons in spite of the fact that God knew “every inclination of [man’s] heart is evil from childhood.” (Gen. 8:21) Disappointment with His creation did not change God into a tyrant, rather His merciful character was again demonstrated in this encounter between Noah and God.

Just as happens so often with modern day people, this stirring spiritual experience was quickly swallowed up in the normalcy of everyday life. Noah resumed the tasks of planting and harvesting, and we read that he enjoyed the fruits of his labours so much, he became drunk. Scholars indicate that, in this rather strange story, Ham committed some sort of sexual sin against his father, and told his brothers (who were shocked at the incident) what had happened. Family relationships were disrupted, and Noah ended up cursing his own son, Ham. (The use of this curse to justify the slave trade of the 1800s could not have been more warped. The Canaanites were actually a Caucasian people, not black, as American southerners at the time averred.) The curse would have long-lasting effects, however, resulting in constant enmity between the descendants of Shem (the Israelites) and the descendants of Ham (the Canaanites).

How sad that the last Old Testament record we have of Noah ends on a down note. Thank God for the New Testament that records him as a hero of the faith in spite of this lapse! “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Hebrews 11:7) It certainly is not at all coincidental that the writer of Hebrews follows his chapter on faith heroes with the reminder: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfect of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Had Noah neglected his relationship with God once the calamity of the flood was over? What influences might have induced him to let down his guard sufficiently to become drunk? The picture drawn of Noah in chapter 9 certainly doesn't look like a spiritual hero. We don’t know what factors were involved in this sad episode. But we do know that sin can “easily entangle” us as well, and that we must persevere in our race for righteousness. The life of holiness does not come easily, nor without setbacks, but thank God that Jesus is our perfect example, our brother, our Saviour and our helper in this race.

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