Genesis 12 : Covenant renewed

After the story of the tower of Babel, we were introduced to Abram and his family. Abram, who is a central figure in 3 different faith. He is called ” Father of faith, “”First Jew,” Father of all nations.  His Journey starts in Ur of the Chaldean, place we know as Mesopotamia. If you are familiar with your history, even those who do not believe in the bible agree of Mesopotamia being the first civilization. By the very fact, he was living there tells us, he was rich. In chapter 11, we learn the genealogy of Abram, and we know he is a descendant of Shem.

Ch 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your coun, try, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

This word or vision came to Abram when he was in Ur, not when he was in Haran. At the end of chapter 11, we learn that Terah, Abram’s father, left Ur with Abram, Lot, and Sarai. For whatever reason, Abram was told to leave Ur and go to the promised land, but he chose to share this with his family, and he wasted about 25 years in Haran because he did not fully obey God’s command. How many times we fall into the same trap? How many times we do not fully commit to God because our bond to the family is stronger than our love for God. Abram was explicitly told to leave his people and father’s household, yet he ended up in Haran with his father, place which was very much into pagan worship. It is only when Terah dies is when Abram leaves to go to the promised land. In Luke 9:59-60, Jesus tells the young man to let dead bury the dead. As you can see, it is the same msg here to Abram, he should have left his father and should have followed God’s completely. Jesus was not telling the young man not to do his duty as a son, but he was talking about spiritual death. His father was not literally dead but rather spiritually dead. We must be aware of this in our own life. It is impossible to completely serve Jesus if you are surrounded by spiritually dead people. Our faithfulness should be to Jesus, not to our family, our church, or any other thing. It is only through Jesus we can enter the promised land. Let us not be like Abram, who wasted 25 years in Haran because he could not leave his father behind and follow God.

“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.^[a]3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (verse 2-3)

At the beginning of chapter 11, people are looking for 3 things as they plan to build a tower of Babel, primacy, Identity, & security. Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens ( Primacy or Purpose), so that we may make a name for ourselves; ( Identity ) otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”  (Security)  They were looking to do this without God.  They were in LET US mode. Some times we are in the same way. We are vulnerable to ” BABEL IT.”  We say I have to find meaning to my life (purpose); I have to make a name for myself (Identity); I need to find the right job, spouse, etc. to feel secure. We say, I am going to build a business or save up, look at my 401k, and we are looking for security from such things, but just like tower of Babel, it comes tumbling down. Jesus says you can not do anything apart from me. When we try to do things on our own strength, we are bound to fail. 

In chapter 12, God gives all 3 things to a man named Abram. I will make you into a great nation, ( Purpose ) I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing ( identity)I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you ( Security ). Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. Jesus says first seek the kingdom, and rest will be added unto you, but we seek first all the other things and say I will seek God at last. All of us are in either chapter 11 ( babel it mode ) or Chapter 12 (Blessing Mode). If you are saying Let us do this or let be build this, then you are bound to fail. First, seek Jesus, and rest will be given to you. Are you in a church where you are always in the “LET US ” mode? Let this be a lesson to you. Turn to Jesus, and he will give you the purpose, identity, and security you are seeking. Remember the parable of peter (John 21) he did not catch single fish, but when he listened to Jesus, they caught more than they could handle and when they came to shore, Jesus had the fish cooking on fire; a very fish they were seeking all night was on fire cooking for them. All the things we search for in life are right there for us; All we have to do is hear the voice of Jesus & obey his calling.

Verse 4- 9 – Abram finally indeed follows Lord’s calling and leaves Haran and travels to Cannan, land God promised him.

¹⁰ 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.

In the bible, Egypt symbolizes the world or hell. You always go DOWN to Egypt and go UP to Jerusalem. Abram listened to God and made it to the promised land, but when famine hit, he tried to deal with the problem himself. Instead of having faith in father who brought him out of Ur to Canaan, He said let me go down to Egypt to survive the famine. Many times we as believers fall into the same trap. We are walking the faithful walk, but suddenly we want to deal with things on our own we forget to ask God for direction or guidance, and we end up in Egypt. No doubt famine was severe, and at some point, it looked to Abram as though the land could no longer sustain him and his family and flocks. God’s promise had not changed, and Abram needed to learn to trust God not only when all his needs were met but also during the time of suffering. Are you going through famine in your life? Maybe there is a financial struggle, you have lost your job, or you just don’t have enough to make ends meet, perhaps there is a famine in your relationship, maybe you are facing a sickness; whatever kind of struggle you may have, you need to learn to trust God. He is faithful even when we are not. Do not try to solve a problem on your own like Abram. It often seems at first that compromise with the world works out very well, and some times we misinterpret such success as confirmation from God, but in reality, it is far from God’s will. Abram decided to go to Egypt, and as he reached suddenly, he realized he has a problem. He was suddenly confronted with the decision he had not anticipated and for which he was not prepared. How often this happens to a believer when we fall in with an ungodly company!  If he openly acknowledged Sarai to be his wife, He thought, He would probably be killed. If he said she was one of the servants, he would be saved, but Sarai faced the same threat of sexual degradation. In such a situation, he came up with a solution to calling her sister. God saved him out of this trouble by plague in Pharaoh’s house, and Abram was not harmed, but he ruined his witness. He had a chance to preach God to Egyptians, but they drove him out. He probably destroyed his testimony in front of his servants & nephew. He Should never have gone into Egypt in the first place. The Lord surely could have supplied all his need in Canaan, but once in Egypt, He should have been careful to maintain his testimony. God would have protected them there too without such degrading compromise. After all, he did protect them and provide for them, despite their disobedience.

Let this be a lesson to all to trust God in all circumstances. Sometimes we think there was no harm done by our unfaithfulness to God or by drifting away from God, but all our actions have consequences. Abram left Egypt with all he had, and he also picked up flocks, servants, and slaves ( Verse 16). Among those slaves, there was a woman name Haggar. She became the mother of the Arab nation, and to this day, we are dealing with the conflict between God’s chosen people and Arabs.

May God add a blessing to his words. Amen