Abraham - Walking in Faith - Part 2

Yes, Abraham was a rich man, and we are rich in the Lord Jesus Christ. All that you need, God will provide. 

Father, we do praise Your name. We're grateful for Your grace and for the love that You have shown to us in Jesus Christ. We give thanks for the Word of God. We give thanks for the record of the life of Abraham and how he teaches us how to live by faith. Bless our study of the Word today. Father, many of Your people are hurting, many are carrying burdens and fighting battles. Many are wondering if You really care for them. Use the Word of God today to encourage our hearts and to make us an encouragement to others, I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We are learning from the book of Genesis, learning from Abraham how to walk by faith. Genesis 12:1-18 and Genesis 13:1-18 focus on the lesson of walking by faith. And we've noticed that faith brings us out, that's Genesis 12:1-4. Faith brings us in, Genesis 12:5-9. And then faith brings us back, Genesis 12:10-13:4. Abraham had a lapse of faith, he went down to Egypt, but God brought him back. And then Genesis 13:5-13 of Genesis 13, faith brings us through. He had some problems with people, and he was able to get through these problems because he trusted the Lord. And finally, in Genesis 13:14-18, faith brings us on. God gave to Abraham broader horizons of blessing, and He said, "Arise and walk through the land, keep on going, Abraham, because I have some great things planned for you." 

Now we're going to focus on Genesis 12:5-9. "Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people," the Hebrew there says the souls, "the souls whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south."

Well, here we have Abraham coming into the land. You see, God brings us out that He might bring us in. Far too many people have the idea the Christian life is only negative. Get out of your land, turn your back on idolatry. You'll recall that Abraham and his family, his father and his brothers, were idolaters when they lived in Ur of the Chaldees. The God of glory appeared to Abraham, the voice of God spoke to Abraham and called him out. And God said to him in Genesis 12:1, "Get out. Get out of your country, from your kindred, from your father’s house." Now he didn't quite do that because he brought Lot along with him, but God is going to take Lot out of the picture before long. 

You see, when God calls us out, He calls us out that He might bring us in. There's a great verse you ought to mark in your Bible in Deuteronomy 6:23. In Deuteronomy 6:23 Moses said, "Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers." He brings us out that He might bring us in. The Apostle Paul laid hold of that concept in Colossians 1:13. "He has delivered us from the power of darkness," now that's the negative, He brought us out, "and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." That's Colossians 1:13. We've been taken out of the kingdom of darkness, the power and authority of Satan and sin and death and hell, and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son, the Son of His love. He brought us out that He might bring us in. 

1 Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." And so God has called us out that He might call us in. Far too many people are "betweeners." They are between Egypt and Canaan; they're like Israel, they're wandering in the wilderness. They don't have the faith to enter into their inheritance. And yet Abram came into the inheritance, though he himself did not own anything in Canaan except a grave, he was the ruler and the owner and the heir of it all. 

Well, let's read about Abraham's arrival in Canaan and find out what lessons we can learn for our own lives. No detail is given of the trip. There in Genesis 12:5 it says, "So they came to the land of Canaan." We aren't given any details at all about what their trip was like. The destination of course was the main thing. 

Now the sentence at the end of Genesis 12:6 challenges me: "And the Canaanites were then in the land." This was their land. This had been their land. Here comes this stranger into their land. And I wonder what they thought when they saw Abraham and his entourage arriving. Remember now, Abraham had a great host of people with him, a lot of cattle and a lot of tents. Here was a great crowd of people moving into Canaan. Are they friends or enemies? Who are they? And as the Canaanites watched Abraham, I think they probably made three statements. 

Statement number one: Here is a rich man. It didn't take much ability to determine that. Abraham was a wealthy man. He had possessions. They had people that they had acquired. I have a feeling that Genesis 12:5 is talking about Abraham's influence as a witness. Not only was he picking up servants and other people to work for him—certainly he had to have herdsmen and other folks to take care of their great camp—but also he had convinced others that he was worshipping the true God. He said to these people, "I've seen the glory of God and I've met the God of glory. He's spoken to me. Now why don't you come with me? We're going to enter into a wonderful relationship with God." And I think that that word "acquired" means much more than going down and hiring people to work for you. I think Abraham was a witness along the way, and he won others to the true and the living God. 

Abraham was a wealthy man. When he went down to Egypt, Pharaoh gave him even more wealth. Genesis 12:16: "He treated Abram well for her sake," that is for Sarah's sake. "He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels." So he got more wealth down in Egypt. Genesis 13:2 says, "Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold." As you go through the life of Abraham, you discover that he was a very wealthy man. Now faith is no guarantee of wealth. There are those who are preaching that gospel today, but faith is no guarantee of wealth. In fact, Paul is very careful in 1 Timothy 6:1-21 to warn us about a wrong attitude toward wealth. You may want to turn there in your Bible, 1 Timothy 6:1-21. He tells us in 1 Timothy 6:5 that there are people who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. "From such withdraw yourself." These people were teaching that if you are living a certain kind of religious life, you will make material gain, you will become wealthy. He warns us about that. In 1 Timothy 6:9, "those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare." And this is true. 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil," and this certainly is true. 

Now the right attitude toward wealth is given in 1 Timothy 6:17-19. "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty," proud, "nor to trust in uncertain riches," nothing is more uncertain than riches, especially as you watch the stock market, "but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come." So if you have any of God's money, He warns you, don't trust it, trust in the Lord and use it for the glory of God and for the good of others. 

Faith is no guarantee of wealth, but Abraham certainly was a wealthy man. Now his wealth helped to create some problems in Genesis 13:1-18 because he had so much livestock, and Lot had so much livestock, they were not able to dwell together. Now the important thing here is simply this: Abraham had the true riches. Yes, he was a wealthy man and he used his wealth to the glory of God. He knew the living God. You can't be richer than that. The God of glory had appeared to Abraham. He'd heard the word of God. He was the heir of God. That's an amazing thing. Hebrews 11:9: "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." The Canaanites looked at Abram and said, "This man is wealthy, he is a rich man." They didn't know how rich he was. He knew the living God, he had seen the glory of God, he had a covenant with God. God had said to him, "I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will show you where you should go. You shall be a blessing." You can't have greater wealth than that. 

Well, our riches are all in Jesus Christ. Because we are in Christ, we are wealthy. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." That's the way Paul opens Ephesians, and it's true. You and I are rich in Jesus Christ. Have you by faith entered into your inheritance? Abraham did. All he had to do was walk through the land and claim it, and God said it is yours. 

Well, I think the first thing the Canaanites would say when they looked at Abram is, "Here is a rich man." The second thing they would say is, "Here is a religious man." He came to Shechem and he came to a special place there where there was a special tree, a terebinth tree, an oak tree, a special tree. And many Bible students think that this was a center for spiritual worship, that is religious worship among the Canaanites. It was a place where they used to get together to worship their gods. Now Abraham went to that place, but he did not worship their gods. He was separated. And instead, he built an altar to his God there. 

You see, he was letting these people know in no uncertain terms, "I do not worship your gods. I will not have anything to do with your gods." Hebrews 11:13 tells us that he had a testimony. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland." Abraham was a testimony. And perhaps some Canaanite came up and said, "You've built that altar, what God are you worshipping?" "I'm worshipping the true and the living God. I do not worship your idols. I worship the true and living God." He was separated. He was a man of worship. 

He built an altar and he pitched his tent. Now wherever Abram goes, you're going to find the tent and the altar. Genesis 13:3-4, and Genesis 13:18, you find the tent and the altar. The tent says I'm a stranger in this world. The altar says I belong to the next world. The tent says my life here is a pilgrimage. A fugitive is running from home, a vagabond has no home, a stranger is away from home, a pilgrim is heading home. He had a tent because he was a stranger, he was away from home. He had an altar because he was a pilgrim, he was heading for home. He was not embarrassed or ashamed to worship the true and the living God while the Canaanites were watching. And they said, "Here is a religious man." 

Notice that God appears to Abram the second time now. "To your descendants I will give this land." That word "descendants" is seed. To your seed I will give this land. Ultimately it means the Lord Jesus, but it also refers to his seed the Jewish nation. That land is theirs. Well, Abraham was more than a religious man. He was a man who knew the living God. He was a man who could pray. He called on the name of the Lord. And that means much more than praying and worshipping. It means proclaiming. He proclaimed the name of the Lord. He gave witness to these pagan people who were watching him that, "I worship the true and the living God." Indeed, Abraham was a rich man. He was an heir of faith. Indeed, he was a religious man, much more than that. He knew the true and living God. 

I notice there would be a third statement from the Canaanites. They would say, "Here is a restless man." Genesis 12:8: "He moved from there." Pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. Bethel means the house of God. Ai means a heap of ruins. Abraham as the pilgrim was living between a heap of ruins—that's this world—and the house of God—that's where he's going. He pitched his tent and he had Ai on one side, Bethel on the other. It's interesting that Bethel is to the west there because Bethel, the house of God, speaks of our ultimate destination. Abraham is walking in the light. The sun comes up in the east, goes toward the west, and as he moves toward Bethel, he's walking in the light. 

Abraham seems to be a restless man. "So Abram journeyed." That word means to go and to continue. There was nothing in Canaan that really attracted Abraham. He was not interested in their wealth. He was not interested in their worship. He was a pilgrim and a stranger between a heap of ruins, this present world system, and the house of God, his ultimate destination. You see, he was looking for a city. Abraham had his eyes upon the future. He was living in the future tense. He was called to follow the Lord and called to live for that heavenly city. In Hebrews 11:13-16 you have this spelled out, how that God called him and he's looking for a city. I notice in Hebrews 11:10, "for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." These all died in faith. They declare plainly they're seeking a homeland. They're desiring a better, that is a heavenly country. 

You see, when your eyes are on the future, you're not impressed with what things are going on around you. In this heap of ruins called this world, don't get impressed with what people are doing. It burdens me sometimes to see the way people follow fan clubs and they get all wrapped up in stars and great people. They're so wrapped up in the things of the heap of ruins, they forget that they're heading toward that heavenly destination. Here's a restless man? No, he wasn't restless. He had the peace of God in his heart. But God was guiding him. And God would say, "Abraham, strike your camp today, take down your tent, move on."

By the way, you and I live in tents. 2 Corinthians 5:1: "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Your body is a tent, it is a temporary dwelling place. Are you ready to move? I don't mean just moving to heaven. I mean ready to move. God may move in on you and the glory of God may appear to you and God may say, "Okay, you're changing places now, you're going to change jobs, you're going to move to a different neighborhood, a different city." Oh, we don't like that. We get our roots deep and we don't want to move. We are so permanent. Well, Abraham was temporary. He moved a step at a time, a day at a time, as God directed him. 

Yes, Abraham was a rich man, and we are rich in the Lord Jesus Christ. All that you need, God will provide. Yes, Abraham was a religious man in the best sense. He was not ashamed to bear witness to his pagan neighbors that he worshipped the true God. He built his altar and he left that altar behind as a testimony. You could follow the steps of Abraham and find the altars that he built. Have you ever done that? And he was a restless man in the eyes of the world, but not in the eyes of God. With the peace of God in his heart and the will of God guiding him, he pitched his tent from place to place and followed the Lord. Yes, faith brings us in. Brings us in to claim the inheritance that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.