FAITH WORTH FOLLOWING: GOD’S PLAN, OUR DOUBT

Pastor Jonathan Falwell 

Genesis 12-14 

1. God’s Call 

Gen. 12:1-4 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family

And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

• Our introduction to Abraham is somewhat abrupt but significant
• God’s call is not dependent on our status, it is only dependent on our willingness

Vs 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran

Vs 5b and they departed to go to the land of Canaan

Vss 7-9 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. 8 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. 9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

• God’s first promise in verse 1 was to follow Him and He would make Him a “great nation”, His promise here is He will give Abram the land He showed him
• “It is not until there is real separation from the world that fellowship with God is possible” – Arthur Pink[1]
• It is interesting to note that Abram “pitched his tent” with Bethel (house of God) on one side and Ai (to do wrong) on the other. This is clearly a picture of the human condition.

2. Doubt from the Fear of Others

Gen. 12:10-13 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you aremy sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”

• When famine came to the land God promised Abram, rather than trusting God Abram headed to Egypt
• Abram feared Pharoah and what the Egyptians might do to him
• He found himself in a period of not trusting God and His promises
• Yet, God protected him anyway

Gen. 12:17-18 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

3. Doubt from the Place of Self-Reliance

Gen. 13:14-18 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

• God promised success beyond imagination in return for his faithfulness
• Abram had the potential to begin a path towards self-reliance
• Yet, Abram did the opposite, he worshipped

18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

4. Doubt from the Potential for Greed

Gen. 14:16  So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people

Gen. 14:21-24 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and

take the goods for yourself.”

• Abram had to the opportunity to start taking stuff for himself rather than trusting the provision from God
• Yet, Abram remembered the promise God made in the beginning

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

Takeaways for today:

1. Work hard to hear His call
2. Don’t allow the noise and distraction to diminish your trust
3. Don’t let the “spoils” of the world tempt you

[1] Pink, Arthur. Gleanings in Genesis, Chicago, Moody Press, 1922, pg. 144.