Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou blameless.
Yes my Friends, that was our God’s approach to Abram; straightforward and to the point. Yesterday we saw some of their earlier interaction; how Abram left his parents home in Haran and at 75, set out for parts unknown, all on the word of the Being he considered his Creator and his God. He was old, childless and not wealthy, but believed the promises God made of wealth, and much seed from his loins. Now, after the Lord showed him the promised land of Canaan, Abram kept going south, until a famine forced him into Egypt. But just before he got there, his imperfection showed up: He told Sarai to say that she was his sister, because she was a beautiful woman and he feared if they knew she was really his wife, they would kill him and take her. But like most deception, it caused problems. Sarai ended up in Pharaoh’s house, with Abram receiving a handsome dowry for her. But ‘the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife,’ (Gen.12:17) Finally though, Pharaoh figured out the problem, called Abram and lambasted him for not telling the truth, that she was his wife and not his sister. Then he ran him out of Egypt. But I doubt this phased Abram too much, for the Good Book says after he came up from Egypt; ‘And Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and gold.’ (Gen.13:2) And his wealth increased, so much that the land wasn’t big enough for Lot and him and they separated. Lot went towards the cities of the plains and lived close to Sodom, while Abram stayed in the land of Canaan. Then the Lord told Abram to look in all directions, as far as he could see. ‘For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.’ (Gen.13:15-18) Now sometime after that there was war amongst the nations of the plains, and to cut a long story short, Sodom and Gomorrah were pillaged and taken captive, Lot and his people included. But when Abram heard that, ‘he armed his trained servants, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.’ (Gen14:14) It shows how wealthy and powerful Abram had become. He split up his men and attacked the enemy surreptitiously during the night and recovered everything, including Lot and his people. However, when the king of Sodom offered him some of the spoil, he refused, saying that he would take nothing of the king, ‘lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.’ (Gen.15:23) He only took food for his men, thus not obligating himself to the king of Sodom and demonstrating his total allegiance to the Lord. So the Lord had made Abram wealthy and powerful and had shown him the land he would give to his seed. But where was the seed? Despite all the promises, nothing was happening in that regard. So Sarai, thinking she would never bear Abram an heir, finally said to him; ‘Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.’ (Gen.16:2-3) And though my Friends, this was legal and customary in those times, that’s where the whole callaloo, the whole commesse began. For as the ole people rightly said, three is a crowd, and you can’t divide it evenly. ‘And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.’ (Gen.16:4) Well what else yuh expect eh? It’s simple human nature. The woman who conceives feels smug and contemptuous of the barren one, especially in a society that holds conception in such high esteem, and considers a barren womb a sign of some terrible sin. So now Hagar is pregnant and starting to throw words for Sarai, (smile) thinking that she’s better than her because of her ability to procreate. But what intrigues me is Sarai’s attitude in response to all this. It had been ten years since God had promised them an heir, but nothing had happened, so they took matters into their own hands. But when things didn’t work out right, Sarai wants to put the whole blame on poor Abram, and says to him; ‘My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.’ (Gen.16:5) What did she expect him to do eh? She was the one who suggested he lie with Hagar. It seems she was the impatient one, who either didn’t believe or couldn’t wait on God’s timing of an heir, but then wants Abram to pay for Hagar’s impertinence. Oh my people, it’s a situation reminiscent of Adam and Eve; blaming someone else for our mistakes. Both of them were wrong. That’s another time Abram wasn’t perfect. His faith wasn’t as strong as it should have been. But that’s understandable. At 85 years of age, one can hardly be expected to believe that at some later date, one would sire children by a wife who had been barren even at the height of her childbearing years, much less in her old age. And the Lord had promised, ‘but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.’ (Gen.15:4) They must have thought they were helping the situation, since it had been ten barren years. But Friends, let that be a lesson to us. The Lord doesn’t need our help. If he requires us to do something, He’ll surely let us know. But if He simply promises, we must learn to just wait. And this was Abram’s downfall; although he believed, he couldn’t wait. Then when they took matters into their own hands, it soured everything, causing problems that are sadly reverberating to this day. We’ll continue Abram’s saga tomorrow. He is the father of faith and the father of our eternal covenant. It’s important that we know his tale. Till then; Much LOVE!…in our walk of faith…we must learn…to wait…to wait on God…
Yes my Friends, that was our God’s approach to Abram; straightforward and to the point. Yesterday we saw some of their earlier interaction; how Abram left his parents home in Haran and at 75, set out for parts unknown, all on the word of the Being he considered his Creator and his God. He was old, childless and not wealthy, but believed the promises God made of wealth, and much seed from his loins. Now, after the Lord showed him the promised land of Canaan, Abram kept going south, until a famine forced him into Egypt. But just before he got there, his imperfection showed up: He told Sarai to say that she was his sister, because she was a beautiful woman and he feared if they knew she was really his wife, they would kill him and take her. But like most deception, it caused problems. Sarai ended up in Pharaoh’s house, with Abram receiving a handsome dowry for her. But ‘the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife,’ (Gen.12:17) Finally though, Pharaoh figured out the problem, called Abram and lambasted him for not telling the truth, that she was his wife and not his sister. Then he ran him out of Egypt. But I doubt this phased Abram too much, for the Good Book says after he came up from Egypt; ‘And Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and gold.’ (Gen.13:2) And his wealth increased, so much that the land wasn’t big enough for Lot and him and they separated. Lot went towards the cities of the plains and lived close to Sodom, while Abram stayed in the land of Canaan. Then the Lord told Abram to look in all directions, as far as he could see. ‘For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.’ (Gen.13:15-18) Now sometime after that there was war amongst the nations of the plains, and to cut a long story short, Sodom and Gomorrah were pillaged and taken captive, Lot and his people included. But when Abram heard that, ‘he armed his trained servants, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.’ (Gen14:14) It shows how wealthy and powerful Abram had become. He split up his men and attacked the enemy surreptitiously during the night and recovered everything, including Lot and his people. However, when the king of Sodom offered him some of the spoil, he refused, saying that he would take nothing of the king, ‘lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.’ (Gen.15:23) He only took food for his men, thus not obligating himself to the king of Sodom and demonstrating his total allegiance to the Lord. So the Lord had made Abram wealthy and powerful and had shown him the land he would give to his seed. But where was the seed? Despite all the promises, nothing was happening in that regard. So Sarai, thinking she would never bear Abram an heir, finally said to him; ‘Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.’ (Gen.16:2-3) And though my Friends, this was legal and customary in those times, that’s where the whole callaloo, the whole commesse began. For as the ole people rightly said, three is a crowd, and you can’t divide it evenly. ‘And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.’ (Gen.16:4) Well what else yuh expect eh? It’s simple human nature. The woman who conceives feels smug and contemptuous of the barren one, especially in a society that holds conception in such high esteem, and considers a barren womb a sign of some terrible sin. So now Hagar is pregnant and starting to throw words for Sarai, (smile) thinking that she’s better than her because of her ability to procreate. But what intrigues me is Sarai’s attitude in response to all this. It had been ten years since God had promised them an heir, but nothing had happened, so they took matters into their own hands. But when things didn’t work out right, Sarai wants to put the whole blame on poor Abram, and says to him; ‘My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.’ (Gen.16:5) What did she expect him to do eh? She was the one who suggested he lie with Hagar. It seems she was the impatient one, who either didn’t believe or couldn’t wait on God’s timing of an heir, but then wants Abram to pay for Hagar’s impertinence. Oh my people, it’s a situation reminiscent of Adam and Eve; blaming someone else for our mistakes. Both of them were wrong. That’s another time Abram wasn’t perfect. His faith wasn’t as strong as it should have been. But that’s understandable. At 85 years of age, one can hardly be expected to believe that at some later date, one would sire children by a wife who had been barren even at the height of her childbearing years, much less in her old age. And the Lord had promised, ‘but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.’ (Gen.15:4) They must have thought they were helping the situation, since it had been ten barren years. But Friends, let that be a lesson to us. The Lord doesn’t need our help. If he requires us to do something, He’ll surely let us know. But if He simply promises, we must learn to just wait. And this was Abram’s downfall; although he believed, he couldn’t wait. Then when they took matters into their own hands, it soured everything, causing problems that are sadly reverberating to this day. We’ll continue Abram’s saga tomorrow. He is the father of faith and the father of our eternal covenant. It’s important that we know his tale. Till then; Much LOVE!…in our walk of faith…we must learn…to wait…to wait on God…
SCRIP-BITS 