January 13, 2023
Big Idea
Our trust in God and His plans is often reflected in our obedience to Him and living in the truth. Yet, our failure to trust God does not change His character or His love for us one bit.
"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
1 Now the LORD said 1 12:1 Or had said to Abram, “Go from your country 2 12:1 Or land and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 3 12:3 Or by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves
4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak 4 12:6 Or terebinth of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
In His call to Abram, God continues His redemption story of His creation that began in Genesis 3. Notice immediately the one-sided deal God grants Abram. God charges Abram with one task: "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1), while God commits Himself, His favor, and His plan of redemption to Abram: "make of you a great nation . . . bless you . . . make your name great . . . you will be a blessing. . . . I will bless those who bless you . . . him who dishonors you I will curse . . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:2-3)
Admittedly, leaving one's family and culture is no small task. It is just that God has seven distinct commitments to His singular charge to Abram, almost as if God is communicating that His abundance and commitment to us is worth every bit of surrender on our part.
While Genesis 12:4 captures Abram's faith: "Abram went, as the LORD had told him . . . ," Genesis 12:11-20 capture Abram's subsequent lack of faith through his lack of honesty. Abram and Sarai, Abram's wife, journey to Egypt to wait out a famine. Perhaps waiting on God during a famine led to a moment of distrust because God's promises weren't immediately fulfilled. Regardless of the cause of distrust, Abram concocts a plan to save his own skin by tell Pharoah that Abram's wife is his sister! Having just received God's call, has he forgotten already? Thus, Abram gives Sarai up to Pharoah, and God, true to His earlier promise, cursed Pharoah when he brought Sarai into his home.
While our honesty and obedience demonstrate our trust in God (for better and for worse), God's commitment to His people grants us trust in Him again. Are our eyes on the One who imparted His own Spirit to us or on ourselves to make sure He follows through with those promises of His?
This month's memory verse
We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
1. Reread Genesis 12:1-3. Why is God's call to Abraham significant to the larger biblical narrative? How does knowing God's commitment to bless all the families of the earth in Christ form how we relate to Him?
2. Reread Genesis 12:10-20. How have you lived similarly to Abraham? In what ways have you leaned on your own understanding? In what ways has God been faithful to you despite your lack of faithfulness? In what ways have you trusted and obeyed God?
3. Reflect on the passage as a whole. Who called to whom initially (God or Abraham)? Who benefits from obeying God? How does knowing Abraham had a task charged by God make you feel?
4. Read Hebrews 11:8-16. To what is the faith of Abraham and Sarah intrinsically tied within the passage? What is one way you can obey God today? What promises of God from Scripture can you meditate on today and throughout this weekend?
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Hugh Stephenson
Hugh Stephenson
Hugh Stephenson
Michael Sisson
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Chris Landry
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Amy Lowther
Michael Sisson