WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT (GENESIS 24:1-25:9)
Walking by faith is not the most natural thing on earth. Like any exercise, exercising our faith is easier said than done. No one is ever quite ready - intellectually, emotionally or spiritually - for God’s ways, life’s lessons or unexpected turns.
Abraham traveled a long way from his native Ur to Canaan. Along the road his father died. The Promised Land was not a bed of roses by any means. Abraham strayed into Egypt when a famine struck, separated from Lot as their fortunes grew, took a concubine at his wife’s insistence but later had Isaac with the aged Sarah and witnessed the departure of Ishmael, his other son.
However, whenever Abraham stumbled, slipped or stalled, faith rescued him, pulled him out and put him back on his feet. A man of faith is not perfect in faith but persistent in faith. Abraham’s triumph over his shortcomings, mistakes, weaknesses, blunders and faults was nothing short of a miracle. He eventually overcame his inadequacies, suspicions and fears and transformed himself into a giant in faith.
How does a man of faith relate to God, live his life and minister to others? What are his responsibilities and challenges? What motivates and sustains his faith?
A Man of Faith is a Promise-Keeper
24:1 Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?” 6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’--he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” (Gen 24:1-8)
Augustine, the renowned author of “The Confessions of Augustine” and one of the greatest thinkers, writers and defenders of the faith, was also known for his famous mother, Monica. Before he was saved, Augustine cohabited with a woman for 14 years, fathered a son out of wedlock and held to heretical teachings. Rome was always a big attraction to him. He wanted to taste city life, explore the opportunities and make his mark there.
When Augustine made up his mind to leave for the bright lights of Rome, knowing that his mother would object or, worse, follow along, he told her to meet him somewhere in town while he secretly boarded a ship to Rome. The heartbroken mother prayed for his son’s salvation for 17 years. In times of loneliness and grief Monica would run to the church for sanctuary and prayer, crying over his son’s waywardness, lifestyle and absence. A bishop who attended and ministered to the teary Monica in prayer said to the woman who often begged him to pray for her son and talked to him: “Only pray to our Lord for him. Your son will at length discover his error and impiety. Go your way, God bless you; it cannot be that a child of those tears should perish.”
Abraham’s famous last words in the Bible have not been covered enough in commentaries. After warning his servant once in verse 6 not to take his forty-years old son (Gen 25:20) back to Mesopotamia, Abraham reiterated the point to his servant and ended the conversation with him this way: “Only do not take my son back there” (v 8) - thus concluded the account of Abraham’s life and legacy. The reason Abraham made his servant swear an oath was clear: God’s promise of land was meant not just for the patriarch alone, but for Abraham and his offspring (Gen 12:7, 13:15, 17:8). Abraham claimed the land promise for the next of kin and subsequent generations. The urgent request was uncharacteristic of the patriarch; not only did the boss ask a favor from his servant, but he also initiated an oath (vv 3, 7), putting his servant’s hand under his thigh for a solemn swear-in.
Already Abraham had buried his wife Sarah in Canaan instead of Ur, their native city; returning to Ur was not an option. Abraham’s break with culture, tradition and precedent in burying Sarah in Canaan was an unmistakable message. Buying a cave and nothing else in his life was meant to send the same message to future generations that Canaan was home now. Abraham would not allow Isaac to return under any circumstances, if he could help it. While he was still living, Abraham would do all that was in his power to find and bring a wife from his old country and his own relatives for his son Isaac.
Abraham determined that Isaac’s future wife must not be a Canaanite woman. Canaan, the Canaanite forefather, was cursed to be a slave to his brothers (Gen 9:25-27). Abraham’s orders to stay in Canaan defined, characterized and shaped the Israelites’ mindset toward Israel. Following Abraham’s lead, Jacob’s last words to his children were to be buried with his fathers in Canaan (Gen 49:29-32).
A Man of Faith is a Pilgrim on Earth
25:1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. (Gen 25:1-6)
An American tourist visited the renowned Polish rabbi Hofetz Chaim. The tourist was astonished to see that the rabbi’s home was only a simple room filled with books, a table and a cot.
The tourist asked, “Rabbi, where is your furniture?” Rabbi Chaim replied, “Where is yours?” The puzzled American asked, “Mine? But I’m only a visitor here. I’m only passing through.” The rabbi replied, “So am I, so am I.” (Ralph Spencer)
An early pilgrim said, “By the grace of God I am a Christian man, by my actions a great sinner, and by calling a homeless wanderer of the humblest birth who roams from place to place. My worldly goods are a knapsack with some dried bread in it on my back and in my breastpocket a Bible. And that is all.” (Jean Fleming, Between Walden and the whirlwind, Nav 85)
Man is but an alien (Ps 39:12) and a stranger on earth (Ps 119:19). He is but a breath and his days are like a fleeting shadow (Ps 144:4). His troubles are as sure as sparks fly upward (Job 5:7) and his days on earth are like a shadow - without hope (1 Chron 29:15). As the gospel song says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.” says that man. Psalms 39:6 says, “Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.” People are like grass (Isa 40:7) and grasshoppers (Isa 40:22) - here today and gone tomorrow. The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength. (Ps 90:10)
The world is not enough for the pilgrim. True citizenship, eternal rest, and wondrous joy is awaiting in heaven (Phil 3:20), where our lowly bodies will be transformed into glorious bodies.
Abraham was a pilgrim in the true sense of the word, making his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. (Heb 11:9) Even though Abraham had an abundance of servants, gold and livestock (Gen 12:16, 13:2, 20:16), bought and owned the barest minimum. He never possessed material goods long enough for them to gain sentimental value on him. He was an alien, a sojourner and a journeyman (Gen 20:1, 21:23, 34). All he had transacted in his life was a cave for his family grave. He could have bought more but he saw no need to, even though he had the reason and the time to pass on land and property to the next generation. He had eight sons from three women, and he could have at least left a house for each one, but Abraham was a man who was in the world but not of the world.
Very early in his life, after Abraham was already very wealthy (Gen 13:2), he gave a tenth of everything he possessed to Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High (Gen 14:18-20). The patriarch was never motivated by money and not a lover of money. Family and relatives meant much more to him. Even when he was offered the goods he recovered from the kings that invaded Sodom, he refused to accept anything from the king of Sodom for reward so that the king could never boast of making Abraham rich (Gen 14:22-24). Abraham’s motive for the daring rescue was to save Lot and not to make money.
Abraham gave away much of what he had on his own terms. He gave to whoever he wanted to - to Isaac and his other sons; he gave whatever he wanted to - his other sons received gifts, and Isaac, everything else; and he gave whenever he wanted to - while he was living (Gen 25:5-6). He did not want his sons, their wives and children to quarrel, wrangle and fight over the money, property, livestock and servants.
A Man of Faith is a Peacemaker at Heart
Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite (Gen 25:9)
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “Honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?”
Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”
A poem “The Power of Words” says:
“A careless word may kindle strife,
A cruel word may wreck a life,
A bitter word may hate instill,
A brutal word may smite and kill,
A gracious word may smooth the way,
A joyous word may light the day,
A timely word may lessen stress,
A loving word may heal and bless.”
A man of faith who walks in faith with God is neighborly, cordial and kind to others. Abraham was never unpleasant to others, confrontational or bitter with others. He cared for his sons, his relatives and his neighbors. The wise Abraham prevented his sons from continuing the war their respective mother started. The most beautiful picture in his death was the sight of Ishmael and Isaac jointly burying their father (Gen 25:9). They were both his sons. Abraham valued peace with others in life and brought peace to others in death.
Abraham provided for his other sons from a later marriage to Keturah and made sure that history did not repeat itself. Although Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac, while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east (Gen 25:5-6).
Abraham’s peacemaking efforts in the family were not an aberration. He protected his herdsmen from turf wars, averted a quarrel with his nephew Lot, and even rescued Lot when he was captured (Gen 14:11-12). When he realized that the angels who visited him had turned away and were heading toward and bent on destroying Sodom, where Lot was residing, Abraham literally stood in the path of God (Gen 18:22). He boldly asked God ten different questions, making up six mock numbers in six rapid-fire exchanges with Him. Abraham asked God to the limit, even risking annoying Him (Gen 21:30, 32), for the sake of Lot, but he came out with an understanding, an appreciation, and a gratitude for God’s justice, mercy and love. (Gen 21:31-34)
Finally, he made peace with his neighbors. His relationship with Abimelech, the Philistine, was admirable, but his relationship with Pharaoh was not. Unlike his brisk journey into foreign Egypt that ended on a sour note, he had a good rapport and made a good-faith treaty with neighbor Abimelech, enabling him to stay in the land of the Philistines for a long time. After airing their grievances upon meeting, Abimelech invited Abraham to live in the land, and Abraham, in turn, prayed for Abimelech (Gen 20:15-18). When a misunderstanding almost erupted again, Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a treaty (Gen 21:25-34).
Conclusion: By God’s grace, we can triumph over adversities, fears and opposition in the journey of faith. No one is born to run; from crawling on our knees, we progress to standing on our feet, then walking naturally with ease.
Are you stepping out in faith and abiding by God’s promises to be God’s instrument of peace, righteousness and blessing? Do you make effort to get along with neighbors and enemies? Are you seeking God’s will, doing God’s work and
following God’s way?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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