CHALLENGES To The VENTURE/JOURNEY Of FAITH-I—
Genesis 11:26—12:9
Attention:
The food in China can be a challenge for newcomers. One example is that chicken is often served "cleaver style," leaving the meat & bones chopped up together, making it difficult to eat.
Years ago, I went with a group of newcomers to a nice hotel to eat some hamburgers & normal Western food. One lady in our group, Marie, wanted to eat chicken without needing to spit out the bones, so she ordered "boneless chicken."
The waiter, whose English was quite good, could not imagine what Marie wanted. She was very insistent, saying, "I want boneless chicken. Chicken with no bones!"
After more confusion & more insisting, the waiter finally said he understood, wrote something down, & returned to the kitchen.
After about 15 minutes, our orders started coming out to the table. Marie’s food was the last to arrive, & when the poor waiter placed her dish in front of her, we all laughed out loud. It was a plate of fried eggs.
The waiter ventured forth in faith despite the challenges.
We all face challenges to our journey of faith.
Need:
Genesis records Abram’s encounter with YaHoWeH/the LORD/God & his resultant/subsequent actions of faith.
Personal encounters with God call us to venture forth & journey by faith.
What are some challenges to a journey of faith?
12 challenges in the venture/journey of faith.
1—A challenge to our journey of faith lies in...
Our HOME(11:26-32)
Explanation: (11:26-32)
Ideally...Home is the place where we are most comfortable.
We entertain pleasant memories of...Home.
When we are away we want to return...Home.
Our roots are at...Home
We are loved at...Home.
Some spend their entire lives pining for...Home.
Some are never nurtured away from ...Home.
However, we all mature realizing that God intends every generation to become...Home.
:26—“Now Terah lived seventy years, & begot Abram, Nahor, & Haran.”
The genealogical line of Terah is given specific attention in verses :27-32ff. Its purpose is to bring the reader to Abram.
Serug[11:20-23], Nahor[11:22-25], & Terah[11:24-26; :27-32] all “have counterparts in northern Mesopotamian place names”—Victor Hamilton
Obviously Terah’s son “Nahor” was named after his grandfather Nahor(11:22-25).
“Haran” is a place name as well as a person. The earliest records of Harran come from the Ebla Tablets, c. 2300 BCE. Modern(2013) Harran is located near the town of Akçakale, Turkey on the north-central border of Syria. Archaeological ruins date its site.— ‘Haran (biblical place) in Wikipedia
“Abram”—Mrba Ab-rawm’—Abram = "Exalted father." Strong—High father. (See Gen. 17:1-7).
“Nahor”—rwxn Nachowr’—Nahor = "Snorting"
“Haran”—Nrh Haw-rawn’—Haran = "Mountaineer." “Name of the place to which Abraham migrated from Ur of the Chaldees & where the descendants of his brother Nahor established themselves. ; probably located in Mesopotamia, in Padanaram, the cultivated district at the foot of the hills between the Khabour & the Euphrates below Mt. Masius.”
:27—“This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, & Haran. Haran begot Lot.”
What follows focuses further upon the generations of Terah. What follows(:28ff.) is considered a hdlwt tow-led-aw’, “genealogy” or a record of descent/people & events from which someone or some event arises.
As stated earlier(11:26), Terah fathered Abram, Nahor(grandson of the Nahor of 11:22-25 ) & Haran.
“Terah, for example, Abram’s father, if you put the numbers together, was 128 years old when Noah died. So Noah was alive for 128 years of Terah’s life. He had a firsthand eyewitness who survived the flood. In fact, Noah died probably two years before Abram was born.”—John MacArthur
Haran fathered a son by the name of “Lot.”
Haran also fathered two girls whose names were “Milcah” & “Iscah”(:29).
Terah’s background was evidently pagan...
Josh. 24:1-2, 15—“Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem & called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, & for their officers; & they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham & the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; & they served other gods.”.....““And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me & my house, we will serve the LORD.””
Scholars believe that Terah’s name may be associated with worship of a moon god & there is archaeological evidence of such a culture in both Ur & Harran.
Thereby, Abram, Nahor & Haran, were born into a pagan family.
“Abram’s background was no hindrance to the purposes of God.”—Alistair Begg
:28—“And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.”
Haran died in “Ur of the Chaldeans”(11:28) after having begotten at least two daughters named herein as “Milcah” & “Iscah”(11:28-29). Micah became Nahor’s wife(11:29).
:29—“Then Abram & Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, & the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah & the father of Iscah.”
“Then” can mean ‘at that specific time’, ‘around that time’, or ‘following that time.’
:30—“But Sarai was barren; she had no child.”
:31—“And Terah took his son Abram & his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, & his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, & they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; & they came to Haran & dwelt there.”
:32—“So the days of Terah were two hundred & five years, & Terah died in Haran.””
Things change at...Home.
Home is hard to explain & complicated by relationships & life lived. That’s what made ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ & ‘Mayberry’ so appealing...People could identify with it.
Though there were quirky people who populated our lives at home, we loved them in their own quirkiness & they loved us.
Argumentation:
Sometimes HOME becomes the journey of faith—caring for aging parents—children(healthy & otherwise)
Jesus’ lack of Home speaks of His true Home.
Mat. 12:46-50—“While He[Jesus] was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother & brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother & Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered & said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother & who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples & said, “Here are My mother & My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother & sister & mother.””
Lk. 9:57-62—“Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes & birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go & bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go & preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go & bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, & looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.””
Our allegiance to ‘Home’ can absolutely be a challenge to our venturing forth in faith!
Illustration:
Today’s American society is confused & soft about the necessity of both fatherhood & motherhood & what these terms mean/Secular society is all about financial support to the neglect of home & family/‘Throw out the baby with the bath water’ as it were/Family is reinterpreted to mean any combination of living situations entered into by choice alone/Our HOME
Gang members/Create a further perversion of ‘Home’ for people who grow up in dysfunctional homes/Our HOME
Application:
?Is HOME a daunting Challenge to your Journey of Faith?
?You overcome the Challenges to your Journey of Faith?
2—A challenge to our journey of faith lies in...
Our RELATIONSHIPS (11:26-32)
Explanation:(11:26-32)
:26—“Now Terah lived seventy years, & begot Abram, Nahor, & Haran.”
Father—Son/Daughter(& vice-versa)...Relationship.
:27—“This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, & Haran. Haran begot Lot.”
Grandfather—Grandson(& vice-versa)...Relationship
Uncle—Nephew/Niece(& vice-versa)...Relationship
:28—“And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.”
:32—“So the days of Terah were two hundred & five years, & Terah died in Haran.””
Loss of loved ones.
All humanity dies. Those Relationships closest to one another suffer the most. These are the descriptors of what we mean by ‘loss.’
Rom. 5:12-15—“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, & death through sin, & thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God & the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.”
:29—“Then Abram & Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, & the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah & the father of Iscah.”
Love & Marriage—Joy...Relationship expanding from singleness. A deep soul-felt yearning to love & be loved by our ‘soulmate.’ An admission that God has created that specific person for me & me for that specific person. The one who who knows our faults but loves us anyway. The one who loves me & I them ‘for better or for worse.‘ The person who completes us. Who is & helps us become the mirror of God’s love.
“Then”(English additive?) can mean ‘at that specific time’, ‘around that time’, or ‘following that time.’
:30—“But Sarai was barren; she had no child.”
Outright barrenness(inability to become pregnant)
Disappointments for both husband & wife...Relationships
:31—“And Terah took his son Abram & his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, & his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, & they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; & they came to Haran & dwelt there.”
Home is hard to explain & complicated by life lived...amid the Relationships near & far, close or distant.
Relationships are what made ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ with ‘Mayberry’ so appealing...People could identify with the townsfolk of Mayberry.
Chances are many ‘quirky’ people have populated our lives at home, to whom we were forced to some degree of Relationship. We learned to love them & NOW become sentimental when recalling their quirkiness & their love awkwardly expressed us.
Argumentation:
Gehazi’s Relationship with the physical ruined his journey of faith:
2Kgs. 5:14-16, 20-27—“So he[Naaman] went down & dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; & his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, & he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he & all his aides, & came & stood before him; & he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused......So he departed from him a short distance. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the LORD lives, I will run after him & take something from him.” So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, & said, “Is all well?” And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver & two changes of garments.’” So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, & bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, & handed them to two of his servants; & they carried them on ahead of him. When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, & stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, & they departed. Now he went in & stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.” Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money & to receive clothing, olive groves & vineyards, sheep & oxen, male & female servants? “Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you & your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow.”
Mat. 5:1-16—“And seeing the multitudes, He[Jesus] went up on a mountain, & when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth & taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile & persecute you, & say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice & be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out & trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp & put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, & it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works & glorify your Father in heaven.”
Relationships are vital to God’s work in the world.
Rom. 12:9-18—“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless & do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, & weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”
All this instruction details the importance of Relationships.
The Gospel is relational if nothing else. God want to re-establish His relationship with you!
1Pet. 2:17—“Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
Illustration:
Relationships important in my life—My Momma & Daddy, Best friend, Wife, Catherine, Charlie Cooper, Gary Galeotti, Wake Cross Roads BC, Christian radio, John MacArthur, Every church I have been associated with, etc./Our RELATIONSHIPS
A Challenge to our Journey of Faith...To any Venture in faith are RELATIONSHIPS.
Relationships can become Faith destroyers, Faith hinderers, or Faith encouragers & Faith stretchers.
Application:
?Are RELATIONSHIPS a daunting Challenge to your Journey of Faith?
?You overcome the Challenges to your Journey of Faith?
CONCLUSION:
The Chinese waiter’s challenge of Marie’s boneless chicken—eggs
Challenges to our journey of faith lie in...
1. Our HOME(11:26-32)
2. Our RELATIONSHIPS (11:26-32)
Presented 01/20/2012am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
