A couple from north Oklahoma decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. Because they both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules. It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on Thursday, and his wife would follow the next day.
Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the motel. He decided to open his laptop and send his wife an e-mail back home. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address, and sent the e-mail without realizing the error.
In Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband’s funeral. He was a pastor of many years who had been called home quite quickly to glory. The widow checked her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor.
The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
TO: My loving wife
FROM: Your departed husband
SUBJECT: I’ve arrived!
MESSAGE: I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here.
Our next relative received a message from God. His was much more clear and precise than this unfortunate pastor’s wife. But before we discover his life, let’s review the rest of the story of Noah.
After spending more than a year in the ark all the animals were released. Noah and his three sons begin repopulating the world. Noah’s son Shem would have the first son born into the newly recreated world. His name would be Arphaxad (ahr-FAK-sad)which meant healer or releaser. He would be the hope for the world to be healed of the scars of destruction and the releaser of a godly lineage. His lineage would cumulate with the birth of Jesus.
Noah would live to see 10 generations including our next ancestor, Abram. But in the midst of his journey he discovered that man still had a perchance to go against God’s wishes.
Genesis 10:25 “Eber had two sons. The first was named Peleg (which means ‘division’), for during his lifetime the people of the world were divided into different language groups.”
God had commanded Noah and his sons to be multiply and fill the earth. However, one hundred years after the flood, people decided to build a tower to in-house God. This was probably a pyramid like structure that would have a temple at the top for God to reside. The reasoning behind the decision was to make themselves famous in the eyes of God. If God resided in this place, then they could remain in this area and not scatter.
So God confused their language and the people scattered throughout the as God commanded. Peleg would settle in Chaldea.
It is in this local that we read about his great-great-great-great grandson Terah.
Genesis 11:27 This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
Not much is known about Terah. We know that he lived in the city of Ur. Ancient manuscripts reveal that Ur was a pivotal worship center of the moon god Sin since men had begun to worship false gods along with the ne true God. His daughter, Sarai, meant “my princess” which was a term related to the wife of the moon god. His daughter-in-law, Milkah, carried the same name as one of the daughters of the moon god. His son carried the same name as another major city of the moon god worship, Harran. Jewish folklore indicates that Terah may have been an idol maker as a trade. The Bible is not clear on any of this but, if true, then Abram may have been a moon worshipper also. But it is also possible that Noah had settled in Chaldea also. Abram would have had 58 years to spend with Noah, hearing of the tales of Adam, Enoch, the great flood, and God’s relationship with Noah. That would have made his heart more sensitive to the call of God.
Haran had three children, Iscah, Milcha, and Lot. Haran died leaving his children in Terah’s care. Nahor would marry his niece, Milcha. Abram would marry his half-sister Sarai, who would prove to be barren.
So let’s look at our first lesson. You may choose to stop and settle.
Genesis 11:31 “One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there.”
Canaan was to be the ultimate destination of Abram. Something prompted Terah to begin the journey to Canaan. He left behind all of his relatives except for three, Abram, Sarai, and Lot. I believe that Abram was the prompt for this move and I will share with you later why I believe that.
But as they start their trip to Canaan they arrive in Haran. It was much like Ur, a center of the worship of the moon god. So they stopped and settled.
Haran was on the way to Canaan. Haran was on the way to God’s fulfilment for Abram. But Haran was a comfortable place. Haran was a place of normalcy, a place of security, a place non-threatening or challenging. But it lacked God’s ability to fulfill the call He had placed on Abram’s life.
It was necessary for Abram to complete the trip for God’s plan to be put into action. Abram would be just another man existing on earth with an unfilled destiny because he settled.
We face that same situation if we have stopped and settled. If your walk with God has become complacent, perhaps you have stopped and settled. If there is not an excitement about coming to church, perhaps you have stopped and settled. Is there a hunger for God’s word? Is there a desire to serve him? If not, perhaps you have stopped and settled. Where is God wanting to take you? What is He asking you to do? Listen for his voice and follow his instructions. Don’t ever stop and settle.
Next, partial disobedience is disobedience.
Genesis 12:1 “The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.”
Note the word “had”. It is past tense. God had already told Abram to leave his native country of Chaldea, which he did. He was to leave his relatives, which he almost did. He was to go to the land that God would show him, which he did not.
I believe Abram’s call came to him in Ur. It was such a strong calling that he decided to follow this desire in his heart. As the patriarch of the family Terah decided to accompany him, making it therefore his decision to go. And as Lot’s guardian, he decided Lot would also go. Abram, wishing to be respectful, allowed them to do so. He was being obedient to his earthly father but disobedient to God. However, God, being compassionate and understanding, allowed them to proceed.
Once in Haran they settled. It would be there that Terah would die. It would be another 10 years when God’s command would come back to Abram’s memory.
God’s plan had been delayed for at least ten years but probably for many more. And although he disobeyed God by not doing exactly what he was told to do, God never abandoned him or gave up on him.
We should do all we can to be completely obedient. Our disobedience could act as a deterrent to God accomplishing his plan for not only us but others. God had a plan to make Abram a father of nations. But his disobedience stifled that plan.
When we walk in disobedience we keep God from fulfilling his plan for our lives. And his inability to fulfill those plans for our lives could affect the plans that He has for other’s lives.
Thirdly, Find God’s plan for your life.
Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”
Abram is 75 years old. His wife Sarai is 65. They have no children. Sarai would eventually describe herself and her husband as “worn out old people.” But God promises him that if he will be obedient to him he will make his descendants a great nation, which would be the nation of Israel.
He promises him blessings in the sense of provision and protection.
He promises that he would be famous. We are reading these words around 5,000 years later.
He promises that he would be a blessing to others. It would be through the lineage the great nation Israel that the great provider and protector would come. That ultimate blessing would be Jesus. That was the plan for Abram’s life.
God has a plan for our lives. We make think we are “worn out” like Sarai but God has great plans for our lives. God desires to bless us. He wants to meet our needs. He wants to protect us against the attacks of the enemy.
He wants to make us famous, not for our glory but to his. He wants people to be talking about our relationship with him. He wants us to become famous for our deeds and our love for others.
He wants us to be a blessing to others. He pours out blessings on us so that we can pour out blessing on others. He blesses us with our health so we can serve others. He blesses us with finances so we can bless others financially. He blesses us with wisdom so we can give wise counsel. He blesses us with salvation so we can share the promise of salvation with others.
In order to obtain all that God has for us we must not stop, we must not settle, and we must be obedient.
Fourthly. Grab the promise.
Genesis 17:8 “And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
In the land of Canaan were plenty of people. The Bible said that the land was occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 2 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.
There was no shortage of people for God to begin a great nation.
But God had chosen Abram and his descendants to give the land. This was to be their land forever and God their God. This land is still their land whether they occupy it or not. God is still their God whether He is worshipped or not.
God desires to give us the entire promise of our destiny. Whatever his plan is for our lives, it doesn’t change based on our willingness to accept it. God’s promise to be faithful to us remains true, whether we are faithful or not.
Why wouldn’t we want it all. Because it requires sacrifice, obedience, and faith. It takes all three of these for us to receive our full blessing.
Genesis 12:4-9 “So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in
Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped the LORD. Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.”
Notice that Abram built altars everywhere he traveled. These altars served as reminders of God’s presence in his travels. We need these altars in our lives. For some it may be journals, for others it may be remembering. But we all should have altars of remembrances.
As we continue to walk with Abram we will discover that, like us, he didn’t always get it right. But God always did.
