AS A STRANGER IN A FOREIGN LAND
FALTERING FAITH
Genesis 12:6-9 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
These places and names mean a lot to us. They portray a spiritual picture in Abrahams journey. Illustrations we can learn from.
1. TREE OF MOREH meaning: Tree – strength. Moreh – teacher or teaching, to point out as if by aiming the finger, an archer, a flow of water, early rain.
Located at Shechem which is also the place where Jacobs well was located. Dig the wells of salvation.
Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.
2. CANAANITES - meaning: To humiliate, vanquish, bring down low. Bring under or subdue. Speaking of the areas of our life the enemy influences or rules.
3. SHECHEM
“Shechem … was marked out as a place of decision. Here the Israelites would be assembled to choose between blessing and cursing (Dt. 11:29, 30), here Joshua would give his last charge (Jos. 24), and here the kingdom of Solomon would one day break in two (I Ki. 12).”
“Shechem means shoulder the place where burdens are placed. It is a type of the Cross where Jesus Christ bought our salvation.
Joshua 24:1,14-17, 26.
All decisions that we make must be based upon the work of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
At the cross blood and water poured out of the side of Jesus
John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Dealing with sin and continuing in the Holy Spirit.
3. AI - meaning a heap or hill of ruins or waste. To commit iniquity.
Nehemiah 2:13 And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.
Nehemiah 4:2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”
Philippians 3:13,14 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
We can also look at the woman at the well for her journey included a visit to the place where Abraham visited. Shechem. Jacobs well.
John 4 Woman at the Well - we now see some lessons in what Jacob's well represented:
a. Point of Crossing Over. Samaria Jesus came to her He knew she needed Him. Heart of God to reach out. He crosses – gender – race – prejudice.
b. Point of Contact. Her vulnerability at the well by herself, her focus loneliness – hurt – wounds – rejection – dysfunction – immorality.
c. Point of Communication – why she was feeling this way – what she was really looking for.
d. Point of Change – The Source of Life – Jesus. The living water – her bucket represents her life experiences. It’s hard to change if we don’t know how.
Abraham – Father had died – Sarai was barren – strange land full of Canaanites.
4. BETHEL
Bethel was the place where the Lord first made His covenant with Jacob (Gen. 28:10–22).
Bethel means “House of God” or God’s House.
1. Built upon the ground of truth.
2. A result of revelation. (Faith is revelation that is responded to)
3. It is the place where oil is poured out.
THE JOURNEY
To this point Abram’s journey was in the right direction. Away from Ai towards Bethel. Deeper into the promised land.
THE PROVING OF FAITH
Genesis 12:10 -13 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
Can we trust God? Now Abrahams faith was tested and faltered:
A Famine in the Promised Place. Fear Doubt and Unbelief. Covenant is being there even when we are wrong. Abraham doubted God's faithfulness, he returned to Egypt (a type of the world) in his thinking and behaviour.
WHAT TO DO WHEN FAITH STUMBLES
Nothing was gained in leaving Canaan.
a. Separation
b. Sanctification
c. Sacrifice
We have to believe in God’s Presence and Power.
Return to former things.
Revisit Shechem, the Tree of Moriah.
Dig into the word build an altar to God and cry out to Him.
Tents, wells and altars. Sermon "As a Stranger in a Foreign Land"
