Compromise
By
Rev. Ottawa R. Pullen, Jr.
Senior Pastor and Founder Of Light of the World Church, Inc.
7800 Bissonnett, Suite 260
Houston, Texas 77074
November 30, 2003
Find the book of Genesis chapter 12.
Compromise is more easily tolerated by us, perhaps more so than any other sin. We let it in quicker than we realize. But God is able to finish what He started. No matter what we carry that is not like Him, God is able. Did you find Genesis chapter 12? Let’s start in the verse one.
Gen 12:1
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
(KJV)
What did God tell Abram to do? Now remember, this is the same man that God later renames Abraham. This is the same man than God will later promise, "I’ll make you the father of many nations."
Look at verse one again.
Gen 12:1
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
(KJV)
What did God tell Abram to do? First of all, God said leave your country. Secondly, God said leave your kindred. And third, God said go from your father’s house to a land that God would show him.
Point # 1: Whenever God requires something from you, there is always a blessing in it. Look at verse 2.
Gen 12:2
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
(KJV)
Question: was Abraham obedient? Well, kind of!
No. 1: He left his country. No. 2: Did he leave his kindred? Answer: no. Now wait, Sarai/(his wife) was one with him. So he could not leave her any more than he could leave himself. But Lot? Look at verse 5. Lot was his brother’s son...... That’s kindred. So when Abram took Lot, it made him partially obedient. Now it’s better than being totally disobedient. But it’s not God’s perfect will.
Wouldn’t you agree partial obedience is not perfect will? Partial obedience will not get you a perfect blessing of being in God’s perfect will. But it is better than total disobedience.
So verse 5 again.
Gen 12:5
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
(KJV)
So here comes Abram into the promised land.
Verse 6.
Gen 12:6
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
(KJV)
so verse 5 says Abram came to Canaan at verse 6 says he kept on going. He just flat-out kept ongoing. Can you believe that? I mean, he had his instructions, he understood his instructions, but he just kept on going. Why? Answer: because the Canaanite was then in the land. In other words, there were giants in the land. This is the same land that Joshua came to and found it inhabited by the Nephilim. If you have a new American Standard Bible, look at Genesis chapter 6 verse 4 and you will see that God says, "there were giants in the earth in those days;". Do you see that? This was before the flood. Now look at verse 33 in the book of Numbers chapter 13. Numbers chapter 13 is after the flood. Here you see the word of God saying :"…and there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak". The new American Standard uses the term, "Nephilim" in place of our English word… " giants". This all makes sense when you ask one question. Here’s the question! "How did the giants who were alive in Genesis survive the flood and continue to exist in Numbers? Here’s the answer: ... These giants, the Nephilim, were fallen angels who had come down-to-earth. These are the ones that God was talking about in Genesis chapter 6 verse 17 when he said :
Gen 6:17
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
(KJV)
The reason that the Nephilim survived flood is because God destroyed all flesh wherein was the breath of life. These were demons who did not have the breath of life as did man. Everything that was in the earth then, died meaning, everything that had the breath of life as man did, died. Demons do not have the breath of life. Demons are spirits. And spirits never die!!!!!
So why did Abram keep on going when he came to Canaan? I believe that he saw the giants. I believe that God protected him just as God protected Joshua and Caleb. Just as God prevented the Nephilim, the giants, from seeing Joshua and Caleb and the spies, He also kept these giants from seeing Abram. So Abram just kept on going.
Genesis chapter 12 verse 7:
Gen 12:7
7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
(KJV)
Abram was always building alters and pitching his tent. He would go where God said go, build an altar and pitch a tent.
Point No. 2
The altar is the place where you commune with God. It’s a place where you confess your sins and repent. The tent is symbolic of a place of being separated from the world and things in the world. Now remember that! The altar was the place where you communed with God and the tent is the place where you separated yourself from the world. Your house, your tent, is supposed to be a place of separation from the world.
Now at this point, I want you to start putting some things together. Go back to verse 5 again.
Gen 12:5
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had acquired in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
(KJV)
What else did Abram have with him when he left his kindred? He had all his substance and all the souls that he had acquired. So Abram was in the soul winning business already. Right? And this might account for why he took Lot with him. He was probably working on making Lot a more devout follower of God. Now that’s just me. That’s what I say. Paul used the term "I say" several times, such as in First Cor. chapter 15 verse 50 and a Second Cor. chapter 5 verse 8 and Second Cor. chapter 9 verse 6.
Go to verse 6
Gen 12:6
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
(KJV)
He passed through the land of Schechem unto the plain Moreh. And the giants were in the land. I said, the giants were in the land. Now watch this! Schechem means a place to carry burdens. Strong’s gives it number 7927 and simply states that it is a place in Palestine. But it’s dictionary trace is strong’s number 7926 which means "the neck (between the shoulders) as the place of burdens. So Schechem means a place to carry burdens. And it’s located between two mountains. Mount Ebal is on one side and Mount Gerazin is on the other. Mount Ebal means barren and Mount Gerazin means fruitful. Move to verse 7.
Gen 12:7
7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
(KJV)
So when Abram built an altar here it was symbolic that God would bear his burdens and make them fruitful. Move to verse 8.
Gen 12:8-15
8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Bethel means house of God and Hai means ruins. And Abram compromised. He went to the place that God told him to go, Canaan. But he kept ongoing. He knew that God intended for him to go to Canaan and be blessed at Canaan. But he kept ongoing. So now Abram stops with Bethel on one side and Hai on the other.
Point No 3.
Compromise always places you between the house of God and ruin.
Move to Genesis chapter 12 verse 9
Verse 9:
9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
Did Abram Lie? Not exactly.......It’s another compromise. You see, Sarai was the daughter of his father, but not the daughter of his mother. So that would make her his half sister. So, Abram told a half truth....he didn’t lie, not exactly. He compromised the truth.
14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
(KJV)
Why did Abram passed through Canaan in verse 6? Because the Canaanite was there.
Point No. 4
Abram has a tendency to compromise God’s instructions. (No. 1) He compromised when he took Lot. (No. 2 ) He compromised when he passed through Canaan because of the giants. ( No. 3 ) (You’ll see this in a moment.) He compromised his wife’s safety to preserve his own safety. (No. 4 ) He went into Egypt and God had not told him to go to Egypt. Let’s start at verse 14 and go to the end of the story.
Gen 12:14-20
14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, and go thy way.
20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
(KJV)
What did Abram do when he went to Egypt? He forsook God’s perfect will and HE DELAYED HIS BLESSING. Now, I believe that what you’re going to say is, "Well Abram got his blessing! He left with the goods that Pharaoh had given to him." Listened to me brothers and sisters. That wasn’t the blessing. The blessing, God’s perfect blessing was to have been received in Canaan. God wanted to make him a father of many nations in Canaan, but he passed through and kept on going. God wanted to use him to take the demons out of the land and the devil along with them; but he passed by them and kept on going.
Did you notice that Abram had stopped building altars and pitching tents? He didn’t build an altar in Egypt; and he didn’t pitch his tent. What does that mean? That means he didn’t commune with God and he didn’t separate himself from the world around him.
Look at Genesis chapter 13 verse 1.
Remember that he built an altar between Bethel (which means House of God) and Hai (which means ruins).
Gen 13:1-4
1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
(KJV)
In order to be in God’s perfect will, Abram had to go back to the place where he last heard God.
Perhaps that’s where you are today, somewhere between the house of God and ruin. God is waiting for you to come back to where you left Him. And when you do, kneel before God and commune with Him, and talk to Him, repent of all that you’ve done wrong. Pitch your tent and separate yourself from the world and unto God. Let us pray!
