Abraham Archives - Paula Wiseman

Three Mistakes Abraham Made in Dealing with an Unbelieving King

Then Abimelech called for Abraham and asked him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you that you would bring such a serious sin on me and my kingdom? You shouldn’t have done this to me.” Genesis 20:9 (GW)

For the last few weeks, we have looked at some of the words of unbelievers and what lessons they teach us. Genesis 20 records one of Abraham’s not-so-great moments in his encounter with Abimelech, the king of Gerar. Abraham had already received the promises from God, including the assurance that he would have a son and that his innumerable descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. This episode falls between the promise and its fulfillment. Incidentally, it’s not far from Kadesh, a place where the entire nation would fail to embrace the promise of land God made to Abraham.

In this account, Sarah has been taken from Abraham and added to Abimelech’s harem. (It’s worth remembering that she was likely in her eighties. She must have been amazingly beautiful.) But God reveals Sarah’s true relationship to Abraham. So where did Abraham go wrong in his dealings with the king of Gerar?

Abraham assumed the worst about Abimelech. In verse 11, he explains, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.” The people in Gerar did not worship Yahweh, but Abimelech immediately acted on the things God revealed to him and displayed some degree of honor. He was deeply offended by the lies and made good, generous overtures to Abraham to ensure things were settled between them.

Granted, there is real evil in the world, and there are truly wicked people out there. However, most of the unbelievers we encounter are a lot like us. They have jobs and families. They worry about paying their bills and what the future may be like. They have hopes and dreams. However, they don’t have Jesus. When we assume we know them, and in turn, assume the worst, we make it difficult to connect with them and reach the place where we can share our faith with them.

Abraham told a wishy-washy half-truth out of fear. In verse 2, he introduced Sarah as his sister. She was his half-sister. But she was his wife. That was a very significant detail to leave out. This is a man who had spoken with God. But when fear overshadowed faith, Abraham said and did a stupid thing. And we are the same way.

When unbelievers ask questions, don’t waver or waffle. Give true, honest answers. That credibility will be crucial to building a foundation of faith.

Abraham led Sarah to be wishy-washy too. In verse 13, Abraham reveals that he had arranged with Sarah to keep the full truth about their relationship a secret. The legal term there is conspiracy, and it is not to be overlooked. We have an awesome responsibility to lead, to be examples, to disciple other believers. What a serious failure it is when instead we lead them to dishonor God and damage their witness before unbelievers.

Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. There is no question Abraham learned from his mistakes. By Genesis 22, he proves he has an amazing faith in God. But I love the fact that God includes stories like this one in His word. It reminds me that Abraham was human. If he can learn and grow and be a man of unshakeable faith … so can we.

How Can I Be Sure?

By Paula

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure …?” Genesis 15:8 (NLT)

In Genesis chapter 15, God reiterates His covenant with Abram, and in this verse, Abram asks for some reassurance about his inheritance. In the context, he had just led an armed band on very successful mission to rescue Lot from a local warlord. Possessing the land seemed like a pipe dream when just keeping his family safe was such a task.

I love the tension in the question because it reflects where we spend most of our faith journey. Sovereign Lord shows Abram’s confidence that God was in control of all things. How can I be sure shows Abram’s reaction to the very real circumstances in which he lived. Isn’t that where we are? We know God is Lord and King but sometimes the evidence is obscured by the upheavals our daily lives.

God answers Abram’s question but not overtly. In the verses that follow, He instructs Abram to set up an ancient covenant-making ritual and through it, Abram gets his answer, and by extension, so do we. How can I be sure?

Because of the character of God – In the ritual, both parties to the covenant were supposed to walk between the animal part with the idea being that’s what should happen to them if they break the covenant. It was serious business. God alone passes through the pieces. Keeping the covenant rests solely on Him. He made the promise and He swears to keep it. No matter what Abram did, the covenant was unbreakable and would never be annulled. God’s promises to us are just as sure.

Because of the faithfulness of God – He spells out to Abram the coming events and assures him that no matter what happens, the covenant will stand. Like Abram, we get focused on our current situation and struggles. God has a long-range vision of our lives and events, and He will always accomplish His plan.

Because of the power of God – An inherent reassurance built into every promise God makes is the fact that He has the power to see His promises through. If I promise to pick up my kids at 5:00, it’s contingent on my car functioning, on traffic, on my health and a host of other things I don’t know about, much less have control over. God is not that way. Egyptian slavery will not stand in the way of His promise. Hostile tribes will not stand in the way. The disobedience of Israel will not. Not even my own wavering faith.

O Sovereign Lord, I can be sure.

When God Reveals His Name

By Paula

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. Genesis 17:1

Last weekend a play opened at the college in our town. It’s a comedic farce and early in the show as one of the characters, Mr. Waldgrave, is introduced, he tells everyone to call him Ticky. Silliness of the nickname aside, Mr. Waldgrave is inviting the other characters into a relationship with him by giving them this special name. It’s a name he reserves for family and close friends.

Later in the play when his frustration is at a high point, one character calls him Ticky. Waldgrave quickly responds, “That’s Mr. Waldgrave,” signalling the end of any friendly relations.

In Genesis 17 as God reaffirms His covenant with Abram, He begins with His name, Almighty God. In the Hebrew, it is El Shaddai. In that name came the reassurance that God was not only willing, but fully capable of accomplishing all that He was promising to Abram.

Better than the promises of land or even becoming a great nation was the fact that the limitless Almighty God was personally knowable, not some distant entity who must be appeased periodically, like the Canaanite gods of the surrounding nations. And unlike Mr. Waldgrave, God will never dissolve the relationship in a fit of aggravation.

By giving Abram the name, El Shaddai, God demonstrated He desired to be known, that He invited men, this man Abram in particular, to know Him. He was extending an offer of friendship, of relationship, and of intimacy. Because of His great power He can do that. Because of His great grace and love, He continues to do that. Today and every day, El Shaddai invites us into an intimate relationship and we can rest in the confidence in His mighty power.

To Canaan

By Paula

Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1

Abram did an amazing thing, leaving his culture, his support network, everything that he was familiar with all for the sake of the call of God. That’s the short version. Let’s take a few moments and look at Abram’s journey a little more closely.

Notice that Genesis 12:1 begins with “the LORD had said.” Had said. God had already told Abram and it wasn’t done yet. You see, chapter 11 ends with:
And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. Genesis 11:31

Haran, Not Canaan
If you look at a map, Haran is about halfway between Ur and Canaan. Haran was an important crossroads on the ancient trade routes, and so it was a nice, comfortable, logical place to stop. Except God didn’t say to stop in Haran. Furthermore, God had said for Abram to leave his family, not let his father lead the expedition.

How many times have we stopped at Haran rather than Canaan? Have we ever stopped short of where God wanted us, where God called us, because it was a little more comfortable, a little easier, and little less intimidating? Have we ever been content to let someone else do the work or the ministry when we knew deep down that it was ours?

Abram’s story doesn’t stop in Haran. God renews His call to Abram after his father’s death and Abram resumes his journey.

Canaan
“Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, … 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…” Genesis 12:6-7

“Abram! Stop! This is exactly where I want you.” As soon as Abram gets to Shechem, God appears and assures him this is the place. Abram, undoubtedly moved by a deep sense of thanksgiving, of wonder, of devotion, worships God.

When have that confident reassurance from God that we are where He has called us, we worship. Then our worship drives us to deeper obedience which results in more worship. It’s a good cycle to be in.

Abram didn’t stay there, though.

Beyond Canaan
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. Genesis 12:10

There is no mention in Scripture that God told Abram to go to Egypt, so we are left to assume it was his idea. If you continue to read chapter 12, you’ll see that Abram got into trouble during his stay in Egypt.

Even from the very center of God’s will for us, heady with blessings, we often decide we know what’s best. God’s timing seems especially slow. We began to rely on our own judgment, on our own assessments and our own plans. We get caught up in numbers, in metrics and optics and pour our energy into making things bigger, and taking things farther, sometimes over things God never asked us to do in the first place.

There is no mention of any worship going on while Abram was in Egypt. Likewise, we find it hard to worship God when we take it on ourselves to do all the work, and bear all the burdens or when we make ourselves responsible for the outcomes.

Egypt was draining, frustrating, unsatisfying and even dangerous. It’s not much better for us when we strike out on our own. The great thing about God in His great grace is that we can’t void His promises or His call, and He won’t void them. Abram returned to Canaan. And so can we.

Back to Canaan
And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD. Genesis 13:1-2

We can always go back. We can always renew, rediscover, and rekindle what we once had, both in our passion for our calling and for the God who counted us worthy of it.

Consider where you are on your journey. Haran? Canaan? Egypt? Or back in Canaan?
Do you need to move? Which direction?
What’s holding you back or what spurs you on?

Change

By Paula

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

Last Sunday, instead of spending the afternoon celebrating the fact that my husband was home after a week away at seminary, or even taking a nap, we spent it replacing our refrigerator. After having a few days to absorb that adventure, I started thinking about change.

Change often comes at the most inopportune times. It was Sunday afternoon. We already had parts on order for one of the cars for a repair set for this week.

Sometimes there are warning signs. Sometimes not. We knew something was up with the refrigerator when it started freezing the tea. However, the timing of the final slide to failure was a disappointing surprise.

Change is usually a multi-step process, rather than a single event. Fridge dies. Pack everything into coolers. Shop for a new refrigerator. Purchase. Load into truck. Bring home. Unload Take doors off old fridge. Take doors off new fridge. Take doors off house. Bring old fridge out. New fridge in. Replace all doors. Load old fridge into truck. Unpack coolers and fill new fridge… And those are just the highlights.

Change is rarely easy or smoothly accomplished so it’s no wonder we resist it. Even if God is the one instigating it. Or more honestly, especially if God is behind it.

Change is a key part of our salvation experience, though. We are changed from dead to alive. We are changed from being God’s enemies to being part of His family. Those instantaneous changes open the door for a long process of change called sanctification, setting us apart making us more Christlike. Through this arduous, difficult transformation we are changed from wanting to serve ourselves to wanting to serve Him.

This requires that God intervenes in our comfortable lives. Sometimes at what we would call inopportune moments. Sometimes without warning. We will be required to leave the shelter of our lists and plans. And 99 times out of 100 we will resist that change.

When God is nudging us it may help to consider these questions.

Does God love me?
Does He see a bigger picture than I do?
Is He God (and therefore does He have the right to tell me what to do)?
Will I obey Him in this?

Still having trouble? Then here’s one more — What if Abram had stayed in Ur?

If I make it sound too easy … be assured, I’ve been there. I quit my job to raise a family. We moved 400 miles from home. My oldest is heading to college in six weeks. Jon’s in seminary (and we’re still not sure where that’s leading). I don’t like change, either, even minor ones like new refrigerators, but through each change, I’m learning how faithful God is, how trustworthy and how dependable He is.

What has God taught you through change?

Study Tip: Mount Moriah

By Paula

Often times when we study, we focus on the who and the what, rather than the where with good reason. Who and what are usually the two most important pieces of information. Besides that, the place names in Scripture can be tricky and confusing. However, sometimes the where gives some tremendous insight. Let me give you my favorite example.

In Genesis 22:2, God tells Abraham to go to the land of Moriah and offer Isaac as a sacrifice on one of the mountains there.

In 2 Chronicles 3:1, we read “Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”

The same place.

God provided a substitute for Isaac in the same spot the nation would offer their sacrificial substitutes. In the intervening years, they would live as slaves and nomads until God brought them back to that place.

Then at the opposite end of that same ridge is a place called Calvary, the spot where the sacrifices would end and the debt paid by Christ. He fulfilled the promise Abraham affirmed so many years before. And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” (Genesis 22:8)

Details like this show us that nothing is random, but God orders every event to tell His redemption story. Take a few moments to consider the parallels in the events that happened at Moriah. What lessons can you take away about sacrifice, and about worship?
(If you want to read more, check out the story of David purchasing that piece of ground where Solomon built the Temple. It’s in 2 Samuel 24.)

Three Mistakes Abraham Made in Dealing with an Unbelieving King

How Can I Be Sure?

When God Reveals His Name

To Canaan

Change

Study Tip: Mount Moriah

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series