Going the Wrong Way

O.T. #28  "Going the Wrong Way"
April 19, 2013
Genesis 12-Part 2
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.  Genesis 12:7

LET IT GLOW

I had two job offers and took the one that offered twice the money as the other. Knowing it was the wrong job, I left the Lord's will, went the wrong way, and went my own way with a lapse of faith. I spent over three years wandering around in my spiritual Egypt. Then the attack came and I had to quit the job. I humbly confessed my rebellion to the Lord Jesus. Later, I had to go to the other job and ask forgiveness and was hired.
Certainly, I can't point my finger at Abraham and ask him why he went down into Egypt. How about you? Have you gone to Egypt before? Have you left God's will knowing full well it was rebellion.
Let's review before going on down the road to Egypt with Abraham.

What was Abram's response to God's call?

Warren W. Wiersbe, in his book, Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament says:

God called one man to begin the fulfillment of His promise to send a Savior to the world. ( Gen. 3:15) Abram means high father; Abraham means father of a multitude. This man was of the line of Shem (11:10) and the father of the Jewish nation.

1. Abraham's response was one of faith. God called him in Ur of the Chaldess, but he had lingered at Haran until the death of his father. God demands total separation to Himself, even if death must accomplish it. This call was completely of grace and the blessings of the covenant wholly from the Lord's goodness. God promised to give Abraham a land, a great name, a great nation, and a blessing that would spread to the whole world. Abraham had no children and he and his wife were getting old. Note the "I wills" from God, if Abraham would believe.
2. Abraham's compromise occurred when he took Lot, his nephew, with them on the journey of faith. This caused problems, so God had to separate Lot from Abraham before He could advance His plan for the patriarch's life. (verses 4-6)
3. Abraham didn't hesitate to confess his faith before the heathen in land. Wherever he went, he pitched his tent and built his altar (13:3-4, 18). The tent speaks of the pilgrim, the person who trusts God a day at a time and is always ready to move; the altar speaks of the worshiper who brings a sacrifice and offers it to God. (my emphasis)

Friends, we are walking on our Christian pilgrimage. Are we trusting God a day at a time? Are we always ready to move when and where He leads? Is our life on the altar daily?

LET IT GROW
 

Continuing with Wiersbe's words:

4. Abraham has a lapse of faith in verses 10-20. A famine in the place of
    God's leading! What a great disappointment this must have been to the
    pilgrims. God was testing their faith, to see if they were trusting the land
    or the Lord. Instead of remaining in Canaan and trusting God, they went
    down to Egypt. Egypt symbolizes the world, the life of self-confidence;
    Canaan illustrates the life of faith and victory. Abraham abandoned his
    tent and altar and trusted in the world! (Isaiah 31:1)

5. Abraham's deception involved Sarah telling a lie, really a half-truth, that
    she was his sister (instead of his wife). One sin leads to another: first
    Abraham trusted Egypt; now he trusted his wife's lie to protect him.

6. We see the discipline of God as He stepped in and exposed the lie, then
    Pharaoh had to ask them to leave. Someone has said, "Faith is living
    without scheming."

7. Finally, Abraham's return of faith is seen in 13:1-4. He had to get back to
    the placed of the tent and the alter, back to the place where he could call
    upon the Lord and receive blessing. Christians must go back to the very
    place where they abandoned the Lord. Go nowhere in this world where
    you must leave your testimony behind. Any place where we cannot build
    the altar and pitch the tent is out of bounds.

Have you left the Lord's will? If so, you need to return to where it was and doing what His will last had you doing.

LET IT GO

Leave the world behind and walk by faith with God, even if there is a spiritual famine.

Daily listen to the Holy Spirit as He directs and obey.

Keep placing self on the altar of God.

Don't compromise doing the Lord's will my way.

Stay where God has me until He moves.

Return and repent when I leave His will.