Coming from the land of Chaldeans…
For this study I want to take you to the book of Genesis chapter 11 & primarily chapter 12. Too often we find ourselves caught up in the mundane of every day life and we tend to forget God’s faithfulness throughout our lives. We come across occurrences that may seem random, whilst not being random at all. Maybe, not even noticing it. We take God’s goodness in our lives for granted, the promise of eternal life for granted, we take the mere gift of being able to worship God and being called His sons and daughters for granted… Why do we lose sight so easily? God is continuously at work and in control. We ought to get rid of these every day distractions that we fill ourselves with and establish our attention anew to the God of all creation. Standing firm in faithful obedience and committing ourselves to a life pleasing unto our righteous and holy Saviour – Jesus Christ.
In Genesis 12: 1-3 we read of Abraham, then called Abram. We read of him again in Joshua 24, in Acts 7 and in Hebrews 11. Abraham received a call in Genesis 12, and with it a promise. Let’s dive in!
Genesis 12:1-3
1Now 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: 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: 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.
We see in verse 1 the call that Abraham received. He is to leave his country (at the time he was residing in Chaldeans), his family and move away from his father’s house to a land which the Lord will reveal to him. Wow! Realise, that this man had to leave which was known to him, he had to leave his comfort, his home, his family, his land and so much that formed part of his identity. He had to leave a place and people behind which for anyone one of us would have had so much meaning and value! Ponder that thought for a minute – put yourself in the shoes of Abram. You’re well-settled, you have a place to call home, you are blessed with the presence of family in your life, you might have a stable job and your daily routines of a life well-known and established. Then you receive a call… You’re to leave all that behind, all that comfort, all that which is so meaningful and valuable in your life and put it aside to follow the call of the Lord to a land that’s not yet known to you, but will be made known – little by little.
This is not something easy and yet, Abraham obeyed. Now, along with God’s call on Abraham, he also received a promise. Know, that the Lord will never leave us, never forsake us and we’ll never be put in a situation too great for us to overcome standing in the strength of Jesus Christ. (Joshua 1:9, 1 Corinthians 10:13) Just as we have these promises to hold on to, Abraham also received promises to hold on to.
In verse 2 we see that God will make Abraham a great nation, that he will be blessed. We see that the Lord will make his name great and that Abraham will be a blessing to others. Pay attention to the significance of God saying that He will make Abraham a great nation, that He will make his name great. This is not an occurrence out of Abraham’s own doing, his own strength or willfulness. He is not departing from everything known to him in pursuit of becoming a man of stature and reputation out of his own willpower and by the doing of his own hands. No, this is the promised result of Abraham’s obedience, more importantly; of God’s goodness and faithfulness at work. This is of tremendous importance taking into consideration what happened in the chapter just before Abraham received his calling and his promises in the Lord.
Why is it so significant?
In Genesis 11:1-9 we read of the tower of Babel where the people of that time came together to build for themselves a city. A city, whose foundation will be laid brick by brick by the hands of man in pursuit of exalting none other but themselves, making a name for themselves…
These people, out of their own doing, wanted to create their own greatness and look at the outcome:
Genesis 11:9
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Ending only to be scattered across the face of the earth in confusion…
Do you see the contrast of heart in Abraham and in the people of Babel? Do you see the contrast in outcome?
Now, turn with me to Joshua chapter 24.
Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
The Lord called Abraham at a time where he wasn’t serving Him! He was serving the gods of his father, Terah! False gods – idols! Promising nothing but fake comfort, fake protection, fake guidance, fake blessings and fake prosperity! This too is of significance. You see, our lives are very much similar without Jesus, the life we live before knowing Jesus, before responding to God’s call in faith and obedience. We spent our days serving other gods. Idols. Yes…take a moment and think where most of your time is being invested in, your thoughts, your attention? Think of how social media takes control over your thoughts and mind if not checked every now and then, think of how much of your life is being dictated by the amount of money or friends you have, or how your career and studies contributes to your view of self-value, think of how appearance and status might drive you. Whatever it might be, you know your pursuit in life and if you don’t, I truly pray that the Lord will reveal it unto you and implant in you a heart that will search His Kingdom and His righteousness first and above all. (Matthew 6:33)
God called Abraham to leave everything forming part of his old identity and every fake and empty promise behind and showed him a better way of eternal and true value, just as He desires to show to you too.
In Acts 7:1-8 we’re again reminded by Stephan’s address of how God approached Abraham to depart and leave his life as he knew it behind. In it we see God’s faithfulness in promises being fulfilled – we see a man of old age married to a barren wife who bore a child! The Lord is true and just, He is righteous and faithful and we can stand firm in hope, strengthened by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ, knowing that God will fulfill what He promised throughout His Word.
In Hebrews 11:8-12 as we read more about Abraham we’re reassured once more that where God guides, He provides. God revealed unto Abraham the way little by little – continuously guiding him along the path which God had called him to walk. If we take into account the background of this entire testimony we’ve been working through, it begs the question of the condition of Abraham’s heart. What did God plant in Abraham’s heart for him to endure in obedience? To persist in such faith? Yes, he had God’s promised blessings to hold on to, but in Hebrews we see how God sustained Abraham in a way that holds eternal value! Value beyond comparison of any earthly treasure, blessing or promise!
Hebrews 11: 9-10
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Abraham was able to persist in faith and in obedience because God sustained him in the hope of a city whose foundations are established by God as the Builder and the Maker! What a contradiction to what we’ve read in Genesis 11; the tower of Babel – a city built by man, a city with foundations not built to last!
What does this mean for us? God has called you, through Jesus Christ, to leave your old life behind, to leave all the fake and empty promises behind of the world and of comfort in sin, to enter into His promises, which are real, true and eternal! God calls you to be part of city whose foundations are built to last through eternity, foundations that will not and can not crumble, a city which has the perfect Builder and Maker – God!
Now, how do we enter God’s city? It’s all starts through acting in faithful obedience to leave everything of your old life behind! This is a one way journey, no looking back – just like Abraham left everything behind to follow the direction given by God. Just like we are also given direction by God, through His Holy Spirit and His Word.
Let’s take another look at how we are called to act in faithful obedience and the obstacles we experience to follow God’s directions:
Mark 10:17-27, we read of a very rich man who had great and many possessions. A man who acted in obedience towards God’s commandments. A man who thought he had done everything right, but… his love for money and his possessions held him back. Jesus, lovingly, answered this man to sell everything he has and to give it to those in need so he can follow Him wholeheartedly! Grieved, this man walked away from God’s calling, a calling to leave the idol of money behind and follow Jesus Christ to inherit a promise of life eternal and obtain therefore treasure in heaven – to be part of God’s city!
For the man in Mark 10 his source of value was found in his earthly riches – money, possessions. His source of value kept him from following God’s call. You might find yourself in the same situation, or you might find your source of value in something different, something other than Jesus Christ. Your source of value might have established itself as an idol in your life too, maybe it’s your career, financial security, maybe it’s obtaining a promotion or carving your own way through life, maybe it’s your family or going to the gym in order to look good, maybe it’s you yourself. Maybe, self-doubt or fear has been set in your life and it’s owning more value than it’s due. You need to face the question head-on: What’s holding you back from following God’s call and directions?
What is your source of value?
Jesus answered the disciples in Mark 10:23 saying, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” Today, I want to you ask you the same, but in the following way:
How hardly shall they that have ___________ enter the kingdom of God.
Abraham would never have been able to follow God’s call in faith and obedience by continuously looking behind him, looking to his previous life. He responded fully – a whole 100%, leaving EVERYTHING in order to please God and to be part of His eternal city. And in due time, God rewarded Him, God remained faithful! Just as He also will remain faithful towards you, if you follow His directions fully strengthened in might by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. So, my dear fellow brother and sister, are you still looking to the land of Chaldeans instead of Jesus? What is your Chaldeans? Are you still living in your old identity? Looking to your pervious life instead of Jesus Christ? In which direction are you facing?
What is your “_______”?
The Lord is calling you to act in faithful obedience and yes, it takes leaving a number of things behind. It takes leaving everything behind in order to follow Jesus. It will require sacrifice and stepping out of a life of fake promises, leaving whatever idols behind but, be assured, Jesus will feed you, He will satisfy your soul. God, the Father, will sustain you through His grace, His guidance and through His strength but we cannot expect to follow Him wholeheartedly with one foot still in Chaldeans or in our previous identity whilst the other is in Jesus Christ.
Look wholeheartedly to Jesus Christ, stand firm in the hope of a city whose Builder and Maker is God. May the Lord God be your only source of value! It’s TRUE…it’s ETERNAL!
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