Genesis 12:1-8 Go by faith in the LORD’s Word!

Learning to read often begins with recognizing the letters beginning with ‘A’. After the letters come small combinations of letters like ‘Abe’. Then, come bigger words like ‘Abraham’. Finally, reading, comprehension and learning begin as words are strung together into phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters and books.

At first, putting your faith in random shapes to communicate may feel strange, but with practice reading becomes second nature. Once the lines, circles, triangles, dots and dashes begin to make sense and words come alive, we appreciate those who taught us to read. The gift of learning to read opens the door to learning history or how to put together a toy. In addition to our intellect, our emotions are affected by words that make us laugh with a joke, fill with joy at the news of an expecting mother or cry with the news of a lost job, cancer or death. As kids, we do not realize what a blessing learning to read is for our future.

The LORD’s words to Abraham were the gift of a blessed future. Our Old Testament reading from Genesis 12 records the LORD’s words of blessing spoken to Abraham, 1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Though he had not seen the place God told him to go to, Abraham followed God’s call to “Go”. Though he may have had questions and doubts, Abraham went because the LORD had spoken. The LORD’s words to Abraham promised blessings far beyond himself and his wife Sarah. The tumultuous history of Abraham’s descendants does not reveal a physical or political country that pours out blessings on the world. Instead, through Abraham’s Offspring, Jesus, all people have been blessed with forgiveness of their sins through his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

Physical or political ties do not guarantee the LORD’s blessing, but faith like Abraham. Hearing and reading the LORD’s blessings spoken to Abraham have brought many to understand these words as being tied to the physical or political nation of Israel. Yet the future words of God to Abraham along with the rest of Scripture make it clear those who are blessed are those who share Abraham’s faith in the promised Offspring, Jesus, the Messiah and Christ. Paul, an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, explained in Romans 9, 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age miraculously by the power and promise of God. Giving Abraham and Sarah a child in this manner made it clear that it was only the work of God to establish and grow them into a great nation that would bless all peoples through Jesus, an Israelite from the tribe of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. God did not immediately give Abraham proof that his words would come true. God kept Abraham waiting in faith for God’s blessings, and even then, he did not see all that God promised him.

As with Abraham, God keeps us waiting in faith, but we are not good at waiting. God does not give us a vision of heaven the moment we come to faith so that we have seen where we are going after we die. Nor does God share who we are meant to marry, what job we should take, where we should live, which friends to make or a whole host of other questions we have. Plus, God allows disappointment, hardship, suffering, sickness, war and death to fill us with questions of his love, power and existence. In response to all of these, we may argue with apologetics to defend our faith offering the proof of Jesus’ existence or the foolishness of believing in the Big Bang and evolution which claim something came from nothing and grew in complexity. These have their place but only go so far as to show all people have faith in something. We struggle to wait in faith with these heavy topics as well as with the lighter circumstances of each day like what to eat, when to workout, which streaming service to watch and where to spend or save our money. Waiting in faith is hard because we cannot see what our faith is in.

Speaking words of blessing, the LORD came to us. A great nation God promised Abraham. A blessing to the peoples of the world God promised Abraham. A blessed future God promised Abraham. All of these happened because God spoke, and when he speaks, he acts. So, he sent Jesus to bring these blessings to fruition. In our Gospel reading from John, Jesus’ teachings and signs caught the eye of a Pharisee named Nicodemus who wanted to know more. Jesus quickly began to teach him how to understand the Scriptures as if learning to read them for the first time. Jesus took him back to the time when God sent poisonous snake to bite the Israelites as punishment for their rebellion. Then, after they cried out to Moses who interceded for them, the LORD promised healing by looking up at a bronze snake wrapped around a wooden pole. Then, Jesus connected this event to himself as we read in John 3, 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus had spent his life looking to his physical connection to Abraham and his own efforts at a good life to have eternal life with God in heaven. Jesus revealed the only way for anyone to be saved is through God’s gracious gift of his perfect Son sacrificed on the cross for our sins who overcame death and hell to save the world. Abraham looked forward to him in faith as we read in our New Testament reading from Romans 4, 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Abraham believed God would give him and Sarah a son, even more he believed one of his descendants would be the Savior. Together with Abraham and all who believe, God gave us life and called us to be his great nation.

Without the prospect of children as a seventy-five-year-old man with a sixty-five-year-old wife, Abraham lived out his faith in God’s call to “Go”. Abraham did not receive the blessings God spoke to him immediately. Even after traveling hundreds of miles, living in a few different countries and living a few more decades, Abraham still would not see the fulfillment of all the promises the LORD made to him. Abraham kept going because he was holding on to God by faith, and that faith brought discipline. Abraham was comfortable with the delayed gratification of fatherhood because his higher calling was to share the LORD with others. In our Old Testament reading from Genesis 12, we read, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. Though he was not yet a father, and as a foreigner in Canaan, the future land of Israel, Abraham trusted the LORD’s words and built an altar. To show who he was, where he came from, why he was there and what the future held, Abraham built an altar to the LORD. The LORD answered all these questions for Abraham, so this was his pattern as he continued going where the LORD directed him as we read, 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and 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. Abraham built an altar because all need to hear who the LORD is. The ignorant, arrogant, heathen, moralist, etc. all need to hear who the LORD is and what he has promised. God gives us life; he gives us our identity, purpose and eternal future. Like Abraham, we set up places to gather and call on the name of the LORD. We teach, preach and pray to the same LORD as Abraham. Our faith is in the LORD who inspired his testimony to be written in the Old and New Testament.

God continues to direct us where to go through his Word. For the assurance of forgiveness and eternal life we look to Jesus’ death and resurrection recorded in Matthew 27 and 28. For insights on who to marry and a godly marriage we look to Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3. To learn about the creation of the world we read Genesis 1. With questions or concerns about the government or others in authority we read Romans 13. For both a foundation and examples of prayer we go to Matthew 6 and the Psalms. To manager our money rather than be mastered by it, we read 2 Corinthians 9. When wondering what our children need to know we go to Matthew 19, Acts 2, Psalm 78 and Proverbs. For encouragement to walk by faith in the LORD we read Genesis 12, Romans 4 and John 3. The LORD has promised us many blessings and directs us where to go. Like Abraham who left his country to travel to the promised land, we will walk by faith as foreigners until we are brought to eternal life in our true homeland.

Learning to read often begins with letters. After the letters come words. Finally, reading, comprehension and learning begin as words are strung together in phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters and books. At first, putting your faith in random shapes to communicate may feel strange, but with practice reading becomes second nature. The LORD spoke to Abraham words of blessing that would be for him and all the peoples on earth. In faith, Abraham went where the LORD directed him. Abraham’s Offspring, Jesus, blessed the world by conquering death and sin giving us forgiveness and eternal life. As we wait for the promised land of heaven, we go by faith in the LORD’s Word. Amen.

        

Gunnar Ledermann, Pastor Divine Peace Church