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| Beliefs - Bible Studies By Faith Abraham... |
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“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither
he went.” Hebrews 11:8
Oswald Chambers, better known for “My Utmost for His Highest”, once wrote a
book entitled “Not Knowing Whither”, on the life of Abraham. When reading the
stories in Hebrews 11, “The Faith Chapter”, we don’t usually key in on that
phrase. But, that is exactly what faith is; acting on what God said he would do,
not just believing, but knowing that He is faithful, and that He will do what He said
He would do. In other words, acting on God’s Word because it is God’s Word.
Hebrews 10:36 said, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the
will of God, ye might receive the promise.” We seem to get this backwards, we
ask God to do what we want, and then we will be faithful. That isn’t faith, and that
isn’t what Abraham did. Abraham moved forward on what God had said, “Not
knowing whither he went.”
The story is played out in Genesis 12:1-5, it begins with a calling.
The calling was first a call of separation. Separation from his country, from his
widest affections, it was separation from national pride, political loyalty, and
patriotic obligation. This wasn’t his country anymore.
It was also separation from his kindred, from the clan. Separation from family
functions, duties and feelings, this was no longer his family. He wasn’t to be
concerned with the goings on of his cousin twice removed, or his great aunt on
his mother’s side.
There was also separation from the immediate family. A separation from intimate
relationships, from his father’s protection, comfort, and authority, this was no
longer his home. This has the sound of the commission in Acts, unto Jerusalem,
Judea, and the uttermost parts of the earth, only in reverse.
The call wasn’t just “from” it was “to”. It was a call to faith. Can you imagine the
country, kindred, and his father, like the people in the times of Noah, laughing
and mocking? “Yea, hath God not said?” Abraham had to trust God, with all his
heart and all his mind, yes, and with all his might. He had to know in the face of
opposition that he was right, no matter the logic of what he was to do.
Sometimes faith leads us in a path that appears to the world and the church as
foolish.
In return God would also give Abraham some things.
For the country he was to leave behind, God would make him a great nation. Not
just any nation, but a great nation. This nation would rule the entire known world
under the leadership of King Solomon, not by conquest, but wisdom,
confounding wisdom. It was to be a nation of missionaries, reaching the world for
God. He was to be blessed.
In the place of kindred relations, God gave him a great name. He would no
longer be known by the name of the Chaldees, he wasn’t their ambassador he
was God’s. He was to represent God to the nations. He was to be a blessing.
For the protection of his father’s house God gave divine intervention. Blessing
those who would bless Abraham, God would establish him in the land through
friends. Cursing those who cursed Abraham, God would establish him in the
land through a lack of enemies. The nations could see God’s hand in the life of
Abraham even when Abraham couldn’t. There was a Pharaoh and a king of the
Philistines who would both have taken Sarah to wife.
The greatest promise was the last in the series. God then told Abraham that all
the families of the earth would be blessed because of him. That nation he loved,
the old home folks, the family he grew up in, would all be blessed.
Because Abraham obeyed he is called the father of our faith, he is the pillar that
shines to show us that obedience in faith is not a way, but the way. The only
way! God’s promise spoke of a coming messiah, someone to free the people
from their sins. The Bible states that Abraham’s belief was credited to him for
righteousness, he was saved by faith through grace.
Are we willing to obey “not knowing wither”? Can we take God at his word? If
God called you or me to do as Abraham, would we go? Giving up our nation, our
neighbors, and our nest, to do whatever is asked? The promises are real but we
must first be obedient if we are to receive them. Whether it be coming to Christ
to receive salvation, or going to the lost to bring them in, or even going to a
brother that he be restored. Whether teaching to salvation or to growth, we must
first obey.
Jonathan Baker
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither
he went.” Hebrews 11:8
Oswald Chambers, better known for “My Utmost for His Highest”, once wrote a
book entitled “Not Knowing Whither”, on the life of Abraham. When reading the
stories in Hebrews 11, “The Faith Chapter”, we don’t usually key in on that
phrase. But, that is exactly what faith is; acting on what God said he would do,
not just believing, but knowing that He is faithful, and that He will do what He said
He would do. In other words, acting on God’s Word because it is God’s Word.
Hebrews 10:36 said, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the
will of God, ye might receive the promise.” We seem to get this backwards, we
ask God to do what we want, and then we will be faithful. That isn’t faith, and that
isn’t what Abraham did. Abraham moved forward on what God had said, “Not
knowing whither he went.”
The story is played out in Genesis 12:1-5, it begins with a calling.
The calling was first a call of separation. Separation from his country, from his
widest affections, it was separation from national pride, political loyalty, and
patriotic obligation. This wasn’t his country anymore.
It was also separation from his kindred, from the clan. Separation from family
functions, duties and feelings, this was no longer his family. He wasn’t to be
concerned with the goings on of his cousin twice removed, or his great aunt on
his mother’s side.
There was also separation from the immediate family. A separation from intimate
relationships, from his father’s protection, comfort, and authority, this was no
longer his home. This has the sound of the commission in Acts, unto Jerusalem,
Judea, and the uttermost parts of the earth, only in reverse.
The call wasn’t just “from” it was “to”. It was a call to faith. Can you imagine the
country, kindred, and his father, like the people in the times of Noah, laughing
and mocking? “Yea, hath God not said?” Abraham had to trust God, with all his
heart and all his mind, yes, and with all his might. He had to know in the face of
opposition that he was right, no matter the logic of what he was to do.
Sometimes faith leads us in a path that appears to the world and the church as
foolish.
In return God would also give Abraham some things.
For the country he was to leave behind, God would make him a great nation. Not
just any nation, but a great nation. This nation would rule the entire known world
under the leadership of King Solomon, not by conquest, but wisdom,
confounding wisdom. It was to be a nation of missionaries, reaching the world for
God. He was to be blessed.
In the place of kindred relations, God gave him a great name. He would no
longer be known by the name of the Chaldees, he wasn’t their ambassador he
was God’s. He was to represent God to the nations. He was to be a blessing.
For the protection of his father’s house God gave divine intervention. Blessing
those who would bless Abraham, God would establish him in the land through
friends. Cursing those who cursed Abraham, God would establish him in the
land through a lack of enemies. The nations could see God’s hand in the life of
Abraham even when Abraham couldn’t. There was a Pharaoh and a king of the
Philistines who would both have taken Sarah to wife.
The greatest promise was the last in the series. God then told Abraham that all
the families of the earth would be blessed because of him. That nation he loved,
the old home folks, the family he grew up in, would all be blessed.
Because Abraham obeyed he is called the father of our faith, he is the pillar that
shines to show us that obedience in faith is not a way, but the way. The only
way! God’s promise spoke of a coming messiah, someone to free the people
from their sins. The Bible states that Abraham’s belief was credited to him for
righteousness, he was saved by faith through grace.
Are we willing to obey “not knowing wither”? Can we take God at his word? If
God called you or me to do as Abraham, would we go? Giving up our nation, our
neighbors, and our nest, to do whatever is asked? The promises are real but we
must first be obedient if we are to receive them. Whether it be coming to Christ
to receive salvation, or going to the lost to bring them in, or even going to a
brother that he be restored. Whether teaching to salvation or to growth, we must
first obey.
Jonathan Baker