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Genesis 12

Verses 1-3, "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. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' ”  God had a plan to justify the gentiles through faith, and decided to use Abram to carry it out.  Abram was an ordinary man, but what set him apart was that he believed God's promise.  Galatians 3:5-9, "Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' Therefore know that only  those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying,  'In you all the nations shall be blessed.' So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham." 

Although he believed God, he did have lapses in faith at times, which shows the patience God has with us.  The Lord had appeared to Abram when he was in Mesopotamia.  He left, but only went so far as Haran.  God's calling didn't change as a result of Abram’s failure to fully obey, but it was on hold until he got on board to fully obey God.  Acts 7:2-4, "And he said, 'Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, "Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you." Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.' "  We can't be sure, but there seemed to be a new openness to obey God once Abram’s father had died.  Sometimes the people and things of this world will keep us from doing what He has called us to do.  Matthew 10:37-39, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

Verses 4-5, "So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan."  He was told to leave his family behind, but took his nephew with him, not quite what God had told him.  Again, we need to be willing to leave behind the people and things that God tells us to leave.  I'm not sure they needed to bring along all their possessions either.  Verse 7, "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 , who had appeared to him."  God reminds him again of His promise.  Abram didn't own the land or even a permanent dwelling, he pitched a tent, which made the promise even more miraculous.

Verses 10-13, "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. And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, 'Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, "This is his wife"; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.' ”  Abram was put in a place where his faith would be tested by the famine.  Rather than trusting God to provide, he took his family to Egypt.  He then further compounds his folly by asking his wife to pose as his sister for his own safety.  Although God may have protected him during his lapse in faith, it doesn't mean He was okay with it.  Walking in the flesh produces it's own consequences as we'll see with his future son Ishmael, made with Hagar and not his own wife.

Do not mistake God's patience with you as His acceptance of what you are doing.  At some point, He may just give you fully over to your sin and flesh, beyond the point of coming back to faith.  Even if you do come back, you will reap the consequences of what you've sown.  Galatians 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

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