Abraham

From: Messages of God's Love: 1977

Narrator: Chris Genthree

Duration: 2min

• 1 min. read • grade level: 6

Genesis 12:1-13:4¹Now 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 show thee: ²And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: ³And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. ⁴So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. ⁵And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. ⁶And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. ⁷And 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. ⁸And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. ¹⁰And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. ¹¹And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: ¹²Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. ¹³Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. ¹⁴And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. ¹⁵The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. ¹⁷And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. ¹⁸And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? ¹⁹Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. ²⁰And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. ¹And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. ²And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. ³And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; ⁴Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. (Genesis 12:1‑13:4)

After the flood, when idolatry began to spread over the earth, God called one man, Abram, to be a witness to Himself as the one true God. Abram lived in Shinar, but God called him to leave his country and all his people, to go to another land he had never seen before. There God said He would bless him and make him father of a great nation, and in him should all the families of the earth be blessed.

Abram obeyed God and left his country with his wife, Sarah; his nephew, Lot, went along with him, and they came into the land of Canaan. There Abram built an altar and worshipped God. Now the Canaanites dwelt in the land, and they were very wicked. Abram did not build a house there, but lived in a tent; he was a pilgrim and a stranger all his life.

But Abram’s faith was tried, for soon a famine came. Abram seemed to forget that God would feed and take care of him, for he went down into Egypt.

Now God had not told Abram to go down to Egypt, and after he had been there some time, He caused Abram to be very humbled and ashamed for what he had done. Abram left Egypt and returned to the very spot where he had first set up his tent and altar. Then he was happy in the Lord again.

Egypt, to us, is a picture of the world. As long as a Christian goes on with the Lord, He will keep him happy. But if he goes into the world, he will be miserable and unhappy, for God cannot bless him there. Not until he repents and returns to the Lord will he be happy again.

ML-07/31/1977

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