Gênesis 12
John Calvin · Citado em PreceptAustin
Gênesis 12
Calvin - "Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is not alone." Moody - It is to him that worketh not, but believeth. We work because we are saved; we don’t work to be saved. We work from the cross but not towards it. Steven
Gênesis 12
Calvin points out (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], 1:353), this means that the land was not his ultimate aim, but rather, heaven. Abram was looking for that city whose architect and builder is God (Heb. 11:10). He had to trust that God would make good on His word even though Abram would not live to see it. That’s what we’re called to as Christians. We’re not of this world. We are not to love the things of this world. We’re just passing through. Our destination is heaven. As Paul said, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). When we encounter any hardships, we have to trust that God’s promises about heaven are a sure thing. The pilgrim life means that we obey God whatever the hardships, knowing that our reward is in heaven. If we obey, like Abram, we’ll have the Lord’s presence and His promises of a glorious future, even if we never in our lifetime receive those promises. The pilgrim life is often a difficult life, but obedient faith keeps on believing and obeying in spite of the hardships. Let me review some of the difficulties Abram faced in obeying God. He was 75 when he departed from Haran (12:4). While 75 in Abram’s day was a lot younger than it is in our day, he wasn’t a youth. He was married and had accumulated a number of possessions and servants (12:5). If moving with U-Haul is a hassle now, it was much harder then. It meant leaving a city and going across a desert to an uncertain location. There were bands of robbers and many other dangers along the way. He didn’t know anything about Canaan before he set out. There wasn’t an empty house waiting for them to move into. No doubt Abram faced opposition from his family and friends. Knowing what we do of Sarah’s personality, it’s likely that she complained and even cried about the move. It’s often hard on a wife to leave family and friends and to move to an unfamiliar place. Abram’s older brother, Nahor, was living in Haran (Gen. 24:10; 27:43). I can hear him asking, “Now where is it you’re going, Abram?” “I’m not sure. God told me to head for Canaan.” “Canaan! Don’t you know that there’s nothing but desert between here and there? If you all don’t die of thirst, the robbers will get you! Are you crazy?” “But God has told me to go, and I must obey Him. He will take care of us.” “But what more could you ask for than what you have here in Haran? You’ve got plenty of land, a nice house, servants, livestock, family, friends. What could you possibly gain by going to Canaan? And have you heard about the Canaanites? Those people sacrifice their children to their gods. They have sexual orgies at their temples. That’s not a healthy environment to raise a family, Abram.” But, in spite of all the hassles, the objections, the obstacles, and the risks, Abram obeyed God without excuses or protest. Obedient faith hears God’s Word and acts on it. So Abram obeyed God and lived happily ever after in a comfortable home in the land of Canaan. Is that what we read? No, we read that “the Canaanite was then in the land” (12:7). In verse 10 we read of something else in the land: a famine! What a welcome wagon: the Canaanites and a famine! Is that how God rewards those who hear His Word and act on it? Yes, it often is. Moses obeyed God by going back to Egypt to lead His people out of captivity. What happened? Did Pharaoh say, “Have a good trip!”? Hardly. Did the Israelites say, “We’d love to follow you out into the wilderness, no matter how hard it is”? Not quite. Finally they left Egypt after God had inflicted the plagues on the Egyptians and parted the Red Sea and drowned Pharaoh’s army. Did Israel then find a beautiful garden spot to camp? “They went three days in the wilderness and found no water” (Exod. 15:22). A slight problem for two million people in the Sinai peninsula! Every time I’ve obeyed God by moving to a new situation, I’ve encountered trials. When Marla and I moved to Dallas so that I could finish seminary, we were caught in a blizzard in southern New Mexico on the way. We got there and couldn’t find an apartment. We finally found one and were promptly mugged and I ended up with four stitches in my hand from the gun sight as it was ripped out of my hand. Other moves haven’t been that traumatic, but every time I’ve faced difficult trials in one form or another. Where did we ever get the idea that if we trust and obey God all our problems will evaporate? It’s certainly not in the Bible. Quite often when we start obeying God we have troubles we never dreamed of having before. From this time on, Abram lived as a nomad in a tent, not in a house. He never owned a single piece of Canaan, except for the burial plot he bought for his wife. The only thing of permanence he left behind were some altars. That points to our other theme: B. Obedient faith means living as worshipers and witnesses. The tent shows him to be a pilgrim; the altar shows him to be a worshiper and a witness, claiming the land for God and His purposes. He built the first one at the oak of Moreh. It is possible that this was the spot of a heathen shrine. There Abram erected his altar to the living God and bore witness to the godless Canaanites. When Abram “called on the name of the Lord” (12:8), it means that he openly acknowledged his trust in God as his strength and provider. He was raising the banner of the Lord’s name in a pagan land, declaring Him to be the only true God. No doubt the pagans would have watched Abram curiously and asked, “Where is the god you’re sacrificing to? We don’t see any statues or images.” “No, my God is the living and true God, maker of heaven and earth. He cannot be represented by any manmade images.” Perhaps Abram bore witness to them of how we cannot approach the holy God without the shedding of blood. Perhaps he told them of God’s judgment during Noah’s day and warned them of judgment if they did not turn to God. As far as we know, the Canaanites for the most part, ignored Abram and continued in their wicked ways. In His great mercy, God spared those wicked people for 700 more years until Joshua’s day. But Abram the worshiper had borne witness to them. God will use those who live as pilgrims and worshipers in the midst of a pagan land to bear witness for Him. Some will be saved; some will mock or ignore the message. But God will use the witness of His pilgrims at the day of judgment to vindicate His justice. Conclusion A gray-haired old lady, long a member of her church, shook hands with the pastor after the Sunday morning service. “That was a wonderful sermon,” she told him, “just wonderful. Everything you said applies to someone I know.” Obedient faith hears what God’s Word is saying to me, and it responds with appropriate action. It begins with hearing the gospel, that salvation is not by my merit or good deeds, but rather that salvation is from the Lord. He has provided everything to reconcile sinners with Himself. Repenting of my pride and disobedience and abandoning all trust in myself, I cast myself completely upon Christ. Such saving faith results in a new life in which I obey God in response to His great love for me. Obedient faith goes on growing by searching God’s Word and allowing it to search me. When God puts His finger on an area of sin, obedient faith responds, even if it is difficult or inconvenient. Obedient faith lets go of this evil world and begins a pilgrimage toward heaven. It worships God by calling upon Him and it bears witness of God to this pagan world. Wherever God is speaking to you, hear what He’s saying and act on it. That’s obedient faith. Without such faith, it is impossible to please the Lord. (Genesis 12:4-9) Oswald Chambers - Worship Genesis 12:8. Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing for yourself; it has to be given back to Him that He may make it a blessing to others. Bethel is the symbol of communion with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abraham pitched his tent between the two. The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him. Rush is wrong every time; there is always plenty of time to worship God. Quiet days with God may be a snare. We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three stages in spiritual life—worship, waiting and work. Some of us go in jumps like spiritual frogs, we jump from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together. They were always together in the life of Our Lord. He was unhasting and unresting. It is a discipline, we cannot get into it all at once. Time For A Change Read: Genesis 12:1-8 | There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. —Genesis 12:8 Many believers long to spend daily time with God, praying and reading His Word. Ironically, they are often distracted by a busy schedule. Frustrations mount as busyness seems to crowd out an opening in their schedule. Oswald Chambers has wisely commented on the transforming power of even 5 minutes in the presence of the Lord. Indeed, even a short time spent in intercession and the Word still has great value: “It is not the thing on which we spend the most time that moulds us, but the thing that exerts the greatest power. Five minutes with God and His Word is worth more than all the rest of the day.” Now, it may sound like Chambers has made an overstatement. Yet powerful results can come from even a short time of prayer, because God is powerful. Lord, it’s amazing to me that You, Almighty God, would want to spend time with me! Thank You. I stumble with my words at times but am in awe of You. Thank You that You want to hear from me. Talk with God—He wants to hear your heart. Genesis 12:9 Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev CSB Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev. ESV And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. GWN Abram kept moving toward the Negev. KJV And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. NET Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev. NAB Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb. NIV Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. NJB Then Abram made his way stage by stage to the Negeb. NLT Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev. YLT And Abram journeyeth, going on and journeying towards the south. going on still (KJV): Heb. in going and journeying, Ge 13:3 24:62 Ps 105:13 Heb 11:13,14 Genesis 12 Resources - Multiple commentaries, sermons, devotionals See Map of Abram's Journey; More general map of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Genesis 12:4-9 - Obedient Faith by Steven Cole Genesis 12:1-9 The Evidence of Saving Faith - Allen Ross Map of Migration of Abram from Ur to Haran to Canaan Map of Abram in Canaan and Migration to Egypt ABRAM JOURNEYS SOUTH Ryrie - Archaeological evidence of settlements in this area at this time supports the biblical record, which places the patriarch's residence there in the same period. Journeyed (05265)(nasa) means to pull out or up, set out, to leave as on a journey. Nasa has the basic meaning of moving something out, pulling it out, taking it away; causing something to move out: Samson pulled out the gates (foundations included) and carried them away (Jdg. 16:3) NIDOTTE says "Whether the original meaning of the verb is “to pull up tent pegs” or “to break up," the verb is most often used in contexts of setting out and traveling and then virtually always in qal." NET Note adds that nasa’ "means “to journey”; more specifically it means to pull up the tent and move to another place. The construction here uses the preterite of this verb with its infinitive absolute to stress the activity of traveling. But it also adds the infinitive absolute of הָלַךְ (halakh) to stress that the traveling was continually going on. Thus “Abram journeyed, going and journeying” becomes “Abram continually journeyed by stages.” Thus the NET Bible translates it "Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev." Negev (south) (map) (05045) is transliteration of the Hebrew word (negeg) which means "south" which in turn is based on a word meaning "to be dry" a fitting name for this region (region denoted in red; see depiction of this arid region). It is a geographical term which refers to a specific section of Palestine (Ge 13:1) located between Debir and the Arabian Desert. It is an arid region most of the year. Since this area was south of the larger part of Israel, the word also came to be used to denote that direction (cp. Ge 13:14 where "southward" = Negev -- also in Da 8:4,9; 11:5). Negev - 95 verse all in the OT -l Gen. 12:9; 13:1,3,14; 20:1; 24:62; 28:14; Exod. 27:9; 36:23; 38:9; 40:24; Num. 13:17,22,29; 21:1; 33:40; 34:3f; 35:5; Deut. 1:7; 34:3; Jos. 10:40; 11:2,16; 12:8; 15:1ff,7f,19,21; 17:9f; 18:5,13ff,19; 19:34; Jdg. 1:9,15f; 21:19; 1 Sam. 14:5; 20:41; 27:10; 30:1,14; 2 Sam. 24:7; 1 Ki. 7:25,39; 1 Chr. 9:24; 26:15,17; 2 Chr. 4:4,10; 28:18; Ps. 126:4; Isa. 21:1; 30:6; Jer. 13:19; 17:26; 32:44; 33:13; Ezek. 20:46f; 21:4; 40:2; 46:9; 47:1,19; 48:10,16f,28,33; Dan. 8:4,9; 11:5f,9,11,14f,25,29,40; Obad. 1:19f; Zech. 7:7; 14:4,10