Title: Knowing and believing / Genesis 12:1-4
Content /> Genesis 12:1-4
Abraham was a man of faith who received the title of ‘father of faith’. Why is he the father of faith? Because he always obeyed God. Although the word “obedience” sounds a bit weak, quiet, and passive, in reality, obedience is a bold act of brave people. The act of obedience is the decisive refusal to obey where it is impossible to obey in order to obey where it should be obeyed. “Obedience” is not something we say or think. Obedience is action. So, if Abraham was an obedient man, it means that he was a man of action. Abraham just looked up to the sky, Lord! Lord! I wasn't the one who did. He was a man of action in real life.
You can see that faith in action in today's Word. There are three important words in the text. The first is 'Go,' the second, 'Go,' the third, 'Become'.
1. go away
He said, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and your father’s house’. 'Hometown, relatives and father's house' is a place where traces of Abraham's life are contained. It is the history of Abraham, the past of Abraham. But God told him to depart from the past, which was the basis and root of Abraham's life. It was not easy, but when Abraham told him to leave, he left.
What will happen when you leave your hometown? You will lose all of your relatives, those who recognize you, your familiar traces, and those comfortable surroundings. And you will be in a dangerous environment. At that time, Abraham would have no choice but to rely on God. In this way, you will earnestly hope and pray for God, and you will live your life earnestly feeling that the basis of your life is not the earth but God.
This is what God had told Abraham to do, so he had to leave. Did you really have to do that? Only then would he have done so because Abraham would become a truly blessed person. If we looked at the world and only the earth, we would be able to live just fine, but we would not have been able to lead a great nation of faith. It was hard and difficult right now, but when we followed the path of obedience, that path became the path of blessing.
Abraham is later commanded to leave a second time. It was when he was told to sacrifice his son Isaac, whom he barely had when he was 100 years old. He was a child who was only given at the end of the day, saying that he would prosper like the stars in the sky and the sand on the earth. Why did you give such an order?
Leaving Abraham's hometown was a very good thing. I really hope only for God, and I have always prayed and obeyed God and nurtured my spirit of faith. But after the birth of my son, things started to change little by little. The eyes that looked at God gradually turned toward the child, the time we prayed to God gradually changed to the time we looked at the child, and the hope we had in God gradually turned toward the child. So God commands us to leave again. Get away from that child. It was a painful command, but Abraham obeyed even there. Didn't you go up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice the child? The road to Mount Moria was painful and painful, but it was the way to go. When he obeys up to that point, God blesses him again.
Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will bless you greatly, and your seed will multiply greatly.
I will make you like the stars in the sky and like the sand on the seashore...
Through your seed all peoples under the heavens will be blessed, because you have obeyed my words. 22:16-18
To leave is to throw away. So that's difficult. When you can throw it away, you can get it. When Abraham told him to leave, he left. That is obedience, and obedience is action.
2. Go
‘…Go to the land I will show you’, he said, ‘the land I will show you’. It means the land of the future. It means the land that can only be seen by faith. That is why it is a land that can only be obtained by believing in the word of God and moving forward.
?It makes a difference. For to know is to remain in knowledge, and to believe is to act. ‘Land to be shown’ It is a land that cannot be seen now, a land that cannot be grasped now. In other words, it is a land that cannot be known by knowledge. But it is the land of faith. Abraham did not go by knowledge, but by faith he went to an unknown land and unknown time. Therefore, he received the great title of father of all nations and father of faith. It is truly an amazing land.
Numerous stories in the Bible tell the difference between knowing and knowing. The Israelites claimed to be believers in God. They were well acquainted with the words of the Bible, and they knew the workings of God. However, when the great Philistine general Goliath appeared, their knowledge disappeared somewhere. They knew God, but they did not actually believe and act.
The people of the twelve tribes who spyed out the land of Canaan all saw the same place and came to report that the land was fertile according to the word of God. I knew it, but I didn't believe it.
Historically, yes. When the Nazis in Germany massacred the Jews, thousands of Christians were there, and they all knew it was against God's will, but they all kept their mouths shut. I knew it, but there was no action. It's not because you don't know. I knew, but there was no action. Knowing but not acting--that's the difference with belief.
The Pharisees and scribes did not know every word in the Bible, but they did not say that they had such a good faith. So, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the gates of the kingdom of heaven in front of men, and you neither enter nor let those who are trying to enter (Matthew 23:13). Was it because they didn't know the Bible? Because they know but don't act.
But the people of faith followed what they believed rather than what they knew. Did David see Goliath as a scoundrel? He knew that Goliath was a great general. However, the difference between David and the Israelites was that he did not act with such visible knowledge, but with unseen but faith in the greatness of God. Although he knew that the lions' den was in front of him, Daniel acted with faith, and Joshua Caleb knew that the people of the land were majestic and well-equipped, but he acted according to the heart of faith that it was the land that God had promised. He knew that it was a number that could never be matched against a large army of twelve thousand, but Gideon believed the word and went to the battle with 300 warriors. This is the difference between knowing? And the difference can be seen in behavior.
When Abraham told him to go to the land he was going to show him, he did not know anything about the land, but he did not go out with what he knew, but went out by faith. That's the difference between knowing? And faith is always the force that drives us to act.
3. It will be
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. Genesis 12:2
God prophesied to Abraham that you would be a blessing. After believing the word and departing to the land of hope, God promised great blessings that he would make you great and make you a blessing. And he prophesied a great blessing that all other people would also be blessed through such Abraham.
All peoples of the earth will be blessed through you 12:3
I bless you as well as the saints who receive the prophecy of God's great blessings.
You are blessed, others are blessed because of you, people are happy because of you, you are rich in abundance, and many people are saved because of you.
A life that brings joy and peace to people because of me, makes people happy because I am there, and makes people laugh where I am. Isn't that a life that makes people happy because of me? When my work goes well and my business grows more and more prosperous, so that those who are connected with me also have an abundance, won't many people be blessed because of me? If I say that more and more people are being saved by sharing the gospel with many people, what could be more blessed than this?
Saints, be blessed. And bless the place where you are, because you are there. Be a source of blessing among people. Good luck at work and at home. Also, be a fountain of blessing in the church.
Abraham was a man of faith. He was a man of obedience. What this means is that he was a man of action. Because obedience is an action. Abraham did not live with what he knew. I lived by what I believed. Faith is not living by what you know, but living by what you believe. If Abraham was truly a man of faith, it would be because he acted according to what he believed. I bless you that you too may receive the blessings Abraham received abundantly through this faith.