Title: The Life of Abraham
Contents
Bible Text: Genesis 13:1-13
Abraham's life
Late at night, an old woman came to see a famous doctor. When I asked if there was an urgent patient at a late hour, he said that he came because he had to discuss it with the teacher. “I have an only son and he steals. The habit of being three years old goes on and on, and it doesn't change no matter how old you get.” The doctor said, "Don't worry too much, it will get better over time." and comforted him, but the old man shed tears and beat him, he looked at Tyler, and he did everything he could, but it was not fixed. The doctor listened to the old man's words and went into the dispensing room to prepare medicine. “Try this medicine. There will be benefits.” and sent it back. When the assistant, who was watching the scene, asked if there was any drug to cure theft, the doctor smiled and said, “Man, where in the world is there a drug that cures theft? The medicine I gave the old woman was cough medicine. Wouldn't a cough keep you from stealing? If I can't steal for a while because I have a cough, I might not be able to do it forever...” He laughed.
There is a saying, “Life is the fabric of habit”, and it seems right. Abraham is spiritually the father of faith and materially rich. What lifestyle habits made the ancestors of faith and made them rich?
I lived and worshiped.
Wherever he went, Abraham built an altar and lived by calling on the name of the Lord. Today's text says that he lived between Bethel and Ai, where Abraham first built an altar, and there he called on the name of the Lord (verses 2-4). In Genesis 12, while Abram lived in the land of Shechem, there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord (verses 7-8).
Wherever he went, he built altars and offered sacrifices. He was a pioneer in worship. He is a person who goes ahead and prepares the way for worshipers so that others can see and follow them.
“Let Abraham bow down to the ground and bow down… and you shall become the father of many nations, and from now on you will not call your name Abram, but will call you Abraham, because I will make you the father of many nations. I will rise from you, and kings will come from you” (Genesis 17:3-6). Worship means bowing down to God.
Abram became Abraham because of his worship before God. Abram means “exalted father” and Abraham means “father of nations” and “noble father”. Abraham is a man whose attitude and attitude toward life have been sublimed by God. Worship makes people pleasing to God.
A personal encounter with God changed people. It was changed by accepting God's thoughts. “...he called on the name of the Lord there” He lived everywhere calling on the name of God. When you make a sound with your mouth, the spoken word becomes a visible reality. When you call on God's name, it means that God is there. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near!” (Isaiah 55:6) God has made it possible for us to use His name. It is calling on the name of God.
Call on God and live. God will be with you. The name of Jesus is the hope of the world. Those who live by his name will become Abram and the father of many nations, and will multiply greatly. God's rebuke toward Israel was that they "did not call upon God with the heart" (Hosea 7:14). God speaks to us. “...Call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me” (Psalm 50:15) Let us all live by that name like Abraham. He, whom we call, rescues us and glorifies us.
When it says, “Abram was rich in cattle and silver and gold” (verse 2), it means that his wealth was too great and difficult to manage. Abraham's abundance is a blessing received through worship. “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord is riches and glory and life” (Proverbs 22:4). Like Abraham, I hope that God will be with you, and you will receive noble changes and enrichment by building an altar and calling on God's name.
I lived without quarreling.
When Abraham left his hometown, he left with his nephew. The land they live in is narrow, and as the number of beasts increased, Abraham's shepherd and Lot's shepherd began to quarrel with each other (verses 5-7).
Conflict begins with self-interest. They stand up for their own legitimacy and criticize others. Arguments should end early. Arguments become physical fights, and physical fights become sword fights. Wisdom is knowing how to handle big things as big things and how to handle small things as small things. Abraham was not the kind of person who ruined important things with trivial things. I thought that material things should not break a harmonious relationship. “Abram said to Lot, “We are one flesh. Let us not quarrel with each other, neither you nor my shepherd nor your shepherd” (verse 8). This is Abraham's thinking.
“The beginning of a strife is like a leak in a springboard, and the quarrels will cease before they arise” (Proverbs 17:14). Abraham tried to occupy each other's pasture in a small space, so quarrels seemed inevitable. Instead of scolding the shepherds why they quarrel or not to fight, he came up with a solution.
“Is not the whole earth before you? Leave me. If you are left, I will be right, you are right, and I will be left” (verse 9). Again, Abraham was an adult. A glimpse of the life cycle. The sure proof of a fool is that he gets excited by sticking to his will. A fool realizes it too late even when he is faced with a terrible thing. The strong fool dies in the face of the flood, and the weaker fool turns his back and runs away to preserve himself. The best way to win an argument is to avoid it.
“A quarreling woman is a drop of water that falls on rainy days” (Proverbs 27:15). Do you know which month of the year when women talk the least? February. There are only 28 days. “It is better to have a piece of dry bread and be at peace, than a house full of flesh and contention” (Proverbs 17:1). :19) Abram thought we shouldn't fight. He didn't want to take the good for himself. I gave priority to my nephew.
“So Lot lifted up his eyes and looked at the Jordan, and there was plenty of water in all the land as far as Zoar… So Lot chose all the Jordan and moved it to the east, and they departed from each other” (verses 10-11). This is wisdom. The Bible says that if we bite and eat each other, we will all perish (Galatians 5:15). Quarrels bring shame and dishonor. “It is an honor for men to avoid strife, but every fool stirs up strife” (Proverbs 20:3).
I lived in the land of Canaan.
Abraham's hometown is the land of Babylon, Ur of the Chaldeans, and he lived there for 75 years. After leaving his hometown, he now lives in “Canaan”. In Genesis 12:5, it says, “…and departed to go to the land of Canaan, and finally entered the land of Canaan.” In verse 12 of the text we read today, “...Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan.” The land of Canaan is a place rich in culture and rich enough to be described as “a land flowing with milk and burrows” (Exodus 3:8).
Canaan is the land God promised to give to Abram and his descendants, and Joshua conquered it and distributed it to the 12 tribes of Israel. This is the land where Isaac, Abraham's son, blessed Jacob. “God bless you with the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, with an abundance of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28).
On the other hand, Esau said, “Your dwelling shall be far from the fatness of the earth, and from the dew of heaven that falls, and you shall live by the sword and serve your brother…” (Genesis 27:39-40). Canaan is God's promised land. The inheritance was given to Jacob, his sons, and the descendants of the twelve tribes. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived with Canaan as their address.
Lot chose Sodom. Apparently, it had ample water and was suitable for herding. ...like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt (v. 10). But it is a cursed land. Sodom has been called an evil city even before Lot's settlement. Genesis 13:13 says, “The men of Sodom were wicked, and they were great sinners before the Lord.”
Lot chose Sodom, not Canaan. “I, wisdom, take refuge in understanding, and find knowledge and soberness” (Proverbs 8:12).
Life is a choice. You judge and decide for yourself. “The heart of the wise is on the right hand, and the heart of the Umeza is on the left” (Ecclesiastes 10:3). Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:33-34). On the right is Canaan, and on the left is Sodom. The land of Canaan is fertile, but Sodom is far from fertile. The land of Canaan is a land where the dew of heaven falls, and Sodom is a land without God's blessing.
The fact that Abraham lived with the land of Canaan as his address means the land where God's blessings will come. The dew of heaven means the mind of wealth from God. The lifestyle of rich Abraham's thoughts, words, and actions is an inheritance we should inherit. As children of faith, we must learn to think of wealth and live his life. We must live in the land of Canaan that has absorbed the rain and dew from heaven.
I have seen on TV a scene where a firefly living in the desert receives the dew that falls at night on its body, poses so that it flows into its mouth, and sucks the dew with its whole body. It was a strange way of surviving.
Trees thrive by streams. Just as fish drink water from water, so the saints drink living water in the temple. Like Abraham, I hope that you will live your life of faith in the welfare of Canaan where the dew of grace falls and that all things will go well.
The life of Abraham is, first, a life of worship. Please live by calling on the name of God. Second, it is a life without quarrels. The Israelites quarreled with Moses. King David prayed, “Fight those who fight with me” (Psalm 35:1). May you be reconciled to God and to all people. Third, they lived in the land of Canaan. Saints! He lived to be 175 years old. After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac (Genesis 25:7,11). After I die, I hope that you will live to bless your descendants. Like a tree by a brook, I hope that 175 years old is too much and lives up to 99 years old by the river of grace.