Exalting God

In 1743, David Brainerd began his ministry to the Native Americans of northeastern America. And in at least some ways this man reminds me of Abram. He was a man that from a human perspective might not seem like a logical choice to receive such a calling from God. But as is typical of God, He works in the lives of those we may least expect.

As we have discussed over the last few weeks, Abram was a pagan, a moon worshiper, but God chose to work through him, calling him out of the darkness and giving him the faith he needed. We would have chosen someone who perhaps was already serving the Lord, but God sees so much more than we do – and we should praise Him for it!

David Brainerd was a young man struggling with tuberculosis. He had been expelled from Yale for criticizing a professor and was often depressed and despondent.[i] By the standards of today’s mission organizations he would not have been allowed to go on the mission field. But as is typical with God, He sees beyond the exterior. And He knows what He desires to accomplish through the life of a person, regardless of health or apparent potential.

Listen to the faith of this young man:

But when the braves drew closer to Brainerd’s tent, they saw the paleface on his knees. And as he prayed, suddenly a rattlesnake slipped to his side, lifted up its ugly head to strike, flicked its forked tongue almost in his face, and then without any apparent reason, glided swiftly away into the brushwood. “The Great Spirit is with the paleface!” the Indians said; and thus they accorded him a prophet’s welcome.

That incident in Brainerd’s ministry illustrates more than the many Divine interventions of God in his life — it also illustrates the importance and intensity of prayer in Brainerd’s life. Believe it — Brainerd prayed! Read the Life and Diary of David Brainerd. On page after page one reads such sentences as:

Wednesday, April 21 …and God again enabled me to wrestle for numbers of souls, and had much fervency in the sweet duty of intercession…

Lord’s Day, April 25. This morning I spent about two hours in secret duties and was enabled more than ordinarily to agonize for immortal souls. Though it was early in the morning and the sun scarcely shined at all, yet my body was quite wet with sweat…

Saturday, December 15. Spent much time in prayer in the woods and seemed raised above the things of this world…[ii]

There are several themes that arise in this passage of Scripture. We see the importance of discipleship, particularly as we see Abram leave Egypt and return to Bethel and display his faith in God. Abram also displays a very gracious and giving spirit as he seeks to solve a real problem through the right use of faith. We also see obedience demonstrated as Abram takes hold of God’s instruction.

But we cannot reduce this passage to a few lessons; there is a challenge in this passage that I want us to take to heart – we are called by God to “life our eyes” to Him. David Brainerd lived what Abram displays in this passage. He lifted his eyes and saw God. Think about this truth as we walk through chapter thirteen.

Abram has a Problem

Genesis 13:1-7

Beginning in verse one we find a man who has learned a valuable lesson: Always trust in God and not in your self. Here is a man who has the anointing of God resting upon his soul; a man who has already seen God prove Him self faithful and trustworthy. Yet, when faced with a potentially life changing decision he opted for his own wisdom and not God’s. He went down to Egypt and was there humiliated by a pagan king: “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?” Can you imagine the shame Abram must have felt, a man of God being corrected by a pagan?

Abram’s Return

These first few verses are very simple and clear. They record the physical movement of Abram and his clan as they leave Egypt and move back toward God. His first step was to move out from Egypt. He left there with his wife and all of his possessions and moved north into the Negeb (Negev). The Negeb is the area of land at the southern tip of Israel, which separates Israel and Egypt. It is a dry land that Abram had to move through as he worked his way back to Bethel. It is interesting to note that Moses makes a point to mention the fact that Lot was still with them. We were not told that Lot had accompanied Abram to Egypt, although we might have assumed as much, but it is important for us to know this as we seek to interpret the events of chapter thirteen, for now we know that Lot has witnessed not only Abram’s decline, but also his restoration.

In verse two we begin to see how God’s promise to bless Abram (Genesis 12:2) is beginning to unfold. He is rich in livestock, silver, and gold. In light of this verse, I can’t help but think about the faithfulness of God. At some point from the call of Abram until his journey through the Negeb God has blessed Abram with abundant wealth. In spite of Abram’s lack of faith, God’s faithfulness never ceased. Perhaps that is the point. Perhaps God is seeking to demonstrate not only to Abram and Israel, but also to you and me that His faithfulness is not fickle or waning. The faithfulness of God to remain true to His promises is not based on emotion or fear or human logic, but on the rock solid foundation of His character and goodness.

As Abram makes his way through the Negeb and back into the Promised Land, he settles in between Bethel and Ai, “to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there [he] called upon the name of the Lord.” You will remember from chapter twelve that the first step of Abram’s decline was a failure to trust in the Lord. From there the natural second step was a failure to worship. This is how we know that Abram is growing in his faith, he is returning to a heart of praise and worship to God. He left Egypt and ran back to God. We can only imagine what Abram’s worship was like as he once again called upon the name of the Lord. Was he praising God for deliverance? Was he exalting God for being so patient and faithful? Was he singing praises to God because He is so awesome? Although we may not know exactly what his worship consisted of, we do know that he cried out to God. And as will see in this chapter, the work of God in Abram’s life had affected change. Abram had learned from his mistake.

Not Enough Room

Verses five through seven depict the problem facing Abram. God had obviously blessed Lot as well, for he too possessed a multitude of livestock and servants. The two clans were large enough that the land open to them at the time could not sustain everyone. These cramped quarters led to bickering and fighting among the herdsman. As Moses notes, the Perizzites and Canaanites were still in the land at this time, so they were unable to spread out throughout the land. This problem is somewhat similar to the one which led to Abram’s decline; earlier they experienced a famine and now there is not enough land to support so many people, a problem that could easily result in a shortage of food. But thankfully, through faith Abram responded with complete trust in God.

Abram Responds in Faith

Genesis 13:8-13

Abram’s Response

We see Abram’s faith so clearly in light of how he responds to this problem. He draws Lot’s attention to the land before his eyes – “Is not the whole land before you?” At this point he makes a bold promise; where ever Lot chose to go, Abram promised to go in the other direction. But didn’t God promise the land to Abram’s offspring? It would seem on the surface that Abram was once again dismissing the promise of God and trusting in himself, but that is not what happened here. God did promise the land to Abram’s offspring and both Lot’s and Abram’s physical response to this issue reveals that Abram was fully trusting in the Lord.

Lot’s Response

“And Lot lifted up his eyes.” This phrase is extremely important here because it is used by Moses to note the faith of both Lot and Abram. In verse ten Lot’s focus is clear; he saw the Jordan Valley and how well it was watered; it was like the garden of God! It also reminded Lot of the fertile lands in Egypt. He remembered the abundance of food and livestock. He remembered the wealth. And as he lifted up his eyes it was not the blessing of God that caught his attention, it was the fatted calf and abundant resources of the Jordan Valley.

So for Lot the choice must have seemed easy. Logic would tell a cattleman that he needed good land and plenty of it; therefore, take the choice land and prosper. And that is exactly what Lot did. He chose the Jordan Valley and parted company with Abram. As he moved east his clan settled among the cities of the valley and Lot himself “moved his tent as far as Sodom”. Verse thirteen is powerful: “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.”

As we mentioned earlier, Lot was with Abram during his decline and restoration. He saw firsthand that trusting in your own wisdom and moving away from God – remember, Bethel means “house of God” – is always a disastrous choice. But Lot leaves anyway, choosing to move away from God and pitch his tent near Sodom. True, it does not say that he pitched his tent in Sodom, but as we will see in chapter fourteen that is exactly where he ends up – living in Sodom!

We, like Lot, love to push the envelope of living in the world but not of the world. The world offers so many “advantages” and “opportunities”; it seems naïve to forsake them. But just as Lot learned, by pitching our tents too close to the world we eventually become ensnared and enraptured with all that it offers. We then fail to guard our souls and thus we become prisoners to its delights, all the while drifting further and further from the presence and promise of God.

God Proves Himself Faithful

Genesis 13:14-18

Lot lifted his eyes and saw the advantages of this world, but Abram responded in faith. Abram’s response was one of grace and forgiveness. I say this because Lot knew that God had made these promises to Abram, not him. It was insulting for Lot to presume that he somehow deserved the better portion. Yet, Abram did not respond in anger. Instead, he displayed trust in the Lord to remain true to his promise. And God proves Himself faithful.

After Lot had taken his clan and departed, God spoke to Abram: “Lift up your eyes and look…” Both Abram and Lot lifted up there eyes, but their focal points could not have been more different. Lot saw the world, Abram saw God’s promise. And God was quick to demonstrate His faithfulness. Abram only had to do two things: 1) He had to look and 2) He had to walk.

He Lifted his Eyes

In verse fourteen God tells Abram to open his eyes and look in every direction – northward, southward, eastward, and westward. God promised to give all the land that he could to him and his offspring forever. Simply because Lot had selfishly chosen the better portion did not mean that God would forgo His promise. Just because the Canaanites and Perizzites were still in the land did not mean that God would change His mind or somehow be unable to give him the land. Abram just had to continue living by faith and not by sight.

Isn’t this the very definition of faith – we are called to live by what Scripture tells us about God, not what we see played out in the world today. We see injustice and evil and a multitude of gods, but that doesn’t mean that God does not exist. We must live by faith and not by sight. Abram was living by faith; Lot was living by sight, and it would cost him dearly.

Consider once again Abram’s lifting up of his eyes. Scripture provides us with several examples of what this means and more specifically what we are to be looking at when we lift up our eyes.

Isaiah 40:26-28[iii]

²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. ²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? ²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Isaiah is clear, we are to lift up our eyes and gaze at God – the One who created us and calls us by name, the One who is mighty to save and strong to deliver, the One who is always present and never grows weary. This great God of unsearchable wisdom is the One to whom we are called to look. Jesus gives us the reason:

Matthew 6:28-30

²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

If God so cares for the lilies of the field, why on earth would we want to set our gaze upon anything but Him?

He Started Walking

Abram’s second act of faith was to arise and walk. God promised to give him every square inch of land that his foot fell upon. This is the same instruction God gave to Moses in Deuteronomy 11:24: “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours.” In other words, it was going to take effort. God was not going to simply give the land over to Abram without effort on his part. So Abram moved his tent and settled south of Bethel in Hebron. And there he continued to worship his Lord.

This chapter is about faith leading to trust. It demonstrates so clearly the practical affect faith should have on our lives. God says it, we believe it, we live it. It shows so vividly how the worship of God should naturally intertwine with all areas of our lives. In good times and in bad; when we have been wronged or when we have been blessed, we are to respond to God in worship and in praise. We are to lift our eyes to heaven and find our center in Him.

I can’t help but wonder if the reason our lives sometime seem aimless or confused or frustrating is because our eyes are not on Him. Who do you look to? Jesus addresses this issue with His disciples following His ministry to the Samaritan woman at the well. He says:

John 4:34-38

³⁴… “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. ³⁶ Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

There is a reason the church at large does not reach the world around it – our eyes are not collectively lifted up to the harvest! Jesus tells us to open our eyes and look around, the lost and confused and hurting are all around us. We only have to look to see them. As we work together with Christians all around the world we play different parts. I may sow and you may reap. Or you may sow a seed in Honduras and years later another believer reaps the harvest.

But are we sowing? Are we reaping? Either way, we must agree that our eyes must be lifted up and opened to see the harvest, which is white before us. It is ready to be gathered in and brought before the Father. I think of Jesus’ words in John 10:16: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.” There are still sheep out there that are Christ’s and He has commissioned us to go and tell them about His saving grace. This won’t happen without effort. Just as Abram had to open his eyes and walk step by step to receive the land, so too we have to open our eyes and walk step by step, constantly sharing the gospel and calling the world to repentance.

The prayer of David Brainerd should grip our hearts:

Wednesday, April 21 …and God again enabled me to wrestle for numbers of souls, and had much fervency in the sweet duty of intercession…

This is the prayer of a man who has lifted his eyes and seen God. In our study through Colossians the question was raised as to what it is like to “wrestle” in prayer over something the way Paul did. “What does it look like?” we asked. “Why do I feel as though I have never ‘wrestled’ in pray over anything?” we continued to ask. Perhaps this is our answer – we have never lifted our eyes and seen God. Perhaps we are lifting our eyes and looking at the fruitful plain or the fatted calf. I pray that God would get our attention the way He got Abram’s. And that we would lift our eyes to God and allow our faith in Him to work itself out in obedient action.

[i]Worldwide Missions. “David Brainerd: Missionary”. Internet Article. Accessed on August 17, 2007. http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/biobrain.html

[ii]Ibid.

[iii]All Scripture quotation are taken from The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, unless otherwise noted.

There are several truths that jump out to us from this text. First, we clearly see the issue of trust. Abraham did not trust God to care for him and his family. We also see the issue of honesty. Not only did he lie to the Pharaoh, but he had Sarai lie as well. The consequences for not trusting God are also plainly visible. However, there is another point that is perhaps not quite so obvious.

At this point God had already promised to provide a Deliverer. Both in Genesis 3:15 and in 12:3, we find God prophesying about the coming Messiah. And as we have learned over the last two weeks, the point in Genesis is recognizing the truth that God is sovereignly working toward a plan of redemption. He had a plan determined since before the foundation of the world and nothing ever has, nor ever will, deter Him from fulfilling this plan. Now consider the actions of Abraham.

Abraham, the man God had chosen to father a great nation that He would call His own, had responded in faith to God’s call upon his life. He left both Ur and Haran and had arrived in Canaan. But amidst God’s promise to bless him and protect him, Abraham had failed to remain steadfast in his faith. This is where we see the larger point of this passage, for when Abraham failed, God did not forsake him. Instead, God brought him back into the fold. We will address these points in more detail shortly, but for now try and grasp the larger picture: God has promised to provide redemption for His children and nothing will derail His plan, not even the sin of His children.

Allen Ross makes a great observation here: “Israel would learn that, even when they were unfaithful, there were aspects of the promise that God would not relinquish through their failure. This deliverance in no way condoned the deception; rather, it embarrassed it.”[1] This is a truth that should have encouraged Israel and should encourage us today, for here we see that our God is faithful and forgiving.

Yet, just because God will forgive and restore us (1 John 1:9), that does not mean that we should embrace sin or disregard the downward path that Abraham followed here. If we truly love the Lord our God then we should make certain to remain alert to the reality of unbelief in our lives. Before we examine each step, it is worth noting that we are in no way intending to beat up Abraham. As we mentioned last week, although he was certainly a man of faith, he nevertheless was a man. And that means he struggled with faith and sin the same way we do.

Take a minute and consider the trials Abraham had already experienced. He and his wife were struggling with infertility. They had been traveling for some time not knowing where they were going. They were called to leave their home and their family. When they arrived at their destination someone else was living there, so they had no stable home as they had had in Ur. And if that were not enough a famine spread throughout the land. To say the least this was a great test for Abraham. It was another opportunity for him to demonstrate his trust in God.

A Failure to Trust

Genesis 12:10

Although there are times in Scripture where God commands His servants to go to Egypt (Genesis 46:3; Matthew 2:13), Egypt is typically associated with whatever is contrary to the ways and will of God.[2] The prophet Isaiah states this clearly:

Isaiah 31:1[3]

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!

But go to Egypt is exactly what Abraham did. It certainly seems like a logical act. If there is a famine in the land within which you live, go to another land. However, logic is not what God is looking for in our lives, its trust. When God told Noah to build and ark because He was going to flood the earth, it probably did not seem very logical. Yet, Noah obeyed and trusted God. Abraham was not called out of Ur and Haran to go to Egypt; he was called to go to Canaan. And God promised to take care of him and to give the land to his offspring. Abraham had the promise of God but he chose to trust his own logic instead of place his faith solely in God.

This does not mean that we are to live oblivious to the circumstances of life. On the contrary, God has given us a brain and the freedom to act, so what better way to worship and honor God than through unquestioning faith even in the face of less than accommodating circumstances? As the writer of Hebrews says so well:

Hebrews 12:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Now we all have our “Egypt”, a place or a time in our life where we relied upon our own logic and failed to trust God. I pray that the next time you find yourself in Egypt you will remember the rapid decline of unbelief. Failing to trust God was only Abraham’s first step, but it is a huge first step.

A Failure to Worship

Genesis 12:8; 13:2-4

The second step is a natural progression from the first, for when we fail to trust God it is expected that we will loose our passion for worship. This particular step is not mentioned directly in this passage, but we can see it in Abraham’s life as recorded in the immediate context. In 12:8 we have the last recorded instance of Abraham worshiping God prior to his flight to Egypt. When Abraham failed to trust God and left Bethel, which means “house of God”, for Egypt, he also left his place of worship behind. Moses does not record that Abraham ever worshiped while in Egypt. This is important because it is exactly what happens when the people of God cease to trust Him. Failing to trust God is sin and sin always works to separate us from the joy of God.

We see this all too often in the life of the church. Someone misses a few Sundays or goes off to college and sin gets a foothold in their life. From there the desire to worship God drifts further and further away. This is why we call it the “fast decline of unbelief”. It only takes a couple of steps, a compromise here or there, and we will find ourselves moving away from God faster and faster.

A Reliance on Self

Genesis 12:11-13

As Abraham approached Egypt he began to think about his own neck. Isn’t it amazing how the waves get bigger when we cease to trust and worship God? That’s not to insinuate that the waves are not big when we are in the will of God, but at least then we are actively trusting in our Savior as opposed to running from Him. Here, Abraham has gone out on his own and he soon realizes that he is in a strange land relying on his on ability and wisdom.

Take this lesson to heart, for when you are in your Egypt and you are running from God it is time to turn and repent. It is time to humble yourself before God and admit that you desperately need Him. Abraham did not do that. He kept going down the slope. Not only did he lie to the Pharaoh, he had his wife life to him as well.

Doesn’t that seem par for course when we take matters into our own hands? The further we drift from God the more we rationalize our desires and fears. And then we justify our actions to the point of bringing others down with us. Oh if we would just stop and repent. God is faithful and just, He will forgive us and restore us.

An Increase in Loss

Genesis 12:14-16

And as is typical for living in “Egypt”, the cost always seems higher than expected and nothing really works out like you plan. Abraham had likely hoped that the Pharaoh would leave Sarai alone if he believed her to be his sister. This would allow him some time to secure a home and some food. But instead, the Pharaoh took her to be his wife. So Abraham has gone from being in the will of God to not only being out of the will of God but loosing his wife as well.

The greatest length we can go to in order to protect that which we love is to give it back to God. One of my greatest fears would be for my wife and children to be totally in my personal care. Certainly God has called me to protect my family, to clothe them and feed them, but ultimately I am dependent upon His goodness and mercy to provide these things. Yet, that doesn’t prevent me from attempting to take matters into my own hands. And when these times arise, the best thing for me to do is to humbly repent and flee to the cross. Abraham is on a rapid decent.

A Time of Correction

Genesis 12:17-20

Now think back to the primary theme of this passage, the fact that God is primarily concerned with communicating His purpose in redemption as opposed to a lesson in honesty or trust. Through his actions, Abraham was endangering the blessing God has promised to him. But in all of His goodness, God chose not to allow Abraham’s lack of trust ruin His plan of redemption. God sovereignly acted to bring Abraham back into a right relationship with Him. The Patriarch’s plan was exposed and as a result Sarai was restored to her husband and they were sent on their way.

Yet, we cannot miss the consequence of sin in our lives. When we flee to Egypt and fail to trust God, there will often be a consequence for our actions. In Abraham’s case, he was rebuked by a pagan king. Here we have a man of faith and devotion to God who has visibly trusted God in so many trials – leaving home, infertility, loosing his father – but when he looses his focus on God his life becomes like a runaway train. And when God finally stops him, he doesn’t walk away unscathed. It is a sad time when it takes the world to get the believer’s attention.

Thankfully, Abraham didn’t walk away from this incident unchanged. As we will see in chapter thirteen, he left Egypt with his family and went back to Bethel and worshiped God. The truth that God can and will intervene in our lives should not deter us from striving to guard ourselves against the fast decline of unbelief. It is real and an ever present danger for every Christian.

There are at least two challenges for us from this text:

1) As Christians we should rejoice in the fact that God is not only able, but willing to intervene in our lives. Yes, He has given us freedom. But God’s purpose outweighs our freedom. And if it means preserving the purity and integrity of His purpose, He will act. That encourages me because no matter how bad I mess things up, I know that He is in control. When I am sharing my faith, there are many times that I feel as if I inadequately shared the gospel. But to the glory of God, He is not dependent upon my eloquence to save sinners! God is the one in control, not me.

2) As Christians we must be alert to the rapid decline of unbelief. It only takes a few compromises to start a dangerous journey down a dark path. Be alert! Be on guard!

[1]Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 272.

[2]James M. Boice, Genesis Volume 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 472.

[3]All Scripture quotation are taken from The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, unless otherwise noted.