'''CHAPTER SEVEN: GOD CALLS ABRAM'''
CHAPTER SEVEN
GOD CALLS ABRAM
Most of those born after the Great Flood grew up to hate God and His ways. Few listened to the preaching of Noah and Shem, who warned them to keep God’s laws.
More than 350 years after the flood, God decided to use a special servant to fulfil a great commission. His name was Abram. He was a descendant of Shem (who was still alive and serving God elsewhere).
Abram lived in Ur in the land of Mesopotamia, along with his father Terah, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and other relatives. Abram was a kind of prince in a rich family that owned lots of sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and many servants. In those days, the father of a wealthy family ruled over his sons and daughters, and servants and possessions like a king over a kingdom. The firstborn son was heir to the family’s wealth; upon the father’s death, the firstborn would become ruler.
One day, God spoke to Abram. “I want you to leave your home, your country and your family’s house,” He said. “I will guide you to a special land, and there I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. I will bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you. Through you, every family on the face of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
Abram was stunned. The God of the universe had just offered him and his descendants the greatest blessings he could ever imagine.
Yet God did not say when He would do this, nor how. Neither did He tell Abram where this special land was located.
But instead of asking God to explain Himself, Abram decided to do what most men would not: He obeyed God without question. He trusted God to show him the way.
At 75 years old, Abram packed his belongings and, along with Sarai and Lot, departed for the Promised Land.
Into the Promised Land
After traveling through the rugged wilderness, Abram and his caravan of relatives, servants, animals and other belongings arrived in the land of Canaan. The people who lived there, called Canaanites, descended from a man called Canaan. He was the son of Ham and the grandson of Noah.
Sometime after the Great Flood, Canaan had horribly mistreated Noah. What he had done was so evil that Noah pronounced a curse upon Canaan and his descendants.
The Canaanites worshipped idols. They were so cruel and violent that they even sacrificed their children to please their many false gods. When Abram came to Shechem, a town in the northern part of Canaan, God appeared to him. He said, “Abram, this is the land I will give to your descendants.”
Wanting to show he appreciated this great gift, Abram built an altar to use in worshipping the Eternal. He sacrificed the best of his cattle as a burnt offering to God.
Then Abram took his caravan southward and made temporary dwellings east of a town that would later be named Bethel. He then built another altar. There, he worshipped God and called upon His name for more guidance.
Afterward, Abram traveled down to the southernmost part of Canaan.
Journey Into Egypt
Abram soon found himself in a land suffering from severe famine.
Farmlands were dying because few crops would grow. Fresh drinking water was drying up and becoming scarce.
If the Canaanites had been close to God—if they had feared Him, carefully followed His laws, and obeyed His will—they would have trusted in their Creator to feed them. Instead, the Canaanites worshipped demons (who pretended to be like God). Cut off from the many benefits of living God’s Way, the land and people of Canaan suffered from the famine.
The devil probably tried to tempt Abram to disobey God and head back to Ur. Just as he had done with Eve back in the Garden of Eden, Satan tried to convince Abram to decide for himself right from wrong, good from evil.
“God has brought you all these hundreds of miles to dwell in a foreign land—and for what?” Satan reasoned. “So that you can die here in the wilderness? It would be so much easier to go back to your native land. All of your relatives are there. Why, they are fat with riches, food, water and cattle!”
But Abram did not give in to temptation. He rejected his carnal nature and trusted in God. He relied upon his Creator to provide for him and his group of travellers.
God did not abandon him.
He led Abram to the neighboring land of Egypt, which is in the northeast corner of what is today called Africa. Egypt was a prosperous kingdom of city-states, which were ruled by kings. The chief king was called Pharaoh.
In spite of the famine in Canaan, Egypt’s rich soil grew plenty of vegetables, grains and fruits for all to eat. This was because the Nile, the longest river in the world, supplied enough fresh water for the crops.
God wanted Abram and his household to stay in Egypt until the famine was over.
A Half-truth is Still a Lie
As he was about to enter Egyptian territory, a terrible thought crossed Abram’s mind: “My wife Sarai is so beautiful and fair-skinned that she will stand out in the eyes of the Egyptians. Some will ask about her to see if she is free to marry. When they find out that I am her husband, they may get so jealous and desire her for a wife that they may seek to kill me!” (Genesis 12:11-12).
Despite God’s promise to produce a great nation through him, Abram began to doubt that he would be protected in Egypt. (As you read THE STORY OF THE BIBLE, you will find that even the most obedient servants of God sometimes give in to doubt. God understands this. He knows that it takes many years for people to reject their carnal nature and build Holy, righteous character in its place.)
Explaining his doubts to Sarai, Abram said, “Say to whoever asks that you are my sister, but do not mention that you are my wife. This could mean the difference between my life or death!”(Gen 12:13).
Sarai was Abram’s half-sister; they both had the same father, but different mothers. However, by not mentioning that Abram was also her husband, Sarai would not be speaking the full truth. In effect, Abram was telling Sarai to deceive people—to mislead them from the truth.
This is not the way of God or His character. It is the way of Satan and carnal nature. By giving in to his doubts, Abram temporarily trusted in himself to work out his problems, instead of trusting in God.
When he and his caravan came into Egypt, Abram’s fears came to pass. Sarai’s beauty stood out in the eyes of the people. Egyptian officials asked about her. They wanted to know if she was free to marry.
Sarai followed Abram’s instruction and told them only part of the truth.
The princes of Egypt reported Sarai’s great beauty to the Pharaoh, saying that she was free to marry. The Pharaoh kept a harem, a private collection of many beautiful women. He did not obey God’s will to have only one wife.
Intending to marry her, Pharaoh ordered his men to take Sarai and place her in his harem. With wedding plans soon underway, Pharaoh offered Abram many sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and servants. In a better situation, Abram would have been happy with such goods. But his increased riches meant nothing to him without his wife by his side.
Abram realized that unless some miracle happened, he was about to lose Sarai forever!
God Steps In
The Pharaoh was quite pleased with himself. He was ruler over prosperous, growing city-states. And because of the famine, people from other lands turned to his kingdom for help. This increased his fame and might.
“And now I have in my harem one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen,” he thought. “Soon, she will be one of my many wives.”
Believing that Abram was only Sarai’s brother and not her husband, Pharaoh treated Abram with kindness and favor. He gave him many gifts of cattle, servants and other possessions.
In turn, Abram taught the Egyptian mathematics, astronomy (which is the study of stars and other heavenly bodies), and other sciences.
This pleased Pharaoh even more. With such great knowledge, his men would build massive water projects to water their farmlands. Also, they would build giant structures, such as royal palaces, grand temples and gigantic pyramids.
“Truly this man Abram is a blessing to me,” Pharaoh said to his officials.
But what the Egyptian king did not know was that he would soon regret his words.
Pharaoh may have been pleased, but God was far from happy. He did not intend for Sarai to be married to anyone but Abram. God planned to produce vast, powerful nations and peoples through Abram and Sarai—and that could not happen if Sarai was married to another man.
So the Eternal decided to step in.
As Pharaoh and his court of princes and rulers celebrated his upcoming wedding to Sarai, something strange happened. One of Pharaoh’s servants fell ill. And then another. Soon, the whole palace was filled with sick and dying people. God had struck them with a plague!
Backed by the powers of demons, Pharaoh’s physicians tried to use their black magic and evil chants to get rid of the plague.
The Egyptians used Abram’s knowledge of mathematics and other sciences to build giant structures, such as palaces, temples and pyramids. Many of these buildings still exist today.
Power of God is far stronger than the power of puny men and demons.
The sickness would not go away.
It did not take long for Pharaoh to find out the reason why—and he was mad!
Before all of the officials and servants that were left alive, Pharaoh looked down from his throne and pointed his finger at Abram.
“You are the reason why my people suffer from this plague!” he said.
Abram did not know what to say.
Pharaoh continued. “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that Sarai was your wife?”
Again, Abram was silent.
“Sarai said that she was your sister, but neither of you said anything about being husband and wife. Why? Because of you, I might have married her, when you knew that it would have been wrong. And now your God has put a plague on my house!”
Abram looked around him and saw the angry Egyptian faces, and wondered if the king was about to put him to death.
Then Pharaoh said, “Abram, take your wife and your possessions and leave Egypt at once!” (Genesis 12:18-19).
Before Abram could say a word, Pharaoh’s men surrounded him.
Then they escorted Abram, Sarai and their caravan out of Egypt.
Pharaoh blames Abram for the mysterious plague that has struck his people.
During the journey, Abram had much to think about. He knew that these events happened because he failed to trust God. He did not rely on his Creator to work out his problems. Abram had relied on himself.
Relying on yourself and following the desires of carnal nature, rather than trusting in God, always leads to disaster.
Abram Calls Upon God
Abram was shaken by these events. He knew that he needed to get close to God. Abram decided to lead his caravan to the altar he had built between Ai and Bethel. Once there, he offered animal sacrifices— the very best of his possessions—and called upon God’s name.
God listened to Abram’s pleas for forgiveness and mercy. The Eternal understood that it was natural for human beings to give in to their carnal nature and Satan’s rebellious attitudes (Romans 12:5-8).
When He saw that Abram truly wanted to change and build godly character, God knew that He could still work through him.
No matter how great a person’s sin, God will always listen to those who repent—change their wrong thoughts and attitudes—and wholeheartedly follow His ways.