“LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM: WE MUST MOVE ON!”
GENESIS 12:1-4
TEXT: GENESIS 12:4
INTRO: As we study the life of Abraham we see that much of his time was
spent in moving from place to place. Hebrews 11:8-10 tells us, “By
faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not
knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise,
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Oliver B. Greene,
in his commentary, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews,
comments on these verses: “God simply said, ‘Get up and get out—not
to a land that I have shown you, but to a land I WILL show you,’…
when God called Abraham he simply said, ‘Go to a land I will show
thee.’ Abraham obeyed, and when he arrived in Canaan, God
appeared and revealed to him that he was IN the land of promise…
“For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God” (v10). The Greek language here reads “THE City.”
From this we know that Abraham believed the inheritance God had
given him was a heavenly estate as well as an earthly possession.
How did Abraham know about the city of God?…The only way
Abraham could have known about the city was for God to tell him
about it…Abraham did not see that city, but by faith he knew that
the city WAS, and that one day he would dwell there” (1).
We like Abraham are pilgrims and strangers here. We, also, are
looking for “a city to come” Peter exhorts us in 1 Peter 2:11, “Dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts, which war against the soul.” The sad reality is that many of
God’s people today have lost their pilgrim character. Late last century,
an American tourist paid a visit to a renowned Polish rabbi, Hofetz
Chaim. He was astonished to see that the rabbi's home was only a
simple room filled with books, plus a table and a cot. The tourist
asked, "Rabbi, where is your furniture?" Hofetz Chaim replied,
"Where is yours?" The puzzled American asked, "Mine? But I'm only
a visitor here. I'm only passing through." The rabbi replied, "So am I."
That's true for all of us--all Christians know that on this earth and in
this body they are but pilgrims passing through on the way to eternal
glory. We must never forget that this world is not our home. A. W.
Tozer said, “The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they
feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful
“adjustment” to unregenerate society that they have lost their pilgrim
character and become an essential part of the very moral order
against which they are sent to protest” (2).
The Christian life is future oriented. We are to be always moving
onward and upward; if not we are not moving on and we prove to this
world that we are not true disciples of Jesus. By definition, the word
DISCIPLE means “One who accepts and follows.” We have many today
Who say they are the Lord’s but are not following Him. Paul said in
Philippians 3:13-14 that he had to keep moving on for the Lord,
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” This was an imperative in Paul’s
life. Notice he says, “I PRESS toward the mark..” The word means “to
pursue, to follow after, to give one’s self to, and to press forward.” It
implies to strain to reach the goal. Paul knew he must keep moving
forward to attain God’s best for him. That should be our desire also!
In verse 4 of our text, we see that Abraham made a sad mistake; that
mistake was to stop in his journey to the place where God was direct-
ing him. Let us look at this incident in the life of Abraham and learn
from it so we will not repeat his error as we think on this subject, “WE
MUST MOVE ON!”
NOTICE:
(1) HIS THREEFOLD CALLING
GENESIS 12:1—“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s
house, unto a land that I will show thee.”
*When God called Abraham there were some sacrifices to be made and
some things had to be left behind. The same is true of us if we truly
want to be His disciples. Jesus said in Luke 14:33, “..whosoever he be
of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Jesus
did not say we had to give up all to be His disciple, but that we must be
willing to forsake all for HIM. But without absolute surrender of self the
contest is hopeless! Until self is slain it will always interfere in our
devotion and discipleship. Harold R. Crosser said, “Love is pure when
self is slain” and Charles E. DeVol said, “It’s the life you live after “death”
that counts. If you haven’t died [to self and sin] the life you are now
living is not counting” (3). Notice what God’s call required of Abraham:
A. HE WAS TO LEAVE HIS COUNTRY. His country was one steeped in
idolatry and sins of every description. "Ur was consecrated to the
worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god. It shared this honour,
however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran.
Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad
which led through it from the east to the west. The name is
Babylonian, and bears witness to its having been founded by a
Babylonian king. The same witness is still more decisively borne by the
worship paid in it to the Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient
temple of Sin. Indeed, the temple of the moon-god at Harran was
perhaps even more famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than
the temple of the moon-god at Ur” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary). His
country is a picture of this world. We are surely living in the midst of
a godless and perverse nation. We, as Abraham, are called to leave
this world behind and walk in the light of the Lord. Romans 12:2 tells
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Philippians 2:15-16a tells us,
“that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye
shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life…” The
children of God should differ from the sons of men. The more perverse
others are, the more careful we should be to keep ourselves blameless
and harmless. The doctrine and example of consistent believers will
enlighten others, and direct their way to Christ and holiness, even as
the light-house warns mariners to avoid rocks, and directs their
course into the harbour. Let us try thus to shine. The gospel is the
word of life, it makes known to us eternal life through Jesus Christ
(Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary).
B. HE WAS TO LEAVE HIS KINFOLK. By this precept he was tried
whether he loved God better than he loved his native soil, and dearest
friends, and whether he could willingly leave all to go along with God.
His country was become idolatrous, his kindred and his father's house
were a constant temptation to him, and he could not continue with
them without danger of being infected by them; therefore get thee out,
(Heb.) vade tibi, get thee gone with all speed, escape for thy life, look
not behind thee (Wesley’s Explanatory Notes). Our kinsfolk before we
were saved were the lost of this world. These were the ones we
associated with. We had things in common. We did the same things
they did they were our family by nature (Ephesians 2:1-5).
If we are going to “move on” in our Christian lives, we must not be in
friendship with this world. James 4:4 tells us, “Ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity
with God? Whosoever therefor will be a friend of the world is the enemy
of God.” Matthew Henry said, “Worldly-mindedness is enmity to God.
An enemy may be reconciled, but "enmity" never can be reconciled. A
man may have a large portion in things of this life, and yet be kept in
the love of God; but he who sets his heart upon the world, who will
conform to it rather than lose its friendship, is an enemy to God. So
that any one who resolves at all events to be upon friendly terms with
the world, must be the enemy of God” (Matthew Henry’s Concise
Commentary).
C. HE WAS TO LEAVE HIS FATHER’S HOUSE. Terah, Abraham’s
father, was an idolater. Joshua 24:2 tells us, “And Joshua said unto
all the people, thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on
the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of
Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.” His
kindred and his father's house were a constant temptation to him, he
could not continue among them without danger of being infected by
them (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary). Before we are saved,
our father is the devil. John 8:44 says, “Ye are of your father the
devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,
and the father of it.” Our old father, the devil, had houses we could
go to. They were our homes. We lived there. Spent our time there.
What are some of the houses of our old father?:
· Pleasure.
· Possessions.
· Pride.
· Promiscuity.
· Pornography.
· Paralyzing Drugs (Alcohol, dope, etc.)
Our list could go on and on. But once we belong to God and He
becomes our Father. We leave these houses behind and walk with
Him day by day! (Ephesians 5:1-5).
(2) HIS TERRIBLE DECISION
GENESIS 11:31—“And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son
of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his
son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of
the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came
unto Haran, and dwelt there.”
A. THE PROBLEM. Haran was about half-way between where he had
come from to where he was supposed to go. Abraham had stopped on
half-way ground. He tried to settle down at Haran. Notice that
Genesis 12:1 says, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram..” The words
“had said” are past tense. This call of God came earlier in the life of
Abraham. Acts 7:2 tells us, “..The God of glory appeared unto our
father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in
Charran.” It seems that Abraham had encouraged his father, Terah to
leave Ur of the Chaldees, that city laden with idolatry and begin their
journey to Canaan. Why that they stopped at Haran is unknown. But
it was half-way ground. It was not what God had told Abraham to do.
B. THE PLACE. Just what kind of place was this Haran? We know it was
a place of idolatry. The name appears in Assyro-Babalonian as
Charran, which means "road"; possibly because here the trade route
from Damascus joined that from Nineveh to Carchemish. It is
mentioned in the prism inscription of Tiglath-pileser. It was a seat of
the worship of Sin, the moon-god, from very ancient times. In the 4th
century it was the seat of a bishopric; but the cult of the moon
persisted far into the Christian centuries. The chief temple was the
scene of heathen worship until the 11th century, and was destroyed by
the Mongols in the 13th (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).
But what else do we know about it:
1. It was a place of fruitlessness. The word HARAN means “parched
ground.” Little if any fruit would grow there. Abraham could not
produce fruit for God while in Haran. Why? Because he was not
where God told him to be. He was on half-way ground. If we are
going to produce fruit for God we must be planted by the water
(Psalm 1:1-6). The ungodly the Psalmist speaks of can be saved
people as well as they can be lost ones. Whenever we find ourselves
in dry and barren places, not planted by the living waters, we are
acting like the ungodly and will be fruitless.
2. It was a place of faithlessness. If Abraham had not have suffered