Faith and Obedience

After over a month stewing in the juices of Genesis 1-11, I am moving on the next section. Beginning at the very end of the geneology in chapter 11 and continuing for the next 13 chapters the bible tells us about Abram (later Abraham), his immediate family, and the consequences of his choices.

At the very beginning of chapter 12, we find that the Lord has spoken to Abram.

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those that bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Genesis 12: 1-3 (ESV)

For whatever reason Abram did not fully obey God's command at first. In Genesis 11: 31, we know that Abram traveled with his father, his nephew, and his wife from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan, but they only made it to Haran. It is only after the death of his father that he continues on his journey to Cannan.

Who was Abram that God would choose him from all the masses of humanity to begin this journey that would eventually lead to the salvation at the cross of Jesus Christ? Was their something special about Abram? In Genesis 6, we know that God choose Noah because he was a righteous man. We find no such distinction in the Bible for Abram when we first meet him. All we know is God said to Abram. Go leave all that you know and do this thing and I will bless you. We should be thankful that God knows the hearts of mankind. Abram, though with shaky steps that sometimes dragged slowly along, stepped out into the unknown. He had faith that the one who had spoken to him would carry through.

His obedience was rewarded by a response from God. When Abram had come to Canaan, God appeared to him and revealed a little more of his plan.

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7 (ESV)

Unfortunately our fears will derail our lives if we let them. Abram though a man of faith took his eyes off the prize when he went into Egypt. During this sad time, Abram lies, basically has prostituted his wife (receives riches/gifts from pharaoh for his wife/sister), and does nothing to retrieve her from Pharaoh's harem. You see he was afraid that the Egyptians would slay him because Sarai was so beautiful even though she was in her 60's at least. He did not remember that the Lord had yet to fulfill his promises so he was not going to die. His faith wavered, but God intervened to get him back on track. He plagued Pharaoh and his house until Sarai was returned to Abram. Abram must have been exceedingly embarrassed as he was standing before Pharaoh being chastised for lying about his wife and doing nothing when Pharaoh took her.

We often forget that God is faithful and that he intends good for us.

And we know that for those who love God all things work for good for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (ESV)

He is there for us when we need him.

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:9-10 (ESV)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

Sometimes it hard to take that first step in faith. We can not see the entire plan that God has for us. Sometimes like Abram, we are called to just go. It's not until we act in obedience to God that he reveals that next step to us. Yet if we continue to sit back in fear, we may miss out on the greatest moment of our lives. God doesn't need you, but he wants you. If Abram had failed the call, God would have found someone else to ensure that the world was blessed. Fortunately, Abram reached out and took the hand of God. He demonstrated his faith by being obedient to the will of God. And as we know (or maybe you don't but stay tuned) through Abram, all the world was blessed. From Abram came the line that lead to Jesus Christ whose sacrifice blessed all the world with freedom from sin.

Are you building a Tower?

Today's lesson revolved around the beginning of Genesis 11. The first part of this chapter is about the the Tower of Babel. Noah's family has survived the flood, and generations have come. The earth is being repopulated. 

The theme here : We keep doing the same things over and over. 

You would think that having come in after God has completely wiped out all other life on the planet save for you and yours it would take a little longer for mankind to jump back into the same old life. However, the story in Genesis 11 is that man forgets what happens and why it happened.

Over and over in the passage we find that the Tower is a testament to man's glory and not God's.

"...come let us build ourselves....let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." excerpts Genesis 11:4 (ESV)

It was all about them. They were trying to be like God and escape God's commands.

They had forgotten that everything was gift from God. They were taking the very gifts that God had given them and were perverting and abusing them. God had given them the gift of speech which allowed them to communicate with one another and with him. They were using this gift to defy God.

Mankind is no exception to this perversion of God's gift. Speaking about speech specifically, we lade it with profanity, use it to pervert the gift of sex i.e. 1-800 phone sex numbers, con and lie to people with our speech, and spew hate and racism. I am no exception to this sin. I struggle to keep my language clean and at times to tell the truth. I have said things that promoted hate and not love. Admittedly I have not called a phone sex number, but in God's eyes I have already sinned.

Still in the midst of this story of man's arrogance and his failure, God's grace and mercy are shown. He had promised not to destroy all life again, and these people were committing the same sins that had led to his wrath before.

And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propse to do will now be impossible for them." Genesis 11:6 (ESV)

He saw that the world was on the same track as before and he moves to prevent man's decline.

"Come, let us go down and there confuse thier language so that they may not understand one another's speech." Genesis 11:7 (ESV)

God's confusion of their language is an act of mercy on mankind. He moves to save them from their own sin. His will is done despite mankind's attempt to defy him.

Even today we are using our gifts to build Tower's to our own glory and defy God.

Some examples:

• longevity research
• attempting to escape the boundaries of earth by living in space

In and of themselves these things are not bad, just as building a tower was not bad. But when we build those towers, study those things for our own glory and to defy the will and commands of God then they become sin. When we seek to escape his will, we have trailed into the realm of sin.

What are your Towers? How are they hindering your relationship with the Father? 

As I talked about Noah in my last post, we are often called to live on faith. The builders of the Tower of Babel were called to live on faith. God's command to Noah,

..."Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." Genesis 9:1b (ESV)

The were called to have faith that God would provide for them as they filled the earth. They choose not to have faith as shown in verse 4 when they proclaim their reason for building the tower.  

"...lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. " Genesis 11:4b (ESV)

They choose to rely on their own skills and ingenuity. Still as the passage comes to a close we find that God's will was fulfilled despite their attempts to defy him.

So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Genesis 11:8 (ESV) 

...And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:9b (ESV)

His will is done no matter what you do. You can try to build Tower's in defiance of him, but you can not escape his will. We have to find and tear down those tower's in our lives that are a testament to our glory and start building a tower out of our life that is for the glory of God.

Living on Faith: Noah's Ark

Today's lesson took me into the familiar story of Noah's ark and the Flood. Like anything in the Bible, God can use stories we know like the back of our hands to reveal new insights to us.

Beginning in Genesis 6 and continuing through Genesis 7, we are walked through God's justice and mercy on a corrupt world. Noah and his family are spared from the wrath of God.

Noah is commanded to build an ark in Genesis 6:14

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Genesis 6:14 (ESV)

Now that may not seem like such an unusual command, but what if you had never seen rain before? (see Genesis 2:5-6) That makes it seem a little more absurd. 

I can only imagine how people might have mocked and ridiculed him. I imagine it was somewhat similar to the scene in Evan Almighty where the crowd is jeering at him because he has built the ark, but no rain is coming.

Still we can look at this passage and see a common thread.

Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9b (ESV)

Noah did this: he did all that God commanded him. Genesis 6:27 (ESV)

And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. Genesis 7:5 (ESV)

...as God had commanded Noah. Genesis 7:9b (ESV)

Noah lived out his faith and was rewarded with something tangible. He and his family were spared from the wrath of God when He flooded the earth.

Have you ever been asked to do something you thought was absurd by God? Did you think, "REALLY, GOD?!? Are you serious?!?"

I can think of several examples in my own life where God has said in my heart "Do this!"

Example 1- During college I got a job at Spencer's (not a very Christian-like place to worK). I was working a ton more hours than I was hired to work and I was trying to take summer classes at the same time. I needed the money, because for the first time in my life I was living on my own in an apartment off campus. However, in my gut, God kept saying, "Quit! I will take care of you."  I resisted unwilling at first to take that leap of faith. Finally, I agreed and turned in my two week notice. I had no prospects for a job, only the assurance from my heavenly Father that he would make sure I was taken care of.

Example 2- Last year our church did a Sacred Gathering where the church was asked to fast and we came together each evening to worship and seek God's will.  During one of the first nights we prayed over the youth by asking their names and laying on hands. I don't remember the young man's name that I prayed over, but I do remember that on the final night of our fasting God said without any question, "Go and pray with that young man!" In my heart, I wrestled with God on this...."Are you serious? But God that will be embarrassing. I don't know if I can do that, God"  God was adamant and so I surrendered to His will and went to the young man. I said, "God is telling me to pray with you, will you pray with me?" So we prayed.

Sometimes we have to walk out on faith and be willing to take a chance for God.  Or as Pat (the pastor of Lifepoint Church) said....Put your "YES!" on the table.

There are numerous examples of people who God called to act on faith.

Esther is called to act on faith to save the Jews. She knew that going before the king without summons was a death sentence, but she trusted that God would fulfill His plan to save His people.

Abraham is called to leave his home so that God can bless him and make a great nation from him. Again he is called to act on faith by sacrificing Isaac his promised son.

Hosea is commanded to marry a whore.  Can you even imagine that one? ...Dixie, I want you to marry a male whore...."Do What!!! Are you kidding me, God?".... But Hosea obeyed and became a living metaphor for the love of God and his relationship with the Israelites.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

I know sometimes we can't see God's purpose, but as Mordecai reminds Esther....

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4: 13-14 (ESV)

God will complete His plan, fulfill his will regardless, but he's asking you to come along for the ride. He can do it with you or he can do it without you.

God rewards our faith in different ways. From my previous examples....

Example 1- I turned in my 2 week notice and I had a job babysitting for a professor starting two days after my last day. He kept his promise and took care of me.

Example 2- I later met the young man I had prayed over during a outreach mission. He was dating a young lady who was in the small group of a woman in my adult small group. He came with her to help us as we worked at a local housing community. God was using this young man for his kingdom just as I had prayed for that night months before.

So the next time God asks you do something absurd or that seems ridiculous or potentially embarrassing, say YES! and do all that he commands. Just like Noah, Esther, Abraham, Hosea, and many many more.