Genesis 12:1-5; Romans 1:17
God called Abraham Out of Ur
God called Abram to leave his native
country, his relatives, and his father’s family, and go to the land that God
would show him (Gen 12:1).
God later changed Abram’s name to
Abraham, meaning “father of all nations” (Gen 17:5). God wanted to extend His
promise and blessings to all nations through Him.
Abraham encountered several critical
trials in his lifetime, and one of the trials was to choose between Ur and
Canaan.
Ur was located between
two fertile river banks, where Mesopotamia was, in today’s Iraq, where Basrah
was located nearby. This city was richly endowed with geographical advantages,
and it became one of the most ancient civilized and prosperous metropolitan
cities of the day.
According to the
information provided by archaeological discovery, Ur was a place which produced
many gold and jewellery, and was rich with architecture buildings, sculpture
art, canal, arithmetic chart (an arithmetic formula that used to calculate
square and cubic roots) and it used to be well-known globally.
Such was a great and rich
city that was the dream city for many people. But God called Abraham to leave
Ur and head toward a foreign place which was unknown to him, a place where he
had never heard before.
This was indeed a
decision that was hard to make. It was definitely a journey of faith from Ur to
Canaan. We can ponder upon this from three perspectives:
Seeing from the Perspective of Missions
Why did God want Abraham
to come out from Ur?
It was a place full of
idolatry under the context of those days. The record found from the mud tablets
shows that the highest god they worshipped was known as Nanna, a moon god,
which was called Sin in Semitic language.
The Bible does not inform
us under what circumstances that Abraham had come to believe in the One and
Only God. But something that was for sure, that God only called
Abraham to leave Ur after he had come to believe in Monotheism.
Abraham was 75 by then.
In another word, his
departure from Ur was more than passively leaving an idolatrous environment,
but God's will was that, through this father of faith, the belief in Monotheism could be
spread to all nations.
God made a promise to
Abraham when He called him to leave his country and his father’s family, and He
said to Abraham, “And all peoples of the earth shall be blessed through you.” （Gen 12:3）
God gave three promises
to Abraham: First, He would make his descendants a great nation; Second,
He would make his name great; and third, He would make him a channel of
blessings to all peoples on earth.
It was a universal plan.
Out of a family, a nation was born. And out of a nation, a Saviour was born. It
would eventually bring forth salvation to all mankind.
The two women (Rahab and
Ruth) who were recorded in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in New Testament
happened to be Gentiles. It highlighted their faith that caused them to receive
the gift of God, as well as God's predestination for the Gentiles
to receive His salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ has
given the Great Commission to the Church before His Ascension.
“All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” （Matthew 28:18-20）
Salvation has come upon
us today, but it is not to remain on us only. The Gospel has to be spread
by us, in order for all men to be blessed. The work of missions has been
entrusted to us. How then can we keep it for ourselves?
Let’s preach the Gospel
from today onwards with the burden, passion and courage from above. God will
surely be with us, giving us all kinds of gifts in order to serve others. God
will surely bless us greatly, as how He had blessed Abraham
Seeing from the Perspective of Identity
Leaving Ur signified a
change in his identity. From a resident he became a sojourner. From a big house
in a settled place he had to move around making tents.
The Bible tells us that
from the time Abraham left Ur at the age of 75, until he left the world at the
age of 175, he led a simple lifestyle and lived in tents made by the camel’s
skin.
He had never owned a big
house throughout those 100 years. Though he possessed great wealth, he never
loved all these treasures. He lived a simple and unmaterialistic lifestyle.
After his death, men
carried his body from his tent and buried him with Sarah in the cave of
Mechpelah.
Abraham has two marks in
his life: Altar and Tent.
“Altar building”
indicated that he remembered to worship God wherever he was, and he made God
the most trusted One in his life. It was also to declare God's sovereignty over
his life and his inheritance of the land God had given to him.
“Tent” signified that the
world was not a place he desired, for he was only a sojourner who lived there
temporarily, and what he did look forward was a daily walk with God to follow
His leading.
He was looking forward to
live in a more beautiful home in heaven, “the city with foundations, whose
architect and builder is God” （Hebrews 11:10).
To us Christians, the
world is not our home, for our home is in heaven. No matter how wonderful the
world is, it is not for us to stay permanently. We are sojourners. We are
traveling on a heavenly journey. Hence, we need to learn to leave and to let
go.
Think about it. Is your
current environment too comfortable for you causing you to be entangled by many
things until you are unable to see the eternal destiny and forget about your
identity?
The Bible says that,
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let
us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes in
Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him
endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God.” （Hebrews 12:1-2）
Seeing from the Perspective of Time
Leaving Ur and going to
Canaan according to the instructions of God was a process that would not be
accomplished in a short while. God wanted Abraham to wait upon His instructions
in every step he took. He was unaware of any happenings ahead of him, until the
very last moment.
Therefore, only one type
of people will be able to accomplish such a task, and they have to keep
persevering as they progress in time.
The book of Hebrews said
that, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as
his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was
going.” （Hebrews 11:8）
There are two words in
the scripture, “obeyed” and “did not know”.
“Obeyed” was a courageous
action that was taken, and he would not give up easily even until the very last
minute. “Did not know“ highlighted the reality of one's faith.
Just like what is said in
the Bible. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we
do not see.” （Hebrews 11:1）
Real faith does not grow
from knowing to unknown, but from unknown to knowing. Real faith takes time to
develop and it produces effectiveness after trials. Time is the tool God uses
to temper us. Most of the people used by God have gone through the test of
time.
Moses：He was trained by God for eighty years, especially during the time he
shepherded the flock in the wilderness. God called him after that.
Joshua: Though he was
passionate the time he spied the land of Canaan, God allowed him to wait for 40
years before he started conquer it.
Caleb：His faith stayed unaffected by his age. Even when he had reached the age
of 85, he remained unwavering in his spirit and did not retire at his old age.
David：He was anointed by Samuel as king while he was a shepherd boy, but God
wanted him to be king after Saul’s death. By then he was already 30 years old.
Paul：Paul met the Lord in Damascus, and he received a special mission. But he
had to withdraw himself 14 years in the wilderness before he was officially an
apostle, and before he went on missions and planted churches everywhere.
Life has so called “three
experiences”: The youth strives to study well; the success of those middle age
depends largely on their encounters; and the old are assessed by their record
of sicknesses.
However, for Christians, God
values our spiritual journey with Him.
Conclusion
God called Abraham to
leave Ur，and it was the start of his journey of faith.
Every step he took, there was God's blessing and guidance for him. Abraham walked with
God for 100 years, and his faith was intact consistently. Therefore，he fulfilled God's plan for him.
We have to emphasize a
point here: It was not the self-confidence of Abraham that made God’s promise a
reality. God’s promise was in fact a reality, and this reality caused Abraham to
have faith in God.
Only such faith will be
able to overcome any threats, temptations, and all kinds of hardships, and
enable one to accomplish the mission entrusted by God.
Man’s faith must be built
upon God's promises. Otherwise, we will be easily discouraged whenever we face
trials and changes in our environment.
Others will only have
faith by sight. However, we who are descendants of Abraham walk by faith even
when we can’t see by sight. Faith is not a slogan, but an action. Faith is not
to blindly follow, but to obey God. Faith is not the result of an experience,
but a fruit of trial.
“And without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6）
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