October 15, 2006
THE FAITH THAT OBEYS
Hebrews 11:8-9

 

   "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 where 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" (Heb. 11:8-9). Called to "GO OUT..." he OBEYED and "WENT OUT" to a place which he would afterward inherit not knowing where he was going. A leap of faith, Yes! A leap in the dark, No! What he did not know, God knew, and he trusted God!
   Abraham's walk of faith was, at best, partial and in stages. According to Stephen in Acts 7:2-3 "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran and said unto him, 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.'" Yet his first steps in that direction were accompanied by Terah, his father, and Lot, his nephew (Gen. 11:31). Abraham's journey halted in Haran until Terah died where-upon God spoke again, "Get...out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee" (Gen. 12:1). He finally crossed the Euphrates with Lot still in tow, arrived in Canaan and there built an altar. God tested Abraham by sending a famine, where-upon he and all his sought refuge in Egypt. But for the intervention of God, he would have lost his wife Sarah to Pharaoh's desire.
   Upon returning to the land and the altar he had forsaken, his fellowship with God was restored. He had thoroughly experienced that Lot's companionship was a distraction and a hazard. Finally he said, "I pray thee... separate thyself...from me" (Gen. 13:8). Shortly "after that Lot was separated from him," the Lord said, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Gen. 13:14-15). He had arrived in the land of promise and has separated from his father's house. There is yet a special test.
   After offering Isaac on the altar, "God said...now I know that you fear God, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son from Me...in blessing I will bless you... because you have obeyed my voice." (Gen. 22:12-18). Such is THE FAITH THAT OBEYS!

 

Ivan L. Burgener