Abram: The Call, The Covenant and the Cowardice
In chapter 11 we met Abram, son of Terah, a man we will hear much about in the chapters to come, and the one with whom God made His covenant. Our story begins as he and his father Terah, along with his wife Sarai and nephew Lot left Ur of the Chaldeans , They settled in Haran, where Terah died.
Abram was a wealthy prince and likely did not know God in a personal way, but shortly after Terah's death he received a call from God, calling on him to leave the land of his birth , his friends and family, and everything he knew bheing and go forth to " a land which I shall show you". Moreover he was told that God would make a great nation of him, and bless him and make him a blessing to the world. He also issued a warning that those who bless Anram would be blessed and that those who cursed him would be cursed. Imagine being told something of this out of the blue.... especially when as we shall find out, Sarai was barren, and long past childbrearing years, so it was indded an act of faith on Abram's part to accept what God had told him and act on it.
When Abram arrived in the Land of Canaan, he pitched his tent at Shechem, a place about which we will here much more and again heard from God, who honoured his faith and Made a promise that the Land of Canaan would be given to his descendants.
After this, there was famine in the land and Abram and Sarai went to Egypt, wherupon Abram, after having such great faith in leaving home and travelling to an unkniown land simply because the lord told him to commited a shameful act of cowardice that was conceived in anything but faith. Upon arriving in Egypt, he feared what might happen to him if the Egyptians took a liking to Sarai. Abram asked Sarai to tell the Egyptians that she was his sister, a half truth since she was also the saughter of terah, by a different mother, so that things would go well for Abram, as he was given livestock and riches as Sarai was taken into the household of Pharaoh himself, However, before Pharaoh had committed the conjugal act with her, his house was struck with plagues, and it came to light, though we are not told how that Sarai was actually Abram's wife . Pharaoh returned Sarai to Abram and sent them on their way out of Egypt with all he had.
One of the great things about the Bible is that the characters we read about are presented exactly as they were, with all their warts and flaws. Which one of us has not been rewarded for our faith and then turn right around and sin? Thankfully, we have a od who forgives, and teaches us, and works with us to turn us into what he created us to be.
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