Date: 14 April 2024, 9.30 am
Speaker: Ps Daniel Tan Sermon Text: Genesis 11:27–12:20
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Transcript
Introduction
Blessed Sunday to everyone.
Every 1st Sunday of the month in 2024, something different has been happening. I pray that we have all noticed it.
Yes, we have tea fellowship after service and the selection that we partake from is getting from good to great. We’ve had pizza, curry puffs and last week even Chwee Kueh.
And the significant thing we introduced this year is the 10 min testimony sharing.
I’ve been so blessed to hear from the 3 Hermonites so far. I’ve been edified by coming to know of the challenges they have faced when they first became a Christian.
In 2024, we are interviewing Hermonites who are 1st generation Christians. They have had to fight for the right to become a Christian.
Imagine one, shared that the motivation to do well in PSLE is so that his dad would allow him to be a Christian.
I’ve also been so encouraged to see how they continue to trust God for the daily challenges they face.
They have shared challenges such as losing a loved one, losing their jobs, experiencing unsupportive spouses.
Yet, it is amazing that they continue to testify of God’s goodness to them!
And at the same time requesting that we prayerfully support them to continue to be Christ witness to their family and friends.
Church, if you want to see the faith lived out, if you want to know what it means to trust God for He is faithful, listen to the testimonies of the Hermonites around us.
This morning, the testimony that we will get to appreciate is that of Abram. His testimony, we thank God has been preserved for us by Moses in the book of Genesis.
We have covered 10 chapters already of Genesis and the narrative is now moving from the general survey of humanity to the specific family from which Israel comes from.
In the first 11 chapters, we have covered many generations. From Adam to the flood is over 1600 years and from the flood to Abraham’s departure to Canaan, another 400 years.
Now, from Genesis 12 onwards, this is the history of the Patriarchs of Israel. Here we see only four generations are covered in 39 chapters.
It begins with Abraham and goes on to his son Isaac, and Isaac’s two sons Jacob and Esau; the final section focuses on Jacob’s sons, especially Joseph.
Throughout these chapters the impression we are to grasps, is how God has preserved the members of His chosen family.
Their calling is to walk before God and to be the start of a people chosen to be God’s channel of blessing to the entire world.
And this link connects even to us today. A link that is to not just connect us, but to also continue through us.
When we display obedience and seek to worship Him
Genesis 11 does not begin on a positive note. It tells of the incident of the tower of Babel.
There the people decided to build a tower to reach the heavens, to make a name for themselves and to be disobedient to the instruction to occupy the whole earth.
Eld Chow Meng previously showed us that God’s actions to confuse their language and to disperse them over the face of the earth was actually a merciful act.
In God preventing things from getting worse by scattering the community as a restraint, God thus was preserving humankind from being eternally lost.
And so with the genealogy from Shem to Abraham in Genesis 11, Moses tells his first readers and us today, God is still sovereignty in control. His plans are not derailed.
God is not caught by surprise. He is still able to have his plans fulfilled. The prophesy of Noah’s oracle pertaining to Shem is being realized.
To the first listeners, they see how God sovereignty enable Abram, the father of the nation to be born.
To the first listeners in the days of Luke, he tells them of the significance of the line of Shem and that of Abraham.
This is God’s fulfilment of Gen 3:15. Jesus, the son of God will bruise the head of the serpent.
Lk 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, …. 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Luke records for us that when Jesus was baptized, God affirmed who Jesus is. “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” And then Luke helpfully traces this link for us through the genealogy of the nation of Israel.
And in this genealogy, we have Abraham, Noah and Seth mentioned. Praise be to God right! His promises of redemption are fulfilled in Jesus.
In Moses’s genealogy list of Terah’s family (11:27-31), we see 1 significant fact. A fact that will have an impact on Abram’s life of faith.
It is found in v30. It reads like a rod being stuck into the spokes of a spinning bicycle wheel.
Since v10, we have been having a steady narration of one generation to another. Then suddenly we have v30 – Now Sarai was barren, she had no child.
The sense is that the line of promise seems to come to a violent stop. The bicycle that has been coasting along, suddenly is flipped over.
We are reminded, only God can do the impossible.
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Thus it is significant when our heroes of faith obey God when what’s in front of them seems humanely impossible.
Heb 11:8 instructs us that the evidence of Abraham’s faith is that of his obedience.
I submit, then that Heb 11:8 is a summary of what is narrated for us in Genesis 12 to 23.
These chapters expand and describe for us what it means to exhibit faith through obedience.
And so Gen 12 tells us, God’s command was for Abram is to go from your country, your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you.
As God led Abram to the promised land, we realise that it would take him completely out of his comfort zone.
In those days, the family connections were very tight and interlinked. Even the survival of the family was tied to that of the extended clan.
They were so tight that the actions of a man reflected upon that of his family and thus there were implications.
So for Abram, family would mean his ties to Terah and also Lot. Many heads of families would make up the ‘kindred’ and then the country.
When Abraham wanted a bride for Isaac in Gen 24, Abraham’s servant went to find one in the city of Nahor. Why, because Abraham said find one from my kindred, from my country (24:4). The city of Nahor being associated with Nahor the brother of Abraham.
To leave your country, your kindred and your father’s house is thus to leave behind everything that makes you, you.
Your identify and your sufficiency, it is all at stake.
God said go, and we read in Gen 12:4, ‘So Abram went as the Lord had told him’.
The faith of Abram was evident in his complete obedience. When God revealed His instructions, Abram immediately responded accordingly.
Is this unusual in terms of obedience? Well Abrahm is the benchmark and in others we see it on a smaller scale :
Noah (ark) – Gen 6:22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him
Moses (tabernacle) – Ex 40:16 This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did.
Philip (evangelism) – Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. (and we know that he met the Ethiopian Eunuch there.)
I submit that this happens for us too when we become Christian, especially when we are 1st Generation Christians.
When the grace of God touches our lives, we have to forgo everything that makes us who we are at the point of conversion.
I no longer worship the gods of my ancestors. We now have a new allegiance. We now call Jesus, both Saviour and Lord.
For some of us it has meant being kicked out of the house and disowned. Others, maybe not kicked out, but subjected to emotional and relational tensions.
It has not happened in Singapore but in other parts of the world, becoming a Christian means the village also will disassociate with you and that could also negatively impact your livelihood.
To all Hermonites, you who have experienced the cost of being a believer, I thank you for your testimony.
You have had to fight for the right to be a Christian. For me all I do is fight for the right not to attend church.
Now, consider with me, Abram was a sojourner who had left Ur of the Chaldeans, he was old at 75 and Sarai was barren.
Yet by faith, Abram believed God’s promise – that I will make of you a great nation … I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonours you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Abram was surely not walking by sight. Obedience we see from Abram’s life rested solely on God’s Word.
Church, our faith does not rest in the quality of our faith or what we think we believe in. No, it rests on the surety of the person that we believe in.
Church, what does it mean to put our faith, our trust in God? Abram shows us that it is found in obedience to God’s revealed word.
As Abram trusted God and journeyed into Canaan, we see 2 mentions of him building an altar and call upon the name of the Lord (12:7-8).
Gen 12:7 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. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
Here we see the 2nd action of what it means to trust in God. It means to worship Him.
Here again we see faith in action. The context of Abram’s worship of God is found in v6.
Gen 12: 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
The land of promise was already occupied by the Canaanites. We know from biblical history that they were pagans. They did not worship Yahweh. And they were already established in the land.
Yet, Abram a man of faith publicly acknowledged God’s presence and provision through erecting an altar and by calling upon the name of the Lord.
To call upon the name of the Lord, can also be translated as to shout or to proclaim. It means Abram made know to those around him, whom he was worshipping.
By sight, God’s promises seemed unattainable, yet, Abram believed and so he worshipped by proclaiming the name of the Lord amidst the pagan Canaanites.
This is also in contrast also to those at the tower of Babel - they wanted to ‘make a name for themselves’, Abram instead proclaimed the name of the Lord.
God had promised to make Abram’s name great and in response, Abram magnifies God’s name. Abram’s evident of his faith was to make the Lord ‘famous’ in Canaan.
He trusted God by publicly worshipping God in a pagan environment.
Is this not what we Christians, ought to be doing today?
As we have made the step to leave our past and to fully identify with Christ, our ongoing identification is that of a worshipper of God.
I’m sure you have heard this phased from some non-Christians relatives - attend church okay, but don’t get baptised. Once you go through baptism, it’s a no return route.
Baptism fully identifies us with Christ and as baptised members, Holy Communion is our continued identification as the body of Christ.
Thus church, in our participation of Holy Communion, this is our public proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Now though we have communion only once a month, we seek to proclaim the Gospel every Sunday, don’t we?
We sing, In Christ alone, my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song.
We pray, Lord, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
We listen to Scripture that proclaims Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Thus, our presence at our Sunday Service is our way of calling upon the name of the Lord each week.
And by corporately worshipping God each Sunday, we proclaim to family, our neighbours, our colleagues, our friends, I identify as a disciple of Jesus. I’m committed to keep the sabbath holy.
Church, we have live-broadcast of our services, but they are not for the indulgence of our laziness. No, they are to help those who are unable to make it for service due to shift work, health or caregiving duties.
For the rest of us, there can be no legitimate excuse.
Based on my estimate, we should have a congregational attendance of over 200 each Sunday. Our hall seats 180, so every chair should be filled and members filling our over-flow room. Yet, that is not the case.
Church, what does it mean to put our faith, our trust in God?
Abram shows us that it is found in publicity calling upon the name of the Lord, in the midst of a pagan society.
When God is faithful even as we walk by sight
Paul says in 2 Cor 4:7 - 2 Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
God has given us the treasure of the Gospel but it is found in human jars of clay. Humans that are weak and so easily broken.
The 2nd half of Genesis 12, shows us how Abram is also a jay of clay.
There is a famine and Abram and the family need food and so they go to Egypt.
Let’s recap God’s promises to Abram – I will make of you a great nation, I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse.
To those promises, we saw Abram begin in faith by stepping forward in obedience. However, now in Egypt, he folded like a deck of cards.
He told Sarai, you are beautiful and if the Egyptians knew you are my wife, they will kill me.
Abram was desperate, his family needed food. Abram knew he was not in a position of bargaining power, he was before Pharoah.
God’s promises however seem so far away, so inadequate.
In Matthew 14, we have an incident where the disciples of Jesus were in a boat out in the lake without Jesus. And they experienced a storm.
Jesus then walks to them on the water and calls out to them.
Mt 14:28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Abram looked at his desperate and lowly position and he doubted. Peter looked at the wind and the waves and he doubted.
I’m sure we can all identify with Abram and Peter. We see things with natural eyes and not with the eyes of faith.
But God is faithful to His promises, He is sovereign over even the failures of man.
So, it is recorded, God miraculously intervenes. God afflicted Pharoah with great plagues and enable Pharoah to realize that it was because he had taken Sarai as his wife.
For God, the child of the promise is to be from the union of Abram and Sarai and nothing will ever interrupt that.
God is trustworthy for even when we are faithless, He is faithful.
And the irony is that Abram left Egypt very wealthy. He came to Egypt with nothing, there was a famine.
But God provided through Pharoah sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys and camels.
He may be going back to a land still in famine, but he was going back fully sufficient.
What’s the message to Abram, you didn’t trust me to keep your head on your neck? See, not only have I saved you, I’ve given you more than sufficient to cater for your physical needs.
So much that in Gen 13:2, Scripture says, now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.
The God of Abram is the same God that we worship. He is faithful to His promises. He generously gives to His children from His limitless resources.
Church, I don’t know what you are struggling with today. But I pray that Abram’s testimony of His faithful God will be your encouragement.
Paul tells us God’s promise is that Phil 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Church, God has shown to be faithful even when man has been faithless. He continues to be the same yesterday and today.
Let us repent of walking by sight and instead may we grow in our faith, learning to depend upon Him more and more.
Conclusion
To the first audience, Moses is encouraging them, the journey that they are taking now from Egypt to Canaan is the journey of claiming the promise that God gave to Abram.
God has shown the promised land to Abram and now God will enabling the Israelites to claim that promise.
Go in faith to conquer the Canaanites by the power of God and make His name known through your sacrifice of worship.
Today, Paul tells us in Galatians that we Gentiles are linked to Abraham as well.
Gal 3:26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
The history of Genesis 11 is part of our history as well. And so what does that mean?
The book of Hebrews gives us the future that Abraham saw.
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going….10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:10 is our future that Abraham saw. The future as described for us in Rev 21.
Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Abraham and his family have been called to be a channel of God’s blessing to the nations.
Church, we today do that as Abraham’s heirs. We proclaim the blessed life found through faith in Jesus Christ.
If we are to proclaim the Gospel, we must keep trusting in our faithful God right?
May I end with some practical tip on how we can remember to trust our faithful God.
This is shared by Michelle Hicks, on Lifeway Women. Michelle is a cancer survivor and she only knew about her cancer after she had been involved in a serious car accident and the scans for the broken bones picked up the cancer.
Let us use our 5 fingers to remind us. May I invite us to put 1 hand palm facing upward and on our knees. Now close your fingers into a fist.
Open your thumb – To remind us to Trust God in the good and bad of life. My thumb can give the thumbs-up or the thumbs-down: thumbs-up, good for my life, walking with Jesus; thumbs-down, bad for my life, walking without Jesus.
Next open your index finger - Trust God and learn from Him through the circumstances. My pointer finger points up to God, reminding me to look to Him in trust.
Open your middle finger to join the first 2 - Trust God even when there are no answers. My middle finger reminds me that, like being stuck in the middle of a situation or failing to understand which way to go, I can trust God. He will not leave me stuck in the middle but will guide me in the way I should go.
Open our fourth finger - Trust God with humility. My ring finger reminds me that humility comes from a heart that is right with God. When I trust God with my whole heart, humility comes easier.
Finally, our pinky - Trust God with the impossible. My pinky finger is weak. I don’t lift anything with my pinky. But my pinky finger reminds me that no matter what I face or how heavy the load is, God brings strength for the seemingly impossible.
May our palm remind us also, God hold us in His palm always. And God promises, behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.
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