The story of Abraham’s departure from the land he was living in has been on my mind lately. What is interesting is that the Bible talks about the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and then it reports much genealogy which gets us to the story of Abraham.
The interesting part I think is that we see the genealogy of Abraham laid out for us: Noah → Shem → Arphaxad → Shelah → Eber → Peleg → Reu → Serug → Nahor → Terah → Abram. There was much going on between the time of Noah and Abram. It is hard to say how long this time frame was, but it is estimated to have lasted somewhere between 350 to 400 years. That’s a long time for the Bible not to mention anyone else as playing a role in the Bible.
And then we are thrust upon the scene of Abram being told by God that he was to pack up everything and leave when he was 75 years old. He had come to live in Haran on the way to the land of Cannan, because his father had moved his family there (Genesis 11:31). So Abram listens to God and moves his family and his nephew’s family as instructed. They leave on this journey. They have considerable livestock. The journey if we look at where he travels is somewhere approximately 1,100 – 1,500 miles long. The Bible doesn’t tell us how long this journey took, but if they traveled 10-15 miles per day, the journey could have lasted several months to a year. The whole time God is telling Abram, don’t worry where you are going! I’m going to take you there and it’s going to be amazing.
Hebrews 11:8-9 states that the reason Abraham went out and did this was because he had faith in God. His faith in God led to his obedience: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.”
I want to hone in on the mindset of Abraham though, because it shows us a lot about what God was looking for. God essentially is looking for this same mindset in us today. We may have a tendency to get in the thick of living and miss the point of living. We are here as sojourners. It doesn’t matter where we live in this world. We don’t have a real home in this world. It’s nice to have consistency and safety. It’s nice to own nice things. None of that is wrong. The question then is, what is our attitude?
I want to set forth a few Scriptures, highlighting this journey of sojourners [all from the English Standard Version):
- Genesis 23:4 – Abraham said, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me a possession of a burying place among you, that I may bury my dead.”
- Psalm 39:12 – “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.”
- Hebrews 11:13 – “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
- 1 Peter 2:11 – “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
The mindset of looking to God — allowing Him to lead, guide and help us in our lives — is of the utmost importance for us. I know that this story has been told time and again in our Church literature and in messages, but truly, I think that it is so refreshing to read this story and to realize that this life that we are living has been experienced by others before. This is not something new. The stress, the anxiety, the frustrations–I am sure Abraham felt those, and I am sure the other people mentioned in the Scriptures above also felt the same way. And yet, God led all of them!
The encouragement we need is found in these stories. We need to meditate on them and then take action, by allowing God to show us what needs to be done. It becomes imperative that we learn this lesson and learn how to allow God to lead. God will allow us to live our lives on our own until we come to the point where we realize that it doesn’t really work. In fact, this is the story of man for the last six thousand years. God allows man to go his own way to learn that it doesn’t work.
Where is God leading each of us? This is something we can each think about deeply and meditate on.
Like God promising Abraham a good land for his descendants, God is promising US access into His Family as God beings. That is where God is ultimately leading each and every one of us. If we set our faith and sight on that, we can more easily learn to turn our lives over to God and allow Him to help us as we live our lives.