The Call of Abram - Sermon Outlines. Org



The Call of Abram

(Genesis 12:1-20)

Introduction:

How many of you have your cell phone with you this morning? (How many of you have the ringer turned off?) I don’t imagine that Alexander Graham Bell could possibly have imagined the extreme impact that his original telephone would have on human society.

It took place in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 10, 1876. On that Friday morning, Alexander Graham Bell, a 29-year old Scottish-American inventor, bent forward over a small box with a hole in its top. Below the box was a bowl filled with water to which some sulfuric acid had been added. The bottom of the box consisted of a thin membrane, to which was fastened a platinum needle.

A piece of brass pipe had been placed in the bowl, and both it and the needle were connected by separate wires to a crude reed receiver in another room. Next to that receiver, behind two closed doors, sat Thomas A. Watson, Bell’s assistant.

While he was making a few preliminary adjustments, Bell tipped over a bottle of acid, which spilled onto his clothes. Bell shouted into the box: “Mr. Watson.... come here... I want you!”

Thus, his words were the first sentence spoken over a telephone! Watson leaped to his feet and rushed into the other room to inform Bell that he had understood every word the inventor had said.

That brief telephone message from Bell to Watson revolutionized human communication. Eventually, through hard work and an acquired knowledge of the basic principles, Bell was able to invent a communication system that would greatly change the way man lives.

—Paragon Publishing

(Paul Lee Tan #1568)

A telephone call (particularly on a cell phone) is not always the most effective means of communication.

I remember hearing about the southern maid years ago who answered the phone in the household where she worked. And the lady of the house overheard her say, “Yes ma’am. Yes ma’am. Sho is,” and then she hung up. The phone rang again, and again the conversation went the same way: “Yes ma’am. Yes ma’am. Sho is,” and then she hung up. The phone rang the third time, and the lady of the house again heard, “Yes ma’am. Yes ma’am. Sho is,” and then the maid hung up.

By this time the lady of the house was so curious, she went and said, “Honey, you have worked in our house for years, and I have never heard you take a phone call like you just did three times. What was all that about?”

The maid hesitated, and then said, “All three times that lady called and said, ‘Is this the Smith residence?’ And I say, ‘Yes ma’am.’ And she said, ‘Is Mrs. Smith there?’ And I say, ‘Yes ma’am.’ And then she said, ‘Long distance from Birmingham.’ And I say, ‘Sho is.’”

A telephone call is not always the most effective means of communication.

This morning, it’s on my heart to talk about a call that took place in southeastern Iraq some 4,000 years ago. And in some respects, it was a long distance call. There are indications that the one who received the call wasn’t listening to the message as well as he should have been at first. But he finally heard the voice that was speaking, and he responded appropriately.

I’m speaking to you this morning about God’s call to Abram. As we begin…

I. Let’s Consider Abram And His Previous Circumstances

(Genesis 11:27-32)

A. Notice What The Bible Says About Abraham And His Life

1. He Was Dwelling In A Pagan Realm

(Genesis 11:27-28) Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. {28} And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

It appears that the Chaldaeans (Kaldai or Kaldi) were in the earliest times merely one of the many Cushite tribes inhabiting the great alluvial plain known afterwards as Chaldaea or Babylonia.

(From McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia)

The implication is that the Chaldees were descendants of Cush, the son of Ham and the father of Nimrod. Abram, on the other hand, was a descendant of Shem. But he was living among the Cushites or the Chaldeans, amidst all of the remnants of Nimrod.

(Genesis 10:6-8) And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. {7} And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. {8} And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

2. He Was Devoted To A Pagan Religion

Cf. (Joshua 24:2) And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

Now Ur means fire; and we may therefore read that he came forth from the fire of the Chaldees, on which has been built the story that Abraham was, for his disbelief in the established idols, cast by king Nimrod into a burning furnace, from which he was by special miracle delivered.

(From McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia)

The chief deity at Ur was the moon god called Sin, and there were no doubt many deities and idols that these people worshipped. So Abram dwelled in a pagan realm devoted to a pagan religion.

B. Notice What The Bible Says About Abraham And His Lineage

1. There Were Barriers In Abram’s Family

(Genesis 11:26) And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah – Hebrew OT:8646 (Terach) = “station”. as a proper noun, masculine: (1) the father of Abraham Tarah = “delay”.

(From Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)

It is intimated in Joshua 24:2, that Terah and his family “served other gods” beyond the Euphrates; and on this has been found the romance that Terah was not only a worshipper, but a maker of idols; that the youthful Abraham, discovering the futility of such gods, destroyed all those his father had made, and justified the act in various conversations and arguments with Terah

(From McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia)

Cf. (Genesis 12:1) Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:

There had been a call from God, but Abram had only gone so far. Perhaps Terah lived up to the meaning of his name is persuading to Abram to delay his journey with God, to come to a certain station in life and stay there.

Cf. (Acts 7:2-4) And he (Stephen) said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, {3} And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. {4} Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

2. There Was Barrenness In Abram’s Family

(Genesis 11:29-30) And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. {30} But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

barren – Hebrew 6135. 'aqar, aw-kawr'; from H6131; sterile (as if extirpated in the generative organs):-- (X male or female) barren (woman).

C. Notice What The Bible Says About Abraham And His Locations

1. Let’s Look At His Native Land

(Genesis 11:27-28) Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. {28} And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

Ur was probably located about 75 miles northwest of modern Kuwait City in what is now Iraq.

UR – This is invariably “Ur of [the] Chaldees.” The oldest derivation of the word is from a Hebrew term meaning light, in the sense of fire (so the Targum and Jerome). Various other etymologies (histories of the word) have been proposed: some taking the word as “a mountain”; some as denoting the east, or the light giving region; while Ewald, from the Arabic, makes it “place of sojourn.”

(From McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia)

Ur – Hebrew 218. 'Uwr, oor; the same as H217; Ur, a place in Chaldaea; also an Isr.:--Ur.

217. 'uwr, oor; from H215; flame, hence (in the plur.) the East (as being the region of light):--fire, light. See also H224.

When Abraham lived in the city before he left for Haran and Canaan, Ur was a center of religion and industry. The city was wholly given over to the worship of the moon god cult. The Babylonians were devotees of many deities, but at Ur the moon god “Sin” was supreme. It is out of this polluted atmosphere of polytheism that God's grace called Abraham to begin a new line that was to be separated from idolatry.

2. Let’s Look At His New Land

(Genesis 11:31) And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

Haran – Hebrew 2771. Charan, kaw-rawn'; from H2787; parched; Charan, the name of a man and also of a place.

2787. charar, khaw-rar'; a prim. root; to glow, i.e. lit. (to melt, burn, dry up) or fig. (to show or incite passion:--be angry, burn, dry, kindle.

Abram went out of the frying pan (Ur – flame) and into the oven (Haran – parched).

Ur was consecrated to the worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god. It shared this honour, however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran. Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad which led through it from the east to the west. The name is Babylonian, and bears witness to its having been founded by a Babylonian king. The same witness is still more decisively borne by the worship paid in it to the Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient temple of Sin. Indeed, the temple of the moon-god at Harran was perhaps even more famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than the temple of the moon-god at Ur.

Between Ur and Harran there must, consequently, have been a close connection in early times, the record of which has not yet been recovered. It may be that Harran owed its foundation to a king of Ur; at any rate the two cities were bound together by the worship of the same deity, the closest and most enduring bond of union that existed in the ancient world. That Terah should have migrated from Ur to Harran, therefore, ceases to be extraordinary. If he left Ur at all, it was the most natural place to which to go. It was like passing from one court of a temple into another.

(From Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

Haran is over 600 miles (to the northwest) from Ur.

The new land was like a new leaf. His nature was not changed.

II. Let’s Consider Abram And His Personal Call

(Genesis 12:1-9)

A. There Is A Word Associated With This Call

1. There Is A Word Of Decisive Departure

(Genesis 12:1) Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:

(Genesis 12:4) So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

The word “get” in verse 1 and the word “departed” in verse 4 are both translated from the Hebrew term (3212) yalak, which is a primary root word meaning to walk or to carry. It is translated elsewhere in the Old Testament as come (away), follow, march, and cause to run or walk.

God indicated that the familiar (thy country), and the family (thy kindred), and the father (thy father’s house) is not enough to trust in. Move beyond your trust in those things and trust in God!

2. There Is A Word Of Divine Doing

(Genesis 12:2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

make – Hebrew 6213. 'asah, aw-saw'; a prim. root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows)

When God calls you out, He doesn’t expect you to make yourself a Christian. He will do it.

Cf. (1 Thessalonians 5:24) Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

B. There Is A World Associated With This Call

1. It Is The Blessed World

(Genesis 12:3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

I might also magnify the world of variation…

(Genesis 12:5-6) And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. {6} And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

1. Canaan Reminds Us Of The Humble Bowing Of The Called Ones

Canaan – Hebrew 3667. Kena'an, ken-ah'-an; from H3665; humiliated; Kenaan, a son of Ham; also the country inhabited by him:-- merchant, traffick.

3665. kana', kaw-nah'; a prim. root; prop. to bend the knee; hence to humiliate, vanquish:--bring down (low), into subjection, under, humble (self), subdue.

2. Sichem Reminds Us Of The Heavy Burdens Of The Called Ones

Sichem – Hebrew 7927. Shekem, shek-em'; the same as H7926; ridge; Shekem, a place in Pal.:--Shechem.

7926. shekem, shek-em'; from H7925; the neck (between the shoulders) as the place of burdens; fig. the spur of a hill:--back, X consent, portion, shoulder.

3. Moreh Reminds Us Of The Helpful Blessings Of The Called Ones

Moreh – Hebrew 4176. Mowreh, mo-reh'; or Moreh, mo-reh'; the same as H4175; Moreh, a Canaanite; also a hill (perh. named from him):--Moreh.

4175. mowreh, mo-reh'; from H3384; an archer; also teacher or teaching; also the early rain [see H3138]:--(early) rain.

3384. yarah, yaw-raw'; or (H2 Chr. 26 : 15) yara', yaw-raw'; a prim. root; prop. to flow as water (i.e. to rain); trans. to lay or throw (espec. an arrow. i.e. to shoot); fig. to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach

4. The Canaanite Reminds Us Of The Hard Battles Of The Called Ones

Those that the Israelites would eventually have to fight to claim the land.

2. It Is The Between World

(Genesis 12:8) And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

Bethel means “the house of God,” and Hai has the idea of ruin. And that’s where we live as Christians; between the house of God that is our westward destination and the ruin that we are leaving behind.

John Stott’s book on preaching is called “Between Two Worlds.” But it is not just the preacher that lives in the between world. It is every person that trusts Christ as savior.

C. There Is A Worship Associated With This Call

1. Worship Was A Repeated Experience For Abram

(Genesis 12:7-8) And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. {8} And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

Two altars in two verses…

Blessed are they whose way is known by marks of worship.

(Joseph Parker from The Biblical Illustrator)

2. Worship Was A Relational Experience For Abram

(Genesis 12:8) And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called (to call out to and address by name) upon the name of the LORD.

Cf. (Acts 17:22-23) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. {23} For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

May it not be said of us who worship on Mars Hill Road what was said of those who worshipped on Mars Hill: “ye ignorantly worship … THE UKNOWN GOD.”

Here is the great testimony of the pilgrim and stranger in this world…

(Genesis 12:9) And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

journeyed – Hebrew 5265. naca', naw-sah'; a prim. root; prop. to pull up, espec. the tent-pins, i.e. start on a journey

It’s one thing to get you out of the world. It is another thing to get the world out of you. The next chapter in Abraham’s experience magnifies that truth.

III. Let’s Consider Abram And The Pull Of Carnality

(Genesis 12:10-20)

A. Notice The Timing Of Abram’s Journey To Egypt

1. This Journey Followed A Time Of Great Fellowship With The Lord

(Genesis 12:8) And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

2. This Journey Followed A Time Of Grievous Famine In The Land

(Genesis 12:10) And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

Either of these types of situations can leave us vulnerable and susceptible to wrong decisions and faulty or fleshly thinking.

B. Notice The Transgression Of Abram’s Journey To Egypt

Going to Egypt was not necessarily the thing that he did wrong (although it is a type of the world), but…

1. The Transgression Is Seen In His Doubt

(Genesis 12:12) Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

In spite of God’s promises to Abram in verses 2 and 7, he doubted that God would take care of him.

Paul said in Romans 14:23 that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

2. The Transgression Is Seen In His Deception

(Genesis 12:13) Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

C. Notice The Tragedy Of Abram’s Journey To Egypt

1. The Reproach Of This Account Is Tragic

(Genesis 12:18-20) And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? {19} Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. {20} And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

He left a bad testimony in Egypt.

2. The Repetition Of This Account Is Tragic

He did it again in chapter 20…

(Genesis 20:9-12) Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. {10} And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? {11} And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. {12} And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Do you find yourself committing the same sins over and over again?

10130. Those Spectacles Did It

When “Boss” Kettering, for years Vice-President of General Motors and director of their research laboratories, was just beginning his inventive career in Ashland, Ohio, he worked out a central-battery telephone exchange which did away with the nuisance of cranking the phone in rural communities. It seemed like a huge success but at one point it was in danger of being scrapped because for about two hours every afternoon the whole thing went dead.

Kettering worked frantically for several weeks to locate the trouble. He finally discovered that out on one of the farms a certain grandfather had the habit of laying his spectacles on top of the telephone box every afternoon while he took a nap, thus short-circuiting the system.

Conclusion:

Charles Price Jones was a black, holiness preacher who grew up in Kingston, Georgia. He wrote over 1000 songs and hymns, but yesterday I was thinking about one. It says…

Hear the blessed Savior calling the oppressed, (Like Abraham)

“Oh, ye heavy-laden, come to Me and rest;

Come, no longer tarry, I your load will bear,

Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care.”

Are you disappointed, wand’ring here and there, (Like Abraham)

Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care?

Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?

Bring your case to Jesus—He will give you rest.

Have you by temptation often conquered been, (Like Abraham)

Has a sense of weakness brought distress within?

Christ will sanctify you, if you’ll claim His best;

In the Holy Spirit, He will give you rest.

Chorus:

Come unto Me, I will give you rest; (Like Abraham)

Take My yoke upon you, hear Me and be blest;

I am meek and lowly, come and trust My might;

Come, My yoke is easy, and My burden’s light.

God called Abram, but He still calls men and women, boys and girls. Is He calling you to a different life this morning than the one you have known? Is He calling you to a relationship with Himself?

Have you failed in a time of famine? Is God calling you to a restored relationship with Himself?

Abram got back on the right road after his personal failure in Egypt…

(Genesis 13:3-4) And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; {4} Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

If you have failed as a child of God, you can get back on the right road too.

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