GOD’S METHOD HEBREWS 11: 8-19
Looking at Scripture we see a particular method that God uses to train us for His work.
The method might change depending on the person and circumstances, but the basic principles are the same.
We see this with Abraham:
- God gives us a vision in a general sense.
- Then comes testing and through it purifying.
- Further revelation of the vision when there is obedience.
- Often, we will go through a number of cycles of testing and revelation.
For example: Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Here we see God calling Abraham and giving him a vision of a land that He will show Abraham, and with a promise that He will make Abraham into a great nation, and make Abraham’s name great. Then God adds the blessing and the curse. Quite a vision!
In Genesis 12:2 God told Abraham that He would show him the land, but only when he obeyed – God would give him the land. “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”
While in the land the testing comes: Genesis 12:10 “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.”
We do not read that God told him to go to Egypt. Fear came into Abraham and perhaps he felt that he could not survive if he stayed in the land even with what God told him about blessing him.
We see the result in Abraham’s life in telling his wife, Sarah, to say that she is his sister instead of his wife in fear of being killed. Half-truths, lying and deception comes into Abraham’s life.
We see that there is no more revelation of the vision until Abraham comes back to the place of obedience. Genesis 13:3-4 “And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.”
When Abraham obeyed we see that there is further revelation: Genesis 13:14-15 “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are — northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.”
However, we see another test comes to Abraham when he is offered the spoils of Sodom. Genesis 14:21-23 “Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.’ But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”
We read in verse 22 that Abraham made a vow to the Lord, that he would not take anything from the king of Sodom so that it could not be said that the king made Abraham rich.
We read that when Abraham left Egypt – the king “treated Abram well for her sake (Sarah’s). He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.” (Genesis 12:16) So, when Abraham left Egypt “he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.” Genesis 12:14
So, we see that when the king of Sodom offered Abraham the spoils he had learned his lesson from his experience in Egypt.
After this testing we see again that God gives further revelation to Abraham. Genesis 15:1 “After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.’” God shows Abraham the boundary of the land that He is giving: “On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.’” Genesis 15:15
In Genesis 16 another test comes that involved Sarah and her maidservant, Hagar. God had said He would give Abraham and Sarah an heir. They were both in their old age. Year after year passed by and nothing was coming about. Would they believe God, or should they take things into their own hand?
Abraham listens to his wife and takes Hagar to bed, and Hagar bears a son for Abraham. The advice sounds plausible and sensible and was keeping up with the customs of that day, but it was not God’s will or plan, and we see the results of this today in the Middle East.
There is no further revelation from God until Abraham is almost 100 years old. In chapter 18 God reveals to Abraham and Sarah that in about a years’ time she would be giving birth to a son, the child of God’s promise.
Lastly, in Genesis 22 we see the greatest test coming to Abraham: the sacrifice of his son, the son of promise. Genesis 22:1-2 “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’”
What went through Abraham’s mind at that time one can only imagine, but he obeyed and, in that obedience, came the greatest revelation of all time: THE ROOT OF THE GOSPEL – GOD WILL SUPPLY!
They went to the region of Moriah. This is where the plague was stopped in King David’s time (2 Chronicles 3:1) and in New Testament time the region is the vicinity of Calvary where God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was crucified and died for the sins of the world.
Has God given you a vision? If so, testing times will come. So be obedient!