You know for the first time – I was in difficult situation, and I didn’t know what to say, I just thank God for his wisdom. Sometimes, I write and remember the Scripture: “lest ye preach and be guilty of doing the same thing you preach about.” It’s been overwhelming these days. Pray for me.
Now unto today’s message:
Abram (Abraham), our father in the faith—some call him the father of faith.
Genesis 12:1 tells us:
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’”
This was Abram’s first encounter with the God of Israel. It shows that before the nation of Israel was built on Elohim or Adonai as its foundation and principles, God began by slowly building a relationship with their patriarch, Abraham. This relationship was novel—it was not based on any prior relationship Abram had with his father or ancestors. Later generations—Isaac, Jacob, and the nation of Israel—would build their relationship with God based on Abraham’s encounter.
God told Abraham to leave his family. Abram took nothing but trust in God’s word. At this point, the only promise God gave him was that He would show him a land. Abraham believed God’s words and left his country, his people, and his father’s household. In Genesis 12:7, God kept His promise and showed him the land He would give him.
But notice this: Abraham did not yet know God. He had no prior relationship with God to assure him that God would do what He said—yet he trusted Him anyway. This shows us that trust and faith are not the same. I can trust what you say without fully having faith in you. Faith is a prolonged trust, built on truth, for something we have not yet seen but hope for.
Let me give a scenario. When I was young, we went to an ice cream fair with many flavors—coffee, cream, even mango. My mom told me, “Take any ice cream; all ice cream is sweet.” I believed her because my past experiences with vanilla and strawberry ice cream had been sweet. I had a reason to trust her based on experience. But when I chose mango ice cream, I regretted it.
What I’m saying is this: Abram had little or no reason—by experience—to trust God, yet he obeyed God and left everything: his family and his country, for God (Elohim).
By Genesis 12:10, we can tell that trust alone was not enough to build a relationship with God. Abram acted as carnal mankind would—out of fear. Because he did not yet know God was with him, he told Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister. When trust is all we have, faith will be tested.
Why did Abram sin? He feared. He did not know God. He had only heard from Him. Remember Job’s famous saying: “Previously I had heard of You, but now my eyes see You.” To hear from God and to know God are two different things.
Who showed mercy here? God. It was God’s mercy toward Abram that He chastised Pharaoh for Abraham’s mistake. This incident also began a chain of events that would later result in Israel’s bondage in Egypt for 400 years. In fact, the relationship between Egypt and Israel began here.
By Genesis 13, when Abram came out of Egypt, he was rich in cattle, silver, and gold. But where did this wealth come from—trust in God, or because he gave Sarai away as his sister? Notice: Abram first gave his wife to Egypt as his sister before Sarai later gave Abram an Egyptian maid to bear him a child (Genesis 16:1). See the recurring relationship Abram had with Egypt.
In Genesis 15:1, the first words God says to Abram are:
“Fear not; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
God reassures Abram because fear was what caused him to lie. There was famine in the land (lack—“exceeding great reward”), and Abram feared he would be killed because his wife was beautiful (need for a “shield”). Abram did not yet know God as his shield or his provider.
In Genesis 15:1–8, God continues speaking to Abram—this time in a vision. Abram begins to see the word of God. Abram tells God he is childless, and God tells him to count the stars, promising him descendants as numerous as them. Genesis 15:6 says Abram believed Adonai, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Notice: Abram still had not received the land, nor had he received a child—yet he believed God. There was no visible manifestation, yet Abram held on. Truly, he is the father of faith—holding onto nothing but God’s word.
In Genesis 15:8, Abram asks how he will know he will inherit the land, and God instructs him to offer a sacrifice. God also tells him in verse 13 that his descendants would be strangers in a land not their own for 400 years, referring to the Joseph and Moses era. In verse 18, God makes a covenant with Abram to give him land stretching from Egypt to the Euphrates.
Still, it was only words and a covenant.
In Genesis 16, we see again that belief and trust alone were not enough to sustain faith. Abraham took Hagar, an Egyptian. First, the husband gave away his wife out of fear of death and lack. Then, the wife gave her husband to a maid out of fear of barrenness. Despite God’s promise, Abram faltered and had a child outside God’s will.
It seems that every time Abram’s family faced an issue, Egypt appeared as the solution. No wonder Israel later became enslaved to Egypt for 400 years. Yet, we cannot entirely blame Abraham. It would be miraculous for men to hang solely on faith without sight. Many times, humans need physical evidence. The heart fails from time to time.
By Genesis 17:1, God finally appears to Abram and introduces Himself:
“I am El-Shaddai (the Almighty God). Walk before Me and be blameless.”
This echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:48.
Notice how God calms human fear and then reveals who He is. Even in Genesis 22, on Mount Moriah, before providing a ram, God reveals Himself as Jehovah Jireh. God’s actions reveal His nature. After calming Abram’s fears, He shows Himself as all-sufficient; after providing the ram, He reveals Himself as the Provider. It is suffice to say what makes us righteous is not our deeds we do right, its every time we believe God word above all else the world says and even when our heart fails.
It is as if God is saying, “I withhold nothing from you. I even give My Son in place of yours.” We see here the frailty of human nature and the sufficiency of God. Like the widow’s mite, God reminds us that He has given His ALL.
If He has given His ALL for us, why do we still doubt His sufficiency?
El-Shaddai the ALL SUFFICIENT ONE.