Abram Journeys through the Land of Promise

Well, hey, just, very quickly, want, want to draw your attention once again to the former Adventist Fellowship conference that's coming up. this weekend and it'll be taking place here, on the church campus. And by the way, when it says Friday, Saturday, Sunday, that includes the morning service, next Sunday, that would be here and then I think a lunch, like a debriefing lunch after, the, service next Sunday, morning. But registration is $85.

This is for any of you that are looking to know better how you can reach out to your Seventh Day Adventist, friends and family members. and if of any Seventh Day Adventist that's really searching and wants to know the truth, this is a great event to invite them to. Whether or not you register for this conference, to be here Friday through Sunday, you are more than welcome to, to show up on Friday evening for the, get together Friday evening that'll happen here in the auditorium.

Ron Rhodes, a Premier Christian apologist, and Paul Carden will, be speaking.

There'll be a Q&A that evening as well. So know that you are invited to join us Friday evening, whether or not you are registered for, the, the conference, OK? And there's a table over in the alcove for you to go to after the service. Well, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to, Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis chapter 12, we're continuing in our study through the book of Genesis, and as we continue in our study through this book, we come this morning to Genesis 12:4 and my goal this morning is to cover verses 4 through 9. And if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be Abraham Journeys through the Land of Promise. Abraham journeys through the land of Prom. when I was a teenager, my family, lived in Indianapolis, Indiana, and, throughout most of the years of my, my life, during the summer, we would usually make one trip to Amarillo, Texas to see, my mom's, parents and her side of the family.

It was about a 16 hour drive as I recall it, and my dad was the driver that he was intent on making that drive in a single day. Without stopping at a hotel in between, he was also not a big fan of restroom breaks either. So good luck to any of us kids who wanted to stop for a restroom break on the way. when I was about 19 years old, I think it was, there was one such trip where, we were heading to Amarillo and my dad was driving and it was getting late into the night and my dad started getting tired.

So rather than stopping at a hotel, to sleep or rather than stopping by the side of a road somewhere and taking a nap, he woke me up and asked me to drive. So we stopped by the side of the interstate, we switched seats and I started driving while my dad fell asleep. It was about 2 in the morning and I was pretty tired, so it was not long before I too was struggling. To stay awake as I drove, I found myself going through a miserable cycle of dozing off and then being startled awake just in time before the car went off the road.

It was a miserable experience. My dad was in the car, I was in the car. Donna, who I was dating at the time, was in the car and my sister was in the car. I did everything I could to stay awake.

I was pinching myself, I was slapping myself. In the face to stay awake, but even that was not working. At 3 or 4 points, I woke my dad up and said, Dad, I'm struggling, I can't stay awake. Do you wanna drive?

And each time, my dad said to me, you're doing fine, just keep driving. So the night wore on until a loud crunching noise was heard as the passenger side of our car was slamming against a guard rail along the side of the interstate. Fortunately, the impact bounced the car back onto the interstate, but it woke all of us up, including me even. And my dad, and I said to my dad, I said, I'm sorry, Dad, I told you I was struggling.

And then I asked my dad a question and I'll never forget his reply. I asked him, I said, do you want me to pull over? And he said, no, just keep driving. It was not until dawn literally began to break and the gas tank was empty that my dad told me to stop at a gas station to fill up the tank.

And when we pulled into the gas station, my dad tried to get out of the car. He tried to open his door to get out, and his door would not even open. Because of the damage I had done to his car. So he climbed out of the car on my side, gassed up the car, and we got back in the car and pressed on to make Amarillo by morning.

we got to our family reunion in Amarillo at the time that my dad was shooting for, and I personally was just grateful that we arrived in one piece. I wouldn't really hold my dad up as a great example to follow, on, in this particular instance, and I don't think he would either. But to his credit, He had his eye fixed on the goal. And he was not interested in settling anywhere in between, not even for an hour.

And I think Abraham's father, Terra, whom we got to know as Terra the settler, could have used a little bit of my dad's spirit. We saw 4 weeks ago how God had called Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go to the land that God would show him and we know when we put the data together with Acts 7 and Genesis 11 that Abraham would have shared that call with his dad, Tara, and his dad would have said, let's go, I'll go with you. In fact, I will head up the trip. And so we saw In Genesis 11, how Tara had started out from of the Chaldeans with Abraham and Sarah and Lot, with the specific intention, the text says, of entering Canaan.

In fact, we know from scripture that he got about 500 miles towards his goal. He started out well, got about 500 miles toward his goal. However, when he reached about the halfway point in Huan, between Ur and Canaan, the Bible tells us that he stopped in Huron, and he didn't just stop there, but the text says he settled. In Haran.

And Tara lived out the rest of his life and he died in Haran, never reaching the land of Canaan, which was his and Abraham's original goal. And this is where Abraham is when the curtains open. On Genesis chapter 12. In Genesis 12:1, we've seen how God rouses Abraham from his place of settling in Haran and calls him to get up and to go out of Haran and to go to a land that he, God would show to him.

God makes some astounding promises to Abraham in these verses, promising that he would make him into a great nation, that he would bless him, that he would make his name great and that through Abraham, all the families of the earth would be blessed. And in our passage today, we're going to see how Abraham responds to this call and to these promises from God. But before we get into that, let me just read the text to you beginning in Genesis chapter 12 verse 1. So now the Lord said to Abraham, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation.

And I will bless you and make your name great. And so you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

So Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Now Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran, and Abraham took Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired. In Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and thus they came to the land of Canaan. Abraham passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem to the oak of Morech.

Now the Canaanite was then in the land, and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants, I will give this land. So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared. To him. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and AI in the east, and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.

And Abraham journeyed on, continuing. Toward the negative. This is the word of God and may God help us to understand His word to us this morning. Having heard the call of God.

And having heard the amazing promises that God makes to him, Abraham moves into action. He takes action and we find him essentially in verses 4 through 9, doing seven things. We'll call these the seven acts of Abraham in his journey through the land of promise. His first act is that he goes forth toward The land of promise.

He goes forth toward the land of promise. It says in verse 4, so Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Notice that the text says Abraham went forth. This is as far as we know at this point, and that is that he got up and he left Haran.

We're told that he went forth as God had spoken. To him. In other words, he went forth in obedience to The command that God had given to him, and he went forth in response to the promises that God had spoken to him. Abraham believed these promises, and he went forth from Haran, expecting God to fulfill them, embracing these promises as the mission of his life from that point on.

That's what's meant when it says that he went forth as the Lord had spoken to him. We're told that Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Harran. 75 back in this day that Abraham lived was about the equivalent of someone who is 45 years old today based on life expectancy. so, Abraham is basically a middle-aged man.

This is the stage of someone's life in which they're most likely To be settling down and hunkering down and playing it safe. But Abraham doesn't do that. God, God told him to go. God made amazing promises to him.

So Abraham gets up and he goes just as God had told him to, leaving his relatives and his father's household behind. In verse 5 we're told that when he left, that Abraham took Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his nephew. So he took Sarah, his wife. This is a good thing.

That Abraham is doing and taking his wife with him. Guys, when you move permanently from one location. To another, it's good to take your wife with you. In that move.

notice the text also says that he took Lot, his nephew. I think we should view it probably as a good thing that Abraham is taking Lot with him. There's some commentators that say this is incomplete obedience on Abraham's Part, but I don't, I don't know that that's true. Lot is Abraham's orphaned nephew.

Lot's father is dead. Abraham clearly had assumed responsibility for Lot and become something of a father figure to him. So this is, I think, a good and a godly thing that Abraham is doing and looking after his orphaned nephew in this way. I think it's probably safe for us to assume based on the way Abraham treats Lot in the coming chapters that Lot had practically become a part of Abraham's household and Abraham treats him accordingly.

We're also told that Abraham and Sarah They not only took Lot, but the text says they took all of their possessions which they had accumulated. Think about this for a minute. This means that Abraham is all in on this journey. Everything he has, all that he possesses, all of his resource, resources are going to be a part of this venture.

He doesn't keep some of his stuff in Harran as if he's planning on coming back. He loads up his U-Haul and he takes absolutely everything that was his with him. This clearly indicates that in his mind, he's not going on some excursion and planning to be back. This is not some trial run.

Abraham is leaving Harran for good, and he's bringing all of his stuff, which means that he's 100% invested in this venture. Think about it. If God calls you into something to go do something and your thought is, I will step out and I will do what God is calling me to do, but I will leave my money and my resources out of it. Does that show true commitment?

I don't know. I don't think so. And taking everything with him, Abraham is showing that he is giving his all to this mission that God has given to him. Everything Abraham has is now the property of Jehovah God and is earmarked for this mission that he is embarking on as he leaves Iran.

In fact, notice what else Abraham took along with him. This is interesting. The text says he took his possessions and He, they took the persons which they had acquired. In Haran.

The language here is actually odd. Literally, the Hebrew reads the persons which they had made in Haran, which raises the question, how did Abraham make persons? He and Sarah did not have children yet, so they had not made any children or persons in that sense of the term. So what does the language mean?

Some say that this is maybe referring to servants and slaves that Abraham had acquired in Haran, but the literal Hebrew speaks of persons that Abraham had made in Haran. As one commentator says, this expression here is not the typical way. To refer to acquiring servants. Actually, the most literal reading of the whole expression is, is this, it's, here's how the text reads in the Hebrew.

They, they took with them the souls which they had made. The souls which they had made. And some commentators suggest that this refers to the fact that Abraham had proselytized and shared his faith in God's promises and thus persuaded people to join him in following Yahweh's call in this new venture. To use more modern day language, one premier commentator whose name is, last name is Cassutto.

on the Book of Genesis, he takes the language here as speaking of Abraham taking along the souls that they had won in Haran. The same commentator suggests that Abraham had evidently began to proclaim in Haran the basic principles of his faith and succeeded in winning for it a number of souls that are now going with him. In the Jewish Hamash, which often reflects ancient Jewish interpretation of passages like this, it is explained that the souls that are referred to in this passage are those who had converted to faith in Hashem, the name Jehovah.

For Abraham it says had converted the men and Sarah, the women.

At the very least, it seems likely that Abraham is not just going. Out of Huron and to wherever God leads, but he has shared the promises God had given to him with other people, and he had converted them. To this venture to where now they are traveling with him. And that raises the question, how many people are traveling with Abraham on this journey?

We actually don't know exactly how many were with him, but you might want to write down the reference Genesis 14:14, where Abraham is said to have 318 trained men. That he was able to send out on a venture to rescue Lot. That's just train men, not to speak of women and children who were with Abraham. So it's quite possible that as Abraham is leaving Haran and heading to the place that God is going to show him, That this is a sizable contingent of people setting out from Haran with Abraham, anywhere from a few 100 to maybe as many as 1000 that are actually traveling with him.

At the very least, when you think of Abraham leaving Haran with the souls that they had won in Haran, you should probably be thinking of hundreds of people going with Abraham, with all of his possessions and herds and cattle. So Abraham and Sarah and Lot and all the souls that they had won for the journey, they leave Huron and the text tells us in verse 5 that they set out for the land of Canaan. Abraham probably had some idea of this is the direction that God wants us to go.

I'll learn the specifics when I get there, but we're heading toward the land of Canaan.

Now, so far in the narrative, everything looks great. But thus far in the narrative, what we find here is not hugely different from the language that we found back in Genesis chapter 11 describing Tara's going forth from Ur to head to the land of Canaan. In Genesis 11, the text says that he went out, Tara went out, he took others with him and it tells us of his intention to reach Canaan. However, Tara never completed his journey.

Will Abraham complete his? This brings us to the next act of Abraham and his journey through the Land of Promise, and that is 2, he comes to the land of promise, he makes it. Says thus they came to the land of Canaan. We don't know what route Abraham and his companions would have taken in their 400 mile journey from Haran to Canaan.

But what we do know is that all available possibilities would have taken them through or near some of the great urban centers of the day, meaning there were plenty of temptations and places they could have stopped en route. There would have been plenty of opportunities for Abraham to stop his travels and to settle at some halfway point or at some point 80% or 90% of the way to Canaan. But evidently Abraham did not let himself get waylaid in his travels. He passes by or through all of these urban centers with all of their temptations, and he actually succeeds in making it to the land of Canaan.

The text says they came to the land of Canaan. Upon reaching Canaan, Abraham could have stopped right there and said, I'm here, I've arrived, I've reached the land of Canaan, and he could have settled just inside the northern border of the land of Canaan. After all, he's arrived, right? He's reached the land of Canaan.

And he could have just come inside the border and then built a settlement and said, I'm here, I've arrived. This is actually what some Christians do. They get into the kingdom and they're content. To get barely inside of the kingdom of God and they set up camp just inside the walls of the Kingdom of God, and they're not interested in going any deeper.

To use another metaphor, Christ saves us and opens his front door to us and invites us into his home, and we step inside the door and take a seat just inside the front door, content simply to be in the house. Yet we don't go deeper into Christ's home and enjoying the fullness of his hospitality and his blessings. But Abraham doesn't settle for just being inside the border of the land of promise. Observe what he does next, and this brings us to the 3rd act.

of Abraham as he journeys to the land of promise and that is he passes through the land of promise. says Abraham passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem. To the oak of More. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.

I love the verb passed through. In fact, I would encourage you to go through these verses and mark the verbs that describe what Abraham is doing here. He didn't just reach Canaan, he passed through the land. Not content to just reach the land of promise, he's passing through the land of promise.

Wouldn't that be great if that were our mindset? That we would not be content merely to get inside of the kingdom of God, but that we would press on and pass through deeper into the salvation that God has provided for us, wanting to take full measure of this kingdom of God that Christ has brought us into. We see here that Abraham passed through the land and traveled. As far as what is said to be the site of Checkham.

Which means that he has penetrated about 150 or so miles now into the Land of Promise. And notice that the text does not simply say that he went as far as Shechem, but that he went as far as the site of Shechem, indicating a particular site, which of all the sites that one could point to in Shechem, this was the site. This was the site. And it's identified as the oak of Mora.

The oak of More. The word More means teacher or teaching, which suggests that this was a location where divine oracles could be obtained by the Canaanite people. As one commentator suggests, in all likelihood, this tree, this oak, was a sacred site where Canaanites would assemble to hear the miracles that soothsayers received. Canaanite priests would supposedly discern the mind of the gods on various matters and then people would gather at this tree and hear the priest as the priest would teach the people the will of the gods.

And it's exactly in this context that we're told that the Canaanite was in the land, likely indicating that this was a center for Canaanite worship. The Canaanites were definitely in the land practicing their pagan religion in locations such as the Oak of More or another way to say it, the oak of Oracles. So keep this visual in your mind. God has called Abraham to this land.

Yet when Abraham arrives, he sees that the land is not vacant. But it's occupied by people who will be none too eager to give up the land. Abraham finds himself right now at a premier religious spot where people, pagan, Religious people would come to hear the God speak and reveal their minds on matters of importance. And it's actually here of all places that God chooses to intervene and speak to Abraham.

And this brings us to the next act of Abraham as he journeys through the Land of Promise, and that is he builds an altar to Jehovah in the land of promise. He builds an altar to Jehovah. In the land of promise, it says, and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants, I will give this land. Jehovah appeared.

He appeared to Abraham. God didn't just speak, he appeared. This is actually the first time in the Bible where we are specifically told that Jehovah appeared. To someone.

It may not be the first time he did appear to somebody, but it's the first time that the text tells us that Jehovah appeared to someone. And in this appearance, God makes a promise to Abraham, very few words, to your descendants, I will give this land. This is a loaded promise for a handful of reasons. First of all, God is not promising here that he will give the land to Abraham necessarily, but to his descendants.

This means that this promise will be taking some time to fulfill and will not be fulfilled in its fullness in Abraham's lifetime. In fact, it will be almost 500 years that will go by. Before this promise is actually fulfilled. So Abraham is definitely gonna have to take the long view with this promise.

Secondly, God is assuring Abraham here that when the time is right, that he, God will be the one who gives the land to Abraham's descendants. Meaning his hand will be involved in a powerful way in helping them to take possession of the land. This would be important for Abraham. To hear as he sees with his own eyes that Canaanites are already pretty well established in the land.

A third thing that Abraham would notice here in this short promise is that God is assuring him that he will actually have descendants. Abraham is 75 years old, and his wife, we know from the end of chapter 11, is barren, yet God here is promising to Abraham that he will give this land in a future day, literally to Abraham's seed. At this point, hearing this promise, Abraham now has the absolutely sure promise that it would be his actual physical descendants who would have possession of this land.

Abraham would know from this promise that he, Abraham, will have biological children or a child.

So how does Abraham respond? Does he believe the promise? Look at what it says in verse 7. So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared.

To him. Notice the word so. The grammar here indicates that Abraham is building this altar in response to what God had said. We're also told that Abraham built an altar there, meaning in the exact spot where God had appeared and spoken to him.

And we're also told that Abraham built an altar to the Lord, to Jehovah, who had appeared to him. This is a very strong indication. That Abraham believed the promise of God and he is memorializing that promise by building this altar to Jehovah God. This is also Abraham's way of staking Jehovah's claim on the land and consecrating the land to him.

This altar would serve as a marker, a promissory note for the promise of God. Now nothing is said in the text about Abraham actually offering a sacrifice. Of an animal on the altar, but the word altar here in the Hebrew means place of sacrifice or place of slaughter, literally. So the word itself, I think clearly indicates that Abraham offered a sacrifice, that blood was shed in an act of worship to God in response to this promise that God had given to him.

Notice also that Abraham is building an altar himself rather than using an altar that was already in existence. This was a religious sacred site, the site of Shechem, the oak of oracles. And there were no doubt plenty of other pagan altars in the area that Abraham could have used. But Abraham refuses to use any of these pagan altars.

Instead, he builds his own and he builds it to Jehovah God. This is huge. This is the first altar to Jehovah God ever erected. In the holy land, being planted in Canaanite pagan soil, and it is an expression of Abraham's faith and the promise of God that he would give this land to Abraham's descendants.

Abraham could have stopped his journey right there, but he doesn't. This brings us to the next act of Abraham as he journeys through the land of promise, and that is he pitches his tent in the land of promise. He pitches his tent in the Land of Promise. Verse 8, then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and AI on the east.

This means that Abraham travels about another 35 miles further south from Checkham to an area between Bethel. And AI which puts him about 1 mile from Bethel and AI. He's right in between these two cities. The text tells us that he pitched.

His tent, which means that he settled there for some time. Literally he's putting his stakes down. We're seeing here that Abraham did not just travel through the land of promise, he made his home inside the land of promise. And we should do the same.

We should pitch our tent inside the promises of Christ and make those promises our home. We are not sojourners, we're not tourists in the kingdom of God. Even though sometimes we act like we are. The kingdom of God filled with the blessings of Christ is our home.

When Christ brings us into His kingdom and ushers us into his promises and all the blessings of salvation, he says to us, put your stakes down here and make yourself at home. Yes, you actually live here now. Welcome home. And Abraham is making himself very much at home.

In the land of promise, but he does more than settle in this spot. This brings us to the next act of Abraham as he journeys through the land of promise, and that is he calls upon the name of Jehovah in the land of promise. He calls upon the name of Jehovah in the land of promise. It says, and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord or the name of Jehovah.

In other words, where Abraham pitched his tent, where he lived, that's where he built his altar. He built his altar to the Lord in the spot where he lived. We know from archaeological digs in this area. That at this time, the city of Bethel was home to an important Canaanite sanctuary to the god El, who was the chief god to the Canaanites.

But Abraham doesn't go there, nor does he use any of the pagan altars to the pagan deities. He builds his own again and he builds it specifically to Jehovah. And again, the word altar means place of sacrifice or slaughter, so he's offering sacrifices to the Lord on this altar. And we're told here that after building this altar, Abraham called upon the name of Jehovah.

At the very least, this expression means that he called upon the name of Jehovah in prayer and in worship, and that as he worshiped, he was very careful to call upon the true God. Jehovah, any pagan Canaanite listening in, would know that Abraham is calling upon a different God than the gods that they prayed to. This was not some ecumenical. Religious exercise to some generic deity, Abraham would not tell the Canaanites that, hey, we all worship the same God.

Abraham called upon Jehovah, the specific name of the true God in clear distinction from any of the deities worshiped by the Canaanites around him. And when the text tells us That Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. Certainly he was praying, certainly he was calling on the Lord's name and worship, but we probably give short shrift to this expression if that's all we think that Abraham was doing. To call on the name of the Lord means more than calling upon His name and worship and prayer.

In fact, in Exodus 33:19, you can write this reference down. Exodus 33:19, God himself is speaking to Moses, and God says to Moses, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you, and I, God, will proclaim the name of the Lord. Before you. Guys, the Hebrew expression that is translated proclaim the name of the Lord is exactly the expression that we find here in Genesis 12:8.

What it indicates is the fact that to call upon the name of the Lord can also have the idea of proclaiming the name. Of the Lord. And many commentators say that that's actually what's happening here in Genesis 12:8. Martin Luther himself translates this phrase in Genesis 12:8 that Abraham preached the name of the Lord.

One writer suggests that Abraham is clearly worshiping God and praying to God here, but that Abraham, while worshiping and praying, was taking the opportunity to proclaim the nature of the Lord whom he was worshiping. In other words, Abraham is being an evangelist and expounding and preaching the name of Jehovah to his gathered audience on this occasion. Again, keep in mind that Abraham is traveling with a sizable contingent of people who were with him, easily hundreds of people.

So we do well to realize that his building of this altar and invoking the name of Jehovah was a very public event with a lot of people gathered around.

And the locals would have observed this gathering and figured out that something is happening of a religious nature. The crowd that was assembled on this occasion could have been as large or larger than those assembled in this room this morning. No doubt the Canaanite people's curiosity would have been aroused and some of these Canaanites might have gathered around to hear what's going on, and Abraham would have used this opportunity, guys, to worship and to pray. And to actually proclaim the person and the character of Jehovah God, to those who are assembled.

By the way, remember those people back in Genesis 11, who wanted to build a tower and a city to make for themselves a name? Remember God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:2 that God would make Abraham's name great? Yet here, the only thing Abraham cares about is proclaiming the name of the Lord. As one writer says, Abraham spent his time making God famous in Canaan.

That's all he cared about. And that is the true measure of greatness. So here is Abraham pretty deep in the land of promise, worshiping God, preaching the truth about him, listening to God's voice as God is directing him, and he's pretty deep into Canaan and he finds himself living at a location between AI and Bethel. Does Abraham stop there?

Actually, no, and this brings us to the final act of Abraham as he journeys through the land of promise, and that is he journeys to the farthest extreme of the land of promise, to the southern extreme, the farthest extreme of the land of promise. Say in verse 9, Abraham journeyed on continuing toward the Negev. Abraham is deep into Canaan, but he's not content. He journeys on continuing toward the Negev.

The word journey on literally means to pull up stakes. He pulled up the stakes of his tent and folded his tent and journeyed further south all the way through to the southernmost border. Of the land of promise. Abraham entered Canaan through the northern border and now here he reaches the southern part.

Of the land of promise. One writer says, Abraham was like a man who has acquired a field and inspects it from end to end. And that's exactly what he is doing here. Clearly, Abraham wanted to know the full scope of all that God was promising to him.

And to his descendants, he wanted to personally experience the full length of it. Whatever God was promising, Abraham wanted to take in the fullness of what God was promising. And I just, man, as I, as I looked at Abraham's example, I was just left asking myself, do I approach the promises of God and the blessings of salvation in Christ with that same all encompassing desire. Are we interested in surveying all that God has given to us?

Or are we content to survey just a little spot? Just inside the northern border and live on just a small portion of what God has given to us in Christ. All in all, speaking about the verbs, look at, look at what we see here in terms of the language used to describe Abraham's journey. Abraham went forth, he took others with him.

He came to the land of promise, he passed through the Land of Promise. And then even passing through and getting deep inside, he proceeded on or advanced further. He pitched his tent, and even after that, he still journeys on all the way to the farthest southern extreme of the land of promise. And in the midst of these travels, Abraham was listening to the Lord.

He was worshiping the Lord, he was proclaiming the name of the Lord and building altars to the Lord and manifesting Astounding faith. As one pastor says, true faith steps out on God's word, true faith follows wherever God's word directs. True faith builds altars and worships wherever it goes. True faith proclaims the name of the Lord, and we see Abraham doing all of that here.

And God wants the same from us. He wants us to come to the salvation that he has provided for us. He wants us to bring others with us. He wants us to pass through his promise provision and to pitch our tent inside of his promises and to journey on to the full length.

of his promises and his provision. All the while he wants us to be calling on his name, worshiping Him, listening to him, following him wherever he leads us and tells us to go. And he wants us to be actually interested in the full scope. Of what he has given to us and not just settle for a small portion.

Of what he has promised. He wants us to want all of it. I think about what an example Abraham is for the Israelites at this moment when they're hearing this story being read to them. The Israelites are on the threshold of entering the land.

A promise as the book of Genesis is being given to them. And they're reading here that almost 500 years earlier, Abraham entered the land, even though the Canaanite was there. Abraham worshiped Jehovah, even though the Canaanites were there and did not worship Jehovah. Abraham believed God's promises.

And so should the Israelites who now stand on the threshold of the land of promise. In fact, they should be thinking, my goodness, if Abraham could believe the promises of God when he did not even have a single child yet. How can we not believe the promises of God after all that God has done in delivering us from the land of Egypt with many signs and wonders and bringing us to the wilderness and now bringing us to the very threshold of the land of promise, over a million people strong?

How can we not believe?

And what a guiding light Abraham's example would have been to them in our passage today. For us, guys, it's so easy for us to be settlers, right? And to settle at halfway points, shy of where God wants us. Abraham's father, Terra did that.

Abraham even joined him in that settling for a while. But it's not just easy to settle at halfway point shy of God's promises, it's actually easy to settle inside of God's promises and settle for only a part. Of what he has promised. There are actually two dangers that we can fall prey to.

First, we can settle in the place of compromise that lies somewhere short of God's promised blessings, but there's a second danger also, and that is that we can actually settle in the place of promise in the sense of settling for only a portion. of what God has promised us. Contenting ourselves with only some of what God has given, instead of pressing on and journeying on to the full length of all that God has given to us in Christ. Is this not a problem in the church?

Jerry Bridges in his book The Gospel for Real Life says the reality of present day Christendom. is that most professing Christians actually know very little of the gospel, let alone understand its implications for their day to day lives. My perception is that most of them know just enough gospel to get inside the door of the kingdom. They know nothing of the unsearchable riches of Christ.

why? Because they settled, even settled inside of the promise. Is that you? I do this exercise with myself a lot and in our new members class, but let me just ask you real quick.

Imagine that circle you see on the screen that that represents the gospel. It represents all of the blessings and all the privileges and benefits in Christ. that are inside of that circle for you and for me to enjoy the blessings of relationship with God, community with others, the blessings of grace and forgiveness of our sins and the power to walk in freedom from sin, the blessings of joy in Christ and even ministering His grace to other people. This circle represents every gospel truth, gospel promise, gospel comfort, and all the potential ways the gospel can enrich every area of your life.

Everything in that circle is yours to know and enjoy. Now let me ask you, how much of that circle have you personally experienced? Thus far in your Christian life. 20%?

30% 5%. If so, my question to you is, are you settling there? Or are you pressing on to know the full measure of what God has given to you in Christ? How hard do you work at taking full measure of what you have not experienced yet that's inside that gospel circle?

Just as an example, God has given you His word containing 66 inspired books containing revelation about God. This book is yours to feast on. All of it belongs to you. Have you ever traveled through the full length of this book?

Have you ever made a pilgrimage to the full length of this book, taking measure of all the truth and promises and the comforts that are contained in it? In Christ, God gives himself to you. Have you even attempted to take full measure of this savior that is given to you? Or are you content to just know a few things about him?

Are you settling for some of what God has given to you? In Christ, or do you wanna know all of it? No matter how far along you are, you're still saying with Paul, I wanna know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering. I still, there's so much more to know and to experience and I am journeying on and pressing on.

That's the way Paul was and we see in our passage today that Abraham was a top to bottom guy. And I think God would be thrilled to see us be the same with the even greater blessings that He has given to us in Christ. Amen. Let's pray together.

Lord, I know there are some in this room that have settled in places of compromises. They are in places where, that are just flat wrong and they know they should not be there. I pray that this morning that you would awaken their heart, they would feel your call to get up and leave those places of settling. And to come into the promise that you offer to them.

May they know that that promise is good. You are good with your word. And that if they come to Jesus for grace and forgiveness, Jesus says, anyone who comes to me, I will never cast them out. Not ever And may they know that Jesus will receive them.

And not send them away, and he will be happy to forgive. But we also know, Lord, that there are many of us in this room that are inside the promise, but we are settling just the same. When there's more, there's more. Help us, Lord, to not just journey to the promise, but to pass through and to pitch our tents and make ourselves at home at and to journey on and to want to know and take in and experience the full height and breadth, the length and the depth of all that you have given to us in Christ.

May we see the wonderful feast that that is. We thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to give of our offerings to you. We ask that you would receive these funds and do much with every penny that is given for the glory of Jesus. That all the nations would hear and that people of every tribe and tongue and nation would come to hear the good news of salvation through Jesus.

We give our offerings to you, Lord, in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.