of the journey of
your life !
Never in history,
have so many people traveled as much as during the last fifty years. But there
is a much more important travel to have in mind, it is
the one of our life!
Indeed, during your life, you have
the opportunity to travel in both space and time. This trip gives you the
opportunity to do great things, if you prepare yourself for it using the good
examples and teachings of the past.
There is one famous traveler that we
would like to discuss with you, he is Abraham the believer. This man traveled
most of the time with his wife Sarah and he covered very long distances during
his life which lasted 175 years.
The Bible shows us the many
qualities that this man had developed during the long journey of his life.
Obedience
and submission to his spiritual Father.
Abraham is a believer and therefore
his Lord is not unknown to him. So when Yehoah, translated
by the Lord in the Bibles, asks him to leave his house, his family and his
homeland, he does not have any doubt for a moment and does not look at his own
carnal interest. He obeys as an obedient child to his Father and without any delay, he leaves the city of Ur in Chaldea with several
members of his family including his father Terach,
his wife Sarah and his orphan nephew Lot. Many years later, he left in the same
way the city of Haran to reach the land of Canaan.
• Acts 7: 2-4:
“2 And he (i.e. Stephen)
said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The Elohim of glory appeared to our father
Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and
said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a
land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the
Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He
moved him to this land in which you now dwell.”
• Genesis 12:
1-4:
“ 1Now Yehoah 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. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your
name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 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.”
4 So Abram departed as Yehoah had spoken
to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he
departed from Haran. Abram departed, as Yehoah had
told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Charan.”
Overnight, 75-year-old Abraham left
his previous way of life as a city-dweller leaving his home and town to start a
nomadic life under tents with all the difficulties that go with it when knowing
the Middle East climate, especially in the desert.
At this moment, Abram becomes like
all the believers of whom the Bible speaks,
a foreigner in
this world
and a traveler to
the new world
We will discover the consequences of
his new status in the future.
Humbleness.
One of the first consequences for
Abram who is traveling in countries where he is a foreigner, like an immigrant,
is the humbleness he must show to request for a permit of residency to the
authorities of all the territories he will cross. These authorizations, he
asked them among others to the inhabitants of Hebron, also in the Negev and to the
Pharaoh of Egypt.
Acts 7: 5
“And Elohim gave him no inheritance
in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child,
He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to
his descendants after him.”
Life
in insecurity with a fear of the inhabitants.
Abraham also feared for his life.
This was the case in Egypt where he had to flee because of a starvation that reigned in
the Negev. Like today, Egyptian customs were based on violence. Abraham,
fearing that he might be murdered to rob him of his very nice wife, pretended
to be his brother, what was also true. Pharaoh was indeed seduced by Sarah's
beauty and he took her to his palace to make her his wife. Fortunately, Yehoah protects the couple by causing the misfortune of
Pharaoh and his house.
Genesis 12:
11-19
“11 And it came to pass,
when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai
his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12
Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This
is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me
for your sake, and that may live because of you.”
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the
woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also
saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s
house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen,
male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But Yehoah plagued Pharaoh and his
house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And
Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you
not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my
sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife;
take her and go your way.”
Bear injustice.
As we have read above, Abraham keeps
a low profile against Pharaoh but, while he has not committed any wrongdoing
towards Pharaoh, who would have killed him if he had known that Sarah was his
wife. And Abraham suffered unflinchingly the injustice done to him when Pharaoh
brutally drove him out of his country.
You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.
Abraham demonstrates his love for his
neighbor when he lets Lot choose the best land for himself when his herds became
too large to stay together with those of his uncle. Abraham kept for himself
the poorer and harder lands in the mountains of Canaan (Genesis 13: 10-12):
" 10 And Lot lifted
his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere
(before Yehoah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the
garden of Yehoah, like the land of Egypt as you go
toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself
all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each
other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the
cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. "
Courage
and heroism.
Abraham displays remarkable courage
and heroism when he assembles an armed troop to release Lot and his family who
were captured by the powerful alliance of the kings from the Babel and Elam regions
that came to make war against the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah and the surrounding
area (Genesis 14: 14-16):
" 14 Now when Abram
heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and
eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit
as far as Dan. 15 He divided his forces against them by night, and
he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 So he
brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his
goods, as well as the women and the people. "
Disinterested.
Selflessness is another quality that
Abraham developed. He shows it after his brilliant victory against the kings of
the east when he refuses any reward from the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. On
the contrary, he will even pay his tithe to Melchizedek the high priest of
Elohim and king of Salem!
Love for Yehoah always at the first place!
Abraham knows that before all, he
should love Yehoah, his Elohim. This is what he will prove
when Elohim will claim the sacrifice of the only son he had from Sarah when he
was 99 years old.
Abraham's journey of several days
with Isaac between Beer Sheva and the Mount Moriya
was a terrible ordeal but he successfully made it. Elohim kept the suspense to
the end but he had the indisputable proof of Abraham's unswerving friendship
(Gen. 22: 10-12):
" 10 And Abraham
stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of Elohim called to him from heaven and said,
“Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not
lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear Yehoah, since you have not withheld your son, your only son,
from Me.”
A
lasting and unshakeable faith.
Until the last day of his life, at
the age of 175, Abraham never ceased to believe and never doubted about the
promise of his Creator, a promise by which he gave him the whole earth from
Canaan as we read in Genesis 17: 1-8:
" 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yehoah
appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty Elohim; walk before Me and be
blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant
between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram
fell on his face, and Elohim talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a
father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram,
but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings
shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My
covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their
generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be Elohim to you and your
descendants after you.
8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in
which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession;
and I will be their God. "
Yet this promise has not been
fulfilled yet and Abraham is dead since a long time! But until his death, he
never questioned the word of his Father, knowing that it would be realized in
another world where he would no longer be a stranger. Let's read that in
Hebrews 11: 8-10:
" 8 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. 9
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; 10
for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim.
"
Conclusion.
I wish everyone a journey as
enriching as Abraham's one, a trip in this world where like him we are
strangers. Let's develop, as he does, those qualities that build the man of the
world to come.
Let us also speak to our Father as
He speaks to us in abundance in His Bible. This Bible should serve as a travel
guide because it contains all the information necessary for each stage of our
life.
Let us also note that Abraham is not
the only traveler mentioned by the Bible, there are many others: Isaac, Jacob,
David,
Jesus and his apostles all traveled
guided by their Father and his Word.
Jesus is of course the star about the travel of his life:
·
He
left the heavens, his home where he was with Elohim and His kingdom to come
into another world, where he was a stranger. Indeed he said “
My kingdom is not in this world”.
·
He
showed is humbleness coming on earth to live like a servant while he created
everything with the one who became his father.
·
He
was living under the authority of Satan, the Devil who is the Prince of this
world and was always respectful of his authority.
·
He
was facing enemies not only like Satan but also like the Pharisees who all
wanted to kill him so often.
·
He
was courageous when facing these people and telling them the truth calling for instance
the Pharisees sons of the devil!
·
Yehoah, his Elohim,
was always on the top of his priorities and he proved this by accepting to be
sacrificed as a gesture of obedience and love to and for Elohim.