So Much Detail, So Little Land

"My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead."  Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.  So Ephron's field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were within all the confines of its border, were deeded over to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. (Genesis 23:15-18 NASB)

Abraham has servants and animals, all of which he bought, but we are never given the details of the transaction.  When Abraham intercedes for Sodom there is about as much detail as here.  Yet in other places where interaction with the people of the land had to happen, we're not.  Mamre and his two brothers had to be notified that Abraham was taking 318 from his household to track down the Four Kings of the East, we're not told how or what was said.  So why such detail now?

This chapter represents one of those passages that puts most faithful followers of Jesus asleep.  It's repetitive, monotonous, but mostly, it's viewed as pointless.  The question, "so what" just seems unanswered.  The part that bothers me is that my Master made sure this piece made it into the story, and that it remained, preserved for thousands of years.  The question for me is not "so what", but "why this piece?"  I'm not concerned with the point of the author or editor, but the point of my Master.

I do have an opinion, untested (I'm not sure how I would test it really) so just an opinion.  I think this passage may represent, in a tangible form, the beginning of the fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham.  This represents the first of the land to be possessed by Abraham (and therefore, his descendants).  It's not much, just a field with a cave, and the surrounding trees (shade for the tents?).  Yet it represents for God's chosen people a deposit on what is to come. 

So, what point does my opinion have for me now, some four thousand years later?  It can still be asked, "so what", so...what?  Well, the lesson I take away from this passage's inclusion in the story is that God will sometime accommodate our desire to see what He has promised for later.  I don't think this encouragement is necessarily for Abraham except perhaps upon reflection later.  I think that this encouragement if for those who read this later.  As Israel's history plays out for the next few millennia, this passage will stand as an example of their true Lord and Master making good on the promise of land, their land, to His chosen ones.

For me, I see that my Master will sometimes accommodate my desire to see something of what He has in mind or has promised.  Right now, in this place, there are elements of His people assembled by Him for something.  I don't know what that "something" is at this point, but He has something in His mind.  I would love to have a glimpse of what that will be.  I would love to catch a vision for what He has in the works.  But at this point, He has seen fit to give that glimpse to others.  That's fine, because through them, I gain some sort of glimpse as over the shoulders of someone else or through their account of it.  I perceive a need for something for the young people of this place.  Perhaps that is what He's up to.  The glimpse hasn't become that clear to me yet.  Maybe I need the lens of a few more of His people. 

Saved By the Well

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.  When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes.  Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, "Do not let me see the boy die." And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept.  God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.  Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him."  Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink.  God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (Genesis 21:14-21 NASB)

This is one of the saddest most pathetic stories in Scripture.  Hagar leaves the household of Abraham, again.  Only now she hasn't done anything wrong.  God told her to go back and submit, and she did.  Now here she is again, but innocent.  This time her son is with her (he who shall be nameless).  Abraham gives them bread and water and sends them off on a donkey.  Even before the water runs out, the donkey disappears (oh sure they'll take the donkey back!).  But the water does run out.

When the water is gone, Hagar throws the boy under a bush, and goes a distance away because she doesn't want to see her son (the boy) die.  It's gut wrenching, dramatic, you almost weep with her it's so sad.  She cries out in mourning.  Oddly, it seems "the boy" is crying as well, only he's crying out to God; and it works (go figure).  God calls long distance from heaven and in His customary gentle, soothing tone, says, "What's the matter with you!"  I love that.  And before you begin to get all huffy with God, go back and read chapter 16, especially verses 7 through 12. 

God called Hagar on her faith.  She should have had confidence in God, that He would fulfill His promises to her and "the boy".  She had been promised that her son would be the father of a great nation, much like Isaac, only her son would be a "wild donkey man" (okay, so it wasn't all good news).  God had promised Hagar, then Abraham, then Abraham again, and now Hagar again.  But it's not the promise of God for the future that saves them.  It's not such words that she's encouraged to go on and make it some how.  The human spirit was not going to persevere beyond the need for water, not this time.  God provided their need for water, not just promises of a future.

The reality of their need didn't change because God promised a future.  In order to fulfill His promise of a future, God also provided for the present need.  This is where I need to camp out for a while.  There are a lot of promises of God in Scripture, many that can be claimed by modern believers (and many that can't).  I can go on and on about the uncomfortable promises of punishment that apply as well, but that's not where I see the point here.  One prominent promise of God is that followers of the King of Kings will one day stand in His presence before His throne and worship.  That's a promise which requires some present support.

For me to believe and accept that I will one day stand in His presence and worship Him, I have to believe in a lot of other stuff as well.  I also have some needs in the present that have to be met some how.  I have to believe in Jesus, that He existed, exists, and has provided for the restoration and preservation of my relationship with my Maker and Master.  That's not an option, I have to believe that.  I also have to believe that my Master loves me (which is why Jesus accomplished all that stuff).  That's warm and fuzzy, and I like that part.  But I also have to believe that my Master has my back, that He is my protection.  But this is a deceptive belief that requires understanding and acceptance of another belief (it's sort of like a line of dominoes).

I have come to accept that my Master is concerned about my life here and the details of it only to the extent that He can use my life and those details for His kingdom.  When He promises to preserve my life eternally, He understands life to mean my relationship with Him, and in no other way.  That is what I am promised will never end, not my physical existence here.  Here I may find difficulties, pain, sadness, and injustice.  He never promised me that I wouldn't.

But because of this promise of an eternal relationship with Him, I have some present needs He also attends to.  He takes care of a "bully" that threatens to take me out.  Seriously, the adversary and enemy of all humanity can only taunt me through a fence.  Sure it's a chain-link fence and it seems awfully close, but it's also tall, topped with serious razor wire, and guarded by the armies of Heaven.  My part is not to listen to the taunts (which I have difficulty with).  But I live, breathe, and walk through my life behind this impenetrable fence.  My relationship with my Master is a life where I walk about in His presence and only the taunts of my enemy can reach my ears, and only then when I listen for them.

Sure, this world in which I experience my life with my Master is hard, but that life with Him is protected by Him.  I can engage in all things in this world with the confidence that the fence is secure.  He could splash me with gas, toss a match, and still, my life would be safe with my Master (I may be much darker, but my life with my Master would be in tact).  When my Master has my back, the important, eternal things are secure.  The events of this world are merely taunts of a imprisoned defeated enemy.  I just have to turn that male skill of "selective listening" to my advantage and focus on my Master.  Which also means I probably should give up control of the various TV remotes.  Dang, I hate that.

He Who Laughs First

Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.  I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."  Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"  And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!"  But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.  "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.  "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year."  When He finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. (Genesis 17:15-22 NASB)

This is the main place this chapter overlaps with the next.  In addition to the charge to circumcise, enough to fill a conversation all by itself, God also gives the timing of the child of promise, and the missing detail that he will come through Sarah (quick name change to grow her up, you know, now that she's 90 and all).  The element about Sarah bearing a child is more than Abraham can bear, and he falls further on his face (see verse 3).  It's as if he falls down laughing, so I imagine him going from a bowing position to rolling over holding his belly laughing.

I can only imagine all the emotion that the laughter contains.  He has waited 13 years for another word from his Master, he has raised a son he loves, he has achieved a "grove", and now to have it interrupted...again.  It couldn't have been easy wondering for the last 13 years where this child he invested his heart into would fit, or even if he would fit, into God's plan.  Again with the life interruption.  Again with the plan changes.  It could very well have been that if Abraham hadn't laughed, he would have cried.

So now the name of the child will be Isaac, he laughs.  Here it is Abraham laughing, yet still pushing for minimal disruption in his world.  "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!"  A plea for the child he has come to love, his child, first born son, and the one he has poured 13 years into.  God hears the plea, and His word to Abraham sounds a lot better than the "donkey man" speech He gave to Hagar.  But it is clear that Ishmael will not be the chosen one.  So what were the last 13 years about anyway?

This time next year Isaac will be here.  One more year to wait and the child of promise will finally arrive.  It's been 13, and now there is one more.  What is the thing God is revealing about Himself that is so important?  What do I learn about my Master from Abram's waiting 13 years for a name change and a "frag order"?  What do I learn about my Master from dragging out the fulfillment of this promise, the gradual revelation of various details, the name changes, and the incorporation of the one not chosen?  What's the lesson?

Who am I to put my Master in a box or framework to enable me to understand Him?  When does it become possible that He will accommodate my timing over His own?  What plan can I come up with that covers the bases, dots the i's and crosses the t's to a more thorough degree than His?  Why do I continue to see the world around me through lenses I create, grind, and wear, knowing they distort the truth my Master wants me to see (I call these lenses 'fear')?  Seriously, the lesson I believe in this passage for me is, "How long before I finally relent and let God be the Master of all?"

The laugh of Abraham could also have been one of relief.  The peace missing for the last 13 years, caused by the tension of knowing that the child before you isn't the child of promise, but having no other alternative.  The released tension of wanting desperately to hear the voice of his Master, yet being left to muddle or trudge through on his own; well at least feeling that way.

Perhaps what I need to learn is to laugh with Abraham; to release my tension and receive His peace; to finally drop my lenses; to finally disassemble my "framework" limiting my Master; to quit planning for Him, finally, and just let Him be the God Who Hears, Who laughs, Who sees me, and Who permits me to see Him and live.  Maybe what I need is a good laugh.  So, a horse walks into a bar, and the bartender says, "Why the long face?"

Same Song, Different Dance

Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.  I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you.  I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.  I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:3-8 NASB)

So let's recount here how many times have we read so far that God will give Abram descendants and the land of Canaan.  In Chapter 12 (the land, not descendants) as God told Abram to go to Canaan, again in Chapter 13 (both land and descendants), again in Chapter 15 where God binds Himself to the promise in a complex Hittite form of covenant, and finally here in chapter 17 where Abram's name is changed and he is bound to God through circumcision.  That makes this the fourth recitation of the promise of God in one form or another.  Why such repetition?

Well, this isn't the last time the promise is covered.  In Chapter 18, we have another rendition of Chapter 17 except it is a more interactive encounter with God, a somewhat more detailed appearance, and the part about circumcision is missing.  The discussion content is remarkably similar.  So, the total of these promise repetitions will number about 5 before Isaac even makes an entrance.  What's up with that?

Each time the promise is repeated, something is added.  Sometimes a detail is added, or sometimes an additional element is added.  The progressions goes something like this, 1) Promise = Land, 2) Promise = Land + Descendants, 3) God binds Himself to Promise of Land + Descendants, 4) God binds Abram to Promise of Land + Descendants through name change and circumcision and gives detail of timing (next year at this time).  In the next chapter, the timing will be repeated, but Sarah laughs as Abram did in this chapter.  There is a certain logic to the progression.

The progression is gradually building faith in Abram until Abraham will eventually sacrifice Isaac.  The progression starts with moving Abram from his family region around Haran to an unknown land.  Then the promise grows, but there is no real "proof" and the fulfillment is delayed.  Then God binds Himself to the promise, and Abram and Sarai attempt to bring it about through traditional cultural means.  Then, after their attempts fail to produce the child of promise, God binds Abram (now Abraham) to the promise.  Here God is no longer building Abram's faith, He is tempering it through test after test.  And the tests will continue even after Isaac is born.

So, is this the process God uses with everyone?  Does God lead me through a progressive revelatory faith-building process, and then a tempering process?  I'm not sure if this pattern works globally or universally as a pattern for His work with everyone.  I don't see it in the case of Moses, unless it is compressed down into the burning bush incident.  I don't see these details in the case of Joshua, but I do with Gideon.  I don't with Samuel but I do with Saul.  I don't with David nor Solomon, and I don't have a lot of detail in these interactions beyond these.  Perhaps with Elisha God follows this pattern?  Yet Elijah just shows up whole, so I don't have any idea how God did that.

From this I can conclude that the pattern is not the point.  The point is the end-product, the faith-filled relationship between God and His chosen pawn.  Even the tension within this relationship is not enough to sever the connection.  I am to be in a faith-filled relationship with my Master.  That is the point.  I am to be willing to sacrifice the "child of promise".  I am to be obedient to challenge the evil of the land, the Pharaoh, the evil king, and the Philistines.  I am to be courageous to take on the lion, the bear, and the giant.  I am to be confident to stand against the enemy alone when my fellows desert me.  I am to be sure of what I cannot see, and claim the hope given to me as evidence of its completion.  It is an odd life, but an amazing adventure to be a part of.  Truly it is the life of a knight of the realm of the Master of the universe, and a servant to the Creator of all matter.  I am to live it with a sword in one hand, and a towel in the other.  Do I paint a strange picture?  Good, then I'm on the right track.

Every Decade or So

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.  "I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly."  Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,... (Genesis 17:1-3 NASB)

Chapter 16 finishes by telling me that Abram was eighty-six years old.  Now, thirteen years later, God shows up again for a chat.  Thirteen years!? I'm not confident that my faith would hold out a full decade while I'm heading through my eighties and nineties waiting for God to fulfill His promise.  He made it clear to Hagar that Ishmael wasn't the "one", so...where is he?  And finishing out his nineties isn't where Abram wants to be when he has a child.  He probably looks back on the early years with Ishmael and would rather not repeat it, especially not now.

Well, while I'm very sure about the time, but the Scriptures also make it very clear that Abraham's "nineties" are not like what people endure or live like in their nineties now.  There's strength and "iron" in Abraham that is lacking in people of this modern time.  I believe the passage and others in Scripture make a good case for Abraham wanting Ishmael to be the promised one because he loved the boy very much.  While Abraham may complain that he's too old to have kids, later passages are not implying that's not the case, they state it plainly (Genesis 25:1-4).  So, his complaint had to do with something else.

So, I may not want to wait a decade through my nineties for a word from my Master, but can I really use the age as an excuse?  What about through my forties?  What about through my thirties or fifties?  The age really isn't the issue, it's the time.  Am I so patient that I can wait for a word from my Master?  Until then what do I do?  I live.  Really the only option while waiting is living out the life called to.  What was the last thing my Master asked me to do?  Wait, worship and walk before Him, sort of like what He commanded of Abraham here.

Even through the good strong years of my life (about 3 years right after I got out of the Army, after that, well...) I don't think that I would have been patient to wait for the next word from my Master.  I tend to get bored, get into trouble, and it begins to become all about me.  Really, it isn't even "patience" as much as steadfast faith that is the real issue.  Do I have the faith to stay the course He has laid out even when I haven't heard from Him in the last nine or thirteen years?

One of the common complaints I use for why I left ministry is that I never had a mentor to help me through the rough spots and avoid pitfalls.  But as I read this passage, where was Abraham's mentor?  The thing is, I really have no excuse where I can blame another, or blame the circumstances, or the "people" or anyone else.  I made the choice I made at the time believing it was the right thing to do.  It wasn't even a choice I made thinking that it was in my best interest.  What went through my head wasn't self-centered, it was removing myself from the place of distraction so God could get directly at them.  What I didn't understand is that God really doesn't choose to work that way.  The church failed anyway, families from there caused other churches to fail, ran into sin obliterating marriages, and disintegrating families.  I'm not sure I could have stopped that, but I certainly didn't succeed in enabling them to hear God better. 

Rather than ask whether or not I should have waited it out, what I need to ask now is what am I waiting for?  Is there a promise that my Master has given me that I'm holding out for?  Unfortunately, I'm not sure.  I suppose I'm really just waiting for the next thing, trying to be open to what that might be.  I believe I'm in a much better place to hear my Master than I have been before.  So, I suppose that, since my last marching orders were wait, worship, and walk before Him, I'll do that.  Since it's Sunday, the middle one should be easy, but Monday's coming...

Finding My Master in Sin CIty

Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. (Genesis 16:7 NASB)

Why would the Angel of the LORD be on the way to Shur (southern region of Canaan near Egypt)?  My guess is that He was looking for Hagar.  The promise to Abram wasn't involved here.  This isn't about the land nor about Abram's descendants.  So, why do this?

This is clearly an act of grace, but it takes place in the midst of Hagar's consequences for mistreating Sarai.  Since she was the surrogate she didn't have the status of wife (per se) since she was the hand maid.  She would have known that, so it's very possible that she mistreated Sarai out of pride.  She sinned, and yet here is the Angel of the LORD looking for her.

The character of the LORD shown here is so reminiscent of Jesus.  He sought the surprising people to show favor.  The widow giving only one mite was worth His rapt attention and praise.  The tax collectors, Levi and Zachaeus were both worthy of His attention and friendship.


I see the same pattern with me.  I fall down and He raises me up.  He seeks me when in the midst of my temper tantrums, doldrums, and pity parties.  Right now, I'm doing great.  I'm in "Sin City", Nevada, yet here among the smut, I realize my Master is still seeking me.  I'm not sinning, I'm not running from the consequences of my past, and I'm not sunk in pride.  Not at the moment.


Finding that I've been found my Master is so comforting.  It reminds me that He truly is close, He has my back, He loves me, and I am called to submit to be His servant.  Even here surrounded by self-centered indulgence I am a Knight of the Realm, Servant of The King.  Well, it's time to grab my lance and horse, and get back to work!

The Righteous Request for Proof?

Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.  And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it."  He said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?"  So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."  Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.  The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.  Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.  God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.  "But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.  "As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.  "Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."  It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.  On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:6-18)

Abram has just had his belief credited to him as righteousness by the Creator of the heavens and the earth.  The statements of God continue, and Abram asks, "How may I know that I will possess it?"  How may I know?  Show me a sign.  Prove it.  Things I would consider gutsy to ask of God.  Abram's just been credited with righteousness for belief, so did he just use up his credit?


It seems that God doesn't have a problem with the question, and proceeds to provide the proof.  It is an odd way to do it for our culture, but essentially what God does is bind Himself in a Suzerain Treaty.  What He has said with the divided carcasses is that, "If I don't make good on my promise, may this happen to Me."  God would be destroyed, laid in half, before He would break this promise.


But when I consider the One making this promise and binding Himself to it in such a dramatic fashion, I understand better the sense of verse 12, "Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him."  God had arrived.  The One forming stars and laying out the patterns for quarks shows up.  Unimaginable awesome and utterly destructive Presence emerges into His creation, clothed in darkness to preserve His servant, but the terror remains.


This was not some earthly king laying out victims of his latest battle for those who remain to walk between; binding them to a covenant of servitude.  This is the King of Kings moving between the victims.  The smoking oven and flaming torch passing between the divide carcasses seems to bind Him to Abram, as if Abram is the king, and God serves Abram.  


How does my "theology of God" incorporate this concept?  How does this not threaten or negate the "Sovereignty of God"?  How is it that the Maker of all Matter will bind Himself to one of His human creatures in such a fashion and not give up His status and place as Ruler of all?  Who is this Abram that he should witness such a thing, preserve such a story?  And why would it be recorded, inspired by the One binding Himself?  This is something that the King of Kings wants me to know about Him.


One reconciliation that I can make between this event and the Sovereignty of God is that the King of Kings binds Himself to His promise rather than Abram.  Yet, the form of this event matches the form of such treaties among men, and that is not the case for them.  Did Abram understand this as his God binding Himself to a promise or to Abram?


I believe God bound Himself to the promise, and that Abram understood this.  Here's why: After this, Abram continues to submit himself to his God as Lord.  He doesn't change his view and understand God as submitting to him.  Secondly, Abram asked how he would know the promise would be fulfilled, and this is the answer God provides.  The connection would make sense to him as an answer to his question.


So why does my Master want me to know this about Himself?  Does He still do this?  Does He still bind Himself to His promises?  From this account, and others, I believe that the King of Kings, my Master, still considers Himself bound to His promises.  I believe that my Master would cease to exist  before He would break a promise.  I can be more sure of Him and His promises than of the sunrise, even the one I witness now.  Though I can see His creation, He is more sure and trustworthy than what I see.  I believe.  Perhaps that will be credited to my account like Abram's.

An Astronomical Perspective

Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir."  And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."  Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:4-6 NASB)

Abram has just beaten the four kings of the east and partied with the priest-king of God Most High, what are you going to do now?  Well, it's time for a heart-to-heart with his God.  What has been bothering Abram about the promise God has made to him comes to the surface.  He gives voice to his fears.  But it is God who starts the conversation.  He begins with the statement that He is Abram's shield and protection.  Abram responds with, "Show me the kid!"

The problem with Abram's situation is that, while he has been promised that the land will be possessed by his descendants, he doesn't have one child.  It's an obvious problem.  And it's one that makes this promise difficult to discuss with anyone.  The first thing they do is look around Abram for a little boy, an obvious dilemma to receiving such a promise.

God has told Abram that his descendants will be like the dust, and that was nice.  But now He brings Abram outside his tent and has him look at the stars.  In that day, there were no lights except the lights of the heavens, and they shone through air far less dusty.  The Milkyway is huge and bright, the colors of the stars distinct, and the patterns easy to make out.  The stars shine back down on Abram, declaring the glory of God, they form an accounting of the work of His hands (Psalm 19:1).  "Count them," says God.  For in counting them is the futility of what Abram can do, and in what is being counted is the awesome power of what God can do.

Sure there are a lot of them, but counting means really paying attention to them.  The glory of the One making the Heavens and the Earth resonates all through this immense sea of lights.  They sparkle ever so slightly as the tiny debris of space and atmosphere blow by.  Count them.  It's not possible, but it is a worthy effort.  Counting stars is an act of worship for Abram.  He believes, and this belief goes on his account as righteousness.  The promise of descendants to a old man without children is made by the One forming stars.  If this One can do that, form hydrogen into flaming orbs of unapproachable light, perhaps He can be relied on to provide a child to the guy standing outside his tent holding his AARP card.

A Passing Grade

Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.  And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.  And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.  So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.  "Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left."  Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere -- this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah -- like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.  So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.  Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.  Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.  The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.  "I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.  "Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you."  Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD. (Genesis 5-18, NASB)

After Abram returns to the altar at Beth-El, it might be expected that God speak to him, and God does, but not until he and Lot separate.  While it might not be the point, it is hard to miss that God promises great things to Abram after he handles the problem with Lot well.  Abram handles it in an unselfish way that demonstrates confidence in God for his well-being.

What remaining in the hill-country means is that Abram will be moving more often than Lot will need to, so his herds have enough to eat.  As it turns out, Lot actually moves into Sodom, leaving tent-living behind completely.  The area around him has no problem sustaining his herds and flocks. 

So Abram, the chief, the head of the family, the eldest living son of Terah, lets his younger brother's son have the "pick of the land" and accepts the more meager of the choices.  The text doesn't say this is a test, but the blessing Abram receives after is interesting in that it includes that "good land" Lot chose, not just the hill-country from where Abram views the rest.

The husband of a barren wife, nomad through a land of strangers and pagans, and tent-dweller in a land of walled cities is promised descendants as numerous as dust and the land he treads through.  If the conflict with Lot was a test, the prize for passing might be seen as hollow.  Abram had no way to achieve such a result.  He couldn't make Sarai fertile, and he could not hope to conquer the cities around him.  Yet his Master promises, and Abram believes.

I can only imagine what others would have thought if he shared this promise with them.  It would have been rather incredulous to hear a nomad with a barren wife speak of a promise from his God which would give him innumerable descendants and all the land around him.  I doubt it would have seemed easier to believe if he then told me it would happen years down the road, not just yet.  So, grow older and then God will give you children and the strength to conquer the land?  Not likely.  Yet I believe the writer of Hebrews nails it when he refers to Abram and others as looking for a city unseen that they would only experience after they had died.  Now that is faith.

I wonder where my faith would run out.  Would I have the faith to follow my Master even believing that I may not live to see the result of my obedience?  Do I have the faith that does not require vindication before those I live among?  Is it in me to obey in the face of being thought foolish, and stay the course as what I attempt to accomplish for my Master cannot be finished in my lifetime?  It's not a matter of "can I", that's a ridiculous question.  Of course I can, I just continue on when it all seems stupid.  The question is, "will I?"

In a sense I am in the midst of this now.  I live in a place with a depressed economy and a church that has a huge calling from God, and is struggling to come up with the resources.  It is on that transition from a "small church" to a "medium sized church" as "church growth" experts call it.  The reality is that this church, in a depressed community, is experiencing a crisis of faith.  The challenge to all involved is to remain faithful to the promises of God in the face of the insurmountable challenges to the call.  I am one of several on the leadership team.  So, for me, the challenge is direct to my faith, but it also calls into play a very important facet missed as I look at Abram's challenge.

Abram had so much it was difficult to sustain the household as a nomad.  Yet such was part of his calling.  His decisions affected everyone in his household, from his wife down to the water carriers.  The herdsmen couldn't have been pleased to watch their counter parts in Lot's group head down to greener pastures.  Yet Abram stays the course, in spite of what it might seem to cost his household, those closest and dearest to him.

As a leader, I have those around me who look to me for insight and guidance.  The decisions I make as a leader and the support I give to our pastor affects my family and others around me.  Yet God's call is clear even though the resources to accomplish it are not.  The people are being assembled by God in this depressed community, and we're not sure why.  But the "funds" necessary for such an endeavor haven't materialized yet.  How do we move forward without the necessary money?  And will doing so hurt those depending on us for guidance?  These are the ones who will be working in this ministry, who God has placed in this place in this time.  But for what? 

There is more that my Master is doing than just reaching one generation, no matter how lost, forgotten, or feared.  There are spiritual strongholds not even mentioned as targets, only in fear and as evidence of the enemy's strength here.  These are "gates of hell" which will not prevail against the gospel.  So, these too are "callings" and areas where my Master is at work.  The current struggle is just a glimpse of what is to come, the enemy territory we have established a beachhead within.  If I and we cannot come through this crisis of faith, we miss the blessing of God, and it will pass to others.

I can't miss this opportunity, even if my church does.  I'm not sure what that means, but I see it so clearly, the battle, the need for prayer, the need to assault the gates of hell in this community.  But I don't see the resources to do it.  Neither did Abram.  He believed anyway, and was patient in the face of insurmountable obstacles.  He relied on God and His timing (sort of anyway); and so must I.