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The Faithful but Faltering Father
Genesis 12:1-13:4
Every time there’s a Confession of Faith service, it’s a time of great joy. It reminds us that we’re part of a special worldwide people. Question 54 of the Heidelberg asks and answers - “What do you believe concerning the holy catholic (worldwide) Christian church? I believe that the Son of God, out of the whole human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, defends, and preserves for himself, by his Spirit and Word, in the unity of the true faith, a church chosen to everlasting life. And I believe that I am and forever shall remain a living member of it.” So as we gather today, we recognize afresh that we’re chosen out of the human race to be God’s people. Our Lord does his part to gather, defend, and preserve us. But there’s an obligation - that we should be living members of that church; not dead and useless, but living, growing, and serving members. And we’re living members of this local congregation of that church. And all of us know that it’s not easy to be living members. While we have faith, we falter. But we’re in good company. The father of our faith also struggled. We consider 2 truths about Abraham that are true of all of us. Firstly, God calls the father to go in faith. Secondly, God blesses the father despite his weak faith.
Firstly, God calls the father to go in faith. In Genesis 11, we saw how the whole earth rebelled against God and he scattered them. But how will he redeem this rebellious world? He promised to destroy sin and Satan through the promised seed. But how would the seed come from a corrupt world? He’d come from the family of Abram - a pagan from a line of pagans whose wife was barren. And in verse 4, we learn he was already 75 years old when God called him. But when God called him, this father obeyed. Let’s see the components of the call. And there are four parts. Verse 1 says, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.” The first is the separation. The call was to separate from his country, people, and family to go to another land. There are 3 separations - from largest to smallest denominator. The first is country - denoting citizenship. The second is kindred or relations - denoting ethnicity. And the third is father’s house - denoting family or those closest to him. So this was a costly call - to leave country, people, and family. But why did he do this? God was gathering his people from the human race. There needs to be a distinction by God’s people from the world. The second component of the call was a new identity. God said he’d show him a land. And verse 2 - “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” And we see that the new identity is comprised of 3 marks also in decreasing order - a land, a nation, a name. And we see the nation would be great. Also his name or reputation would also be great. And we can also assume by context that this land God would show him would also be great - of great significance. The third component of the call was the source. This land, how would it come to Abram? Would he have to find it or conquer it? No. God would show it to him. And how would he be a great nation? Would he have to conquer people to make them his? No. God will make a nation out of him. And similarly, God will make his name great. So greatness is from God; not Abram. 3 times does God say, “I will” - I will show, I will make, I will bless and curse. And we also see the fourth component - the result of such a call. We learn that it would be a blessing. Notice that the word “bless” or “blessing” is used 5 times. That’s the result. God would bless him, and he’d also be a blessing in turn to others. According to verse 3, those who bless him will be blessed by God; and negatively, those who curse him will be cursed by God. And this blessing will affect all of earth’s families.
What was this call about? It’s a merciful reversal. Now, it’s spectacular if you compare it with what just happened. Remember this comes after the account of Babel, where mankind wanted to stay in one place against God’s command to disperse, to be one people with a great name. But God dispersed and forced them to be many nations around the world. Instead of having a great name, the place of their rebellion was named Babel - confusion. But God didn’t leave things the way they were. This was his plan to reverse it - to bring redemption. And it was all to show his greatness. He’d use a no name pagan guy 10 generations away from Shem, with a barren wife, to bless wicked nations of the world by giving him a great name and making from him a great nation, with a great land. And Abram obeyed the call. Verse 4 says, “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him.” He obeyed as God commanded him. And they left Haran, including Lot, for the land of Canaan. The word “land” is repeated 7 times to show its significance.
But notice what Abram does as a faithful father of many nations. Not only does he obey the call to go, he also worships the God who called him. Twice in this account do we see Abram building an altar to the Lord. Three times does he worship. In verse 6, he passed through the land to the place of Shechem to the plain of Moreh. This was Canaanite land. Now, the word “plain” of Moreh refers to an oak or strong tree in Moreh - possibly a large tree in the midst of the plain. And what did he do there? He built an altar. Similarly, in verse 8, we see that he went to another place. He went to a mountain in between Bethel and Hai. And there he built an altar. Now, also significant is Genesis 13:18, he traveled to the plain or oak of Mamre where he also built an altar. What’s Abram doing? Now, clearly, we see what he wasn’t doing. He wasn’t building a city and naming it after himself. Before he built a house, or planted crops, he was building altars at these locations. He was worshiping. He called upon the name of the Lord. He did what Shem his forefather should’ve continued to do. But this father was calling on God. He was faithful.
But there’s more than that. Why these locations? These were places of pagan worship - on high mountains, or at groves of large and old trees. This is familiar to many of us who see pagan worship around the estates of Singapore - with shrines at the foot of trees, or when some travel to places like Nepal or Japan for holiday - you see shrines in high mountains. So what was Abram doing by building altars at these places? He was claiming the land for the worship of God. And there was strategy involved. Shechem is in the middle of the land of Canaan. This is where Jacob eventually dug his well, where Christ met the Samaritan woman. Then there was the area of Bethel further down south, where Jacob wrestled with God. And then finally in Genesis 13:18, at Mamre which was near Hebron, where eventually he and Sarah were buried in the Cave of Machpelah. All of this land, would be for the worship of the living and true God. This was not his land, even though it was promised by God. But this was a land to be used for worship. This was his faith acting itself out. He’d be the father of many nations - now dispersed. And this was the first land he was reclaiming for God. We see his faith. He came into the Promised Land and he claimed it for the worship of God. The rest wouldn’t go. They stayed put to build a tower for a great name. This father obeyed and went, and built altars to call upon the name of the Lord. We see his faith in obedience and worship.
But then Abram’s faith faltered! We’re shocked; or actually, by now we shouldn’t be. We learn from verse 10 that his faithful father of many nations faltered in his faith, but nevertheless, God remained faithful to bless him. That’s the second truth. In verses 10-13, Abram left the Promised Land because of famine and he traveled to Egypt. And this is where we see the weakness even of a man of faith. Verse 10 says there was a grievous or severe famine. This is not unusual for Canaan. Just like Jacob’s family in the time of Joseph, Abraham sought refuge in Egypt. While Abraham isn’t condemned for having done this, he later confessed in Genesis 14 that any blessing he received came only by God’s provision. Meaning, in Genesis 12, he displayed weak faith, a young faith. And while he only sojourned in the land - intending to stay temporarily - we see another display of weak faith. In verses 11-13, he feared he’d be killed by powerful Egyptians because Sarai was fair - which can refer to attractiveness - not only physically but socially. In verse 5, Abram wasn’t a poor man. He’d obtained wealth and servants in Haran. He was like a chieftain. He knew they’d take her from him because of her status, and feared if they thought she was his wife. Kill a man to take away his wife and property. So to safeguard his life, she was to present herself as his sister instead of his wife. Now, we can understand Abram’s fear. But consider what God already promised him - he’d be a great nation - meaning he’d have children. Whether or not, in his mind, he knew he’d have them with Sarai, that’s another thing; but he was jeopardizing his future by placing her at risk. And didn’t he believe that any curses that came on him would be repaid by God? And the short answer is “no.” At the end of verse 13, he said that the purpose of the lie was so “that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.” Not to be moralistic, but that’s not how faith speaks. How should it speak? It’ll be well for him and he will live because of God alone. But Abram does what many of us do, in the weakness of faith - we try to engineer things so our tower and name aren’t lost, or at the very least, to maintain our tower and name. Abram resorted to lies instead of faith. Now, for a moment it seems like his lies worked to preserve his life and even prosper his life. But at whose expense?
When Abram entered Egypt, sure enough, they saw her desirability and Pharaoh took her. And while Abram judged her to be fair or attractive in verse 11, verse 14 says the Egyptians found her very fair - very desirable. So Pharaoh forcibly took her into his house - presumably to his harem. He was the chieftain of the land after all. But in verse 16, he treated Abram well. He gave him sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants, and camels. Why? It was possibly like a marriage dowry or more likely a compensation toward Abram. He benefited from his lie and attempt to preserve his life. But at Sarai’s expense and also from Pharaoh’s.
God responded with the cursing and blessing of man. Verse 17 says God inflicted Pharaoh with plagues - this is also the same word used for the subsequent 10 plagues. And while we don’t know what it was, we know that it was severe enough. Pharaoh responded with indignation - “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you say she was your wife? Why did you say she was your sister?” It was a triple question. Indeed. It was almost as God himself asked about his triple separation - Why, when I called you out of country? from your kindred? from your family to have a triple new identity? Why, when I’d give you the land? a name? to make you a nation? Why? Why? Why?
But Abram couldn’t answer. And some of us may feel the injustice to Pharaoh. It was Abram’s fault after all. He’s the one who lied. And got Pharaoh cursed. And Abram left blessed. Verse 20 says he left with all he had. And what did he have? Genesis 13:2 says he was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. Just as Sarai was very fair, just as the famine was grievous (same word), he was very rich. He was grievously rich. But how did this blessing come about? Was it because Sarai was very beautiful? Because Abram was smart? No. It was because God blessed. And the Exodus generation would’ve seen God’s blessing on them. Joseph was very handsome. The cows in the dream were very skinny. The famine was very bad. But Israel grew very greatly in Goshen. The plagues were very grievous. But those leaving Egypt left with very much cattle. Why? Because God blessed his people. He blessed Abram, despite his weakness of flesh and faith. And after this ordeal, when he returned to Canaan, he went to the altar at Bethel, and called on the name of the Lord. He returned to the altar - to worship God - to sacrifice. Why? God preserved him despite of his sin. God didn’t disown him. But in showing how weak and faltering the faith of Abram was, God showed how faithful he himself was. How God’s firm faithfulness overrode Abram’s faltering faith.
How can we apply this sermon to our own lives? Beloved, we have received a number today into membership - both communicant and non-communicant. They’ve taken a firm resolution always to lead a Christian life, to forsake the world and its evil lusts, as a living member of Christ’s church. But we’re all weak. Our faith isn’t strong. But who is strong is God. And so a word to all living members of Christ’s church - like Father Abraham, we’ll falter in faith and sin. But God is faithful to bless us and receive us into his everlasting kingdom. Not because of any goodness of our own - but because of Christ alone. Remember that this account is not ultimately about Abraham, but about God. He calls sinners and sustains them when they stumble Why? Because he’s given us Christ. Abraham’s descendent with the greatest name was called out of heaven to the land of suffering, and obeyed God perfectly, without faltering. And he offered himself as the perfect sacrifice on the altar of the cross. And because of him, God deals with us as children - Abraham’s children. Let’s press on in worship - to come to Christ, knowing that his precious blood cleanses us of all our sins. Living members falter, but we worship - we don’t continue in sin.
That’s why, the vow today includes submission to all Christian admonitions. Which mountain or grove of idolatry in your life must you claim for the Lord? What areas must you surrender to him? Are you a following but faltering father? A trusting but trembling mother? A believer who builds altars one day and builds lies the next? Receive admonition from God’s Word, from the church - her officers and her living members. And let members teach and admonish each other.
1. God Calls the Father to Go in Faith
A. The father obeys the call
B. The father worships the caller
2. God Blesses the Father Despite His Weak Faith
A. The weakness of men
B. The cursing and blessing of men
Conversation for Change:
1. What are the areas of your life that must still be claimed for or surrendered to Christ?
2. What does the knowledge of God’s faithfulness and forgiveness despite our faltering spur us on to live for him?
3. When we falter in our walk, what is the role of Christian admonition? Why might we be reluctant to receive it when it can only be good for our growth?
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2026, Rev. Mark Chen
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