“By faith,” Hebrews 11:9, “Abram made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country.” But it was only “LIKE a stranger.” Abram wasn’t a stranger, because God had promised this land to him as his inheritance (8) – and to the generations that came from Abram too (Genesis 12:7). Imagine being Abram arriving in Canaan, then, knowing God’s promise, but no idea how and when God would fulfill it.
It took faith to “make his home” there too, because at this point in time his “promised land” was overrun with Canaanites (Genesis 12:6), who were well entrenched in various tribal city-states ruled by kings. And when Abram finally settled “near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron” (13:18), along came a dangerous threat by the mighty Mesopotamian empire of Elam to the east and its allies, in retaliation against the Canaanite cities’ refusal to pay tribute (14:1-4), resulting in a major battle that had Abram’s nephew Lot taken captive, and all the city folk of that region and their possessions being dragged off (14:8-12).
This was not going well for Abram’s inheritance. The equivalent of a World War One had been fought on his doorstep, involving empires and coalitions of powerful kings consuming people and territory alike, with many cities in Canaan already being throughly defeated (14:5-7). Was God’s promise to Abram really true, then?
But faith in God’s promise did something extraordinary to Abram. “When he heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out his 318 trained men and went in pursuit of the invaders as far as Dan (the northernmost part of Canaan),” Genesis 14:14. Abram didn’t hesitate. Despite the heavy disadvantage in his numbers of fighting men, and the head start the enemy already had, he caught up with them and in a bold night attack “he routed them” (15), drove them out of the region, and recovered everything they’d stolen, including his nephew (16).
So, could this amazing victory – done with God’s help too (20) – be the how and when God was fulfilling his promise to Abram to “give the land to him and his offspring forever” (13:15)? If so, Abram could settle down and build a wealthy, powerful empire of his own. But instead, Hebrews 11:9, he and his family “lived in tents” as strangers still in a foreign country.
And why was that? Because this was God’s project, not his own, so Abram was looking forward to what happens “When God is the architect and builder” ….(next blog)
