Abram soon discovered that God works in mysterious ways, because soon after arriving in this new land God had led him to – with the promise of huge blessings and an exciting future too – Abram was hit with nothing but problems.
First of all, a “famine so severe” in Genesis 12:10 left Abram with no choice but to leave this new land of his and head off with his family and belongings to “live in Egypt for a while.” But then it struck him, just before entering Egypt, that the Egyptians might take a fancy to his wife – still a major beauty in her mid-60’s – and get rid of him (11-12).
Abram’s solution got him into more trouble too, because to save his own skin he lied that Sarah was his sister, deeply upsetting the Pharaoh (who did take a fancy to her), so much so that he banished Abram from Egypt.
And, then, on their return to Canaan, a split between Abram and his nephew Lot had them heading off in separate directions (13:5-12), which led to Lot finding himself in the middle of a major war, and being carted off into captivity by the victors (14:12). Another disaster. So instead of being able to settle down in his new land, Abram was dragged into a major battle of his own to rescue Lot. Would the problems never end?
Not yet, because on his return from recovering all the people and their possessions taken by the invaders, Abram was approached by the very appreciative king of Sodom who told him in Genesis 14:21, “Give me my people, but you keep all our possessions for yourself.” A hugely tempting proposition, because it would give Abram both the riches and the local respect to build up his own empire and get God’s promise on the way.
But Abram didn’t take the bait. He told the king of Sodom that he’d made an oath “to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,” to “accept nothing belonging to the king,” so that the king could never say, “I made Abram rich” (22-23). Abram wasn’t allowing anyone but God to be the source of his blessings. He wasn’t depending on human shortcuts, that would obligate him to a human source like the king, whose main goal in life was to promote himself and build up his own empire. The king had seen God bless Abram too, so what a powerful ally Abram would make.
Well, Abram was having none of it. Yes, God had been working in mysterious ways in his life, but that did not deflect him from “Trusting God, no matter what”….(next blog)
