Immediate Testing in The Promise Land

Grace Bible Church

Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

The TREE OF LIFE is a weekly teaching summary.

The Tree of Life for week ending 10/07/01.
Immediate Testing in The Promised Land.

We have been studying a passage that really which gives us insight into the ongoing trouble in the Middle East.  This study should give believers the background as to why there are problems between the Arabs and Israel and why there will never be peace in the Middle East until The Lord Jesus Christ comes back.

In GEN 12:1-3 "Now the Lord said to Abram, Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

This passage is known as the beginning of the Abrahamic covenant, an unconditional covenant in that it is an agreement in which there are no strings attached, no conditions are set.
The Abrahamic covenant or agreement is between God and Abraham and his descendants and it guarantees that the Israel will be a permanent nation and receive material and spiritual blessings forever.
We have seen in this series that this is why Satan desires to destroy Israel, Abraham's seed, and why religion is used to do so.
Not only has Israel been promised blessings but the Abrahamic covenant also guarantees that Gentile nations that support Israel will also share in these blessings.  This is why Satan, who is the father of religion, desires to destroy any nation that is pro-Semitic such as the United States.

This all began when Abraham became a Jew at age 99, GEN 17:1-11.  In contrast, the Koran, the Muslim and Islamic Bible says in Surah 2:140, that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not Jews but were believers in Allah. 

In Surah 2:124 the Koran says that Allah promised Abraham that he would make Abraham an Imam (Muslim priest) to all the Nations and also (Imams-Muslim priests) from his offspring.  An Imam is the male leader of the mosques or as we would say a prophet of their religion.

In ROM 11:1, the apostle Paul said "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,"

The Bible teaches that Christians and the regenerate Jews are God's people.  That's not what the Muslim Bible says, not what the Islamic religion believes.  Mohammed said in the Hadith, the Bible that he wrote "Allah hath commanded me to fight against the Christians, the Jews, and the pagans until they submit to Islam or be killed."
God has promised to bless Abraham and to manufacture from him, a great nation, to bless that nation, and to bless those who bless that nation and to curse those who curse it.  The basis of this blessing to Abraham and his descendants is not any merit in Abraham or them but because Abraham had faith and believed in The Lord Jesus Christ and because of that God was pleased with Abraham, GEN 15:6 "Then he believed in the Lord; and He [the Lord] reckoned or credited it to him as righteousness."

Abraham had believed in The Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, that's what the Bible says.  Moses and our Lord said that Abraham believed in the Lord, who was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, LUK 20:37, that's what the Bible says.
In contrast, the Koran says in Surah 2:126 "Abraham believed in Allah and those who don't will be driven to the torment of Fire, an evil destination (indeed)"
The Bible, the word of God says that Abraham believed in Jehovah Elohim.  In contrast, the Koran says that he believed in Allah, the moon-God.
The Koran totally contradicts the Bible.

In Eze 28 one can read of the true author of the Koran, the book of Allah, the author of the Muslim and Islamic Bible.  Here one can meet the god of Muslim and the Islamic faith and see him as he really is.  The author of the Koran is the highest of all angels, and ruler of all fallen angels, MAT 8:28; MAT 9:34; MAT 12:26; LUK 11:18-19.
He is superior in genius, beauty, personality, persuasiveness, and is invisible.  He is an organizational genius with a great organization of demons in positions of authority of many of the Arab nations, EPH 6:10-12.  He is the enemy of Bible doctrine, the enemy of the Church (the royal family), the enemy of Israel and the enemy of Christ.  Only one mind is more intelligent than his which is made available to creatures and that is "the mind of Christ", 1CO 2:16, PHI 2:5.

God offers us the mind of Christ which is much greater than the greatest mind of all time, Satan's, and the average believer says "No thank you, I'm too busy," LUK 14:18-20.  But that piece of land, that house, that job and that business and that relationship has been given to us by God and at any moment He could take it all away but many don't believe it, JAM 1:17, 1CO 4:7, HAG 2:8, or PSA 24:1 which says  "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it."
Is it any wonder why REV 12:9 says that the author of the Koran deceives the whole world?  This is why we need you to keep our nation and it's leaders in prayer.  This is why we need to support our church, live the spiritual life and use our time, talent and treasure and exercise our spiritual gift to become a part of the solution and not the problem.  Our time on earth is a drop in the bucket compared to eternity and everyone who places other things in life above doctrine is using a false scale of values and losing all the equal privilege and opportunity God has provided for them in time to advance spiritually. 

There is also a part of the Abrahamic covenant known as the Palestinian covenant or the real estate promise given inGEN 13:14-16 and in GEN 15:18-21 "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: the Kenite [they lived in Saudi Arabia] and the Kenizzite [Jordan] and the Kadmonite [Syria] and the Hittite [Northern Syria] and the Perizzite [Judah] and the Rephaim [Jordan] and the Amorite [Iraq and Lebanon] and the Canaanite [western Syria and Palestine] and the Girgashite [West of Jordan] and the Jebusite [Jerusalem]."

During the Millennium, the land of Israel will extend from Turkey to Syria in the north, west to the Mediterranean Sea, south to East Africa, to include all of Saudi Arabia, and east to the Euphrates River.  This covenant guarantees the entire Middle East as a land grant to Israel forever.  This is one of the reasons most of these areas are anti-Semitic and why Satan promotes them to hate Israel.  The Jews do not have any right to this land until Jesus Christ returns at the Second Advent.  God also promised Abraham a city forever suspended over the Land, REV 21:2,10.  This city, the new Jerusalem, extends from the Nile to the Euphrates, and from the Mediterranean to Saudi Arabia.  This city is part of Abraham's eternal escrow blessings.

So the Abrahamic covenant could be summed up from Gen 12-Gen 22 as follows.

1. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant promises a national land, GEN 12:1; 13:14-15; 13:17, the Koran says do not let the Jews do this in Surah 5:21.

2. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant promises both national and universal redemption, GEN 12:3; 22:18; GAL 3:16, the Koran says that this is not true in Surah 5:49.  In fact, the Koran says that it is Allah's wish to scourge them for their sins.

3. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that a great nation should come from him, GEN 12:2, the Koran says that is not true, Surah 2:124.

4. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that Abraham's name shall be great, GEN 12:2, the Koran says that Muhammad's name shall be great, in fact it says in Surah 48:29 Muhammad is the apostle of Allah.

5. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that Abraham should be a blessing so great that in him shall all families of the earth be blessed, GEN 12:3, the Hadith says that it is through Muhammad that the families on the earth shall be blessed.

6. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that to him personally and to his seed (not the church, but the Jews) should be given Palestine forever to inherit, Gen 13:14-17, the Koran disagrees with that in Surah 2:113.

7. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that his seed should be as the dust of the earth, GEN 13:16.

8. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that whosever blessed him should be blessed and whosever cursed him should be cursed, GEN 12:3, The Koran disagrees with that.

9. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that Abram should be the father of many nations, Gen 17:4, the Koran denies that in Surah 2:124.

10. The Bible says the Abrahamic covenant says that kings should proceed from him, GEN 17:6.

11.  The Bible says that the covenant shall be perpetual "an everlasting covenant", GEN 17:7 and that the land of Canaan shall be "an everlasting possession", GEN 17:8.  Both the Koran and the Hadith disagree with these principles.

Back to Gen 12 and in verses 4-8 we have Abram in Canaan.
GEN 12:4 "So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran."
Here is Abram finally obeying the order from God at age 75.  That should serve as a source of comfort to some that it is never too late, although remember that Abraham died at age 175. 

The best advice is that when God gives us an order from His Word or our personal relationship with Him, we should follow through with it immediately.  The longer we prolong obedience, the more complicated our life becomes until we finally reach the point where we realize that life is too short to disobey God.  In fact, every time we do things His way, it always turns out better for us.

Abram has been delaying the blessing of receiving Isaac and he's not going to get Isaac until he's a hundred years old.  He can't stay in God's will long enough, he goes to Haran, then to the Negev, then he goes to Egypt, he wouldn't separate from his father and he still hasn't separated from his nephew Lot.  However he finally obeys God, ACT 7:4tells us the reason, "Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, God removed him into this country in which you are now living."
Even though Abram did not separate from his father Terah, God solved the problem by removing him.  Abram refused to obey and God did something about it.  God has a plan for our life and there are times if we refuse to obey it, He will do something about it, because that's what a loving father does, HEB 12:5-12.

In GEN 12:4 there is also another separation that must occur before spiritual advance in Abraham becomes a reality, he must separate from Lot because of the evil influence of Lot's wife.  In fact, Lot wound up committing incest with his daughters in a cave and as a result of the incest we have two Arab groups called Moab and Amnon who have been antagonistic to Israel since the day they came into existence.
Moab who became one of the fathers of the Arab race.
Ammon who was one of the ancestors of Jordan and the Turks.
By the way, Lot's wife was removed by God as well, GEN 19:26.
No believer reaches spiritual maturity and super-grace blessing without separating from loved ones that we might consider more important than our relationship with God and Bible doctrine.  This is the principle of standing firm asEPH 6:11-13 puts it.  The believer who stands firm in the angelic conflict and spiritual warfare will continue his momentum inside the Pre-Designed Plan of God and have a personal sense of destiny.  He will have control of his life in normal times so that he has control of his life under pressure and be able to make good decisions from a position of strength.  He will possess right priorities from the perception of doctrine.  The believer who stands firm in the angelic conflict and spiritual warfare functions under honor, integrity, and virtue when under pressure and is prepared for crisis.  Right priorities are not developed in the crisis but rather before the crisis.

So in GEN 12:4-8, we finally have Abraham going to Canaan.  Abram finally came to geographical obedience but not personal obedience, and that is why he is going go down to Egypt.  The application here is that once we are in the right geographical location for our life, that is not enough, we must perceive, metabolize, and apply Bible doctrine to our life while in the geographical location.  This means strict academic discipline under whoever is your right pastor-teacher because, apart from that, you cannot advance.
In GEN 12:5 "And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew and all their possessions which they had accumulated"
Abraham finally got in the Lord's geographical will for his life, Canaan, but because of Lot and some other things, he winds up having his spiritual growth hindered and he goes down to Egypt.  In bringing along his wife and his nephew, he is bringing along two believers, both are born again and both will be distractions at different times as well as testing.  But that's the way life is.  There are some loved ones you need to learn how to handle and not separate from, (Sarai), there are others you need to separate from (Lot).
Notice also that both Abraham and Lot had great wealth that was designed to be a blessing, later on will be a divine blessing, but at this time it is no blessing at all and will actually become the source of division.

Even materialistic possessions become a test at some point in our spiritual experience as we are going forward in the plan of God.  The test will be, is that person or that possession more important to you than God and His word, Bible doctrine?  The danger lies in getting your eyes on people or things and forgetting the source of all blessing from the Lord.
MAT 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."

The people may be right for you as friends or in a family relationship, but they'll be wrong as long as they are more important to you than doctrine.  Friends and possessions and the experience of loving someone and having that love returned is meaningless unless doctrine is number one on your scale of values.  Too often people forget the source of their prosperity.  This is why Moses warned the children of Israel not to let prosperity take them away from the Lord and blind them, DEU 6:12, DEU 8:14.  PSA 103:2 says "Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits."
True prosperity comes to us because of our relationship with The Lord Jesus Christ and living in God's plan.
Everything you have has been given to you either directly or indirectly by God.

In GEN 12:5, "And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons or the slaves which they had acquired in Haran, and then notice the last statement and they set out for the land of Canaan;"
Here Abraham's motivation is absolutely correct.  Back in GEN 11:31 "And Terah took Abram his son, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there."
Lot's wife was using Lot and Lot was using Abram.  He used Abram to become rich, to become promoted, to get some authority.  When he saw the time had come when he couldn't use Abram anymore, then he took off and Abram actually gave deference and honor and courtesy to someone who did not have the authority or the character to receive it.  This is why God told Abram to get rid of Lot and separate from him, but Abram refused.  We have all made mistakes in this area, where our motivation was wrong even though the overt behavior was right.
This is why the Bible warns us to be very careful with the friendships that we develop in life.
Those relationships can sneak up on us and take advantage of us.  And here is an important principle, Abraham profited from it but he wasn't blessed by it.  You can profit from things without being blessed.  Abraham will learn many wonderful lessons concerning people but it wasn't a blessing.  Remember that God called Abram out of Ur, He called him alone, He didn't call Sarai, and He did not call Lot and He didn't call Terah.
Look at ISA 51:2 "Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When {he was} [a reference to Abraham] one I called him, Then I blessed him and multiplied him."
The Hebrew word for "one" 'echad (ekh-awd') means one or alone.
It is understandable that Sarah went along after all she is to follow her man.  Everyone else can go along for blessing but some of those who went were also a hindrance.  This is the principle of blessing by association and they were blessed by association, but when people have wrong motivation, and they are with you because they are blessed by association, sooner or later they will turn on you and be a cursing to you.

Those who are promoted by or blessed by other people, never have any appreciation when their motivation is wrong.

Lot was using Abram and actually Abram made Lot a wealthy man.  But he never appreciated Abram, in fact he secretly despised him, he disliked him.
He used what Abram gave him against him, however, the supreme court of heaven will handle that as we will see.