FAMINE TRAINING

Genesis 12:10-13:4, Key Verse 12:10

“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.”

Happy First Historical Joint Sunday Worship Service with NIU! May this Easter time be a new beginning of fruitful co-working between our two chapters! After God’s judgment by flood, the world was repopulated by three sons of Noah. However, sin had also increased and people once again rebelled against God. The world that God repopulated became what it had been in the past. So God confused men’s languages when people built the tower of Babel. Still, men lived in rebellion and did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. They continued to worship idols falling into deeper immoral corruption. 

But God loved the world so much that he started a new redemptive work as he promised in Genesis 3:15. It is to build up ‘one person’ of faith and form ‘one nation’ of faith. God would save the ‘whole world’ by accepting the Savior through this nation. For this purpose, God called one person Abraham. Abraham is a very important person because on him, God built the foundation of his redemptive history. Matthew 1:1 says “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.” The genealogy of Jesus started from Abraham. 

When God identified himself, he said to Moses, “…the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation” (Ex 3:15). Abraham is the father of all believers (Rom 4:16), and an example of faith (Ro 4:12). Therefore to study Abraham is important to understand the nature of faith. Apostle Paul took Abraham as an example when he talked about faith (Ro 4:1-3). In our generation we need people like Abraham who is a person of faith. Do you want to be a person of faith like Abraham? Then, learn the God of Abraham.

Part I: The famine was severe (12:10-20)

After Abram started his new life in the Promised Land, severe temptation came through famine. Look at verse 10. “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.” When Abram made such a huge decision to give up his secure life, among his own people, and went to Canaan, he must have expected something great in the Promised Land awaiting him; like a big house with a pool and a great big sign, saying “Welcome Abram to your land!” But, instead, Abram had to live in a tent, as an alien, traveling here and there. 

Now, what is worse, there was a famine that was very severe. We don’t have famines in America, but in our terms, currently there is a great shortage of jobs. For example, laid off Motorola engineers take jobs at hardware stores as clerks just to make money to support their families. It is like a famine for some people. Abram was threatened financially and physically. It seemed that his life in Haran was much better than his life in the Promised Land. How might Abram have felt? Abram must have been confused. He suffered from a sense of loss. He might have started to have some regrets. 

Abram suffered from great fear that he would starve to death if he continued to live by faith. Then, after experiencing more failures and facing more financial difficulties in Canaan, he decided to go down to Egypt. In his eyes, it was the best idea to ensure his survival. So he left the Promised Land and went down to Egypt. When Abram accepted God’s calling and started his journey of faith, God did not let him enjoy an easy life or a problem free life. Instead, he allowed him to go through sufferings, even to the point where his life was threatened. God led him to the point where Abram became desperate. 

Why did God do so? It was because God wanted to give him a real blessing. Giving him a large amount of money is not difficult for God to do. He is the sovereign Lord. He owns everything. God can do it. But what God wants to give his people, who follow him by faith, is not a large amount of money, or a convenient or luxurious lifestyle, or a problem-free life. God does not want to make you a happy-go-lucky person. Rather, what God wants to give us his real blessing, that is, he wants to change our inner person to be holy and glorious. God wants to build a beautiful, godly character in the hearts of his people. 

This has always been God’s plan for each of his people. God created man in his own image, so holy and beautiful, so majestic, so worthy of praise and honor. But because of sin, they lost God’s image. And now, God’s intention is to restore God’s image in them so that they may be strong in integrity, so invincible and untouchable, so stable and reliable like a rock. God wants to restore in them the King’s image. He wants them to be like lions that run across the grass land, making roars that shake the ground, even though they may be a little hungry. To grow his image in people, he lets them go through many challenges, real challenges that threaten their very existences.

When we believe in God and live for God, what do we expect? We expect that everything will go very smooth. Because of God’s hope and vision for us, we expect that we may be like real kings and queens, with real integrity and character, so majestic and awesome, worthy to be called, “children of God.” God has this hope for us. But, contrary to our expectations, sufferings and challenges come to us. 1 Peter 4:12 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” Romans 5:3, 4 says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” God has a clear purpose in this. 

Why did God put us through his training courses? It is because he wants to see well-trained and strong children of God marching to him powerfully. God works through all of these things to grow his image within us. Because of suffering, godly character is engraved in our hearts. In our suffering we learn perseverance if we do not give up. As we persevere, we abandon our worldly hopes and worldly dreams. Instead, we begin to have a living hope in the kingdom of God. We begin to have a hope to grow in the image of Jesus. Through all of our hardships, let’s accept God’s hope for each of us to grow inwardly as real kings and queens with great integrity and character for God’s glory. Let us be lions that shake the ground with our roar, even though the next meal is not secured. 

How did Abram’s life in Egypt go? Things did not go well as he wished. When he was coming to the promised land of Canaan, he had complete confidence of what he was doing. It was because he was obeying God’s command; so there was no fear in his heart. Even though there were many obstacles for him to overcome, such as, the opposition from his family members, the inner pain of leaving his beloved country, the insecurities of an uncertain future, he had enough strength in his heart to overcome all these. That confidence is the same confidence that all those who obey God’s command enjoy. They have no fear. They are ready to “move mountains” that are in their way as they obey God. 

But now Abram was leaving this Promised Land. The idea of living as God’s covenant person, and becoming a source of blessing sounded very good, right? But because of practical difficulties, he was about to give up his life of faith. Probably, he said to himself, “Well, survival comes first!” Now as he was leaving the Promised Land, he was not confident of what he was doing. Why? It was because it was not God’s hope for him, or God’s direction to leave. When this confidence of God’s hope upon his life was gone from his heart, he became fearful. So what did Abram do? 

Before he entered Egypt, he made a plan for survival. Read verses 11-13. “As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you." To secure his life, Abram asked his wife to say that she was his sister. When Abram lost God’s mission, he sought to be treated well by the Egyptians, at the expense of his wife. What kind of husband had he become?! When brothers lose God’s mission, they become strange; they do not look like rulers of the world any more. They even use their wives to save themselves.

It was a brilliant plan. Did his plan work? Read verses 14-16. “When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.” Yes, it worked. When he lied to Pharaoh about his beautiful wife, Pharaoh indeed took her into his palace and Abram was treated well for her sake, and his life was spared because of her. But it was also a very dumb plan, because it cost Abram his wife and his hope of having a son and heir. Abram became rich but miserable and more hopeless than ever. So he did not build altars in Egypt and he did not pray.

Abram had done a foolish thing but God helped him anyway. Look at verses 17-20, “But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.” God inflicted diseases on Pharaoh and his household. Pharaoh rebuked Abram and sent him away with all his possessions and his wife. God brought Sarai back to him, and Abram had to leave Egypt. Our God is willing and able to save us even when we have stumbled. 

Part II: Abram had become very wealthy (13:1-4)

What was the outcome of this whole event? Look at chapter 13:1-2. “So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.” Had not God intervened into the situation, Abram’s life would have been ruined completely in Egypt. He would have become a man of sorrow, always thinking about his wife, shedding tears forever. But because of God’s help, his wife was brought back to him, and his life was restored. Moreover, he became very wealthy. God is a very gracious and merciful God.

Then, what did Abram experience through this “famine training” and his journey to Egypt? Probably Abram experienced God’s protection and provision personally in the practical matter of his life. When he was called by God first, he did not have a personal relationship with God yet. But through this famine training and his journey to Egypt, his eyes were being opened toward God a little bit more. Even though Abram failed in this first test of faith, God did not fail. There is no failure in God. We fail many times. But God even uses our failure for His glory. Amen! Now it was time for Abram to go back to the Promised Land. 

What did Abram do first after coming back to the Promised Land? Look at verses 3 and 4. “From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.” Abram made his journey all the way back to the original place where he had first built an altar to the Lord. He acknowledged his failure, but did not despair. Instead, he went back all the way to the original place where he had built his first altar to the Lord. There he started his life of faith all over again with a new decision to trust in God. That was the expression of his repentance. That was the expression of his rededication to God’s calling.

Now he was determined to stay in the Promised Land no matter what. Thus, he became a seed of faith planted in the ground; he was planted in the Promised Land. After this event, he never left the land of Canaan at any cost until the final day of his life. Depending on his own willpower and human understanding, he could not but fail to live as a man of God. But only by God's grace and help, could he return to the Promised Land and restore his life of faith, serving God's mission for him, continually. This first training of famine for Abram is very significant for each of us. It is the first, fundamental challenge that each of us will face as we strive to live as the disciples of Jesus. 

Many people want to live as God’s servants serving God’s mission. But when they face this fundamental challenge, they easily go down to Egypt, saying, “Survival must come first.” Instead of serving God’s mission wholeheartedly, at the place where God led, they go after securing their future with their promising major and career in convenient places. They pour out their time and energy on these things. They become so busy with their classes and schedules and jobs, trying to survive, that they cannot serve God’s mission according to God’s plan. As a result, they fail to live as the disciples of Jesus. At the end of their life, these people share the same testimony, saying, “Ah, if I could only live my life again…” 

Going down to Egypt for survival looks very practical. But it is never a good choice or even an option. Satan, our enemy, is waiting there to capture anyone who steps outside of God’s calling. We must remember that we will not die of starvation in the mission field because our Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth has called us. He will surely take care of us as we live by faith. We must not leave the Promised Land and go down to Egypt for survival or for any reason. We must remember our Lord Jesus who did not come down from the cross to save himself but endured his Passion and remained on the cross to the point of death in order to save all of us (Lk 23:35). 

*Conclusion: We are all called by Jesus. In the course of following Jesus, when we face challenges and sufferings because of our faith in God, let us take deeper roots in God’s calling and stay in the Promised Land, with our complete determination. ‘Have faith in God!’ God will never abandon you. God will never leave your side. He will surely bear abundant fruit in your life if you do not give up. He will raise you up in the midst of all your trials of life. Through this resurrection faith and obedience to God’s command and calling, we will win final victory and enter into God’s Eternal Kingdom. May God bless us to embrace “God’s Famine Training” joyfully and live by faith and grow to be God’s people! May God bless our upcoming Joint Easter Bible Conference abundantly with NIU and Triton UBF!