A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him” (Heb. 11:6). When Abram again pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai, it was more than
another stop on his seemingly endless pilgrimage. It marked the renewal of his spiritual life
which had been suffocating in Egypt.
PERSPECTIVE: RETURNING FROM A LAPSE OF FAITH
When Abram began his pilgrimage of faith, he apparently did so after making provisions
for himself in terms of an alternate plan to be used if living by faith didn’t work (Gen. 20:12). At
first all went well for Abram and he could trust God without having to resort to plan “B.” But as
Abram began to wander from that place of intimate communion with God, he was by nature
increasingly more problem conscious than power conscious. The result of a greater independence
from God was his ultimate dependence on plan “B.” In Egypt, the man of faith was the man of
failure.
But such a lapse in faith need not be permanent nor does it necessarily prevent one from
maturing his faith into “strong faith.” Like Abram, when we lapse in faith, we must return to the
point of our departure from God if we desire once again to enjoy the joy of communion we once
knew. Abram is today remembered as the man of faith in part because he returned “to the place
where his tent had been at the beginning” (13:3).
EIGHT
ABRAHAM:
His Choice of Faith
(Genesis 13:5-18)
When God called Abram into his pilgrimage of faith, He required of Abram that he leave
his country, kindred, and father’s house (Gen. 12:1; Acts 7:3). Abram’s obedience to both the
first and second call of God was only partial, he did not leave his kindred. Initially he left his
native country of Ur of the Chaldeans to travel to Haran with his father and family. After the
death of Terah in Haran and in response to the second call of God, Abram left his father’s home
but took with him his nephew Lot. When Abram returned from his lapse of faith in Egypt into
the place of fellowship with God, God brought yet another crisis into his life to effect a more
complete obedience in the man of faith. The strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot was
the means which God used to effect Abram’s separation from his kinsman.
Sometimes the full effects of sin are not realized until much later in life. When Abram
lapsed in faith and went down into Egypt, he appears to have benefited financially. He not only
survived the famine which affected Canaan, but because of his lie, also increased his wealth in
terms of both herds and servants. It was not until he returned to the land of promise to continue
his life of faith that the full impact of sin was realized. First, his wealth was largely responsible
for his conflict with Lot, and second, one of the servant girls acquired in Egypt would be
involved in the birth of Ishmael. In Lot’s case, it seems that even when Lot was removed from
Egypt, Egypt was not removed from Lot.