Abraham—Called by God: THE PROGRESS IN ANSWERING GOD’S CALLING

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THE PROGRESS IN ANSWERING GOD’S CALLING

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 11:31-32

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.

Acts 7:2b

Then he came forth from the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, after his father died, He removed him into this land…

Acts 7:4

As we have pointed out many times, nearly every item in the book of Genesis is a seed. In this message we come to the seed of river crossing, to the experience of the first river crosser. What is river crossing? It is the real and actual following of the Lord. Following the Lord is a matter of crossing the river. Although it is easy to talk about river crossing, it is not easy to have the real river crossing according to the experience of Abraham. In this message we need to see how Abraham crossed the river. His experience, an example for us all, is another of the seeds sown in Genesis. This seed is now growing in so many of us. How we need the growth of this seed!

CALLED THE FIRST TIME AT UR OF CHALDEA IN MESOPOTAMIA

The best way to study the Word is to compare one portion of it with another. We may do this with respect to the calling of Abraham, for his calling is mentioned in both Genesis 12 and Acts 7. By the help of the Lord, it is easy for us to see the comparison in these two passages. We can see from these two portions of the Word that the God of glory appeared to Abraham twice. God did not come to him once for all. This is not our guess; it is proved by Acts 7:2 which says that the God of glory appeared to Abraham before he dwelt in Haran, while he was still in Mesopotamia. Then Genesis 12:1 indicates that after Abraham had dwelt in Haran for a time, God appeared to him again. By these two verses we see that God appeared to Abraham in two different places: at Ur of Chaldea and at Haran. It is certain that these two callings did not occur at the same time. The first call came while Abraham’s father was still alive, and the second came after his father had died. This is a strong proof that God appeared to Abraham twice.

There is a very crucial difference between these two callings of God. In the first calling God told Abraham to get out of his country and his kindred (Acts 7:3). In the second calling God told him to get out of his country, his kindred, and his father’s house (Gen. 12:1). When God called Abraham the second time, He not only mentioned Abraham’s kindred in a general way but his father’s house in a particular way. It was not sufficient for him to leave his kindred; he had to come out of his father’s house. Later on we shall see the reason for this. But now we can see that Abraham experienced two different callings at two different places. In the first calling God told him to get out of his country and his kindred, and in the second calling He told him to get out of his country, his kindred, and his father’s house.

Once we see this matter of the two callings, everything is clear. When I was young, I was told by certain teachers that Acts 7 was a quotation of Genesis 12. These teachers never pointed out clearly that God called Abraham twice. Perhaps some of you reading this message still hold on to the concept that Acts 7 is a quotation of Genesis 12. But the call in Acts 7 occurred before Abraham was brought to Haran, and the call in Genesis 12 happened after he had lived there for a time. The call in Acts 7 preceded the call in Genesis 12.

NOT OBEYING GOD’S CALLING RIGHT AWAY

Why did God need to appear to Abraham twice and call him twice? Why did God need to repeat His calling? As far as God was concerned, there was no need for Him to repeat His calling. It was Abraham who needed the repetition. There is hardly one who has experienced God’s calling just once and then immediately crossed the river. No one among us has ever answered God’s calling without dragging his feet through mud and water. Hardly anyone has ever given a clean-cut answer to God’s calling. You may say, “What about Peter and John when they were called by the Lord by the Sea of Galilee? The Lord called them, and they followed Him immediately.” If you read other portions of the Word, you will see that even these disciples were dragging their feet. It is difficult to have a clean-cut answer to God’s calling. We always drag our feet through mud and water. Our relatives might be the mud and we ourselves might be the water. Although you might have received the calling from God, you allow your relatives to be the mud through which you drag your feet. And you yourself are the water, the dirty and black water. You drag your feet through this mud and water.

While Abraham was living at Ur, the God of glory suddenly appeared to him. This appearing brought in light. (The name Ur means light.) In a demonic land, a land full of demons (Chaldea means demonic), the God of glory appeared and brought in light. This is very meaningful. Whenever God comes to call a man, there is always light. While Saul of Tarsus was on the way to Damascus to persecute the Christians there, a light from heaven shone upon him (Acts 9:1-3). At that moment, Saul was at Ur. He was under the light. When you were called, you also were under the light. You saw that your place, your environment and surroundings, was not the right place for you to stay any longer. You were called at Ur, the place of light.

TAKEN TO HARAN BY HIS FATHER AFTER HIS BROTHER’S DEATH

I believe that Abraham received God’s calling when he was young. He might have told his father, Terah, and his relatives how God had appeared to him and had told him to get out of his country and his kindred. Abraham probably did not have the boldness to do this himself. In 11:28 we are told that “Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.” Haran might have been Abraham’s older brother and he might have opposed God’s calling to Abraham. It might have been that God waited a certain period of time. When Abraham still did not take any action, God took away Haran, the opposing one. Haran might have been Terah’s eldest son. The eldest son’s death might have been a warning to the father not to tarry any longer. The name Terah means to tarry, to delay, or to be laggard. Terah took the whole family, went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, and dwelt in Haran (11:31; Acts 7:4a). It was not Abraham who took the initiative to leave Ur; it was his father.

Terah and his family might have traveled northward along the side of the river Euphrates. Eventually, after a journey of at least five hundred miles, they came to Haran. According to the ancient method of travel, it must have taken over half a month to travel from Ur to Haran. But although they made such a long journey, they never crossed the river as God wanted them to. How many years have you been dragging along the side of the river without crossing it? You may say, “Praise the Lord that I am no longer in Ur.” Right, you are not in Ur, but you are still on the other side of the river. Even in the church life you have been journeying along the riverside without crossing the river. Many of you have journeyed northward but are still on the other side. But even this journey northward was caused by God’s doing.

At Ur there was a person named Haran, and now we see a city with the same name. This means that they left one Haran and came into another. In the eyes of God, both are the same. Whether Haran is a person or a place, it is still Haran. The name Haran means dry. When the elder brother was opposing God’s calling, he must have been dry. Any relative who tries to prevent you from accepting the Lord’s calling is a dry one, and any place that hinders you from answering God’s calling is a dry place. You can never be watered there. In such a place you have the sensation of dryness. Many of us have experienced this.

CALLED THE SECOND TIME AT HARAN AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH

Christians are used to exalting Abraham. He is considered as being very high. But Abraham was not that high; he was as low as we are. When God came to Abraham, he lacked the boldness to take action. His father finally acted, taking the family to Haran where they dwelt until the father died (11:32). Then God appeared to Abraham and called him again (11:32—12:3; Acts 7:4b). Abraham’s delay in answering God’s calling caused two deaths, the death of his brother at Ur and the death of his father at Haran. Abraham took two steps, and each step was caused by the death of a close relative.

In His second calling God added another item, telling Abraham not only to come out of his country and his kindred but also out of his father’s house (12:1). This means that he was only allowed to bring his wife with him, not any member of his father’s house. God’s calling was more severe the second time than it was the first time. If you look into the meaning of all the names, you will see that, apart from the name Abram, which means an exalted father, the only other name with a positive meaning is Sarai, which means my princess. The exalted father was the husband, and the princess was the wife. At Haran God called only these two. But again Abraham dragged his feet through the mud, for he took his nephew Lot with him.

In the second calling God was not only more severe, but He also gave Abraham the promise of the gospel as an incentive to encourage him to answer His calling (12:2-3). He received a more severe calling but with a great incentive.

OBEYING GOD’S CALLING IN A DRAGGING WAY

This time Abraham obeyed God’s calling, but he did not do so in a clean-cut way. He was still dragging along. We know this because he did not only take his wife Sarai with him but also his nephew Lot (12:4). Lot was a member of his father’s family. Did not Abraham hear when God told him to get out of his father’s house? Why then did he bring with him a member of his father’s house? I believe that I can tell you the reason. At that time Abraham was quite old. He was seventy-five years of age. Although he was seventy-five years old, he still did not have a son of his own. For such a long journey he surely needed a young man to help him. That was his excuse. Abraham might have said, “God called me, but should I leave my nephew? Should I not love him?” Humanly speaking, everyone would say that Abraham was right in bringing Lot.

What is the meaning of the name Lot? It means a veil, a wrapping. Your dear relatives, whom you love so much and whom you would take with you in answering God’s calling, are always veils to you. Look at your situation. Many of us have answered God’s calling in a way of taking a veil along with us. Lot did not help Abraham at all. Rather, he caused trouble. When we come to Genesis 13, we shall see that Lot caused a great deal of trouble to Abraham and that eventually he had to leave Abraham. If you examine your own situation you will see that probably it was exactly the same as Abraham’s.

In the gospel preaching today people are mostly told that if they believe in the Lord Jesus, they will be saved from hell and will go to heaven one day. This is true, but it is shallow. From God’s point of view, to be saved is to be called. God is not concerned about hell but about your country, your kindred, and your father’s house. God is concerned about your environment, surroundings, and background. To be saved means to be called out of your background, to be called out of your present surroundings, environment, and situation. To be saved is not merely a matter of having your sins forgiven, of being rescued from hell, and of being qualified to go to heaven. To be saved means to be called out of your background and environment.

To be saved is also to take a journey, to walk along the way, and to run the race. Pilgrim’s Progress, a very famous book written by John Bunyan, stresses the one point that salvation is a journey. To be saved is to be called and to be on a journey. People talk much about justification by faith, using Abraham as the example. But before Abraham was justified, he took a journey. His justification transpired in Genesis 15:6. Before Genesis 15, however, we have at least three chapters telling us that this justified one was on a journey.

I hope that all the young people will see this. The place where the young people are today is worse than Chaldea. But praise the Lord, your Ur is brighter and has more light. Today God’s calling to the young people is clearer and stronger than it was to Abraham. Young people, you must get out of the land, out of the people, and away from your relatives. To be saved is to be on a journey to reach God’s purpose. God came in to call Abraham with a purpose. If you are called by God according to His purpose, your salvation is guaranteed by that calling. You do not need to be concerned about your salvation. If you take care of God’s purpose, He will certainly take care of your salvation.

To be saved is to be called to fulfill God’s purpose. When God came in to call Abraham, it was not for the purpose that Abraham be saved from hell or filled with joy; it was for the purpose of fulfilling God’s plan. God called Abraham for the fulfillment of His purpose. We all must hear this calling.

God has a plan and a purpose. He has a good land that we may enter into. Abraham went into the good land of Canaan (12:4-5). Our good land today is Christ, the church, and the kingdom. Consider the case of Saul of Tarsus who boldly persecuted the church. In the eyes of God, while Saul was persecuting the church, he was living in “Chaldea.” On the road to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him, shined upon him, and called him, and Saul’s Chaldea became “Ur,” the place of light. The Lord did not call him in order to save him from hell to heaven, or even to justify him. Although these are included in the Lord’s calling, the Lord called him out of a Judaistic Chaldea. The Lord called Saul out of that religion in order that he might enter into Christ, God’s new covenant economy, the church, and the kingdom. And Paul did get into Christ, into the New Testament economy, into the church, and into God’s kingdom.

If we answer God’s calling, taking care of His purpose that we enter into Christ, the New Testament economy, the church, and the kingdom, He will not allow us to go to hell. Do not be concerned about hell, and do not consider that much about heaven. We have something better than heaven. Is not Christ better than heaven? Is not God’s economy, the dispensation of the Triune God into man, much better than heaven? Is not the church better than heaven? Heaven is going to be shaken. Hebrews 12:26 says that God is going to shake not only the earth but also heaven. Only God Himself is unshakable. We have received an unshakable kingdom, which is Christ with the church. Do not appreciate heaven so much. In the last two chapters of the Bible we see that the New Jerusalem will descend out of heaven. God is going to leave heaven and dwell in the New Jerusalem, which is the consummation of the church, for eternity.

We all must see that to be saved means to be called to fulfill God’s purpose. To be saved is to be delivered out of many negative situations so that we may come into God’s goal. Many Christians have been saved, but they have never come into God’s goal. God’s goal firstly is Christ. We are in Christ. We are in the enjoyment of Christ. This is God’s good land. Secondly, God’s goal is the church. Years ago I did not realize that, in a sense, the church is also the good land of Canaan. Furthermore, God’s New Testament economy, the kingdom, and the Sabbath rest, are all the good land to us today. Are you in the good land of Canaan? If you are, it means that you are in Christ, in the riches and the enjoyment of Christ. It also means that you are in God’s new covenant dispensation and in the church life. Many of us were saved for many years before we crossed the river. We were neither in God’s economy nor in the church. Moreover, we were not in God’s kingdom. Some of us had the concept that the kingdom had been suspended and that the millennial kingdom would come in the future, but we never entered into the reality of the kingdom life today.

Although according to what is portrayed in Genesis 12 Abraham was dragging along, Hebrews 11:8 tells us that he obeyed God’s calling by faith and went out without knowing where he was going. In His calling, God told him definitely what he had to leave, but God did not tell him clearly where he had to go. Abraham obeyed God’s calling and went out by faith. This was great. On the one hand, he was dragging along; on the other hand, he took a great step by faith. His not knowing where to go caused him to trust in God and to look unto the Lord all the time. We may say that the living God was a road map to him for his traveling.

REMOVED BY GOD INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN

Regardless of how long Abraham delayed in answering God’s calling, he could not delay God very long. According to God’s feeling, a thousand years are the same as a day. Can you delay God a thousand years? No one can do this. At the most, we might delay him for fifty years, which in God’s eyes are a little more than an hour. God is sovereign and patient. God could say to Haran and Terah, “All that you are doing is in vain. After you die, I will bring My called one to My land.” God is God. No one can frustrate Him. Once He has chosen and called you, He will not be stopped by anything. Sooner or later He will get through. He will come to you again and again. If one death is not sufficient to accomplish His aim, there will be another one. He has a way. He is much greater than you are. According to Acts 7:4, it was not Abraham who entered into the good land but God who removed him into the land. Although Hebrews 11:8 says that Abraham went out by faith, Acts 7:4 says that God removed him from Haran into Canaan. At most, we can delay the Lord for just a short time. Eventually we shall be gained by Him. If we delay, we shall only waste our time. God told Abraham to get out of his country. Since he did not do it in a rapid and clean-cut way, God removed him into His land.

PASSING THROUGH THE LAND TO THE PLACE WHICH GOD CONFIRMS

At Haran, Abraham crossed the river. After crossing the river, he sojourned through the land, traveling southward until he reached a place called Shechem (12:6). The word Shechem means a shoulder which affords strength. At Shechem was Moreh where there was an oak. The name Moreh means a teacher who affords knowledge. Abraham journeyed to a place where he could get both strength and knowledge. Was that the place where God intended for Abraham to be? Yes. We know this because God did not reappear to Abraham until he had arrived at the oak of Moreh. There God reappeared to him (12:7).

God’s reappearing to you confirms that you have arrived at the right place. Perhaps you experienced an appearing of God many years ago. After that time you wandered, journeyed, and traveled from place to place without having another appearing of God. One day, after arriving at the oak of Moreh, the church, the Lord appeared to you again. This appearing confirmed that you had arrived at the right place. Many of us can testify that after we were saved we traveled through Christianity without having God’s reappearing. It was not until we came to today’s Shechem with the oak of Moreh, that is, the church life, that the inner appearing rose up once again. Many of us can testify that after we came to the church, we had the feeling that God had appeared to us again, telling us, “This is the place.”

The oak, a strong, hardy tree, signifies strength. An oak tree also affords shade from the heat of the sun. This is very meaningful. I believe that in symbol this signifies the church life which affords us the strength and shade. The church life strengthens us and shades us from the heat of the sun.

When God appeared to Abraham at Moreh, He said to him, “Unto thy seed will I give this land” (12:7). This was the first time that the promise of the land was clearly given. In 12:1 God only said to Abraham, “unto a land that I will shew thee”; God did not tell him where the land was or that He would give the land to him. But here God told him definitely where the land was and He promised to give this land to his seed. When we get to the place which God confirms by His reappearing, we also shall receive the promise of today’s good land—Christ, the church, and the kingdom.

At the place where the Lord reappeared to him, Abraham built an altar. This altar was an anti-testimony to the building of the tower of Babel. At Babel, men built a tower to make a name for themselves. At Shechem, Abraham did not build anything to make himself a name; he built an altar for calling on the name of the Lord (12:8). This signifies that when we arrive at the place that God has chosen, God appears to us, and we have a deeper, fuller, richer, and more intimate fellowship with Him by calling on His name. We all can testify that we never called on the name of the Lord as much as we have since coming into the church life. Calling on the name of the Lord follows the building up of an altar to the very God who has appeared to us. In the church life, under the oak of Moreh, we have the intimate appearing of the Lord. What shall we do in response to this? We should build an altar to Him and put everything we are and have on the altar. We need to tell the Lord that everything we are and have is for Him, and then we need to call on the name of the Lord to maintain a deeper, richer, and more intimate fellowship with Him.

Now we have seen the experience of the first Hebrew, the first river crosser. Abraham was the first one to cross the river and to reach the place where God could reappear to him and where he could build an altar and call on the name of the Lord. This place is the right place. It is not at Ur, Haran, or any place other than at the oak of Moreh. Here we have God’s appearing and God’s presence. Here we receive the promise of the good land. Here we can build an altar to the Lord, call on His name, and have intimate fellowship with Him.