Chapter 2 The Call of Abraham
How might we define the kind of society that Abraham lived in? What were its core beliefs and values? Abraham’s society was highly religious but was not monotheistic [a core belief in one God]. It was a society that believed the following:
- There are many gods – all of these gods represent, or are in charge of certain things – there is the sun, moon and stars – they are gods. There are gods that represent war, death, harvest and so on.
- The gods are a mixed bunch. Some are more powerful than others. Some of the gods can be cruel and others kind and there can even be wars between the gods.
- There is predictability about the gods and they are not all powerful.
How did humankind get to the stage where they had this belief in many different gods? Some believe that the theory of evolution is effective here – ie that as human beings evolve they begin by believing in many gods and as human knowledge becomes more sophisticated this will give way to monotheism – the belief in only One God. Some evolutionists would say that it goes a step further when we eventually shed the need to have a god of any description.
However, there is another way of looking at the development of religion and belief in God. It actually did begin with a very clear understanding that there was only one God and degenerated into the belief in many gods. For all kinds of reasons people chose to lose the concept of an absolute and all-powerful Creator and broke it down into controllable pieces – the gods inevitably ended up in the image of men and women and were worshipped by them – a curious reversal.
It is by revelation that things start to change and the creation of the Jewish people was to promote and preserve monotheistic beliefs. It is probable that before his encounter with God, Abraham worshipped many gods!
“Revelation is God making known to us what we did not know, or could not have known through our natural senses – Jack Deere”
Abraham comes from Ur, which is in modern day Iraq. It is possible that in this general area this is where the roots of our world’s civilization began – modern genetic research would place the original beginnings of our species in this general area. Abraham’s father had intended going to Canaan but stopped his journey in Haran and settled and died there – Haran is in modern day Turkey, near to Syria and it was in a strategic place for commerce and trade. It may have been for commercial reasons that they settled here because it is obvious that Abraham had become a wealthy man.
It is while Abraham is in Haran that God speaks to him. How does God do this? We are not told, but it must have been so emphatic that Abraham immediately obeyed God’s voice and left at once. It is probable that God spoke to Abraham in a dream or through a vision. This poses the question of how we should be open to understanding or expecting God to speak to us in ways that use other senses apart from just reading a written word such as the Bible! [I can see some the hackles going up on some of my friends at that last statement!]
God has given us our senses and he communicates to us through these senses and they must be filtered by “always in agreement with the Word of God.” Take for example the man who comes with the following dream:
“I dreamed that I met Susan – my heart has been drawn to her for some time now. Jesus was with her and he told me to begin a new life with her!”
Sounds OK, until you realise that David already has a wife and children. There is no way Jesus would have said this to him because it would not be in agreement with the Word of God. David was fantasising and was convincing himself of what he wanted to do and used Jesus, in his dream, to validate it.
“God has really spoken to me and I am convinced that he wants me to be a Minister of the Gospel!”
These were the confident words of an applicant for the ministry as I interviewed and assessed him. There was no evidence of leadership, communication or leadership skills but every evidence of an emotionally dysfunctional person. The person’s minister, elders, referees, and the psychologist all agreed that there was no call – but this person was convinced of a call. Not only must what we hear be in agreement with the Word of God, but also the opinion of the Church.
But here is an example of a dream I believe used by God as a means of communication. Linda and I were in Larkhall serving the Lord in St. Machan’s church – we had been there for nearly 10 years. It had been a busy ten years as had the eight years before that. Our children were still quite young and we had just begun to wonder whether it was time to move. Within a few weeks we were approached by a church in Skye and one in Lewis – the birth places of both my parents.
Without telling anyone, we took a weekend off and went first of all to Lewis on a Friday, were interviewed and offered the post that evening. We went over to Skye on the Saturday, preached and I was interviewed on the Sunday and was immediately offered the post. Two very rural, island parishes in a weekend! What to do? We had not sought these places!
We were discussing the matter back in Larkhall on the Monday evening when my mother phoned from Inverness. Here is what she said to me:
“I had a dream last night – well it was more than just that! Your father came to see me. [Dad had been dead for 10 years]. We talked and talked right through the night and I was telling him about all the things that had happened since he was gone. He was so real and it was just like old times. This lasted till dawn when he said that he had to leave. I was so upset and told him that I wanted him to stay. ‘But I can’t stay. I have to go over to Skye to see Iain!’ ”
Now, my mother never knew what we were doing over that weekend and she knew that in my heart of hearts I did not want to minister in Lewis or Skye! Yet that was a very clear guidance to me that had come through her dream!
Another experience comes from my time in Cranhill in the east end of Glasgow. It was my first church as minister and after two years I was finding the going very hard indeed. I was beginning to regret the call to full time ministry and was seriously considering leaving. A young man, who was a postman in the area had only recently started coming to church. He approached me after a service in the church and told me the following:
“I was wakened up in the middle of the night by this “being” that stood at the bottom of my bed. Was it a dream or a vision? I don’t know – all I can say is that I was scared by this incredible person – unlike anyone or anything I had ever known. He told me this: “Go and tell the minister, he is not to leave – he is to persevere!”
What was incredible about this was that I had not shared how I had felt with anyone – not even Linda! My young postman friend had really been spoken to with a life-changing message.
Sandra was the local school cleaner in Cranhill. She had been coming to church for a while and evidently had a good heart, but she was not yet a Christian. She was walking across the park when she heard a voice speaking to her. She turned round and could see no-one but the voice persisted, “Sandra, Sandra..” When she responded, the voice identified itself as Jesus and invited her to give her life to Him. She did this at once, came to church and told me her story. God has used that lady wonderfully over the last 25 years in Cranhill – ministries have come and gone, but she has remained and exercised a real ministry of prayer and personal faith in one of the most difficult and deprived areas of the UK.
Sandra, years later, came to Linda and I and told us that she had been very clearly spoken to by the Lord in a dream: “Tell Iain and Linda that it is not time for them to leave – there is still work to do here.” The remarkable thing is that after 8 years in Cranhill Linda and I felt it was the right thing to consider looking elsewhere to serve God. We had not shared this with anyone yet God spoke to us through Sandra and this dream. Why was it important for us to stay? A very short time after this revelation a full time youth worker was appointed and the appointment would never have taken place without us being there. She was to spend a very fruitful youth ministry for several years in Cranhill. A year later, Sandra, who was, and is, a dear friend came in tears to us and said, “He came to me last night and told me that it is time for you to go!” In a few short weeks, we were approached by a church in Larkhall and were on our way! I believe God still speaks through dreams, visions and other means. We have to filter those experiences through the application of the Bible and wisdom from other people.
Jessie was a lovely lady and had been coming with her friend to church for over a year and even joined our church in Cranhill by profession of faith. However, there was a sadness in her that never seemed to go away. During a visit, she told me her story:
“It was my first pregnancy and during giving birth I Iost my first child; a wee boy. Every time I have my monthly period I am swamped with depression.”
This had happened over 20 years earlier and she had had 4 other children since this loss, but this death haunted and depressed her constantly. We spoke at length on and off for months until eventually I said to her that all I could suggest was that she spoke to God about what had happened and get his help. A few days later she came to me, her face bright with excitement:
“I had this dream – it was more vivid than any dream I ever remember. I was walking from one end of a field to another and I saw two people in conversation. The nearer I got the more I was convinced that one of these men was Jesus; I don’t know why. As I came beside them Jesus turned to me and welcomed me. He introduced the young man he was speaking with: ‘Do you know this young man, Jessie?’ he said. The young man was familiar but I didn’t answer Jesus. ‘This is your son, Jessie!’” Jessie immediately realised that the child that she was grieving for was indeed now a man and in a better place. Everything changed after that dream!
Now, I realise that I have taken up a lot of space recounting these stories. However, they do indicate that even today, God uses dream, visions, voices, to speak to people at a very profound level. Is this how he spoke to Abraham? I don’t know, but I would expect so! Maybe it is all a matter of us tuning in and listening for the voice of God and expecting him to speak to us in a variety of ways.
How do we tune in? Perhaps it is all a simple matter of listening! So much of our praying is talking and so little is listening – which, if you think about it, is utterly illogical. If we are seeking God’s will the majority of our time should be spent listening and not prejudicing how we hear the voice of God speaking to us. Is it the case that we lead such busy lives that we do not, in a day, or week, set aside time to tune ourselves in to the voice of God and simply listen? That can be hard work, but maybe we are fundamentally affected by the spirit of our society that requires a sense of immediacy.
So, God speaks to Abraham – what does he say?
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
[Gen12:1-3]
What age are you? Abraham was 75 when he was asked to take on this life-changing, fundamental task. Many in our culture think that once we reach a certain age, say 60 – 65, that life starts to wind down. How many of us at this age would be seriously listening for God to take our life in a radically new direction? How many of us who are in our 50’s would be open to God doing a new thing with us – indeed, how many of us would be tuning in to such a possibility?
It is interesting how the Lord speaks to Abraham:
- “Go from your country.” There is a programme on TV just now called Relocation, where families are asked to consider moving from the UK to Australia. The emotional pull is profound for all of these families no matter how much they are drawn to the potential move. It involves a change of identity. As a Scot, I feel a significant sense of my national identity and the thought of leaving my nation behind to go anywhere would cause emotional turmoil. Abraham was being asked to make a choice [he did have a choice] that would was to have a profound effect on his identity.
- “Your people and your father’s household.” We move to a more intimate grouping than simply our national identity. We grow to be comfortable and secure with the people we have lived with for a significant time. Families can be challenging at times but when push comes to shove the saying that ‘blood is thicker than water’ is so true. He was being asked to make a break from his family at a time in his life when he should have been winding down and gathering his family around him – he and Sarah in their older age were asked to set off into the unknown and cut themselves off from their family – except for Lot, their nephew.
- “To the land I will show you.” Poor Abraham was given no brochure and indication of the pros and cons of this new destiny – he was simply asked to go and trust God. God did not give him any guarantees about ownership at this point. “Move on from here to, humanly speaking, a more unsure future.” Hardly sounds very inviting!!!
It was hardly an invitation without incentives and promises. Abraham was being asked to make a significant move with fundamental sacrifices. However the Lord promises him the following:
“I will cause you to become the father of a great nation” – something that was to come to fruition after nearly 450 years when the 12 tribes entered the land and became the nation of Israel!
He was to become a blessing to others. How wonderful to be told and to know that your life would have a significantly good impact on the lives of other people. I could go down to my grave contented if it could be said of me, “His life was a blessing to other people!”
All the families of the earth were to be blessed through Abraham! How did this happen? It was from his line that the Messiah, Jesus, was to come, nearly 2000 years later. Paul sees this as a sign of how Abraham moved in faith and that faith in Jesus is the essence of being in the Kingdom – and it all begun with Abraham and his faith – a faith that led to obedience. Abraham said, yes!
How does this speak to us today? Surely it encourages us to expect God to speak to us whoever we are, wherever we are and whatever is happening in our lives. For me there is a sense of excitement that until the day I die God is at work in my life and may ask me to do something significant for the sake of the Kingdom even in the twilight of my life!
It teaches me too that I have got to be prepared to be taken out of my comfort zone and challenged to be and do something different. Finally, it encourages me to listen and be sensitive to the Spirit as God seeks to be heard in my life every bit as much as [if not more than] I expect Him to listen to me. TIME! TIME! TIME! has got to be given to the most significant relationship in my life.