“It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.”
Genesis 38:1–5 ESV
Life is a school in the Lord. The tests and lessons are everywhere. A significant problem is that we’re very often, in the flesh, that is, not in the habit of seeing ourselves as His students. The pattern of Scripture is that God’s people (and we aren’t talking about unbelievers) fail to reckon with, to seriously chew on and digest, the great and monumental truths of sin and righteousness and grace. The goal of the life of the believer is to believe God. Romans 4 is all about Abraham. It shows how faith works. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need an editor or assistant, so when Romans 4 calls us to consider Abraham as a model of faith after 3 magnificent chapters dealing with sin and then what God has done in Christ Jesus, we do well to pay attention.
Abraham’s pattern was to “call on the Lord” and to worship at every critical junction. He was certainly not a perfect man, but he provides needed context. In all the disaster that was often Jacob and his family, in every failure, especially the envy and hatred of Joseph by his brothers, there’s no record of Jacob calling the family together for worship to seek the Lord. They were His chosen people, elected by grace and not by works, living according to their own principles.
And here we have Judah going off and making yet another major life decision fully on his own reasoning rather than the Lord’s.
It’s a common malady and it costs Judah greatly.
Two sons literally executed by God for their rampant and presumptuous evil! How horrible and nearly unimaginable a loss that Judah must endure. We certainly aren’t saying that the same thing will happen to everyone who walks according to their own path, but it’s the pattern we wish to highlight. Our forefather in the faith, Abraham had a rivalry brewing between himself and Lot – between his men and those loyal to Lot. The leadership difference between Abraham and Jacob/Judah is instructive.
“So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.” Genesis 13:1–13 ESV
In this we notice a few critical lessons or, if you will, clues as to how the men of faith are to conduct themselves in this lifetime in sin’s shadow.
Abram followed the Lord in faith and left Egypt enriched but, as Solomon will point out many times in Ecclesiastes, wealth is no protection from life’s challenges. Lot’s men and Abram’s men started bickering. Factions and loyalties formed as is the fashion of men and women who don’t trust totally in God (1 Corinthians 1:11-13). To this, Abram counseled with Lot and instead of walking by sight, he reacted in faith. How does he accomplish this? Because he was so awesome in and of himself? No. The first thing he did was call upon the name of the Lord (v. 4) and then he addressed the burgeoning problem.
Notice that before all the great sins of the forefathers in Scripture that there’s never mention of them calling upon the name of the Lord before the sin. In perhaps the most famous example, David never bothered to call on the Lord in prayer before the whole Bathsheba debacle. In the flesh we tend to think of prayer as impractical, but the Biblical record shows time and again that there’s nothing more important to the practical matters of a man’s life than seeking the Lord. For yourself personally – not abstractly.
Making decisions in life without His counsel is a categorical fallacy as it perpetuates the great folly inaugurated at the Fall, which is making decisions based upon one’s own reasoning. Prayer is the humble act of a man or woman seeking His will and glorifying Him in the very act of submission and fellowship. To deny oneself prayer is the gravest disaster that can befall any of us. We tend to worry about unforeseen disasters, don’t we? Oh, how this is because our priorities are too much in this world…so much that we can’t see how barren the soul is without daily refreshment and wisdom from the Lord. A man without prayer and worship as a daily part of life is like a healthy man living blind by keeping his eyes shut tight. Without seeking the Lord we grope as if in the dark and are incessantly bumping into life’s obstacles.
How many Christians live outside His will for the simplest of reasons: that they know of God but don’t know Him? A prayer-less life isn’t one fit for a human being; it’s as unnatural as a bird trying to literally run a marathon. Why should the eagle run when it can soar? Why should man wallow in aloneness, in despair, in confusion, and in all manner of anxiety while his Heavenly Father stands with arms outstretched saying, “oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how many times I try to gather you, and call you to me…but you won’t come…?”
A life without prayer descends into a pattern of foolishness and then, as the losses pile up, bitterness too.
So, Abram’s pattern is to call upon the Lord. In this way we see his trajectory in life. There are setbacks, but not losses because all things work together for good for those who love God. And how does a person love someone whom they ignore? The fact of happiness lies in the reality of prayer and worship. Man is deceived to think he’ll ever be truly happy without that deepest and most blessed privilege of all: fellowship with God through prayer and worship.
What happened next in Abram’s story is a key truth of Scripture.
Abram owed nothing. Lot owed Abram. And yet, because Abram walked by faith, he humbly gave Lot first choice of the land and Lot chose according to the eyes. Abram was okay with this because, again, he saw his life’s goal as faithfulness first and foremost. The key is always that we must keep the end in mind when considering the particulars.
So, what happens next?
“The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.” Genesis 13:14–18 ESV
Because of Abram’s continual faithfulness under pressure, the Lord speaks with him again.
This alone is the greatest of blessings and privileges! Would we rather achieve our most earthly passion, of riches or whatever, or have five minutes with God Himself? What does our heart truly treasure?
And not only this but Abram goes again. He obeys. And, as always, his first act is to worship! To the rest of the world it looks like Lot got the better deal. But from the chapters that follow, Lot fails to see the danger of living in wealth amidst men of great sin. In short order, Abram must rescue Lot.
Is this not a record of how all this unhappy business in life can play out? It’s not as though the Lord has left us without a record.
Far from telling us that all this vanity is the end of the matter, the Preacher in Ecclesiastes tells us that all the things in this world will pass away but the Lord and His word will not. This is why we aren’t to be “conformed” to this world but to delight ourselves in the Lord so as to be given the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). To chase meaning, success and happiness in this world “under the sun” is to literally chase the sunset, and to run hard in order to grasp one’s shadow. The secret of life is adoration of the living God who saves us, is saving us, and will ultimately save us.
Judah went and started a family on his own terms. And like many of us who are saved by all that amazing grace of the Lord, he was living in a personal hell while headed to heaven. Judah ran from his guilt and his sin and without repentance and God’s forgiveness we’ll always bring all of that baggage to the next place we go. No legs run swift enough, nor far enough, to outpace sin.
If this is you…if your well has run dry and the bucket rises empty, and the hurts pile up amidst so much resounding fatigue, go to Him! Go now, for He awaits you in that abundant sunshine of His love that will wash away all of the sin, and He’ll remove those stained threads you wear, putrid and worn bare, and place upon you by His own hand a righteous, white robe of peace. Peace for your soul. Peace for your mind. And peace for your home. Heed the lesson and go.
Recent Comments