Class 3 Devotional
The Patriarchs: Learning to Walk with God

Genesis 12:1-2 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you…”

It is hard to imagine what Abram was thinking when the LORD (YHWH) spoke to him. As a young man raised in the Chaldean (Babylonian) town Ur, he lost a brother (Haran) and married a woman unable to conceive (Sarai). His father Terah seemed to have some ambition or vision that led him to leave Ur to go to Canaan. We don’t know why, but perhaps he believed that moving to Canaan would be beneficial for his future and his family. Whatever the reason, before reaching Canaan Terah settled in a town (Harran) with a similar name to his son who died in Ur (Haran). Could Terah have had some relationship with YHWH? Did Abraham know anything about YHWH before this Genesis 12 calling? We just don’t know, and the text is short on details.

Picture yourself in Abram’s place. Now imagine that an invisible God, unknown by the Chaldeans, speaks to you in some audible way. His message anticipates radical changes: “Leave your country and your family. Move to the land I show you. I will (miraculously) make you into a great nation. I will bless you. All people will be blessed through you.” (my paraphrase).

Everyone you know is religious. You were raised to believe in the Chaldean gods, at least until your father moved your family toward Canaan. Maybe you heard about YHWH, the God who some claimed was the creator, or the destroyer (flood), or just another of the elohim (gods). But what does it mean to leave everything behind and walk with this (new) God, YHWH? What evidence can you draw on to build enough faith in this invisible being to trust him and obey?

Somehow you obey and journey toward Canaan in faith. You take only your wife and nephew (Lot). As the years pass, you start to wonder what you are doing. Then, after a dispute, Lot takes off only to get in big trouble with the locals. You rescue him, meet up with some strange priest of YHWH named Melchizedek, and do your best to avoid intertangling with the local pagan kings. It’s been a dozen years since you heard from YHWH himself, but that isn’t particularly odd to you since it wasn’t really a normal thing for him to talk to you in the first place.

Then the LORD speaks again, “Don’t be afraid. I’ve got this. Your reward is me.” (Gen 15:1-2, my paraphrase). This time you decide to ask a few clarifying questions about this whole “blessing” mission and why you don’t have any offspring yet. YHWH expands the vision—“your descendants will outnumber the stars.” That sounds great to you, though you and Sarai are getting quite old for childbirth. You’ve never had a relationship with a God like this. You believe him and he declares that now you’ve got your relationship with him straight (15:6).

That was the easy part. Next, the real trials come. It started with household drama after you slept with your wife’s slave—she got pregnant, leaving your aging wife distraught and producing a son who didn’t fit into the promise from YHWH. YHWH then changes your name to Abraham and your wife becomes Sarah but asks you to commit to a covenant that requires genital surgery (ouch). Lot’s towns (Sodom and Gomorrah) are destroyed by YHWH’s messengers. And there’s the time you lied to a king who then tried to sleep with your wife. Twice.

At last, 25 years after that first encounter with YHWH, Sarah delivers your son, Isaac. Then the ultimate test: YHWH asks you to “sacrifice your son…” (Genesis 22). This “walking with YHWH” stuff is no cake walk…

Genesis 12-50 parallels challenges we may face when we sign up to “walk with YHWH.” Unlike us, these “Patriarchs” (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph) had no history, religion, rituals, or written account to guide them in their relationship with YHWH. Their story was no fairy tale. Their trials threatened their lives, families, livelihood, homes, and freedom. They endured long periods of silence—yet maintained a real faith, trusted YHWH, and recognized his work in their lives.

The Patriarch’s story comes to a climax in Genesis 50. Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph endured attempted fratricide, imprisonment, and slander. The brothers who nearly killed him came to him begging for food. After years of despair, Joseph reflected on his circumstances and recognized the gracious hand of YHWH, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children” (Genesis 50:20-21). God delivered the family of Abraham into a position where they could finally multiply… but no Promised Land (yet).

There’s nothing easy about “walking with God.” Genesis 12-50 serves as an example of personal faith—bundled with all the struggles, failures, sacrifices, and victories. May we maintain our righteousness (right relationship) with God through every trial, temptation, and triumph this life brings. And may we see the gracious hand of YHWH in it all.

Here are a few questions to ponder:

• What do you do when you feel like it’s been a while since you heard from God?
• How do you react when the trials and temptations of life seem overwhelming?
• Do you believe that God still wants to be present in your life?