Lessons from Abraham’s Blessing - 2

TOYE OGUNGBE·TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016·

In Genesis 13:14-15,17 The LORD spoke to Abraham after his separation from Lot his nephew in this manner: “....Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever....Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breath of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Firstly, we see God picking Abraham an idol worshipper from Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq) adopting him as His son and separating him from his family. God drafted him into His own family and bestowed upon him covenant rights and privileges. I call that grace for what had Abraham done to deserve this? Secondly, we see Abraham, a man with little knowledge of the sovereign LORD forsaking everything: obeying and trusting God. (left his royal family for an unknown land) I call that faith. The beginning of faith.

The blessing had kicked in and Abraham began to prosper. The blessing was infectious such that even those around him such as Lot his nephew became a partaker of the blessing. This should apply to every believer who walks in this revelation. There had to be a separation because the land could not support both Abraham and Lot’s possessions. Then Abraham gives Lot the opportunity first to make choice of land. Lot chose the plain of Jordan, a lush land, well watered and green; of striking resemblance of the garden of God - the garden of Eden. This later turned out to be evil Sodom and Gomorrah which was destroyed by God with fire and brimstone. All that glitters is not gold!

After the separation God spoke to Abraham and said: “Lift up your eyes and look, northward, southward, eastward and westward.” In other words to look as far as he could into the four cardinal directions. Secondly, God said: “Arise walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Now the question is: Was it physically possible for Abraham to see the whole of today’s Israel from where he stood? I doubt it! Let us remember that the land of Canaan was given to Abraham “in trust” as a founder and representative of the nation. In Joshua 1:4 the boundaries of the land were described as: “From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea towards going down of the sun, shall be your territory.” God instructed Abraham to arise and walk through the length and width of the land. Was that physically possible?

I believe God was telling him to look within and imagine. God was developing Abraham’s “faith muscle”. The keywords in this lesson are LOOK and WALK. Where “look” in this instance is translated from the Hebrew word Ra’ah, which means: to see, to see intellectually, to examine, to be fully aware, a prophetic vision. And “walk” is: to have a revelation of; or understanding the working reality of something. May the LORD grant us the ability see clearly in our hearts and take possession of our inheritance in Christ.