Never in history, have so many people traveled as much as during the last fifty years. But there is a much more important travel to have in mind, it is the one of our life!
Indeed, during your life, you have the opportunity to travel in both space and time. This trip gives you the opportunity to do great things, if you prepare yourself for it using the good examples and teachings of the past.
There is one famous traveler that we would like to discuss with you, he is Abraham the believer. This man traveled most of the time with his wife Sarah and he covered very long distances during his life which lasted 175 years.
The Bible shows us the many qualities that this man had developed during the long journey of his life.
Obedience and submission to his spiritual Father.
Abraham is a believer and therefore his Lord is not unknown to him. So when Yehoah, translated by the Lord in the Bibles, asks him to leave his house, his family and his homeland, he does not have any doubt for a moment and does not look at his own carnal interest. He obeys as an obedient child to his Father and without any delay, he leaves the city of Ur in Chaldea with several members of his family including his father Terach, his wife Sarah and his orphan nephew Lot. Many years later, he left in the same way the city of Haran to reach the land of Canaan.
• Acts 7: 2-4:
“2 And he (i.e. Stephen) said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The Elohim of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.”
• Genesis 12: 1-4:
“ 1Now Yehoah had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as Yehoah had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram departed, as Yehoah had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Charan.”
Overnight, 75-year-old Abraham left his previous way of life as a city-dweller leaving his home and town to start a nomadic life under tents with all the difficulties that go with it when knowing the Middle East climate, especially in the desert.
At this moment, Abram becomes like all the believers of whom the Bible speaks,
a foreigner in this world
and a traveler to the new world
We will discover the consequences of his new status in the future.
Humbleness.
One of the first consequences for Abram who is traveling in countries where he is a foreigner, like an immigrant, is the humbleness he must show to request for a permit of residency to the authorities of all the territories he will cross. These authorizations, he asked them among others to the inhabitants of Hebron, also in the Negev and to the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Acts 7: 5
“And Elohim gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.”
Life in insecurity with a fear of the inhabitants.
Abraham also feared for his life. This was the case in Egypt where he had to flee because of a starvation that reigned in the Negev. Like today, Egyptian customs were based on violence. Abraham, fearing that he might be murdered to rob him of his very nice wife, pretended to be his brother, what was also true. Pharaoh was indeed seduced by Sarah's beauty and he took her to his palace to make her his wife. Fortunately, Yehoah protects the couple by causing the misfortune of Pharaoh and his house.
Genesis 12: 11-19
“11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that may live because of you.”
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But Yehoah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
Bear injustice.
As we have read above, Abraham keeps a low profile against Pharaoh but, while he has not committed any wrongdoing towards Pharaoh, who would have killed him if he had known that Sarah was his wife. And Abraham suffered unflinchingly the injustice done to him when Pharaoh brutally drove him out of his country.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Abraham demonstrates his love for his neighbor when he lets Lot choose the best land for himself when his herds became too large to stay together with those of his uncle. Abraham kept for himself the poorer and harder lands in the mountains of Canaan (Genesis 13: 10-12):
" 10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before Yehoah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of Yehoah, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. "
Courage and heroism.
Abraham displays remarkable courage and heroism when he assembles an armed troop to release Lot and his family who were captured by the powerful alliance of the kings from the Babel and Elam regions that came to make war against the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah and the surrounding area (Genesis 14: 14-16):
" 14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. "
Disinterested.
Selflessness is another quality that Abraham developed. He shows it after his brilliant victory against the kings of the east when he refuses any reward from the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. On the contrary, he will even pay his tithe to Melchizedek the high priest of Elohim and king of Salem!
Love for Yehoah always at the first place!
Abraham knows that before all, he should love Yehoah, his Elohim. This is what he will prove when Elohim will claim the sacrifice of the only son he had from Sarah when he was 99 years old.
Abraham's journey of several days with Isaac between Beer Sheva and the Mount Moriya was a terrible ordeal but he successfully made it. Elohim kept the suspense to the end but he had the indisputable proof of Abraham's unswerving friendship (Gen. 22: 10-12):
" 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of Elohim called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear Yehoah, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
A lasting and unshakeable faith.
Until the last day of his life, at the age of 175, Abraham never ceased to believe and never doubted about the promise of his Creator, a promise by which he gave him the whole earth from Canaan as we read in Genesis 17: 1-8:
" 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yehoah appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty Elohim; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and Elohim talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be Elohim to you and your descendants after you.
8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. "
Yet this promise has not been fulfilled yet and Abraham is dead since a long time! But until his death, he never questioned the word of his Father, knowing that it would be realized in another world where he would no longer be a stranger. Let's read that in Hebrews 11: 8-10:
" 8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim. "
Conclusion.
I wish everyone a journey as enriching as Abraham's one, a trip in this world where like him we are strangers. Let's develop, as he does, those qualities that build the man of the world to come.
Let us also speak to our Father as He speaks to us in abundance in His Bible. This Bible should serve as a travel guide because it contains all the information necessary for each stage of our life.
Let us also note that Abraham is not the only traveler mentioned by the Bible, there are many others: Isaac, Jacob, David,
Yeshuah and his apostles all traveled guided by their Father and his Word.
Yeshuah is of course the star about the travel of his life:
· He left the heavens, his home where he was with Elohim and His kingdom to come into another world, where he was a stranger. Indeed he said “ My kingdom is not in this world”.
· He showed is humbleness coming on earth to live like a servant while he created everything with the one who became his father.
· He was living under the authority of Satan, the Devil who is the Prince of this world and was always respectful of his authority.
· He was facing enemies not only like Satan but also like the Pharisees who all wanted to kill him so often.
· He was courageous when facing these people and telling them the truth calling for instance the Pharisees sons of the devil!
· Yehoah, his Elohim, was always on the top of his priorities and he proved this by accepting to be sacrificed as a gesture of obedience and love to and for Elohim.