He Came Half-way
and stayed there--we do not know just how long, but probably about
five years.
Now, I believe that there are a great many Christians who are what
might be called Haran Christians. They go to Haran, and there they
stay. They only half obey. They are not out-and-out. How was it that
God got him out of Haran? His father died. The first call was to
leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into Canaan, but instead of g
ing
all the way they stopped half-way, and it was affliction that drove
Abram out of Haran. A great many of us bring afflictions on
ourselves, because we are not out-and-out for the Lord. We do not
obey Him fully. God had plans He wanted to work out through Abram,
and He could not work them out as long as he was there at Haran.
Affliction came, and then we find that he left Haran, and started
for the Promised Land.
There is just one word there about Lot--"and Lot went with Abram."
That is the key, you might say, to Lot's life. He was a weaker
character than Abram, and he followed his uncle.
When they got into the land that God had promised to give him, Abram
found it already inhabited by great and warlike nations--not by one
nation, but by a number of nations. What could he do, a solitary
man, in that land? Not only was his faith tested by finding the land
preoccupied by other strong and hostile nations, but he had not been
there a great while before a great famine came upon him. No doubt a
great conflict was going on in his breast, and he said to himself:
"What does this mean? Here I am, thirteen hundred miles away from my
own land, and surrounded by a warlike people. And not only that, but
a famine has come, and I must get out of this country."
Now, I don't believe that God sent Abram down to Egypt. I think that
He was only testing him, that he might in his darkness and in his
trouble be