Part 1 - The Journey of the Pilgrim: Abraham

Hello fam! ❤️ Today we’re doing Bible study.

I’ve been studying the formative years of Abraham’s calling, and there are so many profound truths buried in his journey.

We often talk about Abraham as the father of faith and the father of nations—and rightfully so. But today, I want to take a different angle and look at the Abraham who was still learning God.

The Abraham who obeyed—but not always completely.

The Abraham who believed—but still had questions.

The Abraham who received a promise—and then made a terrible decision trying to help God fulfill it.

Because Abraham did not become Abraham overnight.

He was formed on the journey.And maybe that’s what makes Abraham’s story so relatable and powerful. In my opinion he was the first generational breaker. He left his father’s house—a household shaped by idolatry. Scripture tells us that his father served other gods ( Joshua 24:2 ). He wasn’t simply walking into a promise; he was walking out of an old system. God was taking one man out of an old pattern and establishing something entirely new through him.

Abraham was the beginning of a new bloodline, a new lineage, and a new legacy.

Let’s unpack this…

THE CALL: GOD DOESN’T GIVE ABRAHAM THE WHOLE MAP

Genesis 12 begins with an instruction:

“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” — Genesis 12:1

Notice something.

God tells Abraham to GO, but He doesn’t tell him exactly where everything is going.

No detailed itinerary.

Just: Leave. Follow Me. I’ll show you.

The calling was personal to Abraham.

But then Genesis 12:5 casually tells us:

Abraham took Lot, his nephew, with him.

Sir??? 😂 I thought the instruction was to leave your relatives?

Abraham obeyed… with a comma. 😂

He left his country.

He left his father’s house.

He started moving. But Lot came too.

And I find this fascinating because sometimes we think obedience means, “Well, technically I did what God said.”

Meanwhile, we’ve carried something with us that God told us to leave behind.

THE PROMISE BEGINS TO UNFOLD

When Abraham arrives in Canaan, God appears to him. Why? Because the first instruction was met with obedience to a degree lol (75% lol because he brought Lot) —and after obedience came the reward:

“To your descendants I will give this land.” — Genesis 12:7

God is repeating one of the promises he told Abraham initially when he gave him the instructions to leave.

At this stage, God emphasizes the land only.

That’s important.

Then Genesis 13 happens.

Abraham and Lot have both become wealthy. Their possessions are so great that the land cannot support them together, and conflict breaks out between their herdsmen.

Abraham basically tells Lot: We’re family. This fighting makes no sense. Choose where you want to go, and I’ll go the other way.

Lot chooses the well-watered Jordan plain.

And then Scripture says something I don’t want you to miss:

“And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him…” — Genesis 13:14

AFTER LOT LEFT.👀 God speaks again.

He talks about the land again, but this time He expands the revelation.

The land will belong to Abraham’s descendants forever, and his descendants will become as numerous as the dust of the earth.

The promise becomes bigger.

The details become clearer.

And I can’t ignore the timing.

God had originally told Abraham to leave his relatives as part of initial instruction , but Abraham brought Lot.

Once Lot was finally separated from Abraham, now the obedience is met 100% God revealed the other layer of the promise.

Lot wasn’t necessarily evil.

But Lot represented something Abraham should have never had carried along.

And sometimes the thing hindering you isn’t sinful. It just wasn’t supposed to come with you.

There are dimensions of a promise we may never experience while holding onto something God told us to release. Once Lot left, Abraham’s obedience was complete, and God revealed the full promise.

FROM PROMISE TO COVENANT

Then we reach Genesis 15, and something shifts.

The language moves from simply promise toward covenant.

God tells Abraham:

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

But Abraham essentially responds:

Lord… what exactly are You going to give me? I still don’t have a child.

I love the rawness of that conversation.

Abraham has heard the promises.

Descendants. Land. Future. Nations.

But there is one tiny problem: SIR, I DON’T HAVE A SON. 😂

So God takes him outside.

“Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them… So shall your descendants be.”

And then one of the most powerful statements in Scripture appears:

“And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” — Genesis 15:6

Abraham had no physical evidence. There was only a Word. And Abraham believed God.

Faith is believing what God said when your present reality has absolutely no evidence that it is coming.

But then Abraham asks another question:

“How shall I know?”

I love that.

I believe You… but help me understand.

And God doesn’t discard him for asking.

Instead, God gives Abraham something deeper.

He reveals details about the future of his descendants—including their affliction in another land, their eventual deliverance, and their return in the fourth generation.

Then Genesis 15:18 says:

“On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram…”

We have moved deeper.

Calling → Promise → Covenant.

Abraham is learning God. The relationship is growing DEEPER. God is progressively revealing himself and Abraham’s purpose .

THEN ABRAHAM TRIES TO “HELP” GOD

And here comes Genesis 16.

Smh.

After all the promises, the covenant, and Abraham’s growing relationship with God, something very interesting happens next…

Sarai comes with a plan.

She cannot have children, so she gives Hagar to Abraham and suggests that perhaps they can build their family through her.

And Abraham agrees.

Sir.

God has been talking to you this entire time.

Why didn’t you ask Him?! 😭

“Lord, Sarah has presented an interesting proposal. Is this what You meant?”

One conversation could have changed everything.

But Abraham doesn’t ask.

And that makes me wonder whether Abraham was communicating everything God had told him to Sarai. Because God had repeatedly spoken to Abraham about descendants… was he sharing that info with her ?

I believe the Hagar solution wasn’t culturally bizarre for their world. Using a servant as a surrogate-like means of producing an heir was practiced in the ancient world, and perhaps Abraham and Sarah were already familiar with this kind of arrangement from their old life in Ur of the Chaldeans. That’s my guess, but it could explain why the idea seemed completely reasonable to them.

Remember, Abraham is coming out of an old system and being introduced to God’s system. He’s still learning—and unlearning. This is an area he had to learn the hard way….

Something can be culturally acceptable, logically reasonable, and still not be God’s method.

Abraham had a promise.

Abraham had a covenant.

Abraham believed God.

And Abraham still made a grievous mistake.

How?

I believe Abraham was still learning the ways and character of the God who called him.

He knew what God had promised, but he was still discovering who God was.

He had to learn that you cannot use a method contrary to God’s character to produce something God promised.

Sin will never be God’s strategy for birthing His promise.

Sometimes we know God’s promise before we fully understand God’s ways.

And that gap can get us in trouble.

Part 2: We continue the journey of the great pilgrim, Abraham.

🎶 Music Time

No Flex, Just Faith — Diamond District 🔥