Guest Author: Rev. Yvette Malveaux, Author of Know Yourself & Take Flight: 31 Day Journey To Becoming Out Of Reach by Yvette Malveaux, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
The Ten Testings of Abraham continued from Part 1…
In Part 1 of this message, we ended with the following questions posed and awaiting your reply….
If you were told to, “Go to your own soul? What would you even do? What does that even mean?
Would we even try to understand? or would we dismiss it as some crazy thought we just had?
Surely, GOD was speaking to the very soul of Abram and Abram received the message.
The Bible is a spiritual text, concerning spiritual matters. Spiritual battles are fought to overtake the soul of man. This could be the reason so many people say that they don’t understand it. Engaging the Word of God means that you have to approach the Gates of His Tabernacle with your soul and your spirit ready to receive the Word.
Here’s the key: In all your study in the word, keep your eye on what is going on in the spirit, to the spirit of man/mankind. Train/discipline your mind so that you don’t get so caught up in the “story” that you miss what is happening on the pages of scripture to the soul and spirit of the people that God is bringing to your attention. There are prophetic spiritual implications occurring right in front of you at all times.
In scripture God is speaking to the soul of man. His primary concern is with your soul.
Today the Lord has that word for everyone that is here. As you obey Him you will find out who you really are. As you surrender every ounce of obedience in your life, to the will of God, you will find out who you really are in Christ Jesus.
In Genesis 12, the LORD gives Abram a promise. “I will bless those that bless you.”
At that time, Abram had no idea he could not have a child. He did not know what God meant, but he was going to obey the Voice of the LORD, anyway. Genesis 12:4.
So, “Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to Him.”
(A lot of us want revelation, God to speak to us on a continual basis. One of the ways that we can be sure that God will continue to speak to us in revelation is when we are obedient with that which he already told us, and has already given. Then as we move forward, GOD will reveal to us even more.)
Now Abram departed.
Genesis 12:5
He took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son. Lot: who was a convert. Notice the souls he had with him… Abram already was a soul winner. So, he did not leave alone. He went with the souls that he had gotten.
When you and I venture forth in obedience do you know that you are not just obeying God for yourself. There is somebody who you cannot see, someone you may not even know of, that is going to benefit through your obedience.
We don’t consider, that through one act of simple obedience, a number of souls will be affected. That one act of obedience can bring blessing upon those around us… does not make sense to our rational minds, Oftentimes this spiritual fact escapes us. It’s the simple things that confound the wise. But, don’t allow this to remain a mystery to you any longer. Ask GOD to show you what goes on behind the veil because of a simple act of obedience or repentance. How does obedience affect the soul?
In the meantime, Abram felt that he had to go against his own nature and character to accept the call of GOD. It was a very hard thing to do. He was such a tender-hearted man. It would have been easy if he would have been a hard-hearted person, who was calloused and maybe in competition with his father. Had he felt like he was going to show his dad a thing or two, he could have walked out without a second thought! But that was not Abram’s nature. It was hard for him.
But Abraham had been seeking GOD for a very long time. He had finally came into a place where He could hear the voice of GOD. Having heard, he could not turn away.
By making the decision to turn toward GOD; Abram had to die to self.
Soon after the 9th testing; his name was no longer going to be Abram. He became transformed through every act of obedience. Abraham had truly arisen and was moving forward, from glory to glory. He became transformed.
In Christ Jesus, who he did know at the time, but met in his life under the appearance of Melchizedek, Abram departed. He took the souls with him (Genesis12:6). Abram passed through the land to a place in Genesis12:7. After, his act of obedience, the LORD appeared to Abram.
God continues to give revelation. Obedience waters the promises of God. Obedience opens the avenues for the promise to take full effect. The Lord appears to Abram and said, “Unto this thy seed will I give this land” And Abram, built an altar unto the Lord that appeared to him. The altar was an act of faith, Abram was acknowledging before the world that, “the Lord spoke to me.”
When God speaks to you prophetically, you write it down. If, you have an ear to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, you keep a record of His Words.
Genesis 12:9 Abram journeyed forward, continuing towards the south.
Now the 2nd Testing
We see in Genesis 12:10 Abram arrives in the Promised Land and there’s a famine. ( That must have been completely disappointing, right?) To come so far, though so much, and to arrive in a place of famine.
The famine is so severe that he is forced to go into Egypt to live. When he gets to Egypt his wife is taken captive by Pharaoh.
(Let’s set aside our English understanding for a few minutes, of the word famine, and put on our “spiritual understanding” gained from examining the scriptures from the Hebrew perspective… Famine from a Hebrew mindset, is mostly associated with the understanding that the famine indicates that there is a lack of God’s word. The literal famine is not as dangerous as the spiritual famine).
Abram is headed toward the promise and finds a famine. Without the faith to overcome famine, he heads down to Egypt to find food for His people. Is this only about the stomach–no food to eat? or could it be that upon his arrival to Canaan, there was not enough faith to sustain them as they built up their new land?
Abram had no idea why he was being led into Egypt. God told him something and everything God told him was now the opposite in the natural. Everything looked totally opposite.
Why? Because, he had to go to the 2nd level of faith.
3rd testing Sarai taken captive by Pharaoh
Abram went to Egypt because God was going to use his people to come out of Egypt. He had to go through it. God was going to use him as the father of faith. What happened when he got down into Egypt?
He told his wife to say she was his sister.
In those days if a man had a beautiful wife, they would kill the husband to kidnap the wife and give her as a gift to Pharoah. Abram did not want to get killed. So, he said to Sarai, “You tell them you are my sister when we get down there.” Everything will be fine. Well, the minute she got there, Sarai a type of bride of Christ is taken to Pharoah. Pharaoh wanted her to be his wife. Abram withheld that she was his wife and said, “Yes, she is my sister.”
Pharaoh immediately received a plague by the LORD. In the meantime, Pharaoh gave Abram such a dowry for her. He gave him riches and silver and gold and cattle and abundance of herds and all kinds of things for Sarai.
When he realized he had Abram’s wife, he basically said, “Just get out of here and go.”
Same thing happened to his children. By faith they borrowed of the Egyptians and Pharaoh said just get out. God allowed that to be for His glory.
Now Abram was the richest man in the holy land when he went back to Canaan.
(You cannot obey God and not come out ahead. In this testing we see the riches of obedience. Joshua 22:8 this is Abraham’s seed.
There is spoil when you obey.
II Corinthians 1:3-7 “Tells us now, blessed be God who comforts us in all our afflictions.”
1st testing; left everything.
2nd testing; went into Egypt and there was a famine.
3rd testing; Sarai taken captive by pharaoh.
The 4th Testing
to be continued in Part 3…