Lesson Outline

Series: Abraham: The Journey of faith

Title: Valley of Decision

Lesson 0607-3 (Miller)

KEY VERSE: Genesis 12:6-20

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh.^[a] And the Canaanites were then in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 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 I^[c] 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 the LORD 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.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

INTRODUCTION: Abram obeyed God and went to the Promised Land. Upon arrival (and because of Abram’s obedience) God shows up again and gives him another promise. God says “to your descendants I will give this land.” God insinuates that Abram will have children even though up until this moment Abram has been childless. Abraham then pitches his tent in the valley of decision. He had two real cities on his left and his right. Bethel means “The house of God” and Ai means ruin or destruction. Real life many times places us right in this same valley. What kind of decisions are we making today? Are we choosing Beth-El or Ai?  In this situation we see Abram choosing Ai.

OUTLINE:

1. Gen 12:7 To your descendants I WILL give this land.
1. Because of Abram’s obedience God shows up again.
2. This is the first promise that Abram gets in the new land. He gets a multi-generational promise, a legacy promise.
3. This promise implies that Abram will have children
4. God says, “I will give this land.” But He has not given to him yet. In fact it will be more than 400 years later before his descendants take over this land.
5. God gives us a promise or a prophetic word and after one or two years we give up and think that God must have lied to us.
6. Can you wait 400 years for the fulfillment of a promise to you?

2. Abraham lives in the middle of real life. He pitches his tent between two real cities. Bethel and Ai.
1. Bethel means “The house of God”
2. Ai means Ruin or destruction.
3. Deuteronomy 11:26 behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your god but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
4. Abraham is living in the real world. A world that requires him to make real decisions.
5. This is where we live today. We live between the church and ruin.
6. Will I chose to serve God in “The house of God.” Or will I go my own way and do my own thing in the city of Ai. 
7. Righteousness and blessing to the left and ruin/destruction on the right.
8. Joshua, Moses’ servant made this statement when faced with the same decision, “Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24
9. The Israelite’s choose Ai/ruin. Visit the sin of Achan in Joshua 7. Joshua was defeated by the Ammorites because Achan sinned and took for himself (stole) accursed things.
10. We stand in between blessing and cursing.
11. On the other side of every blessing is a cursing. This is the rule of God.

3. The famine hits.
1. Abram was told to go to the Promised Land. But during a time of drought he makes a decision to go to Egypt. Abram took matters into his own hands. He believed God to leave his land but couldn’t believe God to sustain him in the new land.
2. Abram was living between Bethel (House of the LORD) and Ai (Ruin). He made a decision to move in the direction of Ai instead of Bethel.
3. Abram was a real person that had to make a real decision
4. We are many times put in the same place of decision. Do we stay where God has told us to be or do we try to fix our own problems? Abraham was in a famine. He didn’t have enough food for his family and his people. God uses famine to see if we will trust Him over ourselves.
5. It is very common for ALL Christians to face a famine at some point in their lives. God will give you direction and ask you to do something like move to Pensacola. When you get there you starting growing spiritually at a church like Jubilee but then you lose your job, go in debt and begin to think about moving somewhere else.
6. We need to learn to judge ALL major decisions by God’s word and not by our circumstances like a famine!

4. Abram seeks an answer to his problem in Egypt.
1. Abram goes to Egypt and tells the pharaoh that Sarai is his sister. This a half truth. Sarai was his half-sister. However Abram forgets to mention that Sarai is his wife.
2. Abram wrestles with integrity.
3. This is the start of his journey.
4. This is where the rubber meets the road.
5. He became a man of faith; he did not start out perfect!!!
6. He wrestled with truth as all men do.

                                                               i.      What is a white lie?

                                                             ii.      Do I fill my personal gas tank with company money?

                                                            iii.      Do I pay for my personal lunch with the company credit card and call it business?

                                                           iv.      Do I inflate my tax deductions on my personal tax return?

7. He blows his first chance at being a man of integrity.
8. He ruins his testimony with pharaoh.

                                                               i.      “I thought you were a Christian” “Why did you lie to me?”

5. Abraham Crashes
1. He left the Promised Land to fix a famine problem
2. He almost loses his wife
3. He almost loses his life
4. God rescues him.
5. God loving kindness endures forever.
6. God was watching out for Abraham. He came to his rescue.

KEYWORD DISCUSSION:

Integrity

White Lies

OPTIONAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Have you ever been in a situation similar to Abraham where a famine shows up at your house? You have no money for rent, bills, etc. You get a great job offer but it is in a different state. You would have to leave your church and community to take that new job. What do you do?

You make a decision to ALWAYS be at church on Sundays and get involved in a ministry. All of a sudden you boss requires you to work on Sundays or be fired. What do you do?