Genesis 13: 1-3

The opening scene of chapter 13 paints a powerful portrait of repentance. Abraham returns to the place he had been earlier. He had taken a detour that nearly cost him everything. He had looked for provision for his needs outside of the promise of God. Abraham was now retracing his steps asking himself carefully where he had gone wrong. There must have been a great deal of wisdom in journeying to Egypt. On the face of it any sensible man would surely take his family away from the famine to the land of plenty. The case for the journey was compelling and Abraham submitted to its wisdom.

This pattern was one that would hinder the line of Abraham over and over again in the generations that would follow him. Israel repeatedly lost confidence in the promise and looked to the surrounding nations as allies. When testing times came the temptation was to lose sight of God. Where is God? He seems distant! He doesn't seem real in our present situation! Who else can help?

God's requirement of us is faith. To believe him. To believe that the Kingdom he promised to Abraham is the only Kingdom worth belonging to. To trust that he has, is and will build that Kingdom. However attractive the other Kingdoms look, their foundations are shallow and crumbling, and their high walls are deceptive. No doubt today we will face the same temptation as Abraham and his descendants. We will wonder where God's Kingdom is, we'll question the promise, we'll feel the draw of materialism, fame, power, pleasure. They will beckon to us to come and be satisfied now. We'll find ways to meet our needs with substitutes when we lose faith in the promise. We will run to Egypt.

All of this boils down to the breaking of the first command. We lose faith in God and look to something else for provision, rescue, reward. We stop believing that God is enough and our faith shifts onto other things. They become our god. We hope they will deliver us from our struggles, we hope they will satisfy our deepest needs, we think they have power to save. We all have gods. We all are hoping in something. Faith in Yahweh is always tested. Famine comes. Trouble comes. Disappointment comes. Life tests the promise. Every story in scripture is marked by this pattern. Faith holds onto the promise even when everything around you is screaming out to let go. Faith doesn’t run to Egypt when the famine comes.

So what does chapter 13 verses 1-3 offer? It offers grace. It recognises that along the journey we sometimes do run to Egypt. We sometimes do fall into idolatry. We sometimes fail. However Abraham retraced his steps. He walked back along way he came and he rediscovered the place in his journey where he had taken the detour. He repented.

I like the thought that he went back to where he had come from. Sometimes repentance is sold as emotional response to the bad things we’ve done. We say sorry, we cry, we get up, we carry on. Sometimes that’s ok but sometimes it probably means something more. What will it mean for us to journey back to the road we left. How can we find the path we were once walking but that we have since departed from. What steps must we take to get back there? Don’t mistake these questions as a call for penance. I’m not suggesting you can pay for your mistakes to appease God. Grace had already come to Abraham. Pharaoh had already released and blessed him. God had already intervened. The journey back is more about rediscovering the promise and revitalising your hope.