"Father Abram's Flesh {SELF}"

""...And Abram went down into Egypt..." Gn 12:[10]""

I am told the number twelve (12) is Biblically symbolic of Government. This seems to remain consistently accurate [as far as I can tell] the longer I continue to Adventure ["Sojourn"] with God through His Word. But lest you think I merely take [other] men's "word" as my "view" of God's Word RATHER than Ask-Seek and KNOCK for myself [by Conversation With God Directly...], MOST "theologians" would tell you that the number thirteen (13) [because of its 1st occurrence {Gn14:4} and its 2nd {Gn17:25}] "denotes rebellion, apostasy, defection, disintegration, revolution", etc. - and I would have to agree, IN PART.

There is one very fundamental thing God has Taught me: DON'T CONCLUDE! That is; Don't "Judge" - don't "close the Book", so-to-speak, as though I [and not GOD] were the "JUDGE"... of ANYTHING! Jumping to "conclusions" usually proves you're following some "other leader", as the "conclusions" we "jump" to USUALLY turn out to be the product of someone ELSE'S "judgment".

Soooo.... when I noticed the number thirteen ALSO appearing in some profoundly GOOD references, I got "suspicious of the Lord" - [a phrase I "adopted" concerning God from the very first time He "snuck up behind me & 'grabbed' me by the butt!" - that is, "ambushed" me!] - sooo.... I just came right out with it and Asked Him POINT-BLANK; "Just what DO **YOU** Mean, or, what IS THE symbolic Significance of the number thirteen to YOU, God?" Well, as always [when I DARE to ASK like the Lord Commands us...], His Answer startled & surprised me. He Said, "Revelation!" Hmmmmm..... That could be of Good OR Bad!

Now the number ten (10) is supposed to be significant of "Ordinal Perfection" [it being double the Value for Grace {5}]. So we see...

Gn 12:10 [The Ordinal {Sequential} Perfection of God's Government]: "And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land."

It is quite significant [I think] that this is the FIRST OCCURRENCE of the Name [word] "Egypt" in Holy Writ! There are 20 verses in chapter 12 of Genesis [Government, remember]. Listen to the 1st verse: "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a *land that I will shew thee*." Was Egypt this "land"? Well, no it wasn't. Hmmm...

Now let's switch "scenes" to the New Testament; Jesus Speaking: "And some [Word] fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:" Mt 13:7 {notice the #!-now ck out 7:13 for significance!}; "But when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts." Mk 4:(15)

In these two Comments by our Lord, we see Him Contrast for us the distinction between the world [and its evil "lures", or "cares"], and the "flesh" [man's carnal-nature, and its "lusts" for the "lures" of the world]. Without the "lusts of the flesh", the "world" is impotent! Hence, Jesus Commands us to, "Take no thought", and "Be anxious for NOTHING", and to "Seek ye FIRST [FOREMOST, or ABOVE ALL!] the KIngdom of God and His Righteousness - and ALL [the "above" things your Father KNOWS you "have need of"] will be ADDED unto you!".

Jesus likens the cares of the world to "thorns", which are symbolic of the Cursed-Condition of Satan's Dominion, the "world". These "weeds" attack, choke and destroy God's "Planting" in our hearts. If allowed, this will cause us to be divided AGAINST God, and we will exchange the Truth for a lie and be Damned [Lost AFTER NewBirth, by "Apostasy"!]. Here we see the "flesh" of our heart AFTER Circumcision! Hebrews uses the Children of Israel AFTER their "Escape" [Circumcision from their "flesh", "EGYPT"] as God's Example of just such Damnable Apostasy upon which God Sends SNAKES! AFTER Conversion, we must Walk & Live unto GOD, +NOT+ the flesh - OR WE TOO WILL BE DAMNED!

In Mark, Jesus Points Out that the THRONE of the "world", or "flesh" is "SELF"! And He Makes it Clear that it is SELF which is Satan's TRUE servant! In this case the devil himself attacks by simple acquisition. He merely walks right in and CLAIMS HIS OWN - SELF! But the Word Says "takes away". That means "steal", doesn't it? HOW does Satan march in and "steal" the Word of God right out of the heart of a believer? GOOD question! That's what I want to discuss in this paper!

Back to Genesis! So we see Abram STARTING out to "sojourn" with the Lord [AS DIRECTED BY GOD! {"Government", remember?}]. But by verse 10, all "hell breaks loose"! Should we be surprised? No. Why? Because in verse 7 ["spiritual perfection"] the Word Says, "And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, "Unto thy SEED will I give this land:" and their builded he an altar unto the Lord Who had appeared to Him!" God Speaks to a "barren man" [some 75+ years of age] about "Seed" he COULD NOT POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND [at this point], and what does this man do? He Receives it as FROM THE LORD!, and builds an altar in Canaan! Why should we NOT be surprised? Because Jesus Has already TOLD us to EXPECT a "visit" immediately following His Implanting of His Word ["Revelation"] in our heart!

Now the next thing we need to discuss is how God uses "Seed" for "Word", and visa versa. Remember, it was God's Word [Promise to be Faithful to Abra(h)am & his "seed"] Which BECAME AbraHam's "Seed" [which we LATER Learn is FAITH!]. Sound complicated? Well, just remember that it was by a Word from God man was Created in the FIRST place [only 8 chapters back]! So God's Word [Seed] Is His Command {Government}. But He ALSO Reserves EVERYTHING **FOR** His "Seed" {Word}! God had Chosen Abra(H)am - to "Father" His "Seed" {Word = Faith!}. Hence, Abraham is the "Father" of the Faith Christ "Authored" [Alpha!] and "Finished" [Omega]!

Abram and Sarai both have Character-Changes to "Royalty" by God's Imperial "H" in their Names! NOTE! we are not informed they are "barren" until 15:2! Remember this as we see God "Test His Seed-Word" [Faith] in Abram! He starts out in vs 1 "in the Spirit", and is "detoured" ["derailed"] in vs 10 by a "by-pass" or "sidetrack" into [the foreign land of] HIS FLESH [by the "cares of the world", and mortal "anxieties"!].

The VERY FIRST TIME we "see" Egypt, it "lures" by its "worldly power" and "possessions" by "promising" [deceitfully] to "provide" "life"! But notice it is always MORTAL "life" Egypt "cares & provides for"! [An interesting side note: in an "inversion" of this fact, God will later USE this "perversion" of Egypt to Bless His People by "inserting" His "Seed" [Israel] into Egypt's "womb" for "nurturing" - IN-THE-FLESH!]

"And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife [his "flesh"!], "Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:" Gn12:11 [his concern for his "self" appears even AS HE APPROACHES Egypt!] Well, we KNOW what he did - how he Commands his ["flesh"] wife to LIE to ["deceive"?] the Flesh of Egypt]; indeed, to "Pharaoh" [The Deceiver!] himself [usually a symbol for Satan, as "Lord of the flesh"!]. What's going on???

On verse 10, Bullinger [The Companion Bible] has an instructive comment: "Satan's attempt [thus early] to destroy Abra(H)am's seed through Sara(H)!". Was God "Leading" Abram "down into Egypt" as He Did Jesus "into the wilderness"... to be TEMPTED? We don't know. Did He Allow it nontheless? Yes! WAS Abram's "flesh" "tempted"? Yes! That is, was God's Seed [Word, Faith] placed in jeopardy by this "sojourn" "down into the flesh"? Yes it was! What happened?

God Intervened! Bullinger also points out that women in Egypt did NOT wear veils - a fact which Abram MUST have known! So for fear of losing his mortal life, he "risks" the loss of his Spiritual Life; [Inheritance!], and for fear of losing his "flesh" [wife] he resorts to the "way of the flesh", DECEIT. Abram "digs" a "pit" for his SELF, ["Satan's Throne"], doesn't he? And then he jumps right in! Well was his "SELF" humiliated ["Crucified"]? You bet!

Let me ask you something. When was the 1st time God "plagued Pharaoh"? "And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with GREAT PLAGUES because of Sarai, Abram's wife." Gn 12"17 Hmmm....

Now remember, Abram & Sarai were "sterile" & "barren" while in Egypt! But it does appear that God blessed Abram - even by this "romp" of "unbelief" [if that's what it was] into the "flesh" of doubt. How? By Purging them of the "lusts of the flesh", the "doubts of unbelief", and the "Headsip of "Self". God takes them THROUGH [not OUT OF!] the "fire" ["Cauldron", or "Crucible"] of a sort of "purgatory" as by temptation and testing He Forges and Indelibly Bonds and Imprints them with a God-Dependency-Relationship Destined to ENDURE-BY-FAITH!

Remember the number "13"? Gn 13:1,2; "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold!"

Now I'm not sure what "cattle" represent, exactly, [except that God seems to Prize their Possession greatly, as in Jonah 4:11 & Ps 50:10], but "silver" is said to represent "Redemptive Blood", and "gold" symbolizes "Purity", "Righteousness" & "Preciousness", as everyone knows. So we See [AFTER the "flesh-purge" of "self-dominance" and "worldly-care" and "mortal-dependency" by the fires of Humiliation and "Circumcision"], Abram's "party" was Prepared to "Ad-Venture" on With the Lord! Quite a "detour", eh? [Talk about the "College of the Saints"!]

What does all this mean to us? Most folks think the "Battle" is OUT THERE [somewhere], rather than WITHIN - WITH SELF! As a pastor pointed out recently, Jesus did not wrestle on the "Rock of Agony" in Gethsemene with either God OR the Devil - but with SELF! It was SELF which did not want to "Drink" that "Cup"! And it was SELF that Hung Abandoned by God on the Cross of Shame! When Jesus Cried out, "Father! - Father! - WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME??", just before the End, it was SELF Which Died! A "SELF" Which had been MADE sin FOR us!

Abram's "Gethsemene" may have been in the "SELF-flesh" of Egypt; but his "Golgotha" came at the "Calvary" of his "Crucifixion" as "father" of our Faith when he was Asked By His God to Murder God's OWN "Seed", and his "ONLY SON", Isaac! [Gn22:2] Here was the Cross!

Did God "TEMPT" Abraham? God says He did! [Gn 22:1] Did God "TEMPT" Jesus God Says He did! [Mt 4:1] Yet James 1:13,14 Says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted of God": for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is DRAWN AWAY of his own LUST, and enticed!" Hmmm.... Yet Jesus Taught us to ASK [Pray], "Lead us NOT into TEMPTATION!" [Mt 6:13] ??? What gives? ContraDictions?... or MYSTERIES? Ahh! Go ASK GOD!