Further Thought: God honored His part of the covenant by bless-
ing Abraham. And Abraham honored God by not storing up treasures
on this earth. “The heritage that God has promised to His people is not
in this world. Abraham had no possession in the earth, ‘no, not so much
as to set his foot on.’ Acts 7:5. He possessed great substance, and he
used it to the glory of God and the good of his fellow men; but he did
not look upon this world as his home. The Lord had called him to leave
his idolatrous countrymen, with the promise of the land of Canaan as
an everlasting possession; yet neither he nor his son nor his son’s son
received it. When Abraham desired a burial place for his dead, he had
to buy it of the Canaanites. His sole possession in the Land of Promise
was that rock-hewn tomb in the cave of Machpelah.”—Ellen G. White,
Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 169.
As we live, we are sometimes tempted to go toward wealth and lei-
sure. It takes strong faith to practice delayed gratification. “The mag-
nificent palace of Pharaoh and the monarch’s throne were held out as an
inducement to Moses; but he knew that the sinful pleasures that make
men forget God were in its lordly courts. He looked beyond the gor-
geous palace, beyond a monarch’s crown, to the high honors that will be
bestowed on the saints of the Most High in a kingdom untainted by sin.
He saw by faith an imperishable crown that the King of heaven would
place on the brow of the overcomer. This faith led him to turn away
from the lordly ones of earth and join the humble, poor, despised nation
that had chosen to obey God rather than to serve sin.”—Patriarchs and
Prophets, p. 246.
Discussion Questions:
Ê What will happen to our possessions when Jesus comes? (See
2 Pet. 3:10.) In fact, what can happen to them even before Jesus
comes? (See Matt. 6:20.) Why, then, is it always important to keep
things in the proper perspective?
Ë Jesus warned about “the deceitfulness of riches” (Mark 4:19).
What is He talking about? How can riches deceive us?
Ì In class, talk about the ways Moses might have justified staying
in Egypt instead of leaving everything behind in order to flee with
a bunch of slaves to a barren desert? What ultimately must have
caused him to decide as he did?
