Genesis Lessons 12: 1-9 - God Calls Abram
INTRODUCTION: So far, in Gen. 1-11, we've studied the story of human history from its beginning all the way up to the call of Abram in today's lesson. We have covered the fall of man, the wickedness and "violence" of humanity afterward, the flood and it aftermath, the story of Babel, and the scattering of the people. Chapter 10, which we skipped, lists the descendants of Noah and is referred to as the Table of Nations. Chapter 11, verses 10-32, go on to list the descendants of Noah's son Shem, which includes Terah, Abram's father. Terah, who originally lived in Ur (see map), had three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran was the father of Lot, who plays an important role in the Genesis storyline. Abram married Sarai (v. 29) prior to moving to the city of Haran, so we can assume that he lived in Ur for many years and considered it to be his hometown. Terah then took his extended family, which included Abram, Sarai, and Lot, to Haran where they settled and where Terah eventually died (vv. 31-32). To properly understand the story of Abram, we will need a short geography lesson (see map). Both Ur and Haran were cities in Mesopotamia, an area bounded by the Euphrates River on the south and the Tigris on the north, which merged together at their southern extremities to empty into the Persian Gulf, and between the two rivers, lay a large wedge of fertile land. The region was home to several well-developed early cultures, including Babylonia and Assyria. On the map, also note the location of Canaan, an area from the Sea of Galilee on the north to the Dead Sea on the south that would much later be occupied by Israel.
Read Gen. 12:1-3 - THE CALL OF ABRAM
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
v. 1a: "Now the Lord said to Abram," - This phrase marks one of the great turning points in all of human history. Whereas Gen. Chapters 1-11 reported a very dismal record of human history, Chapters 12-24 will be exemplified by God's promises and blessings.
v. 1b: "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." - First, we need to notice the progressive movement at work here: (1) Abram's "country," a place he'd called home for 75 years; (2) "your kindred," his extended family; and (3) his "father's house," his immediate family. In Abram's patriarchal culture, with no governmental system to support them, these three things formed a man's security blanket. It would be hard to leave one's county and harder yet to leave one's extended family, but absolutely gut-wrenching to leave one's immediate family. God is telling Abram to let go of everything he has depended on all his life and to completely trust God for his future. In short, an all-encompassing leap of faith.
v. 1c: "to the land that I will show you. " - Notice God that didn't tell him where he was going but only that He would "show" him. The destination was left unsaid. When God calls us, he seldom lays out the complete roadmap; we must trust and depend completely on Him to get there.
v. 2a: "And I will make of you a great nation," - Unlike ordinary nations, Abram will become a "great nation," one stands head and shoulders above all the other nations.
v. 2b: "and I will bless you," - In the Bible, God's blessings are important to whomever He calls, and carries with it the power to confer good things, even unimaginable things on the one blessed.
v. 2c: "and make your name great" - Abram won't need to build towers or monuments to make his name great; it will come as a gift from God. He needs only to obey God's command: "Go!"
v. 2d: "so that you will be a blessing." - God's blessing to Abram would serve a far wider purpose.
v. 3a: I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse," - Notice the sense of justice in this verse: God will reward those who bless Abram and will bring judgment on those who curse him. In short, if they got in the way of Abram's mission, God would steamroll them.
v. 3b: "and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." - This is huge. Abram's seed will ultimately result in the nation of Israel, the coming of Christ, and the salvation of the entire world.
Read Gen. 12:4-5a - SO ABRAM WENT
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5a And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
v. 4a: "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him." - This is the perfect standard for obedience: Abram obeys the call of God without question or hesitation. He simply relies upon the Name and Word of this God who suddenly turned his life upside down. Lot was his nephew by his brother Haran. Since Lot's father (Haran) was dead and Abram was childless, some scholars believe that Abram viewed Lot as a potential heir.
v. 4b: Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. - This sheds light on the sheer enormity of Abram's faith: He was leaving his aged (145) father behind, He was 75 years old himself, and He and Sarai had no children and because she was "barren" (11:30), no prospect of ever having them, yet he believed God's promise to make him a "great nation."
v. 5a: "And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan." - Abram's father, Terah, had originally intended to relocate to Canaan, but for unexplained reasons, stopped in Haran (alt. spelling Harran) and decided to settle there (11:31).
Read Gen. 12:5b-7 - TO YOUR OFFSPRING I WILL GIVE THIS LAND
5b When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
v. 5b: "When they came to the land of Canaan," - Traveling from Haran in Paddam-Aran, most scholars estimate that Abram initially entered the region of Canaan from the North (see map).
v. 6a: "Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem," - Shechem [Shee-kehm)] is located in the hill country between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, about 40 miles north of Salem, the future site of Jerusalem (see, map). Near the geographic center of Canaan, Shechem will become a sacred site to the Israelites because here God revealed Himself there to Abram for the first time in the Promised Land.
v. 6b: "to the oak of Morah." - The name "Morah" means 'teacher.' This oak tree will become significant in Biblical history: Jacob will command Rachel and Leah to bury their household idols at the base of this tree when God calls him to leave (Gen. 35:4); Joshua will set up a stone at this tree as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel (Josh. 24:36); and the lords of Shechem will name Abimelech king by this tree (Judges 9:6)
v. 6c: "At that time the Canaanites were in the land." - Abram cannot as yet claim this land to be his own because it's still under the control of the indigenous Canaanites.
v. 7a: "Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land.'" - Despite the obvious obstacles to possessing the land, God appears to Abram and promises the land to his "offspring," in all probability, to others he'll never live to see. Although Abram will spend most of the rest of his life in Canaan, the only piece of it he will own is the grave he purchases for Sarah at Machpelah (Gen. 23:19). Only after the Exodus will Abram's descendants truly possess the land.
v. 7b: "So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him." - This is yet another monumental leap of faith by Abram. In response to God's grace (like Noah), he worships God by building an altar to Him and presumably, offering sacrifice. Abram will build altars to God at various places in his travels as acts of obedience and thankfulness to God.
Read Gen. 12:8-9 - HE PITCHED HIS TENT
8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
v. 8: "From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord." - Bethel and Ai (see map) are located about 12 miles north of the future site of Jerusalem. Bethel will become another significant place in Biblical history, where Jacob will erect a pillar and offer sacrifice after seeing the ladder to heaven in a dream (Gen. 28:10-17), and a place where Israelites would go to seek the counsel of God (Judges 18:20-31). The phrase, "pitched his tent," implies a temporary location, just a stopping place in a continuing journey, while to "build an altar" signifies something enduring and permanent that memorializes an encounter with God.
v. 9: "And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb." - Continuing southward, Abram comes into "Negeb" (or Negev, literally translates 'dry'), a desert area southwest of the Dead Sea. He might have travelled there to find more forage for his grazing animals or to simply explore the area that God had promised to one day give to his descendants. In any event, it positions him for his next journey-to Egypt.
APPLICATION-Answering the call of God
Truth 1: Answering the call of God can be very costly. In Abram's case, it required him to leave his country, his extended family, and his immediate family-give up nearly everything and everybody he knew. What did answering God' call to be a disciple of Jesus Christ cost you? Family, friends, financial and material resources, lifestyles changes, etc.? And what about your time? Jesus, said, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27).
Truth 2: Answering the call of God is often misunderstood by others. The text is silent on what Abram's family thought about it when he suddenly packed-up and left. But it's not hard to imagine that many of his relatives thought that he must have lost his mind. And yet, the safest place in the world is being in the center of God's will, as the Psalmist says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." (Ps. 91:1-2).
Truth 3: Answering the call of God requires us to walk in faith. The writer of Hebrews tells us that,
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him." (Heb. 11:1, 6). Abram, childless and married to a barren woman, was called by God to go to a completely strange place where he would become the father of a new nation that would be populated by his children! Abram-spiritually and physically-walked in faith from Haran to Canaan because he answered the call to believe in the Word of God. This is the gold standard of faith. Not many of us can reach this standard, but Abram stands as a reminder to us of what is possible.
