CALL OF ABRAM
Genesis 12:1-9
” (3b)
chapter 12
1. The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2. "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
4. So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.
5. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
7. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and 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.
9. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1. The last part of chapter 11 gives a brief history of Abram’s family. His father Terah, from Chaldea, set out to go to Canaan with his sons and their wives. They settled mid-way at Harran.
2. Chapter 12 introduces God’s calling of Abram, who did not have much significance until then. God commanded him to leave his father’s house, the place of comfort, and follow God’s guidance to the land of His promise. God’s promise for Abram: to make him a source of blessing to all peoples on earth, and whoever curses Abram would bear God’s curse (3). God was inviting Abram to leave his comfort zone and take a place on God’s side under his protection (Isaiah 41:10).
3. Abram responded to the call by simply obeying. He took his household and traveled to Canaan as God showed him. Abram was not discouraged by the fact that people already occupied the land. He trusted God’s presence (7) and believed the promise that his descendants would occupy the land. Moreover, he understood the weight of God’s covenant and cherished the eternal kingdom God would bring to the whole earth, beginning with Abram himself (Heb 11:10).
Prayer: Father, thank you for calling Abram to be a blessing. I pray to respond to your call with my trust in your perfect and good plan.
One Word: So Abram went