DAY SIX:

The Call of Abram

Genesis 12:1-20

Good morning, and welcome to Day Six. I've heard from some of you that you've had trouble logging in to post comments. Blogspot doesn't make it as easy as they might. The options for logging on are limited. If you have a Gmail account you can use it to get on. If not, you might consider the last option on the list, OpenID. OpenID is an effort to create a single, secure User ID for all Internet content. If you have a Yahoo or AOL account, it's very easy to get an OpenID. If you have any problems, please let me know. You can always e-mail your comments to me and ask me to post them for you.

The first eleven chapters of Genesis are really just an introduction to get us ready for the story of one man and how God used him in His plan to redeem the world. The last part of chapter eleven, after the Tower of Babel, gives a genealogy of Noah's son Shem. While He cares for all people, God is beginning to narrow the focus of His plan to save us. Noah had three sons, but it is through Shem that the line of redemption will come. From verse 27 on we read about a man named Terah. Terah had three sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran died, leaving a son named Lot.. Verses 31 and 32 tell us, "Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran."

Here's a map to illustrate this journey:

They were headed for Canaan, which is straight west of Ur. Why not just travel in a straight line? Because that would take them into the heart of the Arabian Desert, one of the most inhospitable places on earth. So they had to follow the Euphrates River north and then veer south and west toward Canaan. This route had water and the amenities of civilization. Terah made it as far as Haran, but for some reason stopped there. Maybe he liked the area. Maybe he appreciated that it bore the name of his departed son. Whatever the reason, Terah and his entourage stayed in Haran and Terah died there. 

Now let's look at our passage today. "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. 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. 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." Let's think about this for a moment and try to see it from Abram's perspective. God is asking him to take off and leave his family to go to a place that God won't come out and name. If he will do this, though, God will promise him some really great things:

• I'll make a great nation from you. You will populate and rule this land you'll enter;
• I'll bless you. You'll have My protection and you'll prosper;
• I'll make your name great. Abram's name means "exalted father." 
• You'll be a blessing to others- those who bless you I will bless and those who curse you I will curse;
• And I'll bless the whole world through you.

Some incredible promises! And the word incredible is a good one here, because incredible means unbelievable. Why would God choose Abram, who is 75 years old, who has no children, whose wife is 65 and barren? How can he possibly become a great nation with no heirs? How can he pull up stakes and move who knows where?

But that's exactly what Abram did! He packed up his belongings and with Sarai and his nephew Lot headed out for Canaan, his father's original destination. Maybe God made a similar promise to Terah, but he didn't follow through. 

When they arrived in Canaan they found it full of (what else?) Canaanites, who had made a good life for themselves and were unlikely to move just because Abram said, "Excuse me. The Lord said I could have this land." They came to Shechem, not far from Jerusalem, and God again said something incredible: "To your offspring I will give this land." Abram offered sacrifices to the Lord, and then moved his tents to a spot between Bethel and Ai, two places that would have great significance to his descendants.

We might be tempted to think that Abram was somebody who followed God so closely that he never sinned or made mistakes. The last part of this chapter speaks otherwise. During a time of famine Abram left Canaan and went to Egypt. Yes, the famine was severe but God had promised to provide. And once in Egypt, Abram passed Sarai off as his sister because he was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him to claim her. The Pharaoh saw her and took her into his harem. Abram was willing to sacrifice his wife's virtue to save his skin. God stepped in and did what Abram wouldn't. God struck the palace with plagues, and the Egyptians put two and two together. Pharaoh kicked Abram and Sarai out of Egypt, with all they brought plus the wealth they acquired while there.

It's almost impossible to overstate how important Abram (later God changed his name to Abraham, "father of a multitude") is in God's great plan of redemption. This man is the beginning of a thread that will run through the rest of the Bible. Abraham provides the foundation upon which God will build His people.

Tomorrow we'll look at God's covenant with Abram in more detail. I look forward to you comments and questions!