The Call of Abram

12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. 12:2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.” 12:4 So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan. 12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree of Moreh at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country 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 worshiped the Lord. 12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

The Lord called Abram to leave his home and go to a land He would show him. God promised to make Abram into a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and use him to bring blessing to the families of the earth. Abram obeyed, entered Canaan, and worshiped the Lord.

God spoke first. He told Abram to leave his country, relatives, and father’s house, and go where God would lead him. The command was hard because it meant leaving the safety of family and home. But God also gave strong promises. He would show Abram the land. He would make him into a great nation. He would bless him. He would make his name great. Through Abram, blessing would reach the families of the earth. God also said that those who blessed Abram would be blessed, and those who treated him lightly would be cursed.

Abram obeyed. He left just as the Lord had told him. He was seventy-five years old. He took Sarai, Lot, his possessions, and the people in his household, and they went to Canaan. When Abram came into the land, the Canaanites were already there. So the promise was real, but not yet fully fulfilled.

The Lord appeared again and said that He would give the land to Abram’s descendants. Abram answered by building an altar to the Lord. He did this again near Bethel. His life in the land was the life of a pilgrim. He lived in a tent, but he worshiped God. The passage shows both promise and patience, both obedience and worship.

• God takes the first step and calls Abram by His own word.
• The call required Abram to leave old securities behind.
• God promised land, descendants, blessing, and a great name.
• God said Abram would be a channel of blessing to other families.
• God also promised blessing for those who bless Abram and curse for those who treat him lightly.
• Abram obeyed the Lord, even though the full promise was not yet visible.
• The land was occupied, so the promise was future, especially for Abram’s descendants.
• Abram built altars and worshiped the Lord as the God of promise.
• Abram lived as a pilgrim in the land, not as a settled owner.

• Command: Leave your country, relatives, and father’s house.
• Promise: God will show the land.
• Promise: God will make Abram into a great nation.
• Promise: God will bless Abram and make his name great.
• Promise: Through Abram, blessing will come to the families of the earth.
• Warning: Those who treat Abram lightly will be cursed.
• Promise: God will give the land to Abram’s descendants.
• Command/example: Abram responded in obedience and worship.
• Warning: Do not read the land promise as a vague idea detached from Abram’s historical calling.

This passage begins the Abrahamic line after Babel. God begins to gather a people through Abram, give them land, and extend blessing to the nations. The promise moves forward through Israel’s history and reaches its fullest fulfillment in the Messiah, through whom the blessing promised to Abraham comes to the nations.

God’s people should obey even when the full path is not clear. Abram left because God spoke. We also should trust God’s word before we see every detail. The passage also teaches that worship belongs at the center of a life of faith. Promise should lead to obedience, not pride. We should live as people who receive blessing from God, not as people who try to make ourselves great.

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