The Call of Abram
After the flood the people were all gathered together on the plain of Shinar building a tower to reach to heaven. What they were doing displeased God.
God didn’t want the people to continue to be united in their rebellion against him so he confused their language and scattered the family groups over the face of the earth. This is the reason we have different language and ethnic groups of people.
Ever since the Garden of Eden, people have wanted to go their own way rather than submit to the authority and lordship of the one, true God.
After God confused their languages, the different family groups each started worshipping the god they wanted, rather than the one, true God. Each group developed their own religion that became associated with them and the place they lived.
To combat this and maintain a testimony of who he really is, God chose one man, Abram, from the land of Ur to leave the land and gods of his birth. This man God later called Abraham. God told Abram (or Abraham) to move to the land God had picked as the place to establish a heritage as his chosen people in a chosen land.
At this point in Genesis the focus of the accounts shifts from the history of all of mankind to the one family group that God called out to be his own people. This is the family of Abram (Abraham). Out of all the people on earth God chose Abraham to be the father of his people Israel through whom he would reveal himself more fully to the world and send his Son to be the Messiah (Savior) who would redeem mankind.
Genesis 11:10-26 traces the lineage of Noah’s son Shem all the way to Terah, Abraham’s father. This lesson begins with the account of Terah in Genesis 11:27.
27This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.
121The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go 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. 3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6Abram 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. 7The 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.
8From 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. 9Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Abraham originally lived in the land of Ur. Ur of the Chaldeans was a highly developed society, a splendid place to live and where the god Nannar was worshipped. He then moved with his father to Haran, which was an important trading city.
God had told Abraham to go to the land of Canaan, which had been settled by the descendants of Ham. Abraham was to leave all that he knew and trust God to take him to a better place.
Seven Promises
In verses 12:2-3 God made seven promises to Abraham when he called him to leave his country and go to a new land.
- Make him into a great nation. (God would give him a heritage. The Jews are all descendants of Abraham as are the Arabs.)
- Bless him. (God provided for him what was needed and more.)
- Make his name great. (Abraham is the father of the Jews, God’s chosen people Israel, the Hebrew descendants of Abraham.)
- Make him a blessing to others. (God’s revelation of truth has come through the Jews/Israel. The Ten Commandments came through Moses.)
- Bless those who blessed him. (God blesses those who are good to Israel.)
- Curse those who cursed him. (God is against those who are against Israel.)
- Bless all people on earth through him. (Salvation from Jesus came through the line of Abraham. There is no greater blessing to all the earth than what Jesus has given mankind.)
Abraham left his home just as God told him to. He believed and trusted God. Once he got to Canaan God promised to give his offspring that land.
It seemed like an unlikely promise because Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren; she wasn’t able to have children. The land was also already occupied by the Canaanites. Those things didn’t stop Abraham from believing God’s promise.
What did Abraham do to show that he believed God? Abraham made an altar to the Lord at the great tree at Shechem. He later made another altar near Bethel and called on the name of God.
Because he believed God, he became the father of many nations just like God promised. Both the Jewish people and the Arabs are descendants of Abraham. God fulfilled his promise that all people on earth would be blessed through him because Jesus came through the line of Abraham. Because of Jesus, all people are blessed. Abraham himself was blessed to be a blessing.
When we seek after God, he blesses us. Blessing isn’t to be something we grab hold of for ourselves; it is something we are to take and share with others. In blessing others, we receive the fullness of God’s blessing.
Illustration: Two important seas in Israel lying along the Jordan River are a good illustration of the idea of blessed to be a blessing. In the north, the Jordan River first flows into the Sea of Galilee and then flows out of it. The Sea of Galilee is thriving with fish because the water is always fresh because the river water both flows in and then out. In contrast, nothing can live in the Dead Sea as it is full of salt and minerals. In the south, the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea but there is no outlet for the water to flow out. The water just stays there and evaporates into the air, making the water salty and unlivable.
If we want to experience the abundant life God has for us in Christ, then his love and blessings need to flow both into us and out of us like in the Sea of Galilee. If we don’t share his love and blessings with other people, we will become dead and stagnant like the Dead Sea.
Abraham and his family were not perfect people. God picked Abraham, not because he was perfect, but because he trusted God. Trust in God is the foundation of salvation.
- Overview Questions: Where did Abraham live originally? What did God call him to do? What promises did God make to Abraham? How did Abraham show that he believed and trusted God?
- Thought Questions: Why would God choose one family group to bless to be a blessing? Why do you think God chose Abraham as his special servant?
- Prayer: Thank God that he loves all people. Pray that you would love and trust him wholeheartedly and that other people would be blessed by your love and faithfulness. Pray that Jesus would be revealed to others through the way you live your life.
- This Week’s Memory Verse: Genesis 12:2-3
What was God’s promise to Abraham?
Abraham was blessed by God to be a blessing to all people.
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. 3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Question: What were God’s promises to Abraham?