Read with Me
Genesis 12:1-5a (HCSB)
The LORD said to Abram:
Go out from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse those who treat you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.
So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.
Listen with Me
Abram, along with the rest of his extended family had built a solid, stable life for themselves in Haran. God had earlier called him to go to all the way to Canaan, but he had paused at the halfway point and had simply settled there. The “pause” was in danger of becoming a full stop.
So, God reissued the call to Abram, urging him to complete what God had called him to, and what he had begun decades earlier. That call involved leaving behind his family and the lifestyle he had built, and to go to the new country to which God was calling him.
The call included several promises as well. First was a compound blessing: God would bless Abram by making him into a great nation, and by making him a positive example of how God can bless an obedient servant. The second blessing included a warning as well. God promised that he would bless all those who blessed Abram, since he would be under God’s special care and provision. But if anyone treated Abraham with contempt, that person would find him or herself under God’s curse. God has never taken lightly the mistreatment or the scoffing dismissal of someone who belongs to Him.
The final blessing, and the purpose behind the calling, the other blessings, and the protection God was promising, is that all the nations of the earth would experience God’s blessings through Abram. This ultimately points to the promised Messiah (Genesis 3:15), who would be brought into the world through the line of Abram.
To his credit, Abram was instantly obedient to God’s calling. He left right away to continue the journey to Canaan, to the fulfilled promises awaited for him there. And he didn’t travel light. His family, his wife, and his nephew, Lot, all their flocks and herds, and all the slaves they possessed formed an impressive caravan on the journey of more than 400 miles. It would have taken around two months of travel time, but considering all that God was promising, it would be well worth it!
Pray with Me
Father, throughout the Bible You give many commandments. But connected with those commandments, you frequently give many promises of blessing to those who will obey. Even in the New Testament, Jesus gives many commandments, but also makes many amazing promises to all who will obey. Of course, being God and having all the authority in every situation, You could just demand obedience and threaten punishment to any who would dare to disobey. But You don’t. You are more into the positive motivation of promised blessings, holding punishment in reserve only for those who willfully disobey or who refuse to honor Your authority. Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings I myself have received. You have never broken a promise yet, and I know You never will. Amen.