Genesis 12: the call of Abraham
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| Credit: JoshuaWoroniecki | Pixabay |
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“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.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
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. 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.
Abram travelled 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. 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.
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.
Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
“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.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
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. 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.
Abram travelled 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. 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.
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.
Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Genesis 12:1-9
A few weeks ago, I wrote about being rooted. Abraham is not the first to be called by God - we have also see Noah respond to God's call - and he is certainly not the last. And like so many others, from Noah, to Amos, to Mary and Joseph, to the first disciples of Jesus, and to Paul, and to countless unknown others since in the centuries since, he is uprooted from his life and all that he knows to do so. God says: 'Go from your country, your people and your father's household'. I'd imagine that this is far more significant that simply leaving one's home town as a young adult today: it's leaving a deeply entwined community and entire way of life, without being able to maintain any contact and support, and going into an unknown land, where there are no apparent 'roots' to be able to plug immediately into.
Why? God tells Abraham to go to a land he will show him. He promises him that he will bless him and others through him and his descendants - all the people's on earth, in fact. The reason? This was the start of God's rescue mission; the start of the setting the scene over the centuries. From this one man God would create a people to whom he would give his revelation, showing them the way to live so that they would show and tell others. They'd fail, but God would demonstrate his faithfulness and mercy, and send prophets to tell of greater things to come. Eventually, he would then send his son to be born into this people, to die on the cross and to rise again, and when he came all the puzzle pieces of revelation down the centuries would fit together.
But at the moment it starts with Abraham. It starts with God taking the initiative and calling someone with no special qualities, and that person being sufficiently moved by the power and love of God to humble obedience. But that is not the only parallel between this and the calling of all Christians. We can imagine Abraham at the tree of Moreh, looking around the land of Canaan. This is to be the land of his descendants - God's promise - but he hasn't taken hold of it yet. He is still living as a stranger in a foreign land. We are in a similar position - the promise of God is secure, but we await him coming in glory, to be declared king over all the earth, and for us to enter the 'promised land' - that is, being with him forever in a new, restored Earth.
Knowing that that promise is going to be fulfilled, is hope. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, when referring to God's promise made to Abraham and to us, says: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19). Paul writes to the Ephesians: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).
So we may feel terrified at the thought of leaving behind things that need to be left behind and venturing into the unknown - whether or not our calling takes us physically to new places or communities, but we can be encouraged by God's promise and the faith of Abraham and others. God is faithful: we may feel like foreigners in a strange land now, but eventually Jesus will return to come into his kingdom.
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