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Stepping Out into the Unknown

Stepping Out into the Unknown

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 Genesis 11:27 – 12:9 (ESV)11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.31 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.32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.12:1 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.2 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.3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.This is one of the most fundamental texts for understanding the rest of what happens in the Old Testament. Here we read about Abram being called by God and being promised this threefold blessing.Reformed Devotionals Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.So we see that Terah, the father of Abram, goes towards the land that God would ultimately give Israel, but stalls halfway through and stops in the land of Haran. Ultimately, God calls Abram out of that land and into the land of Canaan.Now, God gives a promise here, which is really a threefold promise. He promised that he would give land, that he would make Israel—or Abram—into a great nation, which would ultimately become the nation of Israel, that his name would be great and that he would be a blessing to all people. So all nations would be blessed through him.These three promises of nationhood, of land, and of being a blessing to all the nations around them would form and shape the rest of the Old Testament narrative. In fact, you cannot understand the Old Testament unless you understand this covenant promise that God makes to Abram.Now we also have to understand that when Abram responds to God here, he is choosing to make a radical break with the security of home. He left his country. He left his kindred. He left his father's house. And in some ways, these were the ancient person's three favorite safety nets. But God says to him, drop these things, trust in God instead. And that's what Abram does.And as he goes, he marks his journey with various worship signs. So he worships at Shechem and at Bethel well before a single brick in Jerusalem has been laid. So he builds this altar to worship God in response to what God is doing and will one day do.And so this passage lays the foundation for what is to come, but it also hints at all the families of the earth that will one day be blessed through Abram and his offspring. Paul mentions this in Galatians chapter 3, and so we see that even here already God has in view that the Gentile nations of the earth would come into his blessing ultimately through Jesus.So what does this passage mean to us? What does it matter to us?Now generally I'm not one for saying that we need to follow the example of this great hero of the faith in the Bible because I think most often scripture is filled with pictures of people who we really shouldn't be following and shouldn't try to emulate because they are terrible examples. But in this case, we do see something worthy and admirable and something that is good for us to try and be like.So here, Abram responds in faith to God's call on his life. He follows and leaves behind the security of his past life. And so faith for him meant that he had to move. He had to move from who he was so that he could become who God was calling him to be.Following Jesus today looks a ...
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