God had spoken to Abram (v1-3) “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Stephen tells us in Acts 7 that God made His promise to Abram when he was still in Mesopotamia, before arrived in Haran. Abram had already received God’s message, so this was a reminder. His father had died so maybe he would obey fully this time. We see often in the Bible that God gives people a second chance as with Jonah after his disobedience and his ordeal with the sea and the fish. Abram was also given a second chance. I’m so glad that God does not give up on us. Abram had the opportunity to become more mature in his faith.
God wants us to grow and even though we may falter at times, we can still be obedient and become ‘giants of faith’ through the power of God.
I repeat that it is the one we have faith in rather than the amount of faith we have. In chapter 11 the people of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves, but here God says that He will make Abram’s name great. I know which I would prefer, far more important that God does it for when He does, it will last. What wonderful promises and what a wonderful God. Only God could make of him a great nation, for Abram had no children and Sarai was barren. God reminds him that he was to go to a land which He would show Abram. He needed to trust in God for all this – a land and a family, even a great nation.
History has shown us that God did indeed make Abram’s name great – it is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
God further promised that He would bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him. We see in history how God has fulfilled this in the nations which mistreated His people. One writer points out the Greeks, Rome, Spain, Hitler’s Germany over its abominable treatment of the Jews, and even Britain in the loss of her empire. On the other hand, USA has been blessed by granting citizenship to the Jews.
God also promised that all the families on the earth would be blessed. Indeed, we have through his line, the Messiah, The Lord Jesus Christ. Paul confirms this in writing to the Galatians 3:8,9 – “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”
John, writing in Revelation 5:9 also says of Jesus that you – “…. have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
In verse 4 we read, “So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”
Abram obeys, but Lot goes with him. I don’t know if this was Abram’s decision or Lot’s, but it wasn’t what God had said and would turn out to be blot on Abram’s future. Note, 75 years old and still no children! So, he sets out and arrives in Canaan with all his possessions and people acquired in Haran, together with Sarah and Lot. They went as far as Shechem (v5,6). The Canaanites were still in the land and were wicked people, who would remain there until conquered by the Israelites several hundred years later under Joshua, having been led by Moses from slavery in Egypt.
Shechem became an important place in Canaan, and he stopped by a notable tree at Moreh. We will come across Shechem again in Genesis, but also in other books of the Old Testament, namely Joshua – the bones of Joseph were buried there recorded in Joshua 24:3. In that same chapter Joshua made that famous statement there – “As for me and my house we will serve The LORD.”
In the New Testament Jesus met the woman of Samaria there (John 4) at the well at Sychar, Shechem’s later name, where Jacob had bought a piece of land, hence the woman said it was Jacob’s well.
After The LORD appeared to Abram saying, “To you and your descendants I will give this land” Abram built an altar to The LORD (v7-9). He then moved on and pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai and built an altar there. Later he moved to the south. He lived in tents and never owned any land there apart from a burial plot he bought (Genesis 23), but God promised the land to his descendants – he had no children yet! Abram is seen to worship The LORD by building altars. He trusted the God who had promised him so much even though as yet he had seen virtually nothing. Abram moved from an idolatrous place to follow The God in whom he now trusted.
Abram was a pilgrim going to a place promised by God. We too are pilgrims in this world. As believers our home is in heaven, and we follow God until we get there.
A severe famine came upon the land (v10) and Abram moved out and went to Egypt. Was it right for Abram to move out and go to Egypt? Did he not trust God to meet his needs in the place which God had now promised to him? Some years later Elimelech and Naomi were in the same situation, and they went to Moab to escape the famine, but we read of Boaz who stayed in Bethlehem and God met his needs. Calamities befell them, Elimelech and their two sons died leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law as widows. However, God brought good out of it through one of them, Ruth who went back to Bethlehem with Naomi and eventually married Boaz and God graciously brought them into the line of the coming Messiah. Abram was promised to be the father of a great nation and ultimately the line of the Messiah.
We must trust God to meet all our needs, but even though we all fail, God will achieve His plans. Failure to do so may result in disastrous events on the way, even though God will bring to pass His will. Abram went to Egypt, and this caused many problems because of his lack of faith, but God never reneged on His promise. Abram did not come through unscathed. Neither will we.
Abram’s first problem was his beautiful wife, Sarai. He was afraid that the Egyptian men would be attracted to her and he, as her husband, would be killed to get him out of the way (v11-13). It was custom in those lands that if a man wanted a woman, he had to seek permission from her father and if there was no father, from her brother. Therefore, it was normal for the man to befriend the father or brother and shower gifts on them to win their consent. Abram knew that he would be in danger as her husband, so he devised a plan for his protection for Sarai to say that she was his sister. This was half true, she was his half-sister (see chapter 20:12), but it was clearly intended as a deception and therefore, wrong, simply to protect his own life. God had promised him children; therefore, he was not trusting God to protect them. He was thinking purely of himself and not Sarai. He was putting her in grave danger.
As usual with deception, problems would follow. She was taken to Pharaoh, the king (v14,15) which could have been disastrous. However, God sent plagues on Pharaoh (v16-20) whilst Abram was treated very well with servants and animals, becoming a rich man. Pharaoh obviously realised that something was wrong, and the truth came out. Pharaoh was angry, understandably, as it could have been extremely serious for him to have Sarai, and he confronted Abram with the truth. He told Abram to take his wife and all his possessions and leave his country.
We see, again, that despite Abram’s failure, God still protected him and his wife. Abram needed to trust God and not his own understanding. The writer of Proverbs 3:5,6 stated, “Trust in The Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. I know that was written long after Abram’s time, but it has stood from the beginning of time and will do so to the end.
