The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your
native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land
that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I
will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I
will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.
All the families on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis
12:1-3
 |
| Trek to the land of Canaan |
Abram—before God renamed him Abraham—was so
trusting. If somebody told you to pack up your family and move, would you do
it? Of course if the voice of God spoke, there’s a lot of power in that so you
would probably listen. Look closely at Genesis 11:27 through Genesis 112:9.
Terah, Abram’s father, first packed up his family and to enter the land of
Canaan (Genesis 11:31) but they only went as far as Haran, where Terah died. Abram
received God’s call while still in Ur, according to Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7.
Then God called Abram again in Haran, as noted here in Genesis 12. Go to the land that I will show you. It
happened to be Canaan. Now Canaan was the land that belonged to the Canaanites,
the descendent of the Noah’s son Ham. They obviously had not kept up with their
distant cousins. Oh yes. In between Noah and Abram there was the Tower of Babel
(Genesis 11:1-9) where God saw that the people with one language together were
making a tower to reach to heaven. So He confused their language and scattered
them over the whole earth.
Now God was calling Abram to go to Canaan
and He would make Abram’s family a great nation and bless him. What a promise
to a guy who was seventy-five years old and had no children. It was a terrific promise
for Abram and his wife Saraii who so longed for children. Abram was trusting in
a God that he didn’t even know. Life in Ur was probably filled with many gods.
Now Abram was being confronted by a nameless God telling him to give up his
home and leave behind his father (who died in Haran) and go to a land that was
probably about 800 miles from Ur—and that is a long walk. God was sending Abram
to a country already inhabited by some tough guys and Abram has no children to
be this “great nation” that God is promising. Abram is trusting God in a big
way to fulfill His promise. He would be a blessing to others—and those who
cursed him would be cursed. It turns out that Abram became the “Father” of
Jews, Christians and Muslims. I’ve read an interpretation that God’s promise included
eternal life for humanity…this great nation of which He was making Abram the
father. Do you trust God to fulfill His promise in you?
Prayer
~ Heavenly Father, I rejoice in Your wisdom of choosing Abram to be the father
of a great nation. He was obedient to go where You sent him. May we have that
same obedience day by day, moment by moment to hear Your voice, then to trust
and follow You.
Bible
Reading: January 15 – Job 40-42
Happy Birthday to my Mom--in her Heavenly Home!
©
2017 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted
www.blueletterbible.org/dailyreading
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