Call Of God -Abraham Series

Genesis 12:1-9 Leave and Go

Abraham

He was the second son of Terah; he lost his father at the age of 75. His life is narrated in just 12 chapters. He is called a friend of God (I Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah.41:8, James 2:23). He became the father of believers. He is an important person in three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Call of Abraham

Theophany (Appearance of God) is a more extraordinary and exclusive event in one’s life journey. It always leads to an agreement between God and the worshiper. The willingness is expressed by God and the response by the worshiper (Genesis 12:1, 15:18, and 17:2). This was explained as Father-Son relationship, Guru-shisya (Master-Disciple) relationship and God and devotee relationship.

Scholars talk about two kinds of Call narratives: first was at Ur (Genesis 15:7, Acts 7:2) and the second was at Haran (Genesis 12:1). God called Abraham when he was in the land of Haran. He took his father Terah to reach Canaan from Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:31). Canaan means ‘lowlands’ or ‘Land of Purple’. Haran means ‘mountaineer’ i.e., Hill or mountain. Related names to Haran are Aaron, Ararat, Armageddon, Hara, Hor etc. The other meaning is ‘Freedom’ or ‘Fire’.

But when his father saw a beautiful place at Haran, he settled, well settled and enjoyed his life. His call ended there, he lost his vision, and he lost his mission. He lost communication with God and lived for 205 days and died (Genesis 11:32). Terah was interested in easy going and hesitant to take a risky life, sacrificial life to reach Canaan. Haran was on the same riverbank of the Ur but Canaan was far-reaching land.

The response of Abraham travelled through.

Therefore now the Lord said to Abraham. “Go from your country, and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:2).

God told him to leave three things: Country, Kindred, and Father’s house. Pulling factors are Homesickness, relatives and relative false promises and the joy of the father’s house – freedom to sleep, freedom to eat anything you want, freedom to take for granted.

Wesley Says that Abraham was tested by God to know whether “he loved God better than his native soil, and dearest friends, and whether he could willingly leave all to go along with God. His country was an idolatrous land, his kindred and his father's house were a constant temptation to him, and he could not continue with them without danger of being infected by them”.

Calvin Says: Wherefore, if we desire to follow God with constancy, it behaves us carefully to meditate on all the inconveniences, all the difficulties, all the dangers which await us; that not only a hasty zeal may produce fading flowers, but that from a deep and well-fixed root of piety, we may bring forth fruit in our whole life.

God told Abraham to “Leave and Go”. Abraham set out from Haran to Canaan. He took all (12:5). All the possessions, all the people, his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot. He travelled through.

Did ABRAM obey wholeheartedly, or half-halfheartedly? We don’t know why he took his relatives. Abram was brought out, pulled out and dragged out of Ur (15:7).

Abram took the call very serious and obeyed God to go out and travelled far and distant places to survey, to occupy, to know the value of the land, the value of the culture, Nature of the occupants. God’s call to Abram was personal and for separation. God spoke to Abram after Lot left him. The silence of God is an indication of His unhappiness of our fellowships, our friendships and associations (Genesis 13:14). You move through the land, walk through the length and breadth of the land (Genesis 13:17).

The response of Abram - Built an Altar

He built an altar at Shechem (Genesis 12:6-7, 13:3-4). Then he built an altar at Hebron (Genesis 13:18).

Abram called the name of the LORD (13:4). Declaring to others that he believed in YHWH. Open confession among the neighbours. Strong witness without fear. Ready to face reality. Mission calls being fulfilled.

Name changes and its implications: Abram means Exalted Father, Abraham means father of many nations (Genesis 17:4-5). Aben Ezra says the name is derived from abir -Hamon, "a powerful multitude." Rabbi Solomon Jarchi says that its numeral letters amount to two hundred and forty-eight, which is the exact number of the bones in the human body. Does Rabbi Lipman say? he being added as the fourth letter, signifies that the Messiah should come in the fourth millenary of the world.

Arabian nations, and of the Turks in the line of Ishmael; and of the Midianites, and others, in the line of his sons by Keturah; and of the Israelites in the line of Isaac, as well as of the Edomites in the line of Esau; and in a spiritual sense the father of all that believe, in all the nations of the world, circumcised or uncircumcised, as the apostle explains it, Romans 4:11.