Genesis 12v1-9
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. 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. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
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. 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, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
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. 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. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. (ESV)
The nations think that power and freedom will give them happiness, but only God can give true blessedness.
We should not read Genesis 12 in an individualistic manner. The passage is about God setting in motion His great plan for the true blessedness of all nations.
What is the way in which He fulfils it? – only in His Son, the Seed of Abraham. There is no other source of blessing – no other way!
- The LORD’s Call and Promise
Abraham had to leave his people, abandon his normal resources. He had to trust God, having lost the help of people.
God’s promise was simple:
a) He would show him the land he had to go to. Do you believe God will show you when all that has been familiar to you has been taken away?
b) He would make Abraham into a great nation.
c) He would bless Abraham and make his name great. God would do that – not people.
d) He would uphold Abraham, personally dealing with those who would dishonour him and blessing those who would bless him. In his Offspring (singular) all the families of the world would be blessed (Mat. 8:11; Gal. 3:6). There is no other way through which the nations will be blessed but through the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:8,9; Rom. 4:13). - Abraham’s Faith and Worship
a) He left his place, by faith a friend of God (James 2:23; 2 Chron. 20:7).
b) He trusted God’s promises – he took his people and possessions and left.
c) He found his place – then inhabited by the Canaanites which presented a problem for him.
d) He heard God’s promise – built an altar to the LORD and called on His Name.
e) He journeyed on.
The point is that God blessed the nations through sending Abraham out to make the people His disciples. He is still sending us out into a world that is hostile towards the LORD and His Anointed – the Seed of Abraham (see Psalm 2). Blessed are those who take refuge in Him. But there is more to just being saved as an individual – we must make sure that the Gospel permeates every sphere of society – marriage, family, the local Church, school, university, the State, legal system. It’s the only source of blessedness for the nations.