SCRIPTURE: GENESIS 12
IMPORTANT VERSE:
“The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-2)
THE CALL OF ABRAM (vs. 1-9)
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give his land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
ABRAM IN EGYPT (vs. 10-20)
Now there weas a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female, donkeys, menservants and maidservants and camels.
But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sari. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, “She is my sister, so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
THOUGHTS (From Life Application Study Bible)
When God called Abram, Abram moved out in faith from Ur to Haran and finally to Canaan. God established a covenant with Abram, telling him he would found a great nation. This nation will be blessed together with the other nations through the descendants of Abram. Through Abram’s family tree, Jesus Christ was born to save humanity. Through Christ, people can have a personal relationship with God and be blessed beyond measure.
Abram obeyed God to leave his home and friends and traveled to a new land with greater blessings in the future. God may be trying to lead you to a place of greater service and usefulness for him. Don’t let the comfort and security of your present position make you miss God’s plan for you.
Abram built altars to pray and worship God. It is also a reminder of God’s promise to bless him. Building the altar helped Abram to renew his love and loyalty to God and remember that God was at the center of his life. Altars symbolized communion with God. Today we commune with God through worship in order to remember what God desires and motivate us to obey him.
A famine struck on the land where God commanded Abram to go. This was a test of Abram’s faith and Abram passed the test because he did not question God’s leading when facing this difficulty. When you follow God and encounter great obstacles, do not second-guess what God is doing. Use the intelligence God gave you as Abram did when he temporarily moved to Egypt and wait for new instruction.
Because of fear, Abram asked Sarai to tell a half-truth by saying she was his sister. She was his half-sister but she was also his wife. Abram’s intent was to deceive the Egyptians. He feared that if they knew the truth, they would kill him to get Sarai. But if he is Sarai’s brother, he would have been given a place of honor. Abram lost faith in God’s protection and told a half-truth. This shows how lying compounds the effects of sin. When he lied, Abram’s problems multiplied.