ABRAHAM SERIES: THE CALL

This blog is the beginning of a new series that I will be sharing on the life of Abraham. I have found him to be a man of faith and fears. Additionally, I have found that his life offers many teaching and learning experiences for believers, leaders, marriages, and families. It is my prayer and hope that as you read the blogs, your life will receive direction and be enriched. The format I will be using is first, I will share the story, then give additional historical information if there is any, and finally, I will give the nuggets. Once again, I pray you will be blessed as you read.

We first heard of Abram in Genesis 11, which shared his lineage that revealed he was a twenty-generation descendant of Adam and a tenth-generation descendant from Noah, who was alive for fifty-eight years of Abram’s life. Shem, Noah’s son, begat Arphaxad, and he begat Salah, who begat Eber, who begat Peleg, and who begat Reu. Reu begat Serug, who begat Nahor, Abram’s grandfather, and in time, he begat Terah, who was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Abram was raised and married to Sarai in the land of his nativity, Ur of the Chaldees, before his father took Abram, Sarai, his daughter-in-law, and Lot, his grandson, on a journey to the land of Canaan. However, when they came to Haran, they took up residence there, and it was here that God spoke to Abram and instructed him to separate himself from his family and go to a land that He would show him. By obeying this instruction, Abram’s descendants would become a great nation, and his name would become great; he would be blessed and be a blessing. Furthermore, those who blessed Abram would be blessed, and those who cursed him would be cursed, and finally, through Abram, all families of the earth would be blessed.

Genesis 12 reveals that Abram obeyed half of God’s instruction when he took his nephew Lot with him. So, at age seventy-five, with all of their substances and households, Abram, his wife, Sarai, and Lot left Haran and went to the land of Canaan. Upon arrival in the plain of Moreh, God appeared to Abram and said, “Unto thy seed will I give this land.” In response to this word, Abram built an altar for the Lord. Journeying on, they moved unto a mountain on the east of Bethel where Abram built the second altar and called upon the name of the Lord.

Here are the additional historical notes:

Abram, whose name would be eventually changed by God to Abraham, was a major patriarch in the Old Testament who was also called the Father of Faith by Paul in Romans 4.

Abram was born during the Dispensation of Human Government, and when he obeyed God’s instruction and went into Canaan, the Dispensation of Promise began.

Abram’s father, Terah, was an idolater and polytheist (worshipper of many gods).

According to Acts 7:2 – 4, God appeared to Abram in Mesopotamia (Iraq) and told him to leave his native land and family before he moved to Haran (Syria) with his father. From the Genesis 11:31-32 recording, it was revealed that Abram did not leave his family until his father died, and God spoke to him again with the same instructions.

God promised Abram headship, blessings, prestige, divine reciprocation, and a redemptive seed.

Here are the nuggets:

Old age does not exempt you from being called by God.

Sometimes, it is challenging to break family attachments.

Sometimes, years pass before we obey God’s directive.

God will call you out of your comfort zone and send you into the unfamiliar.

God will separate you from your idolatrous family members to establish a relationship with you.

God graciously calls you and blesses you.

God gives promises.

It is God who makes your name great

Unordain connections will produce future problems.

God will give you that which belongs to the ungodly.