(Genesis 11:27-32) Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
(Genesis 12:1-9) Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain 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. 9 Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Chapter 12, verses 1 to 3 is a very important portion of scripture! Here the Lord appeared to Abram with the promise of land, seed and blessings. This has become known as "the Abrahamic covenant".
The term "seed" is used elsewhere in the Bible to refer to Abram's (many) descendants. As well as, and most importantly - "seed" singular - is used to refer to Jesus who would be born through these descendants.
The blessings promised were not only physical blessings meant for the descendants of Abram, but also included the spiritual blessings which would come out of Abram's seed. The end of verse 3 is a prophecy of how Jesus would make salvation possible for all people.
We do not know if Abram was a man of faith before the Lord appeared to him the first time, but he definitely became a man of faith afterwards. We see Abram not only building altars to the Lord, but also calling upon the Lord for direction.
So often, when we "get the calling", we just plow ahead in our own strength and wisdom, and then wonder why it's not going as smoothly as it should. When God calls us to go somewhere or do something, God also wants to guide us through it. We just need to consistently remember to go to Him in prayer, and then wait and listen for His directions...
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