The Call of Abraham
Genesis 11:10-13:41
March 26, 2006


Today’s message is from Genesis 11:10 through 13:4. The text I’ll be quoting is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. I’ve also reproduced the passage at the end of the written version of this message2. It’s on the LHF website. Also, remember as we read from the passage that it’s the word of God and “is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

Also, as always, I encourage all of you to read your Bibles every day. Read the entire Bible and read it over and over again. As food is necessary to keep your physical body alive, so the word of God is necessary to keep your spirit alive!

[Prayer]

Today’s passage is about God’s call and promise to Abraham. God called Abraham to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldeans and go to the land of Canaan, which God promised that he would give to him and all his descendants. At this point in the Bible, he’s known as Abram, rather than Abraham. Later, God changed his name to Abraham. We’ll get to that in a few Sundays the Lord willing. But, for now, he’s Abram.

The place we are at in the book of Genesis actually marks a major division in God’s history. Everything before this point was about God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, about sin entering God’s creation through man’s disobedience to God (and sin, by definition, is disobedience to God), about man’s separation from God, about mankind’s increase on the earth, about the increase of wickedness and God’s judging mankind through the flood, and about mankind again multiplying on the earth and spreading out over it. But, from this point on, and throughout the rest of the Bible, the focus is on God’s plan of salvation. It starts with the call of Abraham, continues until the coming of our Lord Jesus and his death on the cross for our sin and his resurrection and reign at the right hand of God. It will continue until his coming again. Then God will finally make new heavens and a new earth, the place where righteousness will dwell. However, at this point in Genesis and in our present day, men are still sinful, we still disobey God. (Women are still sinful too. Men means people not just men!)

Today’s passage starts out with a genealogy. The HCSB gives it the title From Shem to Abram. You remember that Shem was the oldest of Noah’s three sons. Shem is the ancestor of the Arabs and the Jews—and the ancestor of Jesus.

Abraham was descended from Shem. Abraham was born 1,946 years after Adam’s creation. Adam, by the way, was created, while Abraham was born. (And from now on I’m going to refer to Abraham as Abram, which is, as I have said, what his name was at this time and up until the time God changed it to Abraham.) It was almost 2000 years from the creation until the birth of Abram and another 2000 years until the birth of Jesus and another 2000 years to the present time, 6000 years in all.

Well, I’m not going to go through the genealogy; but I am going to say something about Abram’s family. Let’s look at Genesis 11:27 through 30. Here’s what it says:

27These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah’s lifetime. 29Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was barren; she had no child. (Genesis 11:27-30)

Abram’s father was Terah. He had two brothers, Haran and Nahor. Haran had a son Lot, Abram’s nephew, whom Abram took with him when God called him to go to the land of Canaan. Abram also had a wife Sarai, who, as we’ll see later, was also his half sister, the daughter of his father Terah, but not of his mother. (And later we will also see that Sarai is Sarah. God changed her name from Sarai to Sarah, when he promised that nations and peoples and kings would come from her. Sarah means princess.)

Now, you probably won’t remember how all these people are related together, but their descendants figure into Abram’s family later. I think it’s important to remember who they are. What I have done for myself is to draw a chart showing how they are related to each other and to others whom we will learn about as we go through Genesis. So, I encourage you to go home and draw a chart for yourself. It’ll make the word of God more solid in your mind. Verse 30 says that Sarai, Abram’s wife, was barren; she had no child. This is important to know, because, later in Genesis, God will use this fact to test Abram’s faith.

Now let’s look let’s look at Genesis 11:31, the last verse in chapter 11. It says, “Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.” This says that Terah set out with his family to go to the land of Canaan. (You remember that this is the land where the descendants of Noah’s grandson Canaan, the one who was cursed, settled. It’s the land that God later gave to Israel, but removed them from the land at least twice when they were disobedient to him. It’s, of course, the land where modern Israel is located.) Terah set out with his family to go to Canaan, but he never got there! He stopped in Haran and settled there. (And incidentally, Haran, where Terah settled, is not the same word as Terah’s son’s name Haran. The translators spelled it the same in English, but it’s spelled differently in Hebrew and is a different word.) Moses (who wrote Genesis) says that Terah set out from Ur to go to Canaan, but if you read the New Testament, you will find out that it was actually Abram that God had called. (Acts 7:1-5) God called Abram to go to Canaan, but he didn’t get to Canaan. He stayed with his family in Haran.

Now let’s go on to chapter 12. I’m going to read the first nine verses. Here’s what they say:

1The Lord said to Abram:
Go out from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2  I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3  I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse those who treat you
with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.

4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7But the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8From there he moved on to the hill country 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 worshiped Him. 9Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev. (Genesis 12:1-9)

First let’s look at verses 1 through 3. These are the words that the Lord spoke to Abram. He Gave Abram a command and some promises. The command: “Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land I will show you.” The Lord had told Abram to go to Canaan while he was still in Ur. He started out for Canaan but didn’t make it. Where his family stopped, he stopped too. So the Lord was now telling him again to go to the land he would show him.

According to what I have read, Ur, where Abram originally came from, was highly civilized and affluent. It was a place of luxury. God was calling Abram to do the equivalent of leaving Upper Arlington and moving to the uncivilized jungle in some third-world country where there is no running water or even housing. Sometimes he literally calls us to do things like that. But he always calls us to live our lives with this sort of attitude. God called Abram to leave his home; but God made him some promises. He said to Abram:

1.  I will make you into a great nation.
2.  I will bless you. (Any kids here know what it means to be blessed?)
3.  I will make your name great.
4.  I will make you a blessing. (Kids: What does that mean?)
5.  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.
6.  All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says about Abraham (I quoted this last week too, but this is one of the most important things we can learn about our Christian lives from Abram):

8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)

Abraham lived in tents. After he had left Haran, he had no place to call home. He was homeless. But Abraham did everything by faith. That means that he obeyed God because he trusted him and because he believed his promises.

God promised that he would make Abram into a great nation. He did. Abraham’s descendants are the nation of Israel, but not just the nation of Israel. They are Abram’s biological descendants. But in addition to them, all those who trust God are counted as Abram’s descendants by faith. That includes all of us!

God promised Abram that he would bless him. And he did. He blessed him materially by making him rich even while he was living in tents. But he blessed Abram much more in what was to come. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews has to say about Abram and Sarai and others who trusted God and obeyed him by faith:

13These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. 14Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been remembering that land they came from, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But they now aspire to a better land—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)

These people were looking forward to the heavenly city.

God also promised Abram that he would make his name great. He has. The three major monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, which are practiced all over the world, trace their roots back to Abraham. Abraham is known all over the world. In heaven, his name will be known by all who are there.

God promised Abram that he would make him a blessing and that he would bless those who blessed him and curse those who treated him with contempt. He promised that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him. How do you suppose he’s doing that? Well, it’s through Abram’s descendant (who also happens to be his Creator and Savior), Jesus Christ our Lord. All nations on earth will be blessed through him. But those who treat him with contempt, he will treat with contempt. They will be cursed. Do you honor Jesus? Do you trust him and obey him.  Or do you treat him with contempt?

Well, Abram trusted God, took all he owned and went to the land of Canaan along with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and the people who worked for him. Verses 6 and 7 tell us that although Canaanites were at that time in possession of the land, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” Abram built an altar to the Lord. Then, after moving around some, he stopped east of Bethel and built another altar to the Lord and worshipped him.

You see, Abram went from Haran to Canaan in obedience to God by faith. When he was in the land of Canaan, he acknowledged the Lord by building altars and worshipping him. We too need to acknowledge the Lord in everything we do. Do you do it? Do you acknowledge the Lord in everything you do?

Now let’s go on to verses 10 through 16. The HCSB give this passage the title Abraham in Egypt. Here’s what it says:

10There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. 13Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels. (Genesis 12:10-16)

Well, there was a severe famine in the land. Abram had lots of mouths to feed, both people and animals. He must have heard that there was plenty in Egypt, so he decided that it was best to go there for a while until the famine was over. That’s what he did.

But, before they entered the land, Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she was his sister. Pharaoh was the ruler of the land and Sarai was a beautiful woman. Abraham figured that if they thought Sarai was his wife, they would kill him in order for Pharaoh to be able to take her into his harem; but if they though she was his sister, while they might take her anyway, they would not kill him.

Now this happened before God had given the Ten Commandments (including, “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery”). It’s interesting that Abram believed that they would not be willing to commit adultery, but it wouldn’t bother them at all to commit murder—just the opposite of the way most people seem to think today.

Well, do you think Abram was telling Sarai to lie when he told her to say she was his sister? She was his sister, or his half-sister, anyway, so maybe it was a half-truth. No, it was a lie! It was intended to deceive! Revelation 21:8 says, “But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” “All liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” This is a quote from the New Testament. But it’s not some stricter interpretation of God’s law. It’s simply a statement of fact. All liars will have their place in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. I’m not going to try to go into when it might be appropriate to lie. Maybe it never is. I really don’t have all the answers. But it was not appropriate in this case! They took Sarai away from Abram.

They took Sarai into Pharaoh’s house, probably to prepare her to become part of his harem. Pharaoh treated Abram very well because of Sarai, and as a result, Abram became richer than he had been before. In fact, if you look ahead to chapter 13, verse 2, it says that Abram was very rich in livestock silver, and gold.

And now let’s go on to verses 17 through 20. Here’s what they say:

17But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here’s your wife. Take her and go!” 20Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away, with his wife and all he had. (Genesis 12:17-20)

The Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.  And Pharaoh knew exactly what was happening, probably because the Lord told him, so Pharaoh severely rebuked Abram: “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here’s your wife. Take her and go!” Then he sent Abram away with all his people and all his possessions, including what he had acquired while he was in Egypt.

Now you may have noticed that the Lord spoke to Abram when he told him to go to Canaan and that Abram built altars and worshipped the Lord while he was in Canaan. And while Abram was in Canaan, the Lord spoke to him and told him that he would give the land to his offspring.

But when Abram decided to leave the land of Canaan where the Lord had commanded him to go in order to go to Egypt, there is nothing mentioned about the Lord telling him to go there. Also, there is nothing about Abram coming before the Lord and seeking his will. He just went.

While Abram was in Egypt, he didn’t speak to God and neither did God speak to him—at least not directly. God completely avoided speaking to Abram. He rebuked Abram through Pharaoh, a pagan king! Sometimes he rebukes us through unbelievers, too. It’s most humiliating when he does that.

Now let’s look at chapter 13, verses 1 through 4. Here’s what they say:

1Then Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. 2Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, 4to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram worshiped the Lord there. (Genesis 13:1-4)

Abram went back to where the Lord had sent him (very rich, incidentally), and there he worshipped the Lord.

You know, Abram was commended by the New Testament writer for his faith. The apostle Paul used Abram as the example of justification by faith. The apostle Paul used Abram as the example of justification by faith when he quoted from Genesis, “Abram believed the Lord and He credited it to him as righteousness.” (Gen. 15:6) But Abram had a lapse in his faith.

The Lord said about King David that he was a man after his own heart. And yet, King David committed adultery and murder. But the Lord rebuked him and he confessed his sin and begged the Lord for forgiveness. Listen to what he wrote:

1 Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithful love; according to Your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.
2 Wash away my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against You—You alone—I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. So You are right when You pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge.
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
6 Surely You desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
9 Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt.
10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways, and sinners will return to You.
14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.
18 In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar. (Psalm 51)

I’m going to stop here. I was going to say more. I was going to talk about Peter’s denying Jesus. But I’m just going to say this. For Abraham’s sin, for David’s sin, for Peter’s sin, for anyone else who has ever sinned, it’s the blood of Jesus Christ that takes away that sin, takes it away completely. So trust him and confess your sin. Then you will be pure and whiter than snow; then you will have a clean heart and a steadfast spirit; then you will have the joy of your salvation and you will declare God’s praise.

[Prayer]



END NOTES
1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Holman CSB ® and HCSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

2 Genesis 11:10-13:4

From Shem to Abram
10These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the deluge. 11After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 12Arpachshad lived 35 years and fathered Shelah. 13After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 14Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber. 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 16Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg. 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu. 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 20Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug. 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 22Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 24Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah. 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 26Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah’s lifetime. 29Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.


Chapter 12

The Call of Abram

1The Lord said to Abram:
Go out from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2  I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3  I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse those who treat you
with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.

4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7But the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8From there he moved on to the hill country 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 worshiped Him. 9Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

Abram in Egypt
10There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. 13Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.
17But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here’s your wife. Take her and go!” 20Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away, with his wife and all he had.


Chapter 13

Abram and Lot Separate
1Then Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. 2Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, 4to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram worshiped the Lord there.