Abraham - God’s Man

Abraham - God’s Man

Genesis 12:1-9  

Genesis 10 lists the descendants of Noah’s three sons and the nations that came from them. Genesis 11 doubles back in the account and provides the background behind why Noah’s family became many separate nations. In this account, we discover that mankind quickly abandoned the knowledge of God. The time between Noah’s family getting off the Ark and the Tower of Babel is amazingly short.  

After giving the account of Babel, Genesis 11 turns the focus to the descendants of Noah’s son Shem. There is nothing unusual about this family, but God focuses on them. As the generations progress, the family of Terah, descended from Shem, comes into focus. We meet Terah’s family in Genesis 11:27-28.

  

Genesis 11:27-28 (NKJV)

27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot.  

28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 

Notice that they were in Ur of the Chaldeans. “Chaldeans” is another name for the Babylonians. In Joshua 24, Joshua refers to this fact when he says:  

Joshua 24:2 (NKJV)

And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.’”  

After the Flood, Noah’s descendants quickly moved away from God to serve other gods. In the midst of this, God set aside a man for Himself. This man was no different from anyone else, but God’s choice of him made the man different. The difference started when God moved the man and his family away from the influences of the Chaldeans, with whom they were living. God moved him from his hometown and family. This move is explained in Genesis 12:1.  

Genesis 12:1 (NKJV)  

Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family andfrom your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”  

 The Bible consistently emphasizes that God chose Abraham based on His own will and grace, not Abraham’s merit. When God called Abraham, there was no mention of Abraham earning this privilege. God simply chose him and made promises.  

The promises God made are found in Genesis 12:2-3.  

Genesis 12:2-3 (NKJV)

2 “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.   3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  

Here are the promises:

1. I will make you a great nation.  
2. I will bless you and make your name great.  
3. You will be a blessing.  
4. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.  
5. In you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.  

God has kept and is keeping these promises.  

The Old Testament tells the history of God’s dealings with the nation of Israel, and in that relationship, we learn much about God and how mankind relates to Him. All of what God has done for Abraham and Israel, He has done because of promise number one, “I will make you a great nation,” and promise number five, “In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  

From this nation that God made, God sent the **Messiah, the Son of God**. This is how the promise to bless all the families of the earth is being fulfilled.  

God’s Pattern for Us 

In God’s dealings with Abraham, we see the pattern of His relationship with every person.  

First, God invites each person to leave their father’s house and country and go to a land that He will show them. Jesus did this with the disciples when He said, “Come follow me.” The disciples left their careers, jobs, and families and followed Jesus. 

Jesus taught:  

Matthew 10:37 (NKJV)

 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”  

This is the nature of God’s calling. We must be willing to be separated from the things that take the place of God in our lives.  

The next part of the pattern we see from God’s dealing with Abraham is the promise of blessings. God did not promise one blessing to Abraham; He promised multiple blessings. All the promises God made to Abraham apply to the person who follows God wherever He leads.  

Each of us has the potential to be a vessel through which Jesus Christ is presented to the world. Each of us has the potential to be a blessing to the whole earth, to our families, and to our neighbors. However, this is not accomplished by us. Whatever was accomplished through Abraham was accomplished by God. Much of what was promised to Abraham did not occur until many centuries later, and some of it is still in the process of being completed. Even though we cannot see how God is blessing the whole earth through us, if we follow God’s invitation to follow Him, God will keep His promises. Our part is to go wherever God leads us.  

God’s calling of Abraham was entirely because of His grace. The Bible is abundantly clear that Abraham did not earn these blessings. Genesis 15 tells us:  

Genesis 15:6 (NKJV)  

And he (Abraham) believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.  

The Bible repeatedly tells us that believing in God is what God requires. He does not require us to change the world; He changes us.  

What Does Belief Look Like  

What does belief look like in our lives?  

• Belief looks like three young Hebrew men who, when faced with being thrown into a fiery furnace or bowing before the statue the king had set up, chose to die rather than acknowledge anyone or anything as God besides God Himself.  
• Belief looks like Peter choosing to be hung upside down on a cross rather than deny Jesus.  
• Belief looks like John the Baptist being beheaded because he spoke the truth that God told him to speak.  

We are living in Ur of the Chaldeans, or the modern version of it. God is calling us to leave Ur and go to a land that He will show us.  

God's promises to Abraham are there for each of us. We must each ask ourselves:  

What does belief look like in my life?  

What is God calling me to leave in order to follow Him? 

What is keeping me from following Him?