A Verse by Verse Study of Genesis 12:1-20
We don’t know much about Abram, later named Abraham, from Genesis 11. He was married to Sarai and had no children. He came from Ur of the Chaldeans, which we know historically was upscale or wealthy and his family worshiped pagan idols.
Genesis 12 begins with an invitation. God calls Abram and tells him, “Go from your country” and “go to the land I will show you”. Leave your country, leave your kindred, and leave your father’s household. This would be a hard command to obey.
Lessons from Genesis 12
Genesis 12 is a story about faith and trust. To leave where you feel safe, comfortable, and prospering, and go to an unspecified place, requires trust. Abram doesn’t know where he is going, but he trusts God.
But this invitation in Genesis 12 was not God’s original invitation. Acts 7:2-4 reveals that God first calls Abram while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. God invited him to obey him and go to the land he would show him.
But Abram’s obedience was only partial. They started out on a journey lead by God, but when they arrived in Harran, believed to be Abram’s father’s homeland, they settled down and stayed there. Terah may have wanted to remain in his native land for the remainder of his life. But when Terah died and was buried, God calls Abram again.
Abram’s partial obedience didn’t take God’s promise away. Instead, it meant that the fulfillment of the promise would be delayed. God repeats his calling and promise to Abram at the beginning of Genesis 12 to lead Abram to a complete obedience.
Though Abram would become a giant of faith, he did not start out as a hero. But the story of Abraham is not important because it gives us an example of a hero, rather it is an example of what it means to grow in faith and obedience.
Why Did God Choose Abraham?
More important than Abram’s faith is God’s promise. God proceeds to tell Abram what his plans are for Abram and those that will follow him. In Genesis 12:1-3, God’s makes 6 “I will” statements, declaring what he promises to do.
God wants to bless us. He seeks after those who will follow him, and it brings him pleasure to bless them. Abram was no one special. But God knew his heart and knew that Abram would believe and obey. Even when Abram’s obedience was only at first partial, and even when he messed up on several occasions, God desired to fulfill his promises to Abraham, and all who remain faithful.
God’s Promises to Abraham
I will make you a great nation
God promised to make a nation from Abram. He would have children and grandchildren, and his descendants would grow and multiply and become a great nation.
I will bless you
This is a broad promise, but as we look through the Old Testament and see how God had blessed Abraham’s descendants, particularly when they continued to be faithful to God, we can see that God blessed them with abundance.
I will make your name great
There is no name honored more than the name of Abram in all of history by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
This contrasts with the men of Babel, who tried to make a name for themselves. Notice that the desire to make a name for yourself is not in itself ungodly. As the saying goes: “a good name is worth more than gold”. But the selfish pursuit of fame is not only idolatry, it also makes an idol of yourself. The difference here is that Abram allowed God to make his name great.
Also making Abram’s name great was not for him. It was so that he could be a blessing to others – to all nations.
I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you
In this promise, God is showing loyalty to Abram. God does not control the free-will of mankind. God knows that the Israelites will be hated and persecuted for following him and his ways. But God promises to bless those who treat the Israelites well and punish those who do not.
Historically speaking, nations who have treated the Jewish people well have been blessed, while those who persecuted the Jews eventually fell to ruin and destruction.
All the people of the earth will be blessed through you
Not only was Abram promised blessing, but God also promised to make him a blessing to all peoples and nations on earth. God blessed the Israelite nation, but through Israel the entire world would receive the greatest blessing: Jesus.
Abraham Believed God
Genesis 12:4 says that Abram responded to God immediately. But again, this obedience is described by many theologians as another partial obedience. God told Abram to leave his country, his people, and his family, yet Abram brought along his nephew Lot.
God continually shows us grace. Even as Abram’s obedience was only partial, God continued to uphold Abram and keep his promises. But with every bad choice comes consequences. Lot’s company would not turn out to be a blessing to Abram. Instead, he would be nothing but trouble and inconvenience.
The Faith of Abraham
Abram was 75 years old. Genesis tells us he left with his family and all his possessions. He took everything. There was no back-up plan. He was all in. Though Abram and Sarai were well beyond child-bearing years, Abram never hesitated to put his faith in God.
In Genesis 12:5-6, Abram and his family entered the land of Canaan, which God promised to give to them. At that time the land was occupied by the Canaanites who had no intention of leaving and would not give it up until they were forced out nearly 400 years later.
Abraham Walked With God
Have you ever made a decision – a decision you know to be right – but it’s still frightening and causes you anxiety? I’m certain Abram felt this way, yet he continued to obey God.
Having faith in God doesn’t mean you will never be scared or anxious. It doesn’t even mean you will always feel immediate certainty about the choices you are faced with. But it means that you trust God with all the outcomes, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in.
And Abram walked with God. We sometimes hear the phrase “walk with God” and put the emphasis on the person who remains faithful to God. But the other side to this phrase is that God is walking with them. Abram was not alone in these circumstances. To give Abram reassurance and strengthen Abram’s faith, Genesis 12:7 says that God appeared to Abram. Could anything strengthen your commitment and certainty more than the presence of God himself? He spoke to Abram and reminded him of his promise.
God is full of compassion and grace. He knows our weaknesses and our tendency to doubt him. He could have told Abram once and left it at that. But he went alongside Abram, and continually provided him reassurance and encouragement.
Abraham’s Faith Grew
In Genesis 12:8, Abram built God an altar – a permanent altar made of stone – but he built himself a tent – a temporary dwelling. This comes from a walk of faith – of acknowledging what is seen as temporary, and what is unseen as eternal. From the time God told Abram that this promised land was his, Abram continued to live in tents and never made his dwelling on earth permanent.
As we grow in faith, our priorities change, and we begin to realize that the real promise and blessing is an eternal one.
God confirmed his commitment to Abram and Abram built an altar to God in return as a sign of his commitment. This altar was an important place to Abram because it was a place to meet with God, to offer sacrifice for sin, to show submission to God, and to worship him.
Abraham’s Faith is Tested
How will you ever know if your faith is real if it is never tested? Anyone can say they have faith in God when all is going well. But when tragedy strikes, or when life doesn’t turn out the way we would like, it’s much harder to have real faith.
Faith is like a muscle. The more faith is exercised, the more it grows. And Abram failed his first test.
In the remainder of the passage, Genesis 12:10-20, God tested Abram with a famine.
Abraham Fails the Test
Some people read this story and assume that Abram’s failure in this test of faith was lying about his relationship to Sarai – a desperate act of self-preservation. But the test Abram failed was his lack of faith in God to provide.
Famine was a serious problem and many people died of hunger. Abram was right to be concerned about feeding his family, but he was wrong in thinking God would not provide for his needs in the place God called him to live. God called Abram to Canaan, not to Egypt.
Abram, like most of us, found it easier to trust God in the far-off promises, but it was a different story when it came to very real needs.
A False Sense of Security
Often when we are tested in this way, we believe our actions are right because no harm is done. We’re not sinning, we’re just choosing an alternate path than the one God called us on.
Abram only wanted to go to Egypt because there was food there, but this was his own path not God’s. And in Genesis 12:11-13, Abram sensed the potential danger in Egypt upon his arrival.
From Bad to Worse
In Genesis 12:11-13, Abram persuaded Sarai to lie on his behalf and say that she was his sister, so that the Egyptians didn’t kill him and take his wife.
He lied to save himself. God is faithful even when our faith falters, even when we are not faithful. However, Sarai honored her husband even when he is all wrong, and God honored her.
Abram forgot God’s promise to give Abram and Sarai children. This would mean he would have left Egypt unscathed without having to deceive the pharaoh.
Why Did God Punish Pharaoh for Abram’s Lie?
In Genesis 12:17, God sent terrible plagues on Pharoah and his household because of Sarai. Abram and Sarai had an important place in God’s plan of redemption. God did not want Sarai to be defiled by a gentile king, as it would be from her line that the Messiah would come.
God Honors His Comittments
In Genesis 12:16, we find out that Abram was treated well by the pharaoh and given sheep, oxen, donkeys, and servants – almost as a dowry for Sarai who he thought was unmarried.
God blessed Abram even when he didn’t do the right thing. God continued to protect Abram even when he lied. God did not recall his promise because the promise depended on God, not on Abram.
God is true to his word.
Abraham is Rebuked
Though God blessed and protected Abram and Sarai, Abram came away from Egypt with excess baggage (his cattle and newly acquired servants) and a rebuke from a pagan king.
In Genesis 12:18-20, a godless king had to call Abram out for being immoral. Not only would Abram have felt shame, but the harm that came out of Egypt would have been like a slap in the face, with the realization that he had completely drifted away from God’s path.
What Lessons Can we Learn from Abraham in the Bible?
First, Christianity is often portrayed as something we do for God. But we can’t do anything for God until we realize what he has done and continues to do for us. Abram is recognized as a hero of the Bible who many want to pattern their lives after. But the true moral of this story is that God is the true hero. God remains faithful when we are not. God patiently seeks after us and calls us to follow him.
He chose Abram to be the father of a great nation, from whose line our Savior would eventually come. But God put Abram on that path and herded him like a shepherd back to that path whenever he strayed. God’s redemptive plan would be fulfilled one way or another, and it would all be God.
Second, God is in the business of growing our faith. This requires circumstances where we must depend on and trust in God. Abraham did eventually grow in his faith and God used him for great things!
Like Abram, we might not always get it right, but God’s promises will always hold true. And God’s love and grace are ever ready to welcome us back onto his path and plan for our lives!
Book Recommendation:
The Dangers of Shallow Faith by A.W. Tozer. This book focuses on those few believers who will listen to God’s call to faith and rise up against the temptation of spiritual lethargy.
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