Unlikely Calling (Genesis 12:1-9)

…Of all the people I will be surprised to see, I will be the most surprised that I am there.

It’s a humbling expression but captures how we should feel about our salvation.  It’s a gift we do not deserve.  We don’t deserve to go to Heaven, but the Lord’s grace has the last word. 

No, we don’t deserve to be there.  Yes, we are very unlikely candidates to be eligible to go to Heaven.  And in that, we have a lot in common with Abram.

Except for Jesus, Abraham is probably the most important person in the Bible.  One indication of this is the amount of space given to him.  Eleven chapters of Genesis are devoted to a few thousand years of the world’s history.  This period encompasses at least nineteen earlier generations.  But Abram has fourteen chapters telling his story.  The history of Abraham and his immediate descendants fills the middle portion of Genesis (chapters 12–36).

And now we start that story in Genesis 12:1-9.

 ¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”

So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

⁸ From there he went on toward the hills 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 called on the name of the Lord.

⁹ Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.  

Genesis 12:1-9, New International Version

When the Lord called Abram, He made a promise spanning multiple areas, but there were a lot of unknowns.  We are used to seeing the end of the story, and we forget where the story is RIGHT NOW. 

Abram was not this faithful and righteous man who devotedly sought the Lord. The Lord didn’t look down on His righteous goodness and say, “Hey!  That Abram guy’s serving Me, so I think I’m gonna bless him.”  Instead, Abram came from a line of idolatrous people.

Joshua writes this in Joshua 24:2-3, ² Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. 

Joshua doesn’t explicitly state Abram was an idol-worshiper. However, his dad and brother were. The cities of Ur and Haran were undoubtedly known as pagan epicenters.  Is it possible Abram had contact with people who truly knew God?  Probably.

But however pagan he might have been, this was the Abram the Lord saw.  This was Abram at the time the Lord called Him.

What an unlikely person to receive such a blessing!

The setup for this story was the genealogy (of last week).  Remember, a BIG deal was made of Sarai’s inability to have children.  Yet, here is God appearing to Abram, telling him that he will not only have children but also father a nation!  And ultimately, the entire world will be blessed through him!  On top of all that, God will be gracious and bless him!

What an unlikely person!  Aren’t you grateful God calls unlikely people?

Yet, Abram left and, by faith, followed God.  God called Abram, and Abram, by faith, responded (Hebrews 11:8-10).

Isn’t it great that we are not saved by making promises to God; we are saved by believing God’s promises to us.

Abram believed God.  We would be wise to follow his example.