Genesis 12

The Call of Abram

Ur was an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia, located near the original mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers on the Persian Gulf and close to Eridu. Because of marine regression, the remains are now well inland in present-day Iraq, south of the Euphrates on its right bank south of Baghdad.
The site is marked by the ruins of the ziggurat (above), still largely intact, and by the settlement mound. The ziggurat is a temple of Nanna, the moon deity in Sumerian mythology, and has two stages constructed from brick: in the lower stage the bricks are joined together with bitumen, in the upper stage they are joined with mortar.
Ur is mentioned four times in the Old Testament as "Ur of the Chaldees", referring to the Chaldeans, who were already settled there by around 900 BC.

Hebrews 11:8-10“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith--for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city* with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.”

* That city is the New Jerusalem.

Galatians 3:5 “In the same way, ‘Abraham believed God, so God declared him righteous because of his faith’”

In the case of Abraham, God spoke in command and in promise. The command was to leave his own country; and the promise was that he should have a son.

God promised Abraham that he and his descendants would "own" the Promised Land. However, the only land he ever "owned" was the gravesite he buried his wife in*. Similarly, Isaac and Jacob did not build permanent dwellings in the land. After that, the Hebrew clan moved to Egypt for 400 years. None of these people had any permanent place in the promised land of Canaan.

* Abraham purchased the Hebron gravesite from the Hittites so that he could bury his wife Sarah. The Bible describes in painstaking detail how the patriarch requests to buy the grave, how the Hittites wish him to take it for free, and, when Efron the Hittite finally agrees to make it a purchase, he charges Abraham the inflated and outlandish sum of 400 silver shekels (which some archeologists value at $200,000). The very first parcel of land in Israel acquired by a Jew is a gravesite!
Abraham is a proud Hebrew; he refuses "of right" burial but demands to pay - even if the price be exorbitant - for the establishment of a separate Hebrew cemetery. Sarah's gravesite symbolizes her separate and unique identity; she must die as a Hebrew and not a Hittite.
The author explains that the faith of the patriarchs was not a faith that desired the land of Canaan, but a faith that desired a different and better promised land, namely a permanent and eternal dwelling in the presence of God.

ROM 4:16 "Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all."

GAL 3:6 "Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham."

Abraham is seen as the stellar example of what it is to live by faith, and but Abraham was not a super-human, nor had a monopoly on spiritual things. Abraham was an ordinary man who had a supernatural encounter with the living God.
That same supernatural encounter is the one you and I enjoy in Christ today, which assures us of an eternal relationship with our God who loves us and desires our fellowship.

To the Jew of Christ's day, as well as today, Abraham is regarded as their father. The Jews have traditionally seen Gentiles as Pagans as dogs, not worthy of the God who called Israel out of Egypt. And yet ironically the man they regard as the father of their nation was a man living in a pagan country surrounded by pagan people, including his own family.

The theme of the Bible takes a major turn in this chapter. God begins to deal with one man (Abraham) and his descendants (Israel). God gives Abram what is called the Abrahamic Covenant (verses1-3) where He promises to bless Abraham

1 Then the LORD* told Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you.

* LORD = “Jehovah”

Thought: Is God calling you to a place of greater service and usefulness for Him?

2 I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others.

3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed him, and Lot* went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran**.

* Haran – About 600 miles northwest from Ur, 400 miles northeast of Canaan.

** Lot will not be a blessing to Abram. He will be nothing but trouble and inconvenience.




5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth--his livestock and all the people who had joined his household at Haran--and finally arrived in Canaan.

6 Traveling through Canaan*, they came to a place near Shechem** and set up camp beside the oak at Moreh***. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites***.

* The name Canaan is derived from the word kinakhu a much prized purple dye obtained from the shellfish for which the coasts were known.


** Shechem is today’s Nablus.
In Genesis 33:18, this where Jacob bought a parcel of land and pitched his tent. This is also the place called "Sychar" where Jesus met the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (John 4). Shechem would be made one of the cities of refuge by Joshua. So this Sichem was located in the northern land of Israel, in what was to become known as Samaria.

***Canaanites
Why this statement, "the area was inhabited by Canaanites"? The Message is that it means Lucifer's host were already there and waiting on the Seed of the Woman to appear. Satan knows The Plan, and even had made three major attempts thus far to stop Christ's birth. The first being the murder of Abel by Cain, and then the fallen angels mating with daughters of 'the man Adam', and finally by the Babel tower event mixing of peoples to build one empire.

*** Oak tree at Moreh - a place of Canaanite worship.

7 Then the LORD appeared* to Abram and said, "I am going to give this** land to your offspring.*** " And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the LORD's visit.

* appeared, not just spoke to! This was probably a preincarnate appearance of Christ.
** “this” indicates that Abram has now entered the Promised Land.
*** offspring - Hebrew “seed”. Promise was not just to Abraham, but to his descendants.

8 After that, Abram traveled southward and set up camp* in the hill country between Bethel** on the west and Ai*** on the east. There he built an altar and worshiped the LORD.

* camp - He pitched his tent. 1 Peter 2:11 – “Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you to keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls.”

** Bethel is about 12 miles north of Jerusalem and 20 miles east of Shechem. This is where Abram settled when he returned from Egypt. 'Beth-el' means “House of God”. This is also near the same area where Jacob would later be given the vision of the heavenly ladder of angels ascending and descending, sleeping on a pillar stone. Jacob would also build an altar, and anoint the pillar with oil (Genesis 28). The area of this Beth-el was originally named “Luz”.

*** Ai means “heap of ruins”.



9 Then Abram traveled south by stages toward the Negev*.
Negev - The semi-desert land of southern Palestine.



10 At that time there was a severe famine* in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to wait it out.

* famine would have killed Abram’s sheep, on which his wealth and survival was dependent. This famine was a test of Abram’s faith.



11 As he was approaching the borders of Egypt, Abram said to Sarai, "You are a very beautiful woman.

12 When the Egyptians see* you, they will say, `This is his wife. Let's kill him; then we can have her!'

* see – Women were unveiled in Egypt.

13 But if you say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of their interest in you, and they will spare my life."

This was in fact a half-truth. Sarai was Abram's half sister. Yet a half-truth is a whole lie. Abram's intent here was clearly to deceive, and he trusted in his deception to protect him instead of trusting in the Lord. If you want to do something wrong, you can find some good reasons to do it. If you can't think of the reasons yourself, the devil is happy to suggest them. Ideally Abram would say, "God promised me children, and I don't have them yet; therefore, I know I am indestructible until God's promise is fulfilled, because God's promises are always true."

14 And sure enough, when they arrived in Egypt, everyone spoke of her beauty.

15 When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to their king, the pharaoh, and she was taken into his harem*.

Understanding the place Abram and Sarai have in God's redemptive plan, we realize how serious this is. God did not want Sari's womb to be defiled by a gentile king, because the Messiah will come from her line of descendants.

16 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her--sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the LORD sent a terrible plague upon Pharaoh's household because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

18 So Pharaoh called for Abram and accused him sharply. "What is this you have done to me?" he demanded. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife?

19 Why were you willing to let me marry her, saying she was your sister? Here is your wife! Take her and be gone!"

20 Pharaoh then sent them out of the country under armed escort--Abram and his wife, with all their household and belongings.