Genesis 12: The Call of Abram

In verse 1, God tells Abram to leave his land, his relatives, and his house, to go to "the land I will show you". God is telling Abram to leave his comfort zone and temptations, and follow Him. 

   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.

The Lord tells Abram that if he leaves his earthly things behind to follow the Lord, he will be blessed greatly. The Lord will make Abram a great nation and a great name. Those who bless Abram will in turn be blessed, and those who treat Abram with contempt will be cursed by God. The Lord says that "all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you".


And so Abram did as the Lord commanded. Abram was 75 years old at the time. Verse 5 says "He 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". They reached Canaan and verse 6 "Abraham passed through to the site Shechem, at the oak of Moreh". At the time that were at Canaan, Canaan was occupied and owned by the Canaanites, but verse 7, "the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your offspring". Abram then built an alter there for the Lord had appeared to him. Then, he traveled east of Bethel, and pitched his tent there. West of him was Bethel, and east of him was Ai, and here he built an alter for the Lord and worshipped Him. Then Abram journeyed slowly to Negev.


The Lord offered great blessings to Abram, if Abram obeyed what the Lord told him to do. Because Abram obeyed, anything and everything this is blessed now is thanks to Abraham.