A New Start
Genesis 12:1-4a
Tony’s Overview Video
How to Use
Preparing to teach
- Read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge in this month’s issue of the Nurturing Faith Journal
- Watch Tony’s Video for this session
- Select either the Adult or Youth teaching guide and follow the directions
Click to read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge
Key Verse: Genesis 12:2 –
I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Have you ever watched an episode of a TV series that included so much conflict or violence that you couldn’t wait for it to end, hoping the next episode would bring resolution or happier days?
The story of God’s call to Abraham is not unlike that, appearing like a bright light at the end of a long tunnel. The first eleven chapters of Genesis (often called the “Primeval History”) begin with the marvelous story of creation, but quickly move to describe a downward spiral of human rebellion and divine cursing.
Adam and Eve followed their own wisdom, and the earth was cursed so that it would not produce as easily as before (Genesis 3). Farmer Cain killed his shepherd brother Abel and was cursed to become a homeless wanderer (Genesis 4). The world became so wicked that a grieving God sent a flood to cleanse it, but even faithful Noah’s family soon fell into disharmony and cursing (Genesis 5-9). Genesis 10 claims that Noah’s descendants obeyed God’s command to spread throughout the earth, but Genesis 11 relates a separate story of how humans chose instead to concentrate their population and efforts in one place, building a monument to their pride (Genesis 11). They also fell under the curse, and a scrambling of languages forced them to scatter.
So it is that Genesis 1-11 describes humanity’s beginnings as a whirlpool of sin and rebellion, spiraling down the drain of history with no hope in sight – until Abraham. With God’s call to the future progenitor of Israel, the cycle of cursing gave way to the possibility of blessing.
A radical call (v. 1)
We are familiar with the idea that Abram grew up in “Ur of the Chaldees” before his father decided to move the family to Canaan, but stopped instead in the northern Mesopotamian city of Haran (11:31-32; see “The Hardest Question” online for more on the location of “Ur of the Chaldees”).
Terah must have liked Haran, a large city by the Balik River (now in southern Turkey), and the family remained there until he died. After Terah’s death, the Lord spoke to Abram and called him to renew the trek to Canaan, promising to bless his family in remarkable ways. [DD]
We may wonder how Abraham recognized the voice of Yahweh (the name for God used in this text) when he would have grown up worshipping other gods. The text assumes that God had no difficulty in communicating.
Note the progressive nature of the call account. God instructed Abram to leave his country, with all of its many deities and attendant cultural practices. Then, he was to leave his kindred, the large tribal unit to which his family belonged. Finally, God told Abram to leave his father’s house, his own immediate family.
Thus, God called Abraham to leave behind all that was familiar to him – but didn’t tell him where he was to go. There was just this: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” The fact that Abram responded obediently to such an ambiguous call is testimony to tremendous trust. It is no wonder we, like the writer of Hebrews, look to Abram as a model of faith (Heb. 11:8-16).
Put yourself in Abraham’s sandals. How do you think you would have responded to God’s call? What would it take to convince you that it was really God?
Radical promises (v. 2)
God offered impressive promises in response to Abram’s obedience. First was the promise to show Abram a new land. The promise implied continued protection and guidance along the way. Abram was assured that God would travel with him and show him where to go.
God also offered promises that were more explicit and remarkable in their scope. According to the story, God told a seventy-five year old man with no children that “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (v. 2). The reader already knows that Abram’s wife Sarai was barren (11:30), so this seems to be an unlikely promise indeed. How could Abram become a great nation when his wife was unable to bear a single child?
God did not tell Abram how the promise would come to pass: that Abram trusted God while knowing so little about what God expected is a further testimony to his faith. God had promised both guidance and blessing, and that was enough.
The narrator says that Yahweh also promised to bless Abram with a great name. That may be a purposeful contrast to the preceding story, in which the builders of Babel set out to “make a name” for themselves (11:4). Despite their many resources, their prideful effort resulted in a scattering of the people and a loss of their name. Abram had little with which to build, but Yahweh promised to make for him a great name, and countless generations have looked up to “Father Abraham” as the progenitor of Israel and a model of faith.
A radical blessing (v. 3)
God’s intention was not only to bless Abram, but to make him a blessing to others (v. 2). The thought is expanded in v. 3: “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Abram would become a channel of blessing to all the families of the earth. The blessing was not just for Abraham’s descendants, but for all who might learn from or be inspired by them. The promise was not unconditional, but rife with potential. Those who recognized Abram as the servant of God and the source of blessing could experience the blessing of knowing God, too. In contrast, those who opposed Abram were also opposing the work of God, and they would experience the consequences that accompany such rebellion.
Some modern versions translate the last phrase of v. 3 as “by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (RSV), meaning that his name would be used in blessings. This is possible because the niphal form of the verb can be translated either in a passive or reflexive sense as context demands. The NRSV translation (along with NET and NIV11) favors the interpretation that Abram would become a source of blessing to all persons. [DD]
The promised stream of blessing would become evident in many ways. The text makes it clear that Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was richly blessed through their association. Laban (a descendant of those who remained in Haran) was later blessed through his affiliation with Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. This blessing was not limited to other family members: the Egyptian official Potiphar prospered from his association with Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson. Prophetic hopes centered on a day when all nations would come to Jerusalem to seek God’s wisdom and blessings (Isa. 2:2-4). The greatest blessing to the world, in time, was the birth of Jesus Christ, born as a descendant of Abraham.
Gerhard von Rad, a leading Old Testament scholar of the 20th century, described the resultant blessing in another way: “The promise given to Abraham has significance, however, far beyond Abraham and his seed. God now brings salvation and judgment into history, and man’s judgment and salvation will be determined by the attitude he adopts toward the work which God intends to do in history” (Genesis, p. 160). In von Rad’s view, the blessing is not so much through the promises to Abraham, but through the new channel of response to the God who promises.
The Apostle Paul later interpreted the life and work of Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to make Abraham a blessing to all people (Gal. 3:6-14). What are ways in which you have seen God continue to bless others through the heritage of Abraham today?
Radical Obedience (vv. 4a)
Verse 4 begins a new section, but today’s text includes the first half of it in order to indicate Abram’s response. “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him” (v. 4a).
Surely Abram must have had many questions, but the text says nothing about them. It tells us only “So Abram went ….” The note that his nephew Lot traveled with him will become significant later on, as Lot plays a role in several stories that highlight Abram’s character and faith. [DD] [DD]
What happens when we look at this text through the lens of Jesus’ life and teachings? Through Christ, has God not also called us to follow him in lives of obedience and service? God did not tell Abraham in advance where he was going, but challenged him to go in trust “to the land that I will show you.”
When Jesus called Peter and James and John, he didn’t tell them where they were going, but said only “Follow me.” When the spirit of Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, he gave the crusading rabbi no hint of all the places he would go. When saints through the ages have heard and responded to God’s call, they did so without knowing what lay ahead.
Have any of us been given a detailed map of where our life will lead when we responded to Christ’s call to repentance and faith and following? No, but we can trust that when we choose to follow Jesus, we are not alone. The Spirit goes with us, leading us to places of blessing and growth.
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Genesis 12:1-4a
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
Each week at the end of the large group session, the leader will lead the students through a spiritual discipline to help them engage with scripture in a new way. Ask your student about the experience that they had with the spiritual discipline. Even, take time throughout the week and allow your student to lead your family through the spiritual discipline that they learned in the large group session.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Genesis 12:1-4a
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
Encourage youth to check out this video ahead of the lesson.
“Cold Calling” from The Pursuit of Happyness
Via www.youtube.com
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