[Note: Pentecost, p60. But the case is quite otherwise. These form the subject of the present Chapter. Unto a land that I will show thee.] "One detail we do need to note here is the conditional element in the covenant program with Abram. They became distinctively the heirs of promise. Unto a land that I will show thee. This call included two promises: the first, showing the land of his future posterity; and the second, that in his posterity all the earth was to be blessed (Ge 12:2). This, we have seen, took place when he was seventy years of age, and therefore five years before the death of Terah. In the Septuagint it is rendered ὑψηγήν hupseegeen. ii., p. 337; J. 1Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. Get thee out of thy country — Now, by this precept, he was tried whether he loved God better than he loved his native soil, and dearest friends: and whether he could willingly leave all to go along with God. But, in its proper place, we shall see how frivolous is the imagination, that Melchizedek was Shem. A land that I will show thee; which as yet he nameth not, for the greater trial and exercise of Abram’s faith and patience: compare Isaiah 41:2 Hebrews 11:8. Some true religion, therefore, although smothered, still remained in his mind. Dr. Hales, in his Chronology, contends for two calls: "The first," says he, "is omitted in the Old Testament, but is particularly recorded in the New, Acts 7:2-4; : The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was (at Ur of the Chaldees) in Mesopotamia, Before He Dwelt In Canaan; and said unto him, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land (γην, a land) which I will show thee. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. The lifelong invalid would feel from home in another room of the same home. In fact, the narrative in the first five verses of this chapter is merely an expansion of the short notice in the preceding one; and therefore our translators have properly rendered the verb in the pluperfect tense, "had said.". עי ‛ay, 'Ai, "heap.". The Lord had said, to wit, in Ur of the Chaldees, by comparing Genesis 11:31, with Acts 7:2-4; or, did say, again, i.e. If none of the family will accompany thee, yet go for thyself unto That Land which I will show thee. Commentary on Genesis 1:1,2 (Read Genesis 1:1,2) The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. Call to Abram. Pharaoh kind to Abram for her sake, Genesis 12:16. Genesis 12:1 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Genesis 12:1, NIV: "The LORD had said to Abram, 'Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you." This seems to be particularly alluded to by Isaiah, Isaiah 41:2; : Who raised up the righteous man (Abram) from the east, and called him to his foot; that is, to follow implicitly the Divine direction. Having brought the affairs of Terah's family to a fit resting point, the sacred writer now reverts to the call of Abram. Introduction. In this matter Pharaoh was a greater, a nobler man than Abram. We are therefore to understand, that the departure of Terah from Ur was in consequence of the command given to Abram: which command is placed here, 1st, Because the narration concerning Abram begins here; 2nd, Because the command was given to Abram, not to Terah, who did not worship the true God, though probably he was converted to him by means of Abram; and, 3rdly, we may add, Because the sacred historian chose to conclude his account of Terah, before he entered more immediately upon the history of Abram. Genesis 12:3, ESV: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”" III. A land that I will show thee; which as yet he nameth not, for the greater trial and exercise of Abram’s faith and patience: compare Isaiah 41:2 Hebrews 11:8. get thee out of thy country; the land of Chaldea, and the city of Ur, which was in it, or out of Mesopotamia, in which, when taken in a large sense, were both Ur and Haran; and this country was now become idolatrous, for though it was first inhabited and peopled by the posterity of Shem in the time of Arphaxad, yet these, in process of time, degenerated from the true religion, and fell into idolatry. There will always be central figures in society, men of commanding life, around whom other persons settle into secondary positions. ], ". She is taken into Pharaoh’s house, Genesis 12:15. The Bible’s clear teaching of God’s creation and the uncertainty of modern science. Here it is the name of a person, the owner of this place, where afterward is built the town called at first Shekem, then Flavia Neapolis, and now Nablous. By delving into the patriarchs' lives, Boice demonstrates how much they are like us and how easily we relate to them, both in triumphs and failures. This, we have seen, took place when he was seventy years of age, and therefore five years before the death of Terah. It is therefore true, that they departed with the design of coming to the land of Canaan; because, having received the promise concerning a land which was to be shown them, they suffered themselves to be governed by God, until he should actually bestow what he had promised. The Hithpael has no doubt the meaning "to wish one's self blessed" (Deuteronomy 29:19), with ב of the person from whom the blessing is sought (Isaiah 65:16; Jeremiah 4:2), or whose blessing is desired (Genesis 48:20). In the case of these renewals, it is only in Genesis 28:14 that the last expression, "all the families of the Adamah," is repeated verbatim, though with the additional clause "and in thy seed;" in the other passages "all the nations of the earth" are mentioned, the family connection being left out of sight, and the national character of the blessing being brought into especial prominence. In whatever way it was made to him-whether in a dream, by a vision, or by a visible manifestation (the language of Stephen (Acts 7:2) implies that it was some glorious theophany, perhaps like the supernatural light and words that suddenly converted Paul-a miracle well adapted to the conceptions of a Zabian idolater) - Abram was thoroughly persuaded that it was a divine communication; and it was probably accompanied by such special instructions as to the being and character of the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth," as carried conviction to his understanding and heart. (Read Genesis 12:1-3) God made choice of Abram, and singled him out from among his fellow-idolaters, that he might reserve a people for himself, among whom his true worship might be maintained till the coming of Christ. Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Said: not after his father's death, but before he left Ur; (Menochius) unless, perhaps, Abram received a second admonition at Haran, which, from his dwelling there with his father, &c., is styled his country. But it was then God said, ‘Get thee out.’ It is as life advances that the idea of journeying, ‘getting out,’ comes home to men. The Lord had said, to wit, in Ur of the Chaldees, by comparing Genesis 11:31, with Acts 7:2-4; or, did say, again, i.e. Sends him safely away, Genesis 12:20. The apostle assures us that in all this Abram had spiritual views; he looked for a better country, and considered the land of promise only as typical of the heavenly inheritance. Get thee out of thy country, &c.— We are certainly assured from the sacred writers of the New Testament, that Abram's was a voluntary obedience to this command, and an act of faithful reliance on the Divine Commander. Is not this call of God, to Abram, similar to the calls of his grace, in the present hour! Stephen quoted the Septuagint translation of this verse in Acts 7:3. If he had said in a single word, Leave thy country, this indeed would not lightly have pained his mind; but Abram is still more deeply affected, when he hears that he must renounce his kindred and his father’s house. At the same time, to prevent their being infected with the idolatries and vices of the rest of the world, as they certainly would have been, had they mingled with them; they were to be distinguished and separated from all other people, by their diet, and by divers civil and religious rites and ceremonies; but, more especially, by a secret mark in the flesh, by which they might certainly be known from other men. Genesis 12:1 Abraham was the father of the faithful, and we have here the first recorded test to which his faith was put. [Genesis 31:30; Genesis 31:53 Joshua 24:2] Many follow God as Samson did his parents, till he light upon a honeycomb; or as a dog doth his master, till he meet with carrion; and then turn him up. Moses had before said, that Terah and Abram had departed from their country to dwell in the land of Canaan. (Genesis 12:18-20). So God’s dealings differed. The circumstances of this call we may be somewhat helped to the knowledge of, from Stephen's speech, Acts 7:2, where we are told, 1. We must one day ‘get out.’ As years increase, all things seem in constant flow. [Matthew 10:37]. To which end, Moses gives so circumstantial an account of him. אלון 'ēlôn "the oak;" related: "be lasting, strong." Now the Lord had said unto Abram—It pleased God, who has often been found of them who sought Him not, to reveal Himself to Abraham perhaps by a miracle; and the conversion of Abraham is one of the most remarkable in Bible history. There being a famine he goes down to Egypt, Genesis 12:10. for Abram's country was Ur of the Chaldees, not Haran. Genesis 12:1, KJV: "Now the LORD had … בית־אל bēyt-'êl, Bethel, "house of God." In Genesis 12, “God now seeks to address the sin problem and reconcile humanity to himself through the person of Abraham and promise he will give him.” (157) And he does so through blessing. Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Reader! That the God of glory appeared to him to give him this call, appeared in such displays of his glory as left Abram no room to doubt. His wanderings seemed to be begun at the wrong end of his life. It was not until after the death of his father ( Genesis 11:32) that Abram began to realize anything of the promise God had given to him, for only after his father"s death did God take him into the land ( Genesis 12:4) and there reaffirm the original promise to him ( Genesis 12:7). God calls Abram to leave Haran and go into Canaan, Genesis 12:1; promises to bless him, and through him all the families of the earth, Genesis 12:2, Genesis 12:3.Abram, Sarai, Lot, and all their household, depart from Canaan, Genesis 12:4, Genesis 12:5; pass through Sichem, Genesis 12:6.God appears to him, and renews the promise, Genesis 12:7. He that will be Christ’s disciple here, and co-heir hereafter, must deny himself; that is an indispensable duty. Therefore, when he knew that the place, from which his son was commanded to depart, was accursed, it was his wish not to perish there; but he joined himself as an associate with him whom the Lord was about to deliver. But he sojourned, it is said, with his father there; and Bengel, an advocate of this theory, upholds it in a manner unworthy of himself, by assuming that Abram left his father in Haran, and lived sixty years in Canaan; but being in the habit of visiting Haran from time to time, he thus maintained a sort of connection with his "father's house," which, on the old man's death, was entirely broken off! The same promise was afterwards renewed to Isaac, with a distinct allusion to the oath (Genesis 26:3-4), and again to Jacob, both on his flight from Canaan for fear of Esau (Genesis 28:13-14), and on his return thither (Genesis 35:11-12). Genesis 12:1 "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:" “The Lord … unto Abram”: This passage is the promise whose fulfillment extends all through Scripture (either in fact or in expectation), to Rev. Get thee out of thy country—His being brought to the knowledge and worship of the true God had probably been a considerable time before. As the minister of God, Abram is great and noble; as the architect of his own fortune, he is cowardly, selfish, and false. This was, no doubt, in consequence of some Divine admonition. To which also may be added, that Moses, in other places so concise, here expresses a plain and easy matter in three different forms of speech. The Second Call is recorded only in this chapter: "The Lord said (not Had said) unto Abram, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto The Land, הארץ HA -arets, (Septuagint, ΤΚps1 ηνΚps0 π γην ), which I will show thee." renewed the command in Haran, whilst Abram might possibly linger there, as afterwards Lot did in Sodom, longer than he should. 1. This call of Abram is an emblem of the call of men by the grace of God out of the world, and from among the men of it, and to renounce the things of it, and not be conformed unto it, and to forget their own people and their father's house, and to cleave to the Lord, and follow him whithersoever he directs them. Gen 12:1-3 We have here the call by which Abram was removed out of the land of his nativity into the land of promise, which was designed both to try his faith and obedience and also to separate him and set him apart for God, and for special services and favours which were further designed. CALL TO ABRAM. Get thee out — Go for thyself; a special command. So with reason and faith he is willing to go to the unknown land. In the call of Abram we see an outline of the great providential system under which we live. See also Robert B. Chisholm Jeremiah, "Evidence from Genesis," in A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus, p54. Genesis 12:1. in what sense is the Abrahamic covenant [ch15] unconditional? By G. E. Watkins. (x) "vade tibi", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, &c. (a) From the flood to this time were four hundred and twenty-three years. His country was become idolatrous, his kindred and his father’s house were a constant temptation to him, and he could not continue with them without danger of being infected by them; therefore God said, Get thee out. 2d, That this call was given him in Mesopotamia; and that, in obedience to this call, he came out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran or Haran about five years: and from thence, when his father was dead, by a fresh command, he removed him into the land of Canaan. 1. VI. Categories: Bible Study Lessons. The pluperfect rendering was adopted by our translators from a supposed necessity of harmonizing this verse with Acts 7:2. It is hard to over-estimate the importance of the passage before us. But let us extend our idea of home. . 3. c. 29. p. 421. Here, then, we have the starting of a new spring of spiritual life in the human race. Thy father's house - Terah being now dead, it is very probable that the family were determined to go no farther, but to settle at Charran; and as Abram might have felt inclined to stop with them in this place, hence the ground and necessity of the second call recorded here, and which is introduced in a very remarkable manner; לך לך lech lecha, Go For Thyself. The child rests in his home; but the outside world, with its responsibilities, self-direction and support, begins at last to open to him, and he must ‘get out.’ So with resting among old friends, etc. See also Robert B. Chisholm, ". 1.The Lord had said — Rather, the Lord said. There being a famine he goes down to Egypt, Genesis 12:10. Now the Lord had said unto Abram — It pleased God, who has often been found of them who sought Him not, to reveal Himself to Abraham perhaps by a miracle; and the conversion of Abraham is one of the most remarkable in Bible history. Moreover, this calling of Abram is a signal instance of the gratuitous mercy of God. Abraham obeyed, and it is frequently mentioned in the New Testament as a striking instance of his faith (Heb 11:8).God calls Abram from his own country and kindred to Canaan, Genesis 12:1. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” a. From thy father’s house; from the family of Nachor, which was now become idolatrous, Genesis 31:30 Joshua 24:2; and consequently their society was dangerous and pernicious; and therefore God mercifully snatcheth him as a brand out of the fire. Nations Descended from Noah. It was a Jewish tradition, as we see from the book of Judith, that the descendants of Terah were driven out from Chaldea because they refused to follow the prevalent idolatry: “For they left the way of their ancestors, and worshipped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew: so they [the Chaldeans] cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned there many days. We have here the call whereby Abram was removed from, the land of his nativity into the land of promise. For why does not God immediately point out the land, except for the purpose of keeping his servant in suspense, that he may the better try the truth of his attachment to the word of God? Easy and plausible was the excuse which he might have alleged; namely that he would remain quietly at home, because he had received no command. Who set out fair with Abram - as did likewise Orphah with Ruth - but settled in Haran, which was also in Chaldea, not far from Ur, and would go no farther, after the old man’s death. References: Genesis 12:1.—J. Genesis 12:1-4 Now the Lord had said to Abraham: “Get out of your country, from your kindred from your fathers house, to a land that I will show you. Stephen"s statement in Acts 7:2 supports this interpretation. Grace had prepared a deliverer (Moses), provided a sacrifice for the guilty, and by divine power brought them out of bondage Exodus 19:4 but at Sinai they exchanged grace for law. ABRAM, a person of the most eminent piety and holiness, was chosen to be the head and father of this nation; that, as he would always be held in great veneration among them, he might always shine before their eyes as an illustrious pattern of godliness. God calls Abram from his own country and kindred to Canaan, Genesis 12:1. And the promise not only meant that all families of the earth would wish for the blessing which Abram possessed, but that they would really receive this blessing in Abram and his seed. Genesis 1:2). The promise to Abram (1) throws light on the compensations of life; (2) it shows the oneness of God with His people; (3) it shows the influence of the present over the future. Now the Lord had said unto Abram—It pleased God, who has often been found of them who sought Him not, to reveal Himself to Abraham perhaps by a miracle; and the conversion of Abraham is one of the most remarkable in Bible history. God made a twofold promise to Abraham. Had Abram been beforehand with God by any merit of works? From thy father’s house; from the family of Nachor, which was now become idolatrous, Genesis 31:30 Joshua 24:2; and consequently their society was dangerous and pernicious; and therefore God mercifully snatcheth him as a brand out of the fire. (Haydock) --- St. Stephen clearly distinguishes these two calls of Abram. Genesis chapter 12 is all about the plans of God. He now explains that they had not been impelled by levity as rash and fickle men are wont to be; nor had been drawn to other regions by disgust with their own country, as morose persons frequently are; nor were fugitives on account of crime; nor were led away by any foolish hope, or by any allurements, as many are hurried hither and thither by their own desires; but that Abram had been divinely commanded to go forth and had not moved a foot but as he was guided by the word of God. renewed the command in Haran, whilst Abram might possibly linger there, as afterwards Lot did in Sodom, longer than he should. Once this act was accomplished, however, and Abram did obey God, God instituted an irrevocable, [Note: Pentecost, p60. "It is important, therefore, to observe the relationship of obedience to this covenant program. The same Maimonides (w) calls Zabaeans, in whose faith and religion, he says, Abram was brought up, and who asserted there was no other God but the sun, moon, and stars; and these Zabaeans, as he relates from their books and annals, say of Abram themselves, that he was educated in Cuthia, and dissented from the common people; and asserted, that besides the sun, there was another Creator; to whom they objected, and so disputes arose among them on this subject: now Abram being convinced of idolatry, is called out from those people, and to have no fellowship with them; it is literally in the Hebrew text (x), "go to thee out of thy country"; for thy profit and good, as Jarchi interprets it; as it must be to quit all society with such an idolatrous and superstitious people: and from thy kindred; as Nahor his brother, and his family, who are not mentioned, and seem to be left behind when Terah, Abram, Lot, and Sarai, came out of Ur of the Chaldees; though it looks as if afterwards Nahor did follow them to Haran or Padanaram, which are the same, and where he continued, and therefore is called his city; see Genesis 24:10 so with great propriety Abram might be called a second time to leave his kindred as well as his country; and certain it is, Haran, or Padanaram, as well as Ur of the Chaldees, is called by himself his country, and Nahor and his family his kindred, Genesis 24:4. and from thy father's house; or household, his family, which better agrees with the second call at Haran, than with the first at Ur; for, upon the first call, Terah and his family came along with Abram, and therefore this phrase is omitted by Stephen, who speaks of that call, Acts 7:3 but Terah dying at Haran, his house or family went no further, but continued there with Nahor; only Abram and Lot, upon this second call, went from thence, as the following history makes it appear; and so Abram left, as he was bid, his father's house and family to go, as it follows: unto a land that I will show thee; meaning the land of Canaan, though not mentioned, and seems to be omitted for the trial of Abram's faith; hence the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 11:8 observes, that "he obeyed and went out, not knowing whither he went"; and yet it is said, that, when he and Terah came out of Ur of the Chaldees, "they went forth to go into the land of Canaan", Genesis 11:31 and, when he and Lot went first from Haran, the same is said of them, Genesis 12:5 it is probable the case was this; there was no mention made at first what land he was to go to, and when he prepared for his journey he knew not where he was to go, but afterwards it was revealed to him that Canaan was the land, and therefore set out in order to go thither; and still, though he might know the place by name where he was to go, he might neither know the way to it, nor what sort of country it was for quality or quantity; and therefore God promises to show him the way, and direct his course right unto it, and give him a view of it, that he might see what sort of a country, and how large it was, that he would give to his posterity. 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