1. The Setting: Ur of the Chaldeans
Abram lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, a prosperous and sophisticated city in ancient Mesopotamia. Ur was a center of moon worship, where the people served other gods. Joshua later reminded the people, "Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the River in old times, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods." Abram was called out of a pagan culture, out of idolatry, to serve the one true God. His call was an act of sovereign grace, not because he was righteous but because God chose him.
2. The Call of God to Abram
Stephen recounts in Acts, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.'" The call was sudden, radical, and demanding. Abram was to leave everything familiar: his country, his kindred, and his father's house. He was to go without knowing the destination. Faith was required. The call was not a suggestion; it was a command.
3. The Three Promises to Abram
The Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 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." God gave Abram three promises: land (a great nation), seed (descendants), and blessing (spiritual blessing to all nations). These promises are foundational to the rest of Scripture.
4. Abram's Obedience by Faith
The writer of Hebrews records, "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." Abram did not see the land before he left. He did not have a map or a detailed plan. He had only the word of God. His obedience was not based on sight but on faith. He trusted the One who called him. This is the model of faith for all believers.
5. The Journey from Ur to Haran to Canaan
Terah took Abram, Lot, and Sarai and went out from Ur to go to the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and dwelt there. Terah died in Haran. Then the Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you." Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. He took Sarai his wife, Lot his nephew, and all their possessions, and they set out for the land of Canaan. They came to Shechem, to the terebinth tree of Moreh. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." Abram built an altar to the Lord there.
6. The Test of Famine and the Sojourn in Egypt
After arriving in the Promised Land, Abram faced a severe famine. He went down to Egypt to sojourn there. This was a test of his faith. Abram failed the test when he lied about Sarai, saying she was his sister. Yet God protected Sarai and brought Abram back to the land with greater wealth. The famine and the sojourn in Egypt show that the life of faith includes trials and failures. God remains faithful even when His people falter.
7. The Separation of Abram and Lot
Abram and Lot had become very wealthy, and the land could not support both of them. Their herdsmen quarreled. Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left." Lot chose the plain of Jordan, which was well-watered, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan. After Lot departed, the Lord reaffirmed His promise to Abram, saying, "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever."
8. The Covenant Ceremony in Genesis 15
Abram asked the Lord, "What will You give me, seeing I go childless?" The Lord promised that his descendant would be as numerous as the stars. Abram believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Then God made a formal covenant with Abram. He had Abram bring a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Abram cut the animals in half. When the sun went down, a smoking oven and a burning torch passed between the pieces. The Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land." The covenant was unconditional; God alone passed between the pieces.
9. The Sign of Circumcision and the Change of Name
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless." God changed Abram's name to Abraham, meaning "father of a multitude," because he would be the father of many nations. Sarai's name was changed to Sarah. God instituted circumcision as the sign of the covenant. Abraham and all the males of his household were circumcised. The sign of the covenant marked Abraham and his descendants as God's special people.
10. The Fulfillment of the Call of Abraham in Christ
Paul writes that the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." The promise that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Christ is the seed of Abraham. All who believe in Him, whether Jew or Gentile, are children of Abraham and heirs of the promise. The call of Abraham is the beginning of the story that ends with the Lamb on the throne.
Conclusion
The call of Abraham was a sovereign act of God's grace, calling a pagan idolater out of Ur to follow Him to an unknown land. God made three promises: land, seed, and blessing for all nations. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. His obedience by faith is the model for all believers. The ultimate fulfillment of the promise is Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed. Let every believer follow Abraham's example of faith, trusting in the God who calls and provides.