****Looking For The Land | Genesis 12:1-10

The Life and Times of Abraham | Sermon 2

…A LOT!

When God calls Abram in the famous Genesis 12:1-5 journey, He begins with a very strong command to leave. The command get thee out“get out" of three areas that are important to any human being.
First, he is to get out of thy country. The Hebrew word is eretz and is an easily understood word that refers to land. Abram was to leave Haran and move to Canaan.
Second, he is to get out from thy kindred. Here, the “relatives," for that would be explicitly included in the next phrase, and implicitly included in the previous. Sometimes the word means *birthplace*, but Abram had already left there. The most common consensus among Jewish scholars is that the word refers to nationality. “old patriotisms" and move toward a new identity altogether. This is far more difficult than leaving the land. As the old saying goes, “you can take a boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy."
Third, he is to get out from thy father's house. This not only included the relatives of the home, but certainly the values of the home as well since Terah was so associated with idol-making (see sermon 1).
The departure from land, national identity, and home values“remaking" of Abram, only a name-change would finish the transformation. It is interesting that when Ruth converted to Judaism, she used almost the same words in Ruth 1:16 and 2:11.

…A Lot!

I find that the bible is filled with parallel. Over and over again we find that one thing corresponds to another. Genesis 12:1-3 is a great example.
Abram is to leave the eretz in order to gain a land that I will show thee (v. 1). He loses one eretz (translated country at the beginning v. 1) to gain another eretz (translated land at the end of v. 1).
Abram leaves one kindred (v. 1) to gain a nation“old patriotisms" may be lost, but “new patriotisms" will be gained.
Abram is to leave his father's house (v. 1), but in doing so all the families of the earth will be blessed (v. 3).
Anyone who has even casually read the Bible up to this point (Genesis 1:1-12:5) would recognize that God is doing something new. In fact, what God is doing is so fundamentally different“new dispensation" would be appropriate. For 10 generations God worked generally with mankind. Then for 10 generations God worked through Noah's family alone (see sermon 1). But now, God's blessings and curses will come through one man, alone. God's work (and nothing less) is being shifted to a totally new format.
Not only would a casual reader of the Bible recognize a new dispensation, but also some new information about the Messianic promise of Genesis 3:15. The woman's seed that would defeat the serpent will come through the line of Abram, and therefore we must read future passages in light of this insight.

Where To Go?

One interesting aspect of the story, well-known to many, is that Abram did not know where he was supposed to go. The only forward instruction he had was to go to a land that I will shew thee (v. 1). But Abram departed out of Haran (v. 4) and they went forth into the land of Canaan“options were limited," and that would be true. Or we could speculate that God gave some kind of manifested leadership, and perhaps that was true. Or perhaps, as we speculated previously (sermon 1), God had instructed Terah to go to Canaan and Abram was simply finishing old business.
When Abram arrives in Sichem (v. 6) (Shechem), the LORD appeared unto Abram“you have arrived." But Abram didn't seem to take it this way. He continued from Shechem to Bethel, then Ai, then continued going on still toward the south (v. 9). On the journey Abram built altars both in Shechem and Bethel. The purpose is unclear (he may or may not have sacrificed an animal), but appears to be a sign to those who follow that the land is claimed and that God granted the land.

Did Abram Miss The Promised Land?

In v. 10 Abram goes to Egypt, with disastrous results. This is a strange progression from Shechem, to Bethel, to somewhere in the south, to Egypt. Is Abram still seeking the Promised Land, not sure where it is? In Genesis 13:3-4 in looks like Abram retraced his steps backward, out of Egypt, back to Bethel. And it is there that God will give him a great vision.
Perhaps this can be used to remind us that God does not always give us all the answers. We must seek and study…perhaps it is time to retrace our steps!