Commentary - Genesis 12:1-9

Bird's-eye view

Genesis 12 marks a dramatic shift in the biblical narrative. After the universal scope of the first eleven chapters which detail creation, the fall, the flood, and the rebellion at Babel God narrows His focus. He zooms in from all humanity to one man, Abram. But this narrowing is for the purpose of a greater, universal blessing. This is the hinge on which all of redemptive history turns. At Babel, men tried to make a name for themselves by building a tower to the heavens. Here, God promises to make a name for a man who simply obeys Him. The call of Abram is the formal beginning of the covenant of grace that will find its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. This is the gospel in its embryonic form, the first clear statement of God's plan to redeem a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

In these nine verses, we see the foundational elements of the Christian life: God's sovereign call, the demand for faith-filled obedience, the staggering promises of God, and the appropriate response of worship. Abram is called out of a pagan world to walk by faith and not by sight, to leave all that is familiar for a future that is entirely in God's hands. His story is our story. We too are called to leave the world's securities, to trust in God's promises, and to live as pilgrims and sojourners, building altars of worship along the way.

Outline

Context In Genesis

The call of Abram in chapter 12 comes directly on the heels of the genealogy of Shem in chapter 11, which ends with Terah, Abram's father. That genealogy itself follows the account of the Tower of Babel, a story of humanity's unified, arrogant rebellion against God. Their goal was to make a name for themselves (Gen 11:4). God scattered them by confusing their languages. In direct contrast, God now approaches one man and promises to make his name great (Gen 12:2). Babel was man's attempt to ascend to God; the call of Abram is God's gracious condescension to man. After the global judgment of the flood and the scattering at Babel, God institutes a new plan. He will work through a particular family to bring a universal blessing, reversing the curse that has plagued humanity since the fall.

Commentary

1 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go forth from your land, And from your kin And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;

The story begins with the divine initiative. God speaks. All of salvation history is driven by the Word of God. The command is radical and absolute. Abram is to leave everything that constitutes a man's identity in the ancient world: his country (geographical identity), his relatives (tribal identity), and his father's household (familial identity). This is a call to a kind of death. He is to sever ties with his past, his security, and his inheritance. And where is he to go? To a place God has not yet revealed. "To the land which I will show you." This is the essence of faith. Faith is not a leap in the dark; it is a step into the light of God's Word, even when the path ahead is not fully illuminated. God doesn't give Abram a five year plan. He gives him a promise and a command to take the next step.

2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;

With the demanding command comes a staggering set of promises. Notice the repetition of "I will." God is the one who will accomplish all this. First, "I will make you a great nation." This is a direct answer to the problem of Abram's life. He is 75 years old and childless, and his wife Sarai is barren. The promise is humanly impossible. Second, "I will bless you." This is a comprehensive promise of God's favor and provision. Third, "And make your name great." This is the direct antithesis to the project at Babel. Men strive for greatness and are scattered; Abram obeys God and is promised greatness. True greatness is a gift from God, not an achievement of man. And the purpose of all this blessing is not for Abram's personal enjoyment alone. "And so you shall be a blessing." God blesses us so that we might be a conduit of His blessing to others. We are blessed to be a blessing.

3 And 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 will be blessed.”

The promises continue. God aligns Himself with Abram so completely that to bless Abram is to be blessed by God, and to curse Abram is to be cursed by God. This is a promise of divine protection. Then comes the climax of the promise, the one the apostle Paul calls "the gospel preached beforehand to Abraham" (Gal. 3:8). "And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." The particular choice of one man and his family is for the sake of a universal redemption. From this one man will come the seed, Jesus Christ, who will crush the serpent's head and bring salvation to people from every nation scattered at Babel. This is the missionary heart of God on display from the very beginning.

4 So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

The response to God's Word is simple, direct obedience. "So Abram went." Faith is not merely intellectual assent; it is active trust that results in obedience. Hebrews 11:8 tells us he obeyed and went, "not knowing where he was going." The text also notes that Lot, his nephew, went with him, a detail that will have significant consequences later. And his age is recorded, seventy-five years. This is not the age one typically starts a new life, pulls up stakes, and heads into the unknown. This detail underscores the miraculous nature of God's promise of a "great nation."

5 So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go forth to the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.

This verse gives us the logistics of the move. This was not a lone wanderer. It was a large household, with servants ("persons which they had acquired") and significant wealth. Abram was a man of substance. His obedience was costly. He was leaving a settled and prosperous life for the uncertainties of a nomadic existence. The last clause is beautifully simple: "thus they came to the land of Canaan." The journey undertaken in faith, according to God's word, was successful. God is faithful to guide those who obey His call.

6 And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.

Abram doesn't just arrive at the border; he travels into the heart of the land, to Shechem. This is a significant location, centrally located. But there is a problem, a stark reality check. "Now the Canaanite was then in the land." The promised land is not empty. It is occupied by a pagan and hostile people. God's promises are often given in the face of significant obstacles. Faith is required not just to start the journey, but to continue it when the promised inheritance is still in the hands of the enemy. This is where the rubber of faith meets the road of reality.

7 Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to Yahweh who had appeared to him.

Just as Abram is confronted with the reality of the Canaanites, God appears to him. This is the first theophany to Abram. God's presence is the answer to the problem. He confirms and specifies His promise: "To your seed I will give this land." Not some abstract land, but this very ground occupied by the Canaanites. Abram's response is not to form a militia or to despair. His response is worship. He builds an altar. An altar is a place of sacrifice and communion. By building an altar, Abram is staking a claim. He is consecrating a piece of the pagan land to the worship of the one true God. He is acting in faith as though the land is already his, because God has promised it.

8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and called upon the name of Yahweh.

Abram continues his journey. He pitches his tent, the symbol of his temporary, sojourning life. But next to his temporary dwelling, he builds another altar, a symbol of the permanent reality of God's presence and claims. He is living as a pilgrim, but his worship is rooted and established. "He called upon the name of Yahweh." This is public worship. In the midst of a pagan land, between Bethel ("house of God") and Ai ("heap of ruins"), Abram proclaims the name of his God. He is a missionary and a witness from the moment he arrives.

9 And Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.

The chapter ends with Abram still on the move. He has not "arrived" in the sense of settling down. The fulfillment of the promise is still in the future. The life of faith is a journey, a pilgrimage. It is a continual process of moving forward, trusting God for the next step, and establishing patterns of worship along the way. Abram walked through the land he was promised without yet possessing it, a picture of every believer who walks by faith, awaiting the promised inheritance of the new heavens and the new earth.

Application

The call of Abram is the pattern for every Christian. God calls us out of our own "Ur of the Chaldees," out of our world of idolatry and self-reliance. He calls us to leave behind the securities of the world and to follow Christ into an unknown future, trusting solely in His promises.

Like Abram, our faith must be an active, obedient faith. It is not enough to say we believe God's promises; we must live like we believe them. This means making costly decisions, leaving comfort zones, and stepping out in obedience even when we can't see the whole path. God does not call us to a life of ease, but to a life of faith-filled adventure.

And like Abram, we must understand that we are blessed to be a blessing. The grace we have received in the gospel is not a private treasure to be hoarded. It is a gift to be shared. We are called to be conduits of God's grace to the families of the earth. Finally, our journey of faith must be marked by worship. In the midst of a hostile and pagan culture, we are to pitch our tents but build our altars. Our lives may be temporary and transient, but our worship must be constant and public. We are to "call upon the name of the Lord," proclaiming His worth and His claims over every square inch of His creation.