The Call to Follow God
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Key Verse: “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.” Selected Scriptures: |
TODAY’S LESSON CENTERS upon the greatest promise ever made to man, the promise of life and blessings. (Gen. 12:1-3) This promise was based on trust, faith, and full obedience in the following of God’s commands. Elsewhere we read, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” (Rom. 4:3) This promise and its lessons reveal Abram’s complete walk of faith.
Terah was the father of three sons—Haran, Nahor, and Abram. (Gen. 11:26) Terah lived in Ur of the land of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia. (vs. 28) This land on the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers was a land devoted to the false moon god Sin, called Ur-Nammu. Terah was a follower of this false god. (Josh. 24:2) Although his father was a believer in this false god, Abram resisted this pollution and followed the true God of the Bible.
Being a dutiful son, Abram respected his father as long as he didn’t go against the God of the Bible. “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.” (Prov. 23:22) “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”—Col. 3:20
In due time, Haran, Nahor, and Abram married. One of Haran’s sons was Lot. Abram stayed with his father until he died. Terah had moved from Ur of the Chaldees to the city of Haran, taking with him Abram, Sarai (Abram’s wife), and Lot. Terah may have intended to go to Canaan but died in Haran at the age of two hundred five. (vss. 28-29,31,32) It was after Terah died that the faith of Abram shines out. Abram was seventy-five when God appeared to him telling him to leave his land, and his kindred, to go to a land God marked out for him.—Gen. 12:4
In chapter twelve, verse seven, we find God appearing unto Abram and promising that his seed would be given all the land of Canaan. The area of the land is mentioned in several scriptures.—Gen. 13:14-17; 15:18; 17:8; Ezek. 47:14-22
The promise made to Abraham was again given, and further elaborated, in Genesis twenty-two, after Abraham’s son, Isaac, was born. God told him to take his son to a mountain and offer him as a sacrifice. (Gen. 22:1-2) Again, Abraham’s faith was demonstrated. He was ready to take his son’s life when God stopped him. “The angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (vss. 15-18)
“To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” (Gal. 3:16) It is through Jesus and his followers that the Abrahamic promises are fulfilled.—vs. 29