Genesis 12:1 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land. BSB
There is no introduction of Abram as God simply speaks to him. (Note that his name will change to Abraham a couple of chapters from now after he accepts the covenant and is circumcised). Three promises are made to Abram (great nation, bless and make you great and you shall be a blessing for all). The third blessing is of the most interest to Christians as through Abram, all people will be blessed on earth. (More on that in a moment).
We have seen the Lord speaking throughout Genesis as He is a personal God. The two ways in which He speaks are commands and blessings. Verse 4 is the vignette for why Abraham is considered to be the father of faith as God has said something, he trusts Him and goes forth. This is what faith looks like.
Genesis 12:7 And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I will give this land to thy seed. And Abram built an altar there to the Lord who appeared to him. Brenton Septuagint
The Hebrew word translated here as “seed” has a variety of meanings depending upon the context. In fact, many modern translations use words such as “offspring” or “descendants” rather than “seed” in their translation of the word. A case can be made that this verse refers to a group of people, i.e., descendants but others point to Jesus as Paul does in Galatians.
Galatians 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ. BSB
Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ. NET
This isn’t the first reference to Christ in Genesis:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. BSB
This verse, referred to as the Proto-Evagelium or first gospel, introduces God’s plan to defeat sin and the devil through Christ. God is issuing judgment in Genesis 3 but hasn’t given up on mankind (as is true in later chapters of Genesis before and after the flood). The plan of redemption starts to take shape in Genesis 12 with Abraham.
Genesis 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim…..31 And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur Kasdim to go into the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years. And Terah died in Haran. NHEB
Terah decides to move his family from Ur (modern day Iraq/Iran area) to Canaan as part of a general migration from Mesopotamia to Canaan. They stop half way in Haran and never go any further with Terah dying there. Terah worshipped idols (see Joshua 24:2) and there are Jewish and Christian commentators who will suggest that Abram, in his early years, did so as well but had an awakening to the fact that there was only one God rather than many.
Scripture doesn’t tell us much about Abraham or why he was chosen as God makes sovereign choices and we don’t know why those particular choices are made (see Romans 9, 10 and 11). That said, the Jewish midrash contains a story about Abram’s background:
Not only did Terah worship idols, but he even operated a business selling deities. Once, Terah needed to leave his store, and he appointed Abraham to sell the idols in his stead. However, Abraham discouraged potential customers from buying the idols, explaining to them the futility of worshipping statues that were only fashioned that very day. Not satisfied with this, Abraham took an ax and destroyed all but one of his father’s idols. He took the ax and placed it in the hand of the largest idol, the only one that remained intact. When Terah returned and saw what had happened, he accused Abraham. But Abraham explained that the largest idol had broken all the others in a fight over an offering that a woman had brought to the store. Terah exclaimed that such a thing was impossible. He then realized that his son had tricked him into admitting that his idols were powerless. For more see: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4529921/jewish/Who-Was-Terah.htm#Terahthe
Genesis 12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. 9 Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev….. 11 As he approached Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman. 12When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. 13 So tell them you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you and my life will be spared on account of you.”…15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife was taken into the household of Pharaoh, 16and he did treat Abram well on account of her. Abram received sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. NET
Abraham has been lifted up as a paragon of virtue, but it appears that he stops and starts his journey. Perhaps he is struggling within himself along the way and even wavering a bit as being a person of faith is hard. His time in Egypt is problematic as he wavers toward worldliness and self-preservation rather than being faithful. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that someone with Abraham’s background can be chosen and used by God to further His will. Despite his conflicts, Abraham persevered in his faith and that is a lesson that applies equally to us today.
Acts 3 contains Peter’s second sermon starting at verse 11 after he heals a man who was lame:
Acts 3:11 While the man clung to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and ran to them in the walkway called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him. 14 You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact…..17 And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, …24 Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days. 25 And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” BSB
Peter is linking the Christ event in with the promises made to Abraham so that even though he is speaking to Jews, the scope of salvation includes everyone both Jew and Gentile. He is thinking in terms of God’s intent to save the world through a descendant of Abraham. Amen to that!
Genesis chapters 1 through 11 are not just a collection of random stories but are intended to give us a sense of how we are broken and how God is going to reclaim us for His own.