God Calls Abram — TDW Kids

Terah's sons. “Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran” (11:27). Abram came from the family of Noah's son Shem (11:10-26). A hard loss. “And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans” (11:28). Lot lost his father, and Abram lost his brother. Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur was a rich city near the Euphrates River. Its people worshiped the moon god and many others. Joshua later reminded Israel of “the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River” (Joshua 24:15). No child. “But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (11:30). Barren means not able to have children. Yet God was about to promise Abram a whole nation. Stopped at Haran. Terah set out “to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there” (11:31). They started toward Canaan but settled partway. Terah's death. “So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran” (11:32). God spoke first. Stephen said God appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran (Acts 7:2). Abram did not go looking for God. God came looking for Abram. What we learn. God's choice of Abram was grace: kindness he did not earn. God still comes looking for people who are far from Him.

Shem's line (11:10-26). After Babel the family line runs from Shem to Terah. Out of all the scattered nations, God chose one family through which He would bless them all. Toledot (11:27). “This is the genealogy of Terah.” The Hebrew toledot (say: toh-leh-DOHT) means generations or family history: what came from Terah. Ur of the Chaldeans (11:28, 31). Ur was a great city in southern Mesopotamia. Archaeologists have uncovered its streets, houses, royal tombs and a huge ziggurat built for Nanna (say: NAH-nah), the moon god. Joshua 24:2 says Terah's family served other gods beyond the River. Grace before faith. Abram did not come from a godly home, and God's call was not a reward for good behavior. The Hebrew chen (say: KHEN), grace or favor, is the word used when “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (6:8). Abram received the same undeserved favor. Lot (11:27-28). Haran died “before his father,” while Terah was still alive. Lot, now without his father, traveled with his grandfather and then with his uncle Abram (11:31; 12:4). Barren (11:30). The Hebrew akarah (say: ah-kah-RAH) means unable to have children. In the ancient world this was a deep sorrow. It also means that the promise of a great nation could only come true by a miracle. Haran the city (11:31-32). Haran lay far to the north on the trade road between Ur and Canaan. Like Ur, it was a center of moon worship. Terah stopped there and died there. Why it matters. Salvation always starts with God. Abram was not looking for God; God came to him. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Abram grew up in Ur. Ur was a big, busy city. The people there prayed to the moon and other false gods. The Bible says Abram's family served other gods too. Abram did not go looking for God. God came looking for Abram! That is called grace. Abram's family also had sad days. Abram's brother, named Haran, died in Ur. Abram and Sarai had no children. Later the family moved to a city also called Haran. God saw every sad day. He had a good plan for this family.

Abram's family did not know the true God. But God chose Abram because of His love. God's love is a gift we cannot earn.

God spoke. The Lord said to Abram, “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house” (12:1). Three things to leave. His country, his relatives and his father's house. Abram was leaving everything that felt safe and familiar. No map. God said, “To a land that I will show you” (12:1). He did not say where. Abram would find out as he went. Faith. “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” (Hebrews 11:8). An inheritance is a gift handed down in a family. Following God's voice. Faith does not mean knowing every step. It means trusting the One who does. Not like Babel. The people of Babel refused to spread out and stayed where they wanted. Abram left home because God told him to. Jesus calls too. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). What we learn. God's call often asks us to leave something behind. Following Jesus is worth it, because He is with us every step.

Lekh lekha (12:1). God's first words to Abram are lekh lekha (say: LEKH leh-KHAH): go, or get yourself going. They are a command that calls for action, not just a feeling. Three circles. Your country, your family and your father's house: each circle is smaller and closer to the heart. God asked Abram to let go of all three. A land I will show you. God gave Abram a promise instead of a map. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith follows God's word before it can see the result. Hebrews 11:8-10. Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going.” He lived in the land “as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents,” because “he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Babel and Abram. Babel's builders wanted security in a city they built. Abram received security in a promise God made. One trusted bricks; the other trusted God's word. The cost. Leaving family in the ancient world meant leaving protection, inheritance and the place you belonged. Jesus calls His followers to put Him first in the same way (Luke 9:23). Why it matters. Faith is obedience to God's word before we can see how things will turn out. Every Christian's life begins with a call from God and a step of trust.

One day the Lord spoke to Abram. God told him to leave his country. He had to leave his relatives and his father's family too. God said, “Go to the land I will show you.” God did not give Abram a map. He did not even tell him the name of the land. Abram had to trust God one step at a time. That is what faith is. Faith means trusting God and doing what He says. Abram learned to listen for God's voice every day. We do not always know what will happen next. But we can trust the God who knows everything.

God told Abram to go. Abram did not know the way. But Abram knew God would lead him.

A great nation. “I will make you a great nation” (12:2). God promised a nation to a man whose wife had no child. Only God could do it. Blessed. “I will bless you” (12:2). To be blessed means to receive God's goodness and favor. A great name. God said He would “make your name great” (12:2). The builders of Babel said, “let us make a name for ourselves” (11:4). They tried to grab it; God gave it as a gift. A blessing to others. “And you shall be a blessing” (12:2). God blesses His people so that they can bless others. God protects. “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you” (12:3). God promised to stand with Abram. The whole world. “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (12:3). The families God scattered at Babel are the families He promised to bless. The Seed. Paul wrote that this promise was about one descendant of Abraham, “who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). What we learn. God's blessing comes as a gift, and it is meant to be shared. Jesus is the greatest blessing God ever gave the world.

I will (12:2-3). The builders of Babel kept saying, Let us. Here God keeps saying, I will. Everything in Abram's future depends on what God promises to do. Barak (say: bah-RAHK). Bless and blessing fill these two verses. To bless is to give good, life and favor; to curse is the opposite. After the curses of Genesis 3-11, God speaks blessing. A great name (12:2). At Babel men said, “let us make a name for ourselves” (11:4). To Abram God says, “And make your name great.” A great name is a gift of grace, not a human achievement, and Abraham's name is honored around the world to this day. Be a blessing. In Hebrew the words “And you shall be a blessing” are a command: be a blessing! Abram was not blessed in order to keep God's goodness to himself. All the families (12:3). The families here are the clans of Genesis 10, the very peoples scattered at Babel. God's promise reaches every one of them. Galatians 3:8. The Scripture “preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’” Paul calls this promise the gospel announced ahead of time. Galatians 3:16. The promises were made “to Abraham and his Seed… who is Christ.” The blessing for the nations would come through one Person. Why it matters. From here on, the Bible follows this promise as it comes true, until people from every nation are blessed in Jesus.

God made Abram wonderful promises. God said He would make Abram's family into a great nation. That was amazing, because Abram and Sarai had no children! God said He would bless Abram. He said He would make Abram famous. At Babel, people tried to make themselves famous. But only God can give a great name. God also said Abram would be a blessing to others. All the people on earth would be blessed through him. That promise came true in Jesus. Jesus came from Abram's family. He came to bless people in every land.

God made Abram a big promise. God would bless him. Through Abram, God would bless the whole world. That blessing is Jesus!

He went. “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him” (12:4). Abram obeyed right away. Seventy-five. “Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran” (12:4). It is never too late to follow God. To Canaan. Abram took Sarai, Lot, their possessions and their people. “So they came to the land of Canaan” (12:5). Already taken. “And the Canaanites were then in the land” (12:6). Abram owned none of it. He had only God's promise. The Lord appeared. “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land’” (12:7). Descendants means children, grandchildren and the families that come after them. Altars. “And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him” (12:7). Near Bethel he built another altar “and called on the name of the Lord” (12:8). To call on His name means to pray and worship. Tents, not towers. Abram “pitched his tent” (12:8). Babel built a tower for its own name. Abram built altars for the Lord's name and lived in a tent. What we learn. Faith obeys God's word, keeps going and worships along the way.

Departed (12:4). “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.” Abram's obedience was quick and complete. Seventy-five (12:4). Abram was seventy-five, and Sarai was long past the age of having children. God's timing is never limited by our age. Shechem and Moreh (12:6). Shechem lay in the heart of Canaan between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Moreh means teacher. Many Bible teachers think the great terebinth (say: TER-uh-binth) of Moreh was a place where Canaanites sought guidance from their gods. The Canaanites were then in the land (12:6). The promise and what Abram could see looked far apart. He walked through land owned by others, holding only God's word. The Lord appeared (12:7). In Canaan the Lord appeared to Abram and confirmed His word right where his faith was being tested. Zera (12:7). Descendants is zera (say: ZEH-rah), seed. Paul explains that the promise points to one Seed: “He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Altars and tents (12:7-8). Between Bethel, which means house of God, and Ai, Abram pitched his tent, built an altar and “called on the name of the Lord.” Tents show he was a pilgrim; altars show he was a worshiper. Toward the South (12:9). Abram kept moving toward the Negev (say: NEG-ev), the dry south country. Faith is a journey, not a single step. Why it matters. Abram's life had two marks: he obeyed God's word and he worshiped God's name. That is still what a life of faith looks like.

Abram obeyed God right away. He left Haran when he was 75 years old. That is old to start a big trip! Abram reached Canaan, but other people already lived there. Abram did not own any of the land. Then the Lord appeared and promised the land to Abram's family. Abram did not have a child yet. But he trusted God anyway. Abram built an altar wherever he went. An altar is a place to worship God. Abram lived in tents, but he worshiped God everywhere. His tent showed that his real home was with God. We can worship God everywhere too.

Abram went, just like God said. He built an altar to worship God. Abram lived in a tent and trusted God.