Treasures New and Old

Genesis: Chapter Twelve: God calls Abram

These next two months we will look at primarily Abram and his dealings with God, as well as the covenant that God called him to. We will see that although Abram is considered the father of faith and the beginning of the Jewish nation, he was flawed just as we are and made a few colossal mistakes in his life. Yet God still loves him and blesses him because he heard God and obeyed the calling God gave to him.

We begin with the outline of Chapter 12:

Outline:

1. God calls Abram, promises him that he is to have a special blessing (Messiah?) (vs. 1-3)
2. Abram departs with Lot from Haran (vs. 4-5)
3. Abram sojourns through Canaan and God promises it to him in a vision (vs. 6-9)
4. Abram and family driven to Egypt by a famine (vs. 10-13)
5. Abram lies about Sarai, she is taken by Pharaoh to wife, she is restored to Abram because of plagues (vs. 14-20)

Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD has 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 show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Bless: H1288: barak: “A verb meaning to bless, kneel, salute, or greet. The verb derives from the noun knee and, perhaps, suggests the bending of the knee in blessing. Its derived meaning is to bless someone or something. The verb is used when blessing God (Gen. 9:26) or people (Num. 24:9). God used this verb when He blessed Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12:3). This word is used intensively when God blesses people or people bless each other (Josh. 17:14) . . .” (p. 166, Baker & Carpenter).

Make Great: H1432: gadal: “This word means to magnify, to grow up, to grow; to promote. . . . It indicates that something or someone becomes great or influential in wealth (Gen. 26:13; Jer. 5: 27); value (1 Sam. 26:24); or importance (1 Kgs. 10:23; Eccl. 2:9; Dan. 8:9, 10). It indicates the greatness of the Messiah that extends throughout the earth (Mic. 5:4). . . .

“The verb asserts the greatness of God (2 Sam. 7:22; Ps. 104:1) and His words (Ps. 92:5). In the sense of magnifying something, it refers to magnifying the Lord Himself (Ps. 35:27; 40:16; 70:4), along with His name (2 Sam. 7:26)” (p. 188, Baker & Carpenter).

Observations:

• The Lord had said . . .” Some believe that Abram was told back in Ur to leave family and father, and that he delayed or at least disobeyed since his father sojourned with him to Haran. No indication that God was upset if true. It is true that Lot went with him which violated the “from thy kindred”. Genesis 11:31 starts out, “And Terah took . . . ” which implies that Abram was not in charge of the caravan as yet.

• Abram leaves Haran after his father dies and continues to Canaan with quite an entourage. Lot and crew are with him. Here he might have separated, but did not. The seeds for issues and problems down the road appear to be planted here.

• The blessing of verses 2-3 are universal in that no time frame is provided. Also, it appears to be just a piece of the full Abrahamic covenant since God restates and expands it several times.

• Many believe this blessing has the promise of the Messiah in it since He is the ultimate blessing.

• This promise to Abraham points, ultimately, to the redemption of the whole world. Abraham’s family became a divinely appointed channel through which blessing would come to all men. This promise was formalized in a covenant (Genesis 15:18-21), and was repeated four additional times: twice to Abraham (Genesis 17:6-8; 22:16-18); once to Isaac (Genesis 26:3-4); and once to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-14). This promise is emphasized in the New Testament in Acts 3:25; Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:8; 29: and Ephesians 2:12.

• Galatians 3:8: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”

• Galatians 3:8: quotes Genesis 12:3; and calls it “the gospel.” Its importance to the Gentiles is stressed in Galatians as well as Ephesians where it is clearly stated that Gentiles who were “far off” and “strangers to the covenant of promise” have been brought to it by the blood of Christ.

• Some aspects of the promise:

• • Nations/people who curse Israel today are often cursed by God with various calamities. Joel Rosenburg has a book detailing some of these evidences called Epicenter.

• • God blesses those who bless Israel – this special portion of the covenant is still in effect.

• • “All nations” are involved in the blessing/curse covenant – no exception. That also means the gospel and Christ are open to all.

• • “All families” can be blessed and the wording strongly implies “shall be blessed”.

• • Israel and Jewish technology and various advances in medicine and other disciplines far outshine any other people group in the world.

• • Over 200 Jews or Jewish ethnicity have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. They are about 22% of all individual winners between 1901 and 2025 and 36% of the U.S. winners. In the scientific research fields, (approx.) Chemistry 18%, Physics 24%, Physiology 26%, Economics 40%, and Literature 14%. (Israel Science and Technology Directory).

• Gadal and its close cousins infers a greatness that does not always imply size. Israel is small but powerful in many other ways. Jews have been a significant influence in countries around the world for generations.

• Israel is currently the most contested land in the world today.

• Those who say that somehow some special groups of Gentiles/religious groups have replaced Israel/Jewish people regarding the promises are deceived and have bought a satanic lie.

Romans 11:1-2a: “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.”

• Today, there are way too many American church members who have very little to no understanding of Bible prophecy. These church members are from replacement theology churches that don’t teach Bible prophecy and who look at prophetic Scriptures as allegorical and not literal. Consequently, they do not understand the importance of Israel to the God of Israel or God’s redemptive plan for Israel and the nations. (Read The Error of Replacement Theology – By Clarence H. Wagner, Jr.)

• These church members also have no understanding of the biblical significance of what is transpiring today in Israel, Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and in other Middle East nations.

• To relegate Jews and Israel to insignificance is to become blinded to God’s program in the last days.

Curse: H779: arar: “A verb generally denoting to inflict with a curse. There are at least five other Hebrew verbs with the same general meaning. This verb, in a more specific sense, means to bind (with an oath); to hem in with obstacles; to render powerless to resist.” Example, the earth was cursed by God for Adam’s sin and now we must toil to make it produce or else the output will be meager (wild strawberries versus cultivated ones) (p. 100, Baker & Carpenter).

• Nations that bind, hem in, place obstacles, try to render powerless, take land from Israel, find those things happening to them. Epicenter has several examples of when the U.S. tried to split Israel (two-state solution) and then some major catastrophe struck the U.S. in a way that reflected who or how we tried to force Israel to give up land.

Genesis 12:4-5: “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.”

Observations:

• Abram is obeying God as best he knows how – we are not privy to all that God may have said – for example, why go to Canaan?

• Abram took Lot despite the fact he was told to leave all of his kindred (Genesis 12:1). Why? Did he now feel an obligation for Lot, his nephew?

• Notice the phrase, “. . . and all the souls that they had . . .”, and in Genesis 13:2 we read: “And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.” I believe that travel was slow but also safe as he virtually had a small army at his disposal.

• He traveled into Canaan and arrived in Shechem (also spelled Sichem). This city is just a few miles north of what would one day be Jericho along the Jordan river.

• Something has driven him in this direction – could it be God’s Spirit? Genesis 12:1 says, ” . . . unto a land that I will show thee.” Ever feel like you have been wandering in the desert waiting for God to show you something?

• We don’t know how many years it took with his great entourage to get from Ur to Shechem.

Genesis 12:6-9: “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he built an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.”

Observations:

• Abram has a vision; he sees God (Christophany?) and is told that his seed (descendants) will inherit the land. He then builds an alter there is Shechem to the Lord, and we assume he worships God with some sacrifices. Also, an alter would leave a mark on the land saying “we were here”, and generally alters were left alone by others so, in a sense, he was marking territory as well as worshipping God.

• Abram moves over to a mountain a little east and south of Shecham and pitches his tent there. When you see someone like Abram pitch his tent, know that this is not a overnight stay. I assume it was near water, had plenty of grassland around, and was large enough for the many tents his entourage owned.

• Why here at the base of a mountain? Could he be climbing the mountain a few times to look over the land promised him by God? He establishes himself once again by building another alter here and worshipping God.

• Abram continues his journeys over the land promised him and his descendants and makes it to Hebron in the northern part of the Negev. Is he continuing to look over his new ranch? How long does it take to do these travels, pitch tents for a while, travel again, pitch again, etc.?

• Are they digging wells along the way? He had plenty of manpower.

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. (Eds.). (2003). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Noble Prize Laureates. Israel Science and Technology Directory. Retrieved July 14, 2026. Retrieved from https://www.science.co.il/nobel-prizes/

Rosenberg, J. (2006). Epicenter. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.