‘And Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country and your kinsfolk, and your father's house, for the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you be a blessing. 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”.'
This is the first appearance of Yahweh to Abram of which we learn, and it is spoken as matter of fact, without introduction. We are not told how Abram had come to know of Yahweh, but possibly we are to recognise that he would come to know Him from the family records, Genesis 1:1 - Genesis 11:27 a. Later appearances draw attention to the awesome nature of these experiences that Abraham has with God.
We note again at this point that all the records which are pieced together in the account of Abram's dealings with God are built around covenants. They are covenant records, and only incidentally history. Thus they would be recorded in writing immediately as evidence of the covenant with Yahweh. (We do not have a ‘life of Abraham', we have a record of covenants in which Abraham was involved. This is why so much is missing from his life story. This is also why knowledge of Isaac's life is so limited. He did not have the experiences with God that Abraham had).
It is easy through familiarity to fail to recognise the stupendous nature of these experiences of Abram. Here was a man, in a family where other gods were prominent, who had established himself semi-independently, and was now experiencing an awe-inspiring theophany which would determine his whole future. The whole of what has gone before has been leading up to this.
We must not have the wrong idea about Abram. He was already a prince of his own family tribe, well-to-do and with many servants (Genesis 12:5). He would not be going alone, for his family tribe would go with him. But he was called to leave his family and all his ties, for only then could he establish an exclusive community of Yahweh, (the first ‘church'). It required faith - no longer would he enjoy the protection of the larger tribal connections and the place ahead was unknown - and obedience, for the decision lay with him and with him alone. Sometimes much is required of one to whom much will be given.
“Leave ---- for a land that I will show you”. He is called to venture into the unknown. The way ahead will be revealed to him as he takes the path of obedience. His part is to trust and obey. What a crucial moment this is in his life. It will determine his whole destiny. Indeed it will determine the destiny of the world.
God does not hold back on what is being demanded. It is spelled out clearly. He must leave his land, to which by now he has become tied by a sense of belonging. He must leave his kinsfolk, those whom he knows so well and has relied on so often. He must leave his position in the family hierarchy, his father's house, those who are most important to him. The thoughts are progressive.
But in return he is promised what every man dreams of. He is to enjoy a new land. He will become ‘a great nation'. He will experience God's special protection. He is to become ‘a blessing'. Indeed the whole earth will be blessed through what he does, or rather what God does through him. The ideas are in parallel. He must leave a land to receive a land. He must leave kinsfolk in order to become part of a great nation. He must leave his close family so that all the world might become his family. This is God's covenant. Obey, he is told, and you will receive abundantly and flowing over. And Abram believes and obeys.
It was against all natural common sense. Surely his opportunity to become a great nation lay in inheriting his father's position over the combined family sub-tribes? But God knows that unless he breaks free he will not be truly free, for always he will be held back by tradition, connections with his father's gods and responsibility to others. Only when he has fully broken free to become master of his own destiny will he be able to receive and to offer the fullness of blessing. When God chooses a man He strips him of all that could prevent his usefulness. But sometimes we are not willing to let go. Abram was willing to let go.
“I will make you a great nation”. This thought is prominent in all the promises to Abram. He will have many descendants, and in Genesis 17:5-6 (compare Genesis 17:20) the promise is expanded to become ‘nations' (see Genesis 13:16; Genesis 15:5; Genesis 17:5 on; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 26:24; Genesis 28:14; Genesis 35:11).
“Make your name great.” There is a deliberate contrast here with those who went to Babel (Genesis 11:4). They went out from their family background to make themselves a name, but it ended in miserable failure, for they built what was only temporary, and they brought division to the world which would only result in further misery. Abram will build what is permanent, which will result in blessing. He builds no city but what he builds, a household of faith, will be a blessing to the world. The choice the world always faces is spelled out clearly here. God or mammon? The ‘pleasures of civilisation' or joy in God? It is where the heart is that really matters.
“Be a blessing”. The covenant is full of blessing. Blessing for Abram. Blessing for his friends. Blessing for the world. Abram is to be the earthly source of that blessing. He is not given the narrow view of seeking to achieve blessing for himself. He is to seek to be a blessing. And as he does so he will be blessed himself. What a contrast this is with those who sought to build ‘civilisation' only for their own ends.
“I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” There is a deliberate contrast between the plural and the singular. His friends will be many, his enemies few. But enemies he will have for he seeks to serve God and this will always result in those who react to such an attitude. But Abram is assured that God will be watching over his relationships and acting accordingly.