Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to 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, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1–3, ESV)
In my recent reflections on God’s covenants, I returned to this familiar but powerful passage. Three thoughts stood out to me as I pondered these verses afresh.
God’s Gracious Choice
First, note how Abram was introduced, or rather, not introduced. Unlike Noah (“… a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God”—Genesis 6:9), Abram was … nobody. Apart from his family—Terah (father), Nahor and Haran (brothers), and Sarai (wife)—and the fact that he came from Ur and settled in Haran, we know little about Abram.
We can only guess why God chose him. But we can be sure it had nothing to do with what Abram could bring to the table; Abram was as pagan as pagan comes (see Joshua 24:2). It was all God. God’s prerogative, God’s grace.
God’s Two-part Call
The Abrahamic covenant is often summarised in its threefold promise of land, descendants, and blessings. But, digging deeper, we see two parts to this call.
The first is headed by the command: Go. Abram is called to leave his familiar surroundings: country, kindred, and father’s house. The ties he is called to cut are increasingly personal. It has also been suggested that these categories correspond to the threefold promise of the covenant: Abram must leave his land, his people, and his inheritance to receive the land, descendants, and blessings God had prepared for him. This command is followed by three promises: “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great.”
The second part of the call is headed by the command: Be a blessing. Many English translations obscure this imperative, treating it as another one of God’s promises. God does later promise that Abram will be a blessing, but here, He first commands Abram to be a blessing. This command is followed by another three promises: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Interestingly, God commands Abram to be a blessing, then, almost immediately, reassures him that “I will bless …”—as if He knew (He did!) that Abram was not up to the task. The emphasis on blessing is apparent, as the term appears five times in these three verses, culminating in a promise that extends to all families of the earth.
Abram’s Partial Response
So, was Abram obedient to God’s call? Yes and no. We see immediate obedience: “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him …” (Genesis 12:4). Yet we also see him, perhaps influenced by his cultural beliefs and practices, acting in ways motivated by self-preservation rather than embodying a mindset that seeks to be a blessing. (Lest we be too harsh, however, I am reminded that we too are often driven by this same pragmatic agenda!)
More importantly, throughout Genesis, the Pentateuch, and all of history, we see how God works to fulfil the covenant. The fulfilment seems slow (sometimes painfully so) and incomplete, but—for us as Abraham’s children by faith (Galatians 3:7)—it inspires hope that God, our covenant-keeping God, will ultimately fulfil His promises. In the meantime, may we renounce all worldly attachments and affections and seek to be a blessing in whatever stations of life He places us in.