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.” -Gen. 12:1-3

The account of the Tower of Babel concluded with the scattering of the people who would go on to become the various nations of the earth. Though these peoples multiplied on the face of the earth, the text makes no mention as to their individual or collective guarding and keeping of the Word of the Lord. God then, by His grace, chose to make Himself know to a pagan idolater named Abram.

After being given some background information regarding Abram’s family at the end of Genesis 11, chapter 12 begins by describing the Word of the Lord coming to Abram. God’s Word to Abram includes great promises that will have personal, national, and universal implications. Abram’s response to God was to trust and obey His Word. Abram the pagan became, by faith, Abram the worshipper of Yahweh. This is demonstrated most clearly in his building of an altar to the Lord and subsequent calling “upon the name of the Lord.” This terminology recalls the description of Seth and his descendants (4:26) and serves to demonstrate that Abram’s place in the ‘seed of the woman’ because of His worship of Yahweh.

The account serves to introduce the Abrahamic narrative but also provides key theological insights. First, God’s revelation of himself to sinful man is the ultimate demonstration of His grace. Second, the Word of God is effective and accomplishes whatever it is that He purposes. Third, the proper response of mankind to the Word of God is faith. Abram is a recipient of God’s grace and his response to God’s Word in faith becomes the foundation for the plans and purposes of God to be worked out in human history. As these plans unfold, Abram will remain an example of faith to all of those who would come after him and would seek to worship and honor Yahweh.

Join us this Sunday as we gather to worship the Lord and to commune together around the His Table.

Soli Deo Gloria.

-Thomas