Abraham’s Call.

Abraham’s call from God took place in the distant past when he and his wife were called Abram and Sarai, and lived in Ur in modern day Iraq. The call dramatically changed his life.

Time Changes Things

Sometimes change can be eagerly anticipated, like the impending arrival of a newborn, or the purchase of a new home. However, we all know that change can also be difficult. I don’t need to remind you that the global pandemic has been a time of great change. It has brought uncertainty, fear, job loss, even death. Nevertheless, even if we prefer things to stay the same, we do know that changes in life are inevitable.

Those of us of a certain vintage may remember that the famous American folk singer, Bob Dylan had a hit song in 1965 entitled, “The Times They are a Changin’”. Although I am not a Bob Dylan fan, we can’t argue with his song title.

Most of us have been around long enough to know that throughout life the times always seem to be changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but change they do.

None of us are the bouncing babies that we were when we announced are arrival into this world, invariably screaming at the top of our lungs. We have changed – and continue to change. Our bodies are slowly betraying us. Our life journeys littered with successes and failures.

Positive and Negative Experiences

During the journey that has been our life so far there have been positive and negative experiences. Some that have scarred us. Some that have shaped us deeply. Some that have brought us closer to God. Others that seem to have pushed us further away.

However, as we look a little at the life of Abraham and the remarkable call that He received from God, we see that he had a particular approach to life, a defining characteristic that was etched deeply into his being, so much so that he is still known for this today. Abraham was known for his faith.

Abraham’s Step of Faith

Abraham obedient response to a call from God demonstrates that he was indeed, a man of faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8

Abraham took a huge step of faith into the unknown when he obeyed God’s call. God chose not to tell Abraham where He was calling him to live. The destination was unknown, yet Abraham set out on a journey with God.

Abraham and Thomas?

I wonder if Abraham felt a little like Thomas, one of the twelve disciples, who expressed his uncertainty to Jesus at the Last Supper,

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

John 14:5,6

We don’t know the way to heaven other than that it is through Jesus. We can’t fly there. We can’t walk there. We can’t sail there. No one has a map. We have to have faith in Jesus. A journey to heaven begins with a first step of faith in Jesus.

For Abraham a huge step of faith was required. Why would he leave the safety and security of everything he knew to head out into the unknown? It seems illogical. But God had a purpose in mind for Abraham.

Abraham was being asked to do something that would have made little sense to his family and his friends. But he took that first step of faith and began a journey that dramatically changed his circumstances and has had significant worldwide repercussions even to the present day.

Don’t doubt for one minute that God has a purpose for your life too. However, sometimes God needs to bring about a big change in your circumstances before He can accomplish what He wants to in your life.

Abraham’s Remarkable Call – From Ur to Canaan via Haran

Abraham was a man of faith. He needed to be.

We read in Genesis 12:1-8 a little of the backstory that caused him to step out in faith and journey first from Ur to Haran.

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

Why would God call this man? Who was Abraham? What was his background?

Abraham was the son of Terah, a direct descendant of Shem, one of Noah’s sons. According to the genealogies recorded in scripture Abraham belonged to the 10^th generation after Noah.

He had two brothers that we know of; Nahor and Haran, who was the father of Lot, making Abraham Lot’s uncle. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be any outstanding reason that God was choose this man.

Abraham and Sarah’s Dilemma

Abraham had a wife called Sarai but was childless. He lived in Ur in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq. In its day Ur was one of the largest, most cosmopolitan cities of the world.  So presumably he is comfortable. He had everything he needed for living life well in one of the most advanced cities in the world, with all the most modern technology of the day, which was around 2150BC.

The people, likely including Abraham and his family, worshiped many gods, especially the moon goddess, Sin. We know this from the book of Joshua.

Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants.

Joshua 24:2-3

So, Abraham was not a worshiper of the one true God before he was called. In fact, God called Abraham to leave everything he knew, including his religion to go to a place unknown.

Let that sink in for a minute. You may not be a believer in God when He calls you! God can call who He wants when He wants from whichever tribe, race, or people, from whichever land He wants.  It is His divine prerogative to do so.

A Journey Into the Unknown

Despite the unknown destination, Abraham, who is by now 75 years old, is so convinced by the call that God has made on his life that he gets up on his feet and obeys. This is an extraordinary step of faith!

Imagine if God said to your grandparents, “Get up and go to Northern Canada, trust me, I will show you exactly which rock, tree and lake, to which you must go – and I am going to bless you with so many children that they will number more than the trees in Canada!”

What would your response be? “Are you crazy!” “Are you sure you are talking to the right people?

Abraham could have responded with “I’m not going anywhere!”

Abraham could have responded with “Oh No! How am I going to handle this change! I need more info. I need more time. I need more money. I need more tents. I need a bigger camel.” “Doesn’t the Lord know what I am facing here?” Yet he chooses to step out into the unknown.

The Assurance of God’s Promise to Abraham

God made an amazing promise to Abraham. Even though he and Sarah were childless and advanced in years, God promised to bless him in an extraordinary way, if he was obedient.

“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”

Abraham was indeed greatly blessed. Millions in the Middle east and beyond can trace their family roots back to Abraham. They owe their very existence to his decision to obey God’s call on his life.

Ancestor Abraham

Furthermore, Abraham is the physical ancestor of all Jews living today. Abraham is also the spiritual father of all followers of Jesus today.

As Abraham chose to step out in faith and follow God, we receive salvation by faith in God, choosing to believe that He is true and that He will keep His promises to us.

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

I John 5:11-13

Like Abraham, We Live By Faith

If we are followers of Jesus Christ, we also live our lives by faith in God. We choose to believe Him, not solely for salvation, but for our lives here on earth.

In this sense we are like Abraham, people of faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8

Abraham listened to God’s call, chose to obey it, and was blessed. We too, need to listen to what God is saying to us, and as we obey, despite the sometimes significant changes we might experience, we will be blessed.

From Haran to Canaan

Abraham chose to obey God, and after a somewhat hesitant start, during which he stopped in Haran for a number of years, he embraced the change that God brought to his life.

He chose to be obedient to the Lord and set out for the unknown, confident that God would do what He had promised, even though the details were unclear to him.

Abraham was called to move…. And move he did.

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” 

Genesis 12:4-7

Abraham reached Canaan, and God made it clear to him that he had arrived.

“To your offspring I will give this land.”

Ultimate Fulfilment

It would be centuries before this promise was fulfilled.

But in Deuteronomy 34:4 after the escape from slavery in Egypt and years wandering in the wilderness, Moses stands on Mount Nebo, on the east side of the Jordan and God says to him:

“This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.”

Deuteronomy 34:4

Under Joshua’s leadership the Israelites entered the land and took it from their enemies. God keeps His promises. Although Abraham never fully realized the promise made to him by the Lord, his descendants did.

Abraham Worships God

When Abraham arrived at his destination, he chose to honor and worship God.

So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”

Genesis 12:8-9

He built an altar and worshiped the Lord there in the promised land. After leaving the security of his homeland, after years of upheaval and journeying, after so much uncertainty, Abraham demonstrates his faith and trust in God and worships him.

Despite the changes he had experienced, Abraham remained faithful and worshiped the one true God. He gave glory to God. He didn’t pat himself on the back and say,

“Well done, Abraham. You found your way here all by yourself, and you didn’t even use the GPS!”

No, he knew that it was God who called him on the journey, God who made the promise, and God who has brought him safely to the land. This motivated him to an active demonstration of his worship for God. We too, need to recognize who is guiding us through the changes in our lives and give Him the glory.

Handling Change

Abraham’s story reminds us that we need to personally consider several questions.

• How do we handle change when God brings it into our lives?
• Is God calling me to do something?
• Has God called you to take a step into the unknown?

Change can come about in many ways. These can include; sickness; loss of a job; loss of a loved one; loss of a spouse; loss of a lifelong dream; changes in our church.

We handle change differently. Some of us find change less difficult than others. Some find changes extremely difficult to deal with because of our personalities, our backgrounds, past hurts, and failures, and so on.

God’s Purposes

Nevertheless, if God has brought, or is bringing, a change into your life, you can be sure that He has a purpose for it. You can also be sure that He is journeying with you through that change, even if you cannot seem to see Him or sense His presence. He is taking you through that change for a reason.

Although we may not be able to prevent the changes that are forever breaking on the shores of our lives, we can control how we respond. We can choose to embrace the challenge of the changes like Abraham.

Take the journey. See what God has in store. Even if it hurts to let something or someone go.

Abraham had to let go of his family idols if he was to be blessed, if he was to truly experience God. If he was to truly understand what God can do.

What idols are you hanging on to?

Let go of what you are so desperately trying to hold on to. God has something else for you.

Consider what life-changing adventures you might be missing because you are fighting tooth and nail against what is happening in your life?

When change comes in your life, when God seems to be taking you in a new direction, don’t be afraid. God knows what he is doing. He has something in store for you, you just can’t see it yet. But He can see it. Trust Him. Follow Him. Be obedient. Be a man or woman of faith, just as Abraham was.

Have you experienced a dramatic life-changing event like Abraham? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.