The Call of Abram
by
Philip du Nard
For a long time, it has seemed to me that it would not be inappropriate to think of God's calling of Abram (Abraham) in Gen. 12 as a continuation of His response to the Tower of Babel project as it immediately follows this action in the Scriptures.
When God scattered the people at Babel, He did not simply ruin the plans of men without instituting His own and it might be helpful to do a little comparison here.
At Babel, the plan for the world on the part of men, whether consciously or not, was to ignore whatever significance Noah's prophecy in chapter 9 held for the sons of Noah and their descendants and to try to engineer their own system that would encompass all of humanity. God's way was not just to scatter the nations but then, from among the descendants of Shem in accordance with Noah's prophecy, to call one man,and spend centuries training, chastening , blessing, grooming, and preparing his descendants to be the agents of Divine blessing toward the rest of the world. This did not mean that they would always be a blessing. If they walked in disobedience to God as they often did, they might be a curse to other peoples. But the divine plan and objective is clear and God is well able to finish what He started as it is written in Isaiah 55:11, So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall acomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
The text reads:
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had 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 shew thee:
Gen 12:2 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:
Gen 12:3 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.
Before Abram could develop into the blessing that he was to become, he had to separate himself from his father's house and from his own country. He could not develop into a blessing if he continued to live in Ur of the Chaldees as a citizen of another country or even in Haran where his other relatives came to live. His descendants had to develop separately.
Certainly, there is a Messianic note here. St. Paul makes it clear in Galatians 3 that the spiritual blessings realized through Jesus Christ are encompassed by the promise given here in Genesis 12. Without Jesus Christ in the picture, all these national promises and blessings would seem rather empty and less than satisfying to those who have experienced regeneration to know the unsearchable riches of Christ.
But, as we shall see in Genesis 14, Abram being a blessing to other nations is not something that was entirely put off until the first advent of Christ.
But first, we should give some consideration to Genesis 13. Abram had been told to leave his country, kindred, and father's house. But his nephew Lot and his entourage was still with him. Verse 7 states, "And there was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle." This created a vexing problem. God gives wisdom to those that ask and surely it was a manifestation of that when Abram made the practical suggestion that they go their separate ways as a means of ending the strife and as the surest and most efficient way of restoring harmony. He did not wring his hands and ask the question, "Can't we all get along"? and admonish everyone to love each other. I don't mean to sound facetious or sarcastic or by any means to make light of the very Biblical and Christian principle of loving one's neighbor and showing forth kindness and consideration to all but it is nevertheless true that the spirit that is in the world today seemingly regards Abram's solution as being contrary to that principle. The kind of separatism that Abram set forth here would be construed as promoting hatred if it were applied to some of the persistent racial and ethnic tensions that we have witnessed over the years.
But it is noteworthy that it was not until the departure of Lot and his herdmen that God then expanded upon His promises to Abram regarding the land.
The promise reads, "Gen 13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
Gen 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Gen 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered.
Gen 13:17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Thus, Lot and his descendants were not to be included in this. Considered in this light, the strife between Abram's herdmen and Lot's herdmen seems providential and we can see the overruling hand of God even in the midst of such unpleasantness.
Moving on to chapter 14, we learn of a war between two groups of heathen kings, including Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot had come to dwell and Lot was taken captive as a result. We learn in verse 14 that Abram armed three hundred and eigheen of his trained servants to go rescue Lot. Incidentally, if there was something oppressive about the nature of the relationship between Abram and his servants or "slaves" as some would insist is a more accurate way of characterizing the relationship, it is not likely that he would have entrusted them with arms. And if Abram's family interest had not been involved, or, as we might say in our day, his "national interest," it is doubtful that Abram could have been aroused to involve himself in this war. But Abram's action influenced the outcome and in the course of rescuing Lot, he was a definite blessing to the heathen kings who were also rescued from the grip of their foes.
After this, Melchizedek, who was a priest of the most high God, served Abram communion, blessed him, and received tithes from him. This was a solemn occasion and Abram's military action, in effect, received the Divine seal of approval. Way back in Genesis, we apparently see the foundation being laid for the ministry that would characterize the great nation that was to spring from the loins of Abraham which would be a blessing to the rest of the world. Rather than going to war for the sake of conquest, the nation would do so to deliver other nations from the tyranny and aggression of others. Since St. Paul speaks of "spiritual wickedness in high places," it is not to be denied that there would be Satanic forces at work to manipulate that nation to misuse or misapply its God-given ministry or to use it in such a fashion that would suit the purposes of those trying to rebuild a modern Tower of Babel. But the fact remains, there is only one nation in the world today that has such a ministry as manifested by Abram in Genesis 14 that is standing in the way of world-wide totalitarianism. It hardly requires comment.
Next: A Literal Seed