A Place, A People, A Purpose, and Protection
Genesis 12:1-9

Abraham is the progenitor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jews and Arabs trace their ancestry directly to Abraham. For Christians, Abraham is our father in the faith. We are his spiritual descendants emulating his faith in God, his obedience to God, and claiming similar promises.

Abraham’s family originated in Ur of the Chaldeans (see Genesis 11:27-32) located on the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq. Abraham’s father was named Terah. For unknown reasons, Terah determined to relocate his family to the land of Canaan. Perhaps Terah had heard that Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey! However, his little tribe never made it to Canaan. Instead, they settled in Haran, located in modern-day Turkey.

It fell to Abraham to move the family to Canaan. He gathered up his wife, Sarah, his nephew, Lot, his possessions, and “all the persons he had acquired in Haran.” These people would have been servants or, more likely, slaves. Abraham must have been a person of some means to own servants or slaves.

Abraham’s first stop was in Shechem, located in what we call the West Bank. From Shechem Abraham traveled to Bethel, located in the hill country north of Jerusalem. Next, Abraham led his tribe to Ai, just to the east of Bethel. Finally, Abraham and his people traveled south toward the Negeb Desert near the Dead Sea. In essence, he traversed the length of the Promised Land. Abraham was a wondering nomad, traveling through unfamiliar and strange lands looking for a place to settle.

We do not know why Abraham’s father, Terah, decided to move to the land of Canaan, but we do know what prompted Abraham to complete the journey. The LORD spoke to Abram while he was still living in Haran. The LORD appeared to Abram while he was tarrying in Shechem. In each place where Abraham pitched his nomadic tents, he also built an altar to the LORD, who had spoken and appeared to him.

Our English word “Lord,” when it is capitalized in the Bible, renders the Hebrew word for God, YAHWEH. It would be centuries before the name of God would be disclosed to Moses at the burning bush on the mountain of God, but YAHWEH was active in the world He had made.
Just as the LORD spoke to Noah and his family before the great deluge, instructing them to build an ark to survive the flood waters, so too the LORD spoke to Abram directing his path.

As I said, we do not know why Terah set out for the land of Canaan, but we do know why Abram completed the migration. Somehow, Abram had become a worshipper of YAHWEH! When YAHWEH spoke, Abram listened and obeyed. The LORD said, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). Abram went as the LORD had told him, no questions asked. His obedience is reminiscent of the disciples’ response to Jesus’ invitation: “Follow me.” They left all and set out to places unknown. Abram did not go empty-handed into the land of Canaan. God gave Abram exceedingly great and precious promises for the journey.

First, God promised Abraham a place. God spoke of a land that would be Abraham’s new home. We all need a place to call our own. Second, God promised Abram a people. He spoke of a great nation that would spring from Abram and his progeny. We all need a people, a tribe to belong to. Third, God promised Abram a purpose. Abram would be blessed by God, and Abram in turn would become a source of blessing. “I will bless you, so that you will be a blessing. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (vs. 2-4). We all need a purpose to lend our lives meaning and dignity. Finally, God promised to protect Abram. “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” We all need a sense of security in this uncertain and dangerous world.

What gave Abram the courage to obey the LORD and set out for the land of Canaan? God’s promises of a place, a people, a purpose, and protection sustained him. Abram needed those four things, and human beings down through the millennia have needed the same provisions and assurances in order to lead lives of import.

We are the spiritual descendants of Abram, and like Abram we have exceedingly great and precious promises. They are not identical to Abram’s promises, but they are similar. We too have a place. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places” (Jn. 14:1). Paul said, “We have a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1). We are looking forward to the city that has foundations whose architect and builder is God. We desire a better country, that is a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:10. 16). Like Abram, we are nomadic wanderers, traveling through a strange land, for our true citizenship is in heaven. We have a place more sure and secure than any earthly home.

We also have a people. You are sitting next to them, but our tribe is not limited to the Briarwood family of faith. We are part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. We are God’s own people (see 1 Peter 2:7). Our people transcend time, space, and history. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (see Hebrews 12:1). We are connected with the saints who dwell in endless light.

We also have a purpose. Like Abram we have been blessed by God to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. We have good news for people who long for a place, a people, a purpose, and protection. We believe God’s coming kingdom has broken into history through the miraculous birth, sinless life, sacrificial death, glorious resurrection, and bodily ascension of Jesus Christ. The problems of sin and guilt have been dealt with. Christ died for us and is seated at the right hand of God interceding for us. All we need do is confess to God and strive to amend our lives, then we are assured of forgiveness. Our last enemy, Death, has been conquered by the Son of God when he rose from the dead. The Son of Man will return to earth, and when he does, he will “call us out of dust again, our bodies glorified in light.” When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or evil, we have the assurance of mercy and a welcome into the kingdom prepared for us before the foundation of the world. This is our purpose: to proclaim the mighty acts of God, who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And finally, we too have protection. Jesus said it best, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). Death will come for us, unless we are alive when Jesus returns, but death will not have the last word over us.

The story of Abram and his family is powerful. It addresses the most important human needs: a place, a people, a purpose, and protection. Equipped with God’s promises we too can set out from our own Haran for the Promised Land. Abraham did not know where he was going or what the future held for him, but he knew the God who had spoken to him and appeared to him. The same is true for us in the present. Thankfully, the LORD has spoken to us and appeared to us in his Son, Jesus Christ. Like Abram, let us bear witness as we journey. Just as Abram built altars to the Lord wherever he sojourned, let us build our little altars of Christian faith in every place we inhabit. The Canaanites are still living all around us; let us bear witness to them as we journey towards the city of God.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.