God’s Promise of the Land — Genesis 12 Daily Word

Discover how Abram’s obedience to God’s promise of the land marks the beginning of faith’s greatest journey. At 75, he left everything to follow God’s calling to Canaan.

Genesis 12:1-9 Daily Word — God commands Abram to leave his homeland and his relatives and to go to the promised land. This is not merely a physical relocation, but the first step of faith. At the age of seventy-five, Abram responds to God’s call with obedience, and his journey of faith begins.

The Promised Land God Commanded

[Scripture]

[1] 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. [2] 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. [3] 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.” [4] So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. [5] And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, [6] Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. [7] Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. [8] From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. [9] And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. (Gen 12:1-9, ESV)

[Daily Word]

# God’s Way of Saving Humanity

Beginning in chapter 12, the focus shifts to emphasizing God’s grace toward humanity, revealing His plan for mankind — and in particular, how God accomplishes salvation through Israel. The very first step in fulfilling this plan begins with Abram.

Abram was a man who had experienced Babylonian civilization firsthand. Babylon had its own writing system, magnificently built cities, highly developed art, beautiful gemstones and metalwork, a systematically established legal code, and — though rooted in idolatry — a sophisticated religious institution. When, then, did Abram come to know that God was calling him?

[2] And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, [3] and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ [4] Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. (Acts 7:2-4, ESV)

In other words, Abram already knew that God had been calling him from the time he was still in Ur. And God had commanded him to “leave your homeland and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.” So where was this land He would show him? It was the land of Canaan — the very land that Abram’s father Terah had set out to reach, as mentioned in the preceding passage.

God had placed that land on Terah’s lips — that is, spoken of it through him. Yet what is remarkable about God’s plan is this: God did not allow Terah, who did not know Him, to enter the land of Canaan. This was because Terah continued to worship the moon god. Indeed, the reason the family settled in Haran was that it, like their hometown of Ur, was a city devoted to moon worship. So God ordained that Terah would die in Haran, and it is there that God speaks to Abram in today’s passage (12:1): “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

This means to cut off all that is corrupt in this world and trust in God alone. In response to this word, as verse 4 tells us, Abram went, just as the LORD had spoken to him. The blessings Abram was to receive (vv. 2–3) were: 2. “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. 3. 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.”

# These blessings can be summarized in three points.

① God promised Abram a new land to settle in,

② God promised to give him many descendants and to make him into a great nation.

③ God promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham.

# The reason God established Abram

[25] You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ [26] God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” (Acts 3:25-26, ESV) God raised up Abram as a person set apart in this land — to bring blessing to those who turn from the corruption and wickedness of this world and return to God.

# Abram obeyed God’s word and entered the land of Canaan.

In fact, the distance from Haran to Canaan is about 700 kilometers (roughly equivalent to the distance from Seoul to Busan, which is about 400 km) — a very long journey. Nevertheless, Abram first traveled to the south of Shechem and came to the oak of Moreh, whose name means “a place where God appears.” Therefore, this oak at Shechem (the place the LORD would choose, as mentioned in Deut 16:7) was the very site where the Canaanites who lived there at the time would receive divine guidance. And it was here that God spoke to Abram in this way.

Upon hearing the words “To your offspring I will give this land,” Abram built his first altar to the LORD who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country 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. It was here that he formally worshiped God.

# Humanity continues to sin.

After the fall of Adam, humanity came under judgment — yet even after that judgment, people continued to sin. The reason is that the human heart is inclined toward evil from youth. Nevertheless, God knows this, and in His grace He desires to raise up something good out of that evil and bring salvation to humanity. It is for this reason that He chose Abram to set His redemptive plan in motion, and blessed him. God said to Abram, “You will be a blessing” (or, as rendered in some translations, “a source of blessing”).

What we must clearly remember here is that the blessing received from God is given to those who trust in God alone, and that God — who knows those who will come to believe — specifically works through those who trust in the living God to carry that blessing forward. This truth applies to us as well. It is only when we remain spiritually awake before God that we can receive His blessing and serve as messengers who pass it on to others. May we each remember this, and may we all go forth today as bearers of God’s gospel — workers whom He uses for His purposes.

Abram’s calling, faithful obedience, the promised land, the journey of faith, God’s blessing

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com