창세기 Chapter 12

Translation: ESV

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.'

Key Message

God's calling requires leaving what is most intimate and secure; trusting the word and going forward even without knowing the destination is the essence of faith.

▸This is the decisive turning point transitioning from the universal history of Genesis 1-11 to the patriarchal history of Genesis 12-50.

This is the decisive turning point transitioning from the universal history of Genesis 1-11 to the patriarchal history of Genesis 12-50. God's command forms three concentric circles: country (the widest circle), kindred (the middle circle), father's house (the narrowest circle). The structure of leaving the closest last means that the demands of the calling include even the most intimate. 'The land that I will show you' — the destination is not disclosed in advance, requiring obedience of pure faith.

Related Verses

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
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.

Key Message

When one follows God, God exalts the name; when one lives not for one's own name but for God's glory, true blessing comes.

▸God's promise has three parts: a great nation, blessing, and a great name.

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.

Key Message

It is God's salvation plan that blessing flows to all humanity through one man Abraham; this is the prototype of the gospel.

▸The climax of the Abrahamic blessing declaration is the universal declaration: '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.

Key Message

The obedience of faith transcends age and circumstances; rising to act on God's word is the essence of faith.

▸Abraham 'went, as the LORD had told him' — this is the definition of obedience of faith.

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.

Key Message

God appears personally to Abraham who came in faith; where one who has responded to the calling arrives, worship begins.

▸'The LORD appeared to Abram' — this is the first recorded instance in biblical history of God appearing (a theophany) to a specific individual.

10

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Key Message

Even in the promised land, famine can come in the journey of faith; where one turns at such a time reveals the quality of one's faith.

▸A famine strikes immediately upon arriving in the promised land.

11

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, 'I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance.'

Key Message

When fear replaces faith, deception appears; when one fails to trust in God's protection, human scheming fills that place.

▸The story begins of Abraham saying Sarai is his sister.

17

But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

Key Message

God protects his promise and the channel of the covenant despite human failure; redemptive history progresses beyond human imperfection.

▸Abraham failed, but God protects Sarai.