Gen 12.3-4 Lech Lecha: "Go!"

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וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ׃

The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.      https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.12.1


וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה׃

I will make of you a great nation,

And I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

And you shall be a blessing.    


וַאֲבָרְכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה׃

I will bless those who bless you And curse him that curses you,

And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.”   


וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ אַבְרָ֗ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִתּ֖וֹ ל֑וֹט וְאַבְרָ֗ם בֶּן־חָמֵ֤שׁ שָׁנִים֙ וְשִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה בְּצֵאת֖וֹ מֵחָרָֽן׃ 

Abram went forth as יהוה God had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.





11-5-22


This passage I read today, titled Lech Lecha, “Go!”, from Bereshit - Genesis 12:1-3 is the story of Abram, his father Terah and his brother Nahor.    It really isn’t remarkable that they make a journey of hundreds of miles.   It’s his father’s idea to go from Ur to Haran:  They are nomadic shepherds.  I found a youtube video called How a NOMADS Shepherd Spends his Day in IRAN.   It’s thirsy arid land, and you have to keep moving to find grazing for the flocks or else the land would become completely barren.   So they walked from probably one entire season, grazing as they went,  and ended up in the fertile valley of Haran.    I think Haran (Avram’s deceased brother)  was named after the valley,  perhaps since the father Terah had been making this back and forth journey his whole life. 

Southern Iraq, grazing lands

 

What is surprising is that Abram hears the voice of the living God, who tells him he’ll make his family into a great nation.  It’s already pretty certain that he can’t have family, he’s 75 and childless.  Hearing God is the distinctive part of our faith through Yeshua, isn’t it?.  Isaiah 30:21 


God makes a pact with Avram, a covenant:   


  • Get up and Go

  • You will become a great nation, in a Land that God will protect and bless

  • His family will bring blessing to the whole earth.  


One last thing is surprising - it’s the next line, v4.  

“AND ABRAM WENT, JUST AS HE WAS TOLD”.  


A key to unlocking God’s blessing:  Hear God, then DO what you hear God tell you to do.  Maybe through his written word, maybe through prayer…. 

GET UP, LECH LECHA, AND GO. 

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