THE CALL OF ABRAM

Gen. 11:1-9

Morning Meditation 3/15/14

Genesis 12:1-9, "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: 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: 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. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south."

I was reluctant about developing this meditation because I did one on the same passage before. But I am still impressed to write on this passage again since it deals with other aspects than the one in May. Looking at the last two verses in chapter 11 we find that Abram is connected with three places: "Ur," "Haran," and "Canaan." "Ur," is associated with Abram in his idolatry; "Haran," is connected with Abram's partial obedience; and "Canaan," is identified with Abram's communion with God.

Marsh says, "Ur means 'Light,' in Hebrew. It was probably so called because of the idolatrous custom of fire worship among the Persians. Very little if anything, is known of the history of "Ur," other than it was in Chaldea, as it is specially designated 'Ur of the Chaldees,' but of this we are plainly told, that it was associated with idolatrous worship, for the ancestors of Abram are said to have 'dwelt beyond the river," the river Euphrates, and 'served other gods' (Joshua 24:2). It was from this place the Lord called Abram. There are several expressions which bring out what God did for Abram in bringing him out of idolatry, which illustrate what God does for the believer in Christ." Let's notice first,

GOD CHOSE ABRAM

Nehemiah 9:7 brings this out, "Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;" We are not told why God chose Abram. It does not say that Abram was seeking the most high God. It does not say that Abram was a good man and for that reason God chose him. God chose him when he was an idolater. Note how this verse reads. "Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees . . ." God choose Abram, and then brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees. We are just not told about the experiences that Abram had with God before He called him to leave his homeland to go to a land God would give him.

Romans 4:12 tells us that Abraham had faith in God before he was circumcised, "And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised."

Abraham was saved before Genesis 12 where God called him. Galatians 3:8 says, "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." The gospel was preached by God to Abram in the words, "In thee shall all nations be blessed."

God chooses the believer. Ephesians 1:4 says, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" If you are looking for an explanation of that verse from me, you will be disappointed. I learned to say, "I can't explain that," a long time ago. I also determined that if I came to a verse I couldn't explain, I would not say, "that verse doesn't mean what it says!" The Lord chose us before the foundation of the world. That's what it says. And that is what it means. That means that if you are a believer, God chose you before you chose Him. I will leave it there. Next,

GOD CALLED ABRAM

Hebrews 11:8, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went."

The verb "called" translates "kale_" and means, "to call aloud, utter in a loud voice, to call by name." God knows all His creatures. He does not have to say, "incidentally, what is your name?" There is several illustrations of this in Scripture. Exodus 3:4 says, "And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I." The Lord called Samuel. We find this in 1 Samuel 3:4, "That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I."

God called Abram out of idolatry, so He has called the believer out of the darkness of sin, into the life, light and liberty of the Gospel. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:"

The call to salvation is a call to go where you are not. For Abram it was a call to leave his homeland and go to a place he had never seen. For the Christian it is a call to leave our involvement with this world system and to identify with a heavenly kingdom. The Spiritual kingdom is as real as the worldly kingdom. The heavenly kingdom has a different set of rules. As we walk under the authority of the heavenly kingdom, we make the people in the worldly kingdom very uneasy. Even though we are not a threat to any country in which we may live, we are persecuted.

Have you ever considered why prayer is such an offence to people in public schools? It brings those where prayer is offered to have a sense of God's presence. That makes the unsaved feel very uneasy.. Because if there is a prayer answering God, it may be that they will have to give an account to Him some day.

A saved person who has not separated himself from the world system since his salvation is denying the faith. There is no Scripture that even hints that there need be no change in our attitude toward the world since we have answered God's call to salvation.

Ephesians 2:1-2, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" Next,

GOD BROUGHT ABRAM OUT

Genesis 15:7, "And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it."

God brought Abram out of a world system that was rushing headlong to hell. He brought him out, that He might bring him in. Abram was to be given a land of milk and honey. God never separates us from one place without giving us something much better. Some people who are saved constantly gripe about the good life they had in the world before they became Christians. I wonder about the salvation of people who talk like that.

When the Lord calls on us to give up the world and its worth, He translates us into a different kingdom and gives us something much better. Ephesians 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" Next,

GOD REDEEMED ABRAM

Isaiah 29:22, "Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale."

The word "redeemed" translates a word that means, "to ransom, redeem, rescue, deliver." This word and its definition tells us that Abram was held for ransom.. Satan has kidnaped the whole human race and is holding them. God paid the ransom price to free Abram, and us, from the power of the enemy.

Be assured of this. You can never escape from the power of the enemy. Neither can a church redeem you. Psalms 49:7 says, None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:"

Christ alone can do this. Matthew 20:28 says, "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Paul said 1 Timothy 2:6, "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

The Lord alone is the one who paid the price and redeemed us. Hebrews 1:3 says, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"

ABRAM BELIEVED GOD AND OBEYED

Hebrews 11:8 says, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went."

Just as Abram believed God and obeyed, the Christian believes God and obeys. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

The Lord calls on us to believe in Him and promise a place that is glorious beyond description. Just as Abram believed God without seeing, Jesus calls on us to believe without seeing.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White