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.

1) If you look back just two verses to 11:31, we see that Abram, with his father Terah, had settled in the city of Haran. Haran was in northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey). Verse 5 says they were going to the land of Caanan, which is on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea (modern-day Lebanon, Israel, and parts of Jordan and Syria). The distance from one land to the other was great without modern-day transportation, we can assume that Abram’s move was to be permanent.

2) In verse 2, God says that he will bless Abram so that “he will be a blessing.” There was a divine purpose behind God choosing Abram—it was not simply for Abram’s own benefit. God had chosen Abram to be a blessing from God, not just for Abram to use his “blessing” on himself.

3) God goes on to promise in verse 3 that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abram. This is the beginning of God’s story of redemption that the whole Bible tells. Check out Galatians 3:8: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’” God justified the Gentiles (who, not being Jewish, were not Abram’s physical offspring) through faith, and this was the fulfillment of the blessing promised to Abram. Who is the object of this faith? Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abram who brought redemption to all nations on earth.

1) God called Abram out of the land he was in, promising to make him a great nation. It took faith for Abram to leave his land and his family, which were usually the means that a person found blessing. God’s call on Abram required faith, and Abram responded in faith. Praise God for this huge example of faith! Our modern day “land” we are in can look like many comfortable things like our neighborhood, a job, or even our churches. What we often miss is that God hasn’t called us to be comfortable, but to follow Him wherever He’s calling. Has He been whispering to you to step out of your “homeland”?

2) God’s promise to Abram had the purpose of blessing others. Am I using the blessing of Christ in order to bless others? Or am I keeping it to myself? Living with open-handed generosity is something that God Himself set the precedence for and calls us to live likewise. It’s not about one area of life, but everything. Our time, our talent, and our treasure. How has God blessed you and in what ways is He calling you to live generously?

3) Lord, praise you for the big story of the Bible, for the plan you had to redeem your people from sin and for how you sent your Son to pay for our sins. Praise you for having it all figured out from the beginning, and for continuing to work out Your story in my life!

Share your thoughts from today’s Journey Study!
Can we pray for you?
Sign up to receive every Journey Study!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Sketched!