NOTES for Gen 12:1-20

From this point on, the author of Genesis turns to a new genre: sacred history. This is not history in the modern sense of the word, not biographies of great people, not a chronicle. It is a panorama of a long process in which God turns not only to individual people, but to a community capable of enduring through time: to a family, to a people. The connecting link in this continuous line must be the promise given at the very beginning. And the first person in this community is Abram, the legendary forefather of the Jewish people. As we will see later, he is the first to receive from God a promise that begins to be fulfilled during his lifetime, but is to be fully accomplished in an undefined future: through him all nations are to know God. Abram, despite his advanced age and childlessness, responds to this promise, and a chain of faith begins, one that can also draw us in and thereby bring us into the sacred history of the world.

The history of the people of God begins with the calling of Abraham. God begins it with one small tribe, from which He will later grow His people. God's plan evidently included the intention to create a people that would at the same time be a community of the faithful. Perhaps this is why He begins to create it in exactly this way, although, it would seem, both in Egypt and in Mesopotamia there were many people who knew something about the One God. But this knowledge was still mostly theoretical. It had almost no influence on the spiritual life of society, and in the lives of individual people, it evidently changed little. Such a change requires not theological theories, but a real encounter with the real, living God. Theological knowledge can not only help here, but sometimes hinder: often the revelation received from God does not confirm, but instead refutes, established and generally accepted ideas both about Him Himself and about spiritual life in general. It may be precisely for this reason that at the first meeting God tells Abraham nothing about Himself. He simply calls Abraham to follow Him, promising later to turn the small tribe into a people (vv. 2-3). But for this he must leave, move to a new place, and leave the land of his fathers (v. 1). Of course, Abraham was not the first to move from Mesopotamia to Palestine. The movement of Semitic tribes from Mesopotamia westward, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, evidently began almost a hundred years before his birth. But at the moment of his encounter with God, Abraham is already seventy-five years old (v. 4), and at that age, as people thought in those days, it was already too late to decide on such undertakings. In addition, God tells Abraham nothing about Himself, so that in heading for Palestine, Abraham had to trust an unknown God about whom he knew nothing. In such a situation neither theological reasoning nor common sense will help: theology can say nothing about an unknown God, and common sense will incline its possessor to answer "no" rather than "yes." Abraham is clearly guided here neither by common sense nor by theological knowledge. He acts as his heart prompts him, in the sense in which the authors of the Bible understand this word: for them the heart was the spiritual center of the human person, that spiritual "I" which hears God and makes a choice. And God trusts him, giving him complete freedom. People sometimes ask: could Abraham have refused? Could he have answered God "no"? And what would have happened then to the people of God? We do not have answers to these questions, because everything described in the Bible has already happened as it happened. One can only say that then God would have had to seek another chosen one for Himself, and He undoubtedly would have found him. But that would have been another story of another people.

The history of the people of God begins with the calling of Abraham. What was unusual here was not that Abraham heard the voice of God. In those days, to hear the voice of a deity or a spirit was not so unusual; it happened, if not to everyone, then to many people at least once in life. What was unusual was Abraham's reaction itself, his answer to God. Nor was the point that God called him somewhere, to a new and unknown land. Abraham, or rather Abram then, lived in the northern part of Mesopotamia, and in his time many tribes were moving from those places toward Palestine, some of them neighbors of Abraham. The road to Palestine was already known, and Abraham must have known something about Palestine itself.

The point lay elsewhere. Abraham was already old; he was over seventy. At that age, to undertake something radical and decisive was at the very least unreasonable: that was a young person's business. And most important, the God who called Abraham was, in essence, an unknown God to him. Today we understand who is addressing Abraham. Abraham himself still knew nothing about God. Of course, this unknown God promises a great deal, but will He be able to fulfill what He has promised? Until then no one around had heard of Him. Who knows what one can expect from Him? The gods and spirits of the pagans were far from always truthful, and Abraham did not know who was speaking to him.

All that remained was to trust this unknown God, or to refuse Him. Judging in human terms, the second choice was perhaps more prudent. But for some reason Abraham acts differently. Why? We have no answer to that question. He simply believed, and that was all. His heart told him that this unknown God could be trusted.

Abraham trusted Him. Once, and for the rest of his life. And he became the father of the people of God. Sometimes people ask: what if he had said "no" to God? Would all God's plans have gone to waste? No, of course not. God will always find coworkers for Himself on earth. He would have called someone else. But that someone else would not have been Abraham. And then the history of God's people would have been a different history of a different people. But Abraham said "yes" to God. And the Jewish people became the people of God. His people. History does not know the subjunctive mood. This applies to salvation history too, in full measure.

Abraham is 75 years old. However one regards that number, he is plainly already at an unsuitable age to pull up stakes and go into the unknown. If we remember other examples, Peter is over forty, an age when it is considered that a person should have everything settled. John, on the other hand, is far too young to decide anything.

Whoever we look at, there is no age suitable for answering the voice of God. We can never be responsible enough, wise enough, good enough to get up and go to the mountain, to another land, into complete uncertainty, in order to see what it is not yet possible even to speak about.

God's promise is given to Abram, but it extends, like this whole covenant, to all his descendants. And we know that God does not break His promises; He fulfills them sooner or later regardless of whether people keep covenant with Him or not, because God is faithful.

Now let us think about what this means for us today. God promises to bless those who bless Abraham's descendants and to curse those who speak evil of them. And no behavior, worthy or unworthy, on the part of Abraham's descendants throughout human history changes anything in God's promise. Yes, all the tribes of the earth receive blessing through one of Abraham's descendants, Jesus Christ, and by faith in Him we are all blessed, but even this does not cancel the curse promised by God if we disregard His words spoken to Abram.

God's promise is given to Abram (it is later that he will be called Abraham), but it spreads out (quite as this entire testament) to all his descendants. And we know indeed that God never violate His promises, He fulfills them sooner or later independently of the fact, people respect the covenant with him or not, because God is faithful.

Let us think now what it means for us today. God promises to bless those who bless the descendants of Abram and curst those who curse them. And no behavior - worthy or unworthy- of the descendants of Abram throughout the history of humanity changes nothing in God's promise. Yes, all nations of the world receive blessing through one of the descendants of Abram, Jesus Christ, and by the faith in Him we are all blessed, but even this does not abolish the curse promised by God, if we don’t believe in His words said to Abram.

What could a historian tell us about Abraham's migration? He could tell us, perhaps, that in the age of the Patriarchs many Semitic tribes migrated west, settling across the broad dry steppe that stretched from the western borders of Mesopotamia to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. That Abraham certainly was not the first chief to lead his kinsmen into Palestine. That in antiquity many people heard the voices of gods and spirits, and not so rarely, and they listened to those voices. That, of course, when a person was already past seventy, it was still rather late to begin a new life and set out on a not very long but very dangerous journey; one could decide on such a thing only under special circumstances.

But no historian will tell us about the most important thing, because historical sources are silent about that most important thing. And that is no surprise: the most important thing is hidden deep in Abraham's heart. Having heard the voice of the God still unknown to him, he believed and went where this unknown God called him. He went fully understanding that no one guaranteed him anything: he still had to come to know the One who called him more closely in order to understand with whom he was dealing. And here everything depended only on Abraham's own choice. God does not force him to do anything; He only calls him to follow. Could Abraham have said "no" to God? Yes, of course; a human being is free. But then, when we said "the people of God," we would mean another people with another history.

What could a historian tell us about Abraham's migration? He could tell us that in the age of the Patriarchs many Semitic tribes migrated west, settling across the broad dry steppe that stretched from the western borders of Mesopotamia to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. That Abraham was certainly not the first leader who led his fellow tribesmen to Palestine. That in antiquity many people heard the voices of gods and spirits, and not so rarely, and listened to these voices. That, of course, when a person is already past seventy, beginning a new life and setting out on a not very long but very dangerous journey was still rather late; one could decide on such a thing only under special circumstances.

But no historian will tell us about the most important thing, for historical sources are silent about this most important thing. This is not surprising: the main thing is hidden deep in the heart of Abraham, who, hearing the voice of a God still unknown to him, believed and went where this unknown God called him. He went, fully understanding that no one guaranteed him anything: he still had to become better acquainted with the One who had called him in order to understand with whom he was dealing. And here everything depended only on Abraham's own choice. God forces him to nothing; He only calls him to follow. Could Abraham have said "no" to God? Of course he could, for a person is free. But then, when saying "the people of God," we would have in mind another people with another history.

The simple words of the author of this part of the book of Genesis describe a very significant event. For Abram, his act is an exploit of trust; in his old age (seventy five years), he leaves everything - relations, a suit life, perspectives - and leaves to uncertainty because God called him to do it. Abram's appeal and the fact that he is chosen by God, turn out in essence being strictly bound things. That is why, it is exactly why Abram becomes the father of all believers, that is why all the nations of the earth are blessed in him, because he proved to be able of making this exploit of trust. We usually think that God elects a person - and this person becomes superior to the others by his possibilities and spiritual strengths. But it is in reality all the opposite. The one who is able to trust is the one who turns out elected. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ mean, when He says that many are called, but few are chosen.

Besides, it is important that from this Abram's act begins the healing of the humanity from sin and death. Abram’s Faith is so important that it covers the moral imperfection of Abram himself and the environment, in which he lives. His faith is counted for righteousness; and the matter is not that faith "is counted" to Abraham in the place of an absent righteousness in him. Abraham’s faith turns out to be the only way, which can bring to righteousness. It is a great way, on which all humanity is called. It {the way} begins with the faith of Abram, and ends with the words of God’s mother: "I am servant of the Lord".

What could tell us the historian about the movement of Abraham? He could probably say that at the time of the Patriarchs several Semitic tribes moved westward, settling down on a dry vast steppe, extending western borders of Mesopotamia up to the oriental coast of the Mediterranean Sea. That Abraham was not certainly the first leader, who led his people in Palestine.

That the voices of the gods and the spirits were heard in the antiquity by many, and not so rare, and listened to those voices. That it was of course too late, for somebody who has already exceeded seventy years, to begin a new life and to be engaged in a road not so long, but very dangerous, one could decide on such thing only in special circumstances. But no historian will tell us of the most important, because historic sources keep silent about it.

And it is not surprising: because, the most important is profoundly hidden in Abraham's heart, who, having heard the voice of God still then unknown to him, believed and went where this unknown God sent him. He went, understanding perfectly that nobody doesn’t guarantee him anything: because he had again to become acquainted with the One Who calls him, to understand with Whom he has to deal. And here everything depended only on the personal choice of Abraham. God doesn’t force him at all, He just calls him to follow Him. Could Abraham say "no" to God? Of course he could, because man is free. But then, by saying "people of God", we would have meant another people with another history.