NOTES for Gen 12:1-4
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.