Read Gen. 12:1-7
God continued to work out his promise plan, continuing it through the patriarch Abram. God chose Abram, although there was really nothing special about him. Nothing in this reading indicates that God picked Abram because he was a particular kind of person or had skills or abilities that made him worthy. What we see in this story, though, is that Abram followed God. Abram was faithful to hear God’s call and follow him.
God made a promise to Abram. God promised that he would bless Abram, make Abram great, and that God would bless all the nations through him. These promises of blessing will be later reaffirmed in Isaac and Jacob, but they began with Abram. This blessing is a pattern that points us forward to Christ. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:7–9:
“Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 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.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
The gospel was preached to Abraham through the promise of blessing. The seed of the blessing that we receive began in the covenant of blessing given to Abram, and is ours when we receive it by faith.
I Commend Joy! 