Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said to Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house… I. HE IS CALLED BY THE LORD; by the immediate interposition of Jehovah. "The God of glory," as Stephen testifies, "appears to him"; — there is a visible manifestation of the Divine glory; and the Divine voice is heard. The call is very peremptory — authoritative and commanding; and it is also very painful — hard for flesh and blood to obey. But along with the call, there is a very precious promise, a promise of blessings manifold and marvellous. II. ABRAHAM COMMENCES HIS PILGRIMAGE AMID MANY TRIALS. 1. Sarai is barren. 2. He knows not whither he is going. 3. He breaks many ties of nature, the closest and the dearest. 4. His father is removed by death. 5. On reaching Canaan nothing is as yet given; he is a stranger and a pilgrim, wandering from place to place, from Sichem to Moreh, from Moreh to Bethel, pitching his tent at successive stations, as God, for reasons unknown, appoints his temporary abode (vers. 6-9). 6. And wherever he goes he finds the Canaanites; not congenial society and fellowship, but troops of idolaters; for "the Canaanites were then in the land." 7. As if all this were not enough to try him, even daily bread begins to fail him. "There is a famine in the land" (ver. 10); and what now is Abram to do? He has hitherto been steadfast; he has "builded an altar" wherever he has dwelt, and has "called on the name of the Lord" (vers. 7, 8). He has at all hazards avowed his faith, and sought to glorify his God; but it seems as if, from very necessity, he must at last abandon the fruitless undertaking. He is literally starved out of the land. Why, then, should he not go back to his ancient dwelling place, and try what good he can do, remaining quietly at home? What wonder can it be, if, in such circumstances, his high principle should seem for once to give way, through Satan's subtlety, and his own evil heart of unbelief? III. In Egypt, accordingly, for a brief space, the picture is reversed, and THE FAIR SCENE IS OVERCLOUDED. This man of God, being a man still, appears in a new light, or rather in the old light, the light of his old nature. He is tempted, and he falls; consulting his own wisdom, instead of simply relying on his God. He falls through unbelief; and his fall is recorded for our learning, that we may take heed lest we fall. In this incident, the temptation, the sin, the danger, and the deliverance, are all such as, in Abram's circumstances, might have befallen us. (H. S. Candlish, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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: |
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