Genesis chapter 12 sets the stage for God’s plan to restore all humanity through a man, through his descendants, through a nation coming from that man, and through an eternal kingdom out of an Anointed One from that nation, the Messiah. It begins with the blessing given to Abram (Abraham) in Genesis 12:1-3.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Abram came from Semitic lineage, the 10th generation after Noah of the Great Flood and descended from Shem. His hometown was Ur, a Chaldean city of southern Mesopotamia, but his father and his clan moved to Haran in northern Mesopotamia. There in Haran God spoke to Abram, telling him to go to a strange land. He left his clan behind with the exception of his wife and servants, and Lot, his nephew.

We may ask, why did God choose Abram? He most assuredly was a righteous man, but were there not others of righteous stature? The Hebrew written code of law did not yet exist, although Abram was likely to have known of Chaldean or even Babylonian law codes. One way or other, Abram was influenced more by the tradition of Noah and Shem than that of the non-Semitic peoples of Babylon and the descendants of Ham. Abram already knew of God, and he knew something about right versus wrong. And then God made Himself known to him.

We may ask, why must Abram go to a new land? What significance did this targeted land have? It was already occupied by the descendants of Canaan along the Mediterranean coast and extended parallel to the Jordan River. Several people groups lived there, including the Amorite tribes common to the Fertile Crescent, a swath of property shaped like a sickle or crescent that stretched around the northern and western borders of today’s Arabian Desert. Canaan, as the land was called (alternately Palestine, after the Philistine people), included an area from just south of Damascus to the southern desert, just north of the Sinai peninsula. The Old Testament histories cited Israel’s presence in Canaan as running north to south from Dan to Beersheba, and east to west from the Jordan River to the coast. The land could also be regarded as extending east of the Jordan by the Israelite-occupied territories of Reuben, East Manasseh, and Gad.

Canaan was becoming a major corridor for trade and communication between the northern sections of the Near East, as well as the land of modern-day Turkey and Europe, and Egypt. If God wanted to establish an influential nation for exercising His divine plan for humanity, perhaps this was why He chose Canaan. If God were to choose neutral ground, could this have been a reason for selecting Canaan, at the crossroads of three continents? Today we cannot say that Christianity and Judaism are Western, Eastern, or African. We might also include the third Abrahamic religion from the descendants of his second wife Hagar’s son, Ishmael. No, these monotheistic faiths are not truly confined to one continental locale, but central to the major population expansions in world history. More specifically to God’s redemptive plan, we may affirm that Messiah, as Savior of mankind, relates to all nations. With his blood he “purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

A further answer to our question may perhaps be found in Genesis where God spoke to Abram again:

13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” -Genesis 15:13-16

The Lord was speaking to Abram in greater detail about the birth of the nation coming out of Abram, the nation whereby all the nations of the earth would be blesssed. Specifically, He was speaking of the Hebrew people’s captivity in Egypt, where they indeed would become enslaved, but rescued and brought out of that place under God’s “mighty hand and outstretched arm.” The conquest of Canaan would not happen according to the passage above, verse 16, until the sin of the Amorites had reached its full measure. What sins would justify the wrath of God and the conquest of the land? The seven tribes of Canaan eventually engaged in every form of wickedness imaginable: idolatry, human sacrifice to false gods, sorcery, bestiality, and every kind of sexual perversion imaginable, to name a few.

We could next ask, if there were seven nations of Canaan, why did the Lord specifically mention the Amorites? Abram settled in Canaan near the town of Hebron, south of Salem (Jerusalem), and near Mount Hebron, the highest peak in Canaan. His settlement for his extensive flocks, herds, and employees came about from a treaty with three Amorite brothers, and he dwelt near the oaks of one brother, Mamre the Amorite. Abram had not yet purchased property of his own in Canaan, so the treaty was helpful for both Abram and the Amorites. They in fact fought together against some marauding kings who had kidnapped his nephew, Lot, successfully rescuing Lot and family and returning them home. Although God had special regard for Abram, the man was human and had to avoid entangling himself in compromising situations, a circumstance that his nephew had not avoided. Of all the tribes and nations of Canaan, Abram probably knew the Amorites the best.

Abram became the patriarch by whom the whole world would be blessed, but the germination of such a Divine plan came about through the trials that tested his faith. He was tested as he agreed to leave his home and go to the unknown land of Canaan. By faith he fought against the kingly alliance that had captured Lot, his nephew, and prevailed. By faith he gave a tenth of the booty from that battle to King Melchizedech, the priest of Salem. By faith he believed God’s promise that he would have a son and a multitude of descendants and several nations from him, even though he and his wife were childless and advanced in years. See a summary of his life in Hebrews11:8-12. “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

This next test of faith was the hardest of all: By faith Abraham (his new name) listened to God’s instructions to offer his beloved son, Isaac, as a sacrifice on the altar; and God rewarded him by staying his hand and providing a ram as the sacrifice instead.

The standard for righteousness, in fact, is faith in God: belief that He will honor His promises and provide for our needs. We may not be perfect, but God’s promise is forgiveness as we turn in faith to His Son, Jesus the Messiah.

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9