Genesis 12:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

NIV: So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

NASB: So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

CSB: So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

NLT: So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

KJV: So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

NKJV: So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

In the previous three verses, God gave Abram a command and a set of powerful, astonishing promises. Abram was to leave his home behind and go to a place God would show him. Pointedly, Abram is told both to "go from" his old life and culture, and "go to" a new land and a new future. In the going, Abram would receive unimaginable blessings from God.

However Abram responded to these words from God, it would be an act dependent on Abram's faith. Either he would trust God or he would not. As it turns out, Abram went. At the age of 75, Abram leaves his country, his people, and his home and heads toward whatever God has in store for him. He trusts God, which is the essence of the Bible's depiction of faith (Psalm 31:6; 1 Peter 2:6; 2 Corinthians 3:4). Interestingly, Abram will later fail to express this faith, leading to controversy. However, after being renamed Abraham, he will perform one of the greatest acts of trust recorded in Scripture (Genesis 22; Hebrews 11:17–19).

Among those Abram takes with him are his wife, Sarai, and his late brother's son, Lot.

Genesis 12:1–9 is a landmark passage in the Bible. God calls Abram to leave his people and land behind. He also promises to bless Abram and to make his descendants into a great nation who will one day occupy the land of Canaan. Though childless, and with no obvious path to becoming a father of an entire culture, Abram begins to worship the Lord in the land of Canaan, journeying through the land and building altars to God.

Genesis 12 contains one of the key moments in the history of the world. God chooses Abram as the first step in building His people Israel. Abram obeys God's call, and heads into the land of Canaan, territory which God promises to Abram's offspring. Quickly, though, Abram fails a test of faith in the land of Egypt while seeking food in a famine. God does not fail, however, to step in to save Abram's family and protect His agenda for Abram's life.

The end of Genesis 11 tells the story of Terah, Abram's father, and the family's journey to a new home in Haran. Genesis 12 shifts the story to Abram and his journey on into the land of Canaan. God promises to make Abram the father of a great nation, and to give Abram's descendants that very land. Abram begins to worship the Lord, but quickly fails a test of his faith in Egypt. God shows Himself faithful in a miraculous way, preparing Abram for what's to come in chapter 13.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/9/2024 1:16:52 AM