Genesis 12:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

NIV: The LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land.' So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

NASB: And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.

CSB: The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.

NLT: Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'I will give this land to your descendants. ' And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

KJV: And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

NKJV: Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Abram believed God's promises to him (Genesis 12:1–3). He obeyed God's call to leave his home and travel to another land (Genesis 12:1–5). Now, after Abram and his large contingent have traveled to the heart of the land of Canaan, the Lord appears to him.

This is apparently a different experience than when God spoke to Abram in verse 1. The Lord "appears." We are not told what form He took. The Lord is called Yahweh, and the term used for when Yahweh physically appears to people is theophany. This is the first of several theophanies made to the fathers of Israel.

Yahweh brings a short, specific promise for Abram: I will give this land to your descendants. This is the first time God has promised the land of Canaan to the people who will become Israel. After leaving his old life, and his old culture, Abram was now home. Abram himself would not take possession of the land in his own lifetime, however. Even his descendants will not fully possess the land for several generations. But the promise had been made by God. It would happen.

Abram responded in the way that many people in Scripture do after being visited by the Lord. He built an altar. He may well have made an animal sacrifice, though that is not mentioned. It's possible that Abram's altar at Shechem stood as a reminder of this visit from the Lord for many years to come.

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.