Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts 7:

Prayer

Introduction

We are continuing our study of the Pentateuch this morning – those first five books of the Bible.

We have spent some time in the first 11 chapters of Genesis and have seen how things began and got to be the way they are.

The foundations of our understanding of who we are, why we are here, who God is, and other important questions are found in those first 11 chapters.

Genesis has a kinda natural divide in focus between chapters 11 and 12.

It goes from focusing on general history to focusing on the history of one family in particular: Abraham’s.

Most of you probably know the children’s bible song about Father Abraham who had many sons.

Many sons had father Abraham.

I am one of them and so are you, so let’s just praise the Lord!

Scripture

Our passage this morning is .

If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

We do this to show appreciation to God for His Word, and in recognition that these are among the most important words we could hope to hear today.

says,

“Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.

The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

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.

And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.

When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.

At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

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.

From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east.

And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.

And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.”

Thank you, you may be seated.

Sermon

There are few events which utterly change the world.

Sometimes they are big, obvious events which seem to shake the very foundations of society.

At other times, they are small, seemingly insignificant things which seem to have a historical snowball effect.

The call of Abram is quiet, seemingly unimportant, hardly more than a historical whisper, yet it would prove to be one of the most important events in all of human history.

That may seem like a bit of an overstatement, but if you stop and think about it, Abraham might be the most important person in history other that Jesus Christ.

Three of the major world religions are rooted in Abraham – Judaism, Christianity (of course) and Islam.

In 2005, it was estimated that 3.6 billion people are followers of an Abrahamic religion – that’s over 50% of the population.

All that to say, Abram or Abraham is a very important character.

Every good story has a setting, and Abrams starts not in the promised land, but far off to the north east of what would one day become Israel.

We are introduced to Abram and his family living in Ur of the Chaldeans.

Uprooting the entire family and moving from Ur to some unknown land far to the west would be no easy task.

By all accounts, Abram, his father Terah, and the rest of the family are not nomads, but instead seem to be city dwellers, enjoying the culture that a city brings.

Further, it seems that the family is polytheistic – that is to say that they worship many Gods – most specifically a moon god.

tells us as much.

So, the whole family sets out from Ur towards the land of Canaan and arrive in another city called Haran.

This city is much like Ur, and even has a nice, big temple to the moon god, Sin there.

It would have been a comfortable place for the whole family – familiar.

Moving is hard, even more so in the ancient world, so the whole family settles there.

The same language for settling there is used in the Tower of Babel account – suggesting that their settling at Haran was not quite what was supposed to be happening.

Naturally, one might want to know why this family is moving towards Canaan.

What is in this new land, and why go to the trouble to pack up everything and everyone, leave all that is familiar and move to the other end of the known world.

The simple answer to that question is that God called Abram from his homeland to a land that God would show him.

Apparently, this call occurred prior to the family leaving Ur.

That is what tell us.

God calls Abram, and the whole family as a group starts heading for this new land, but ends up settling in Haran.

More important than the timeline of where Abram was living when he received this call from God is the fact that he received a call from God. Genesis 12:1:3 is the first time God has spoken since the judgment of Babel.

In fact, if we think back to the first 11 chapters of Genesis, we will notice that most of God’s interaction with man has been in judgment.

Even where God shows mercy, it has been in the midst of judgment.

There is this overarching cycle of sin, death, and judgment, yes there has been mercy, but mostly in not giving the full punishment that is deserved.

Up to this point, the human story and humanities relationship with God is dark.

That is exactly what we should expect, since we have rebelled against our holy God.

The story of Genesis should continue in that cycle of sin, death and judgment.

That is why this call of Abram is so important.

It breaks the narrative.

It shatters the mold.

God is not dealing with man in the way man deserves.

God is being gracious.

The call of Abram after those first 11 chapters of sin and negativity is intended to stand out.

To make us go, wait, God spoke to Abram, and without a hint of judgment?

This call is something truly special, and lays the groundwork for the rest of Scripture – God is holy, God is just, God is angry over sin, but God is also gracious.

So, Abram obeys this call of God.

Apparently, he tells his family, as they all start to move with him from Ur, but they stop in Haran.

Now Abram has to make a decision will he remain in Haran – comfortable, or will he make the final break.

Will he leave everything he knows – his false worship, his homeland, his metropolitan lifestyle, his family?

Will Abram reject everything he knows to obey this call of God.

We know the story.

He does.

He leaves Haran and goes on to the land of Canaan.

This is important.

Abram needed to leave.

He needed to separate from the wicked, false worship of Ur, Haran and of his family.

God will reveal Himself in far greater ways in this new land.

“The land I will show you” indicates that God is not done speaking to Abram.

In fact, once Abram arrives in the land of Canaan, near Shechem, God does speak to him again – promising the land to his descendants.

Little by little, God graciously speaks to Abram, revealing His plan and giving opportunities for Abram to exercise his faith and to obey God.

One of the things that fascinates me about this call, is that it is not merely a call, but a promise.

Did you notice that?

God calls Abram to leave, but with a series of promises of what God is going to do.

Generally, promise to Abram falls under three categories: Land, Seed, and Blessing.

First, we see that God is going to give Abram’s offspring a land.

Abram has left his home and is wandering around this promised land, but he never does own it – his descendants will.

The only piece of property Abram ever actually has as his own is the grave he buys for his wife.

But there is more to it that that.

This promise of a land of blessing is meant to hint that God – through Abram – is undoing the curse.

Just as God has prepared a garden in which man was meant to worship, so again God will be preparing a land where people will worship.

Naturally, that points to the physical land, but it also points to a greater truth in that God is going to totally, completely one day undo the effects of the curse and there will be a new heaven and new earth – a truly promised land.

And that new heaven and new earth will be populated by the offspring of Abram.