20 MAY
The call of God
‘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 show thee.’ Genesis 12:1
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Hebrews 11:8–16
The command was to leave his family and country and to go to an unknown land which God would show him. The calling of Abraham is supposed to have been less than 400 years after the flood. In this space of time it seems the knowledge of God was again almost lost upon the earth, and Abraham’s family, as well as others, was sinking into idolatry. The Lord was now about to fulfil his purpose of selecting a particular people to himself, by whom he would be known and worshipped, and amongst whom the types and prophecies concerning the Messiah should be revealed and perpetuated till, in the fullness of time, the Messiah should come of that nation, to be a light and salvation to the ends of the earth. He who has a right to do what he will with his own, as the potter over the clay, chose Abraham to be the head and origin of this nation, and marked out, long before they were a people, the land in which they should be fixed. And in the meanwhile he permitted, by his providence, that the land allotted to his own people should be settled by that branch of Noah’s family who, at his appointed season, should be cut off for their wickedness, and thereby make room for Abraham’s posterity. Thus Abraham is to be considered in a twofold light: as a public person—the head of the Israel of God—and likewise personally as a believer, and a pattern of the life of faith.
FOR MEDITATION:
If he his will reveal,
His saints should stand prepared
Let us obey his call;
In duty’s path to run;
And think whate’er the flesh may feel,
Nor count their greatest trials hard,
His love deserves our all.
So that his will be done.
We should maintain in view
With JESUS for our guide,
His glory, as our end;
The path is safe though rough
Too much we cannot bear, or do,
The promise says, ‘I will provide’,
For such a matchless friend.
And faith replies, ‘Enough!’
SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 22 [1/3], GENESIS 12:1ff.
Milo 