Abraham Is Called by God

TLDR: A guide for having a family discipleship time on Genesis 12 based on the ACT Bible Study Method.

Act 3: God Promises JesusScene 1: Abraham Is Called by GodGenesis 12:1–20Analyze the PassageStep 1: Introduce the Passage

Genesis was written by Moses sometime between 1445–1405 BC to help the Israelites leaving Egypt understand their history with God. It’s one of the five books of the Law that Moses wrote, which we also call the Torah, or the Pentateuch, which means “five books.”

Today’s true story is one that begins a new Act, Act 3: God Promises Jesus. While we will still see people disobeying God and while we have already seen God make his first promise of sending Jesus and we have begun to see signs pointing to that, this is Act is where God really begins to share his plans to send a Rescuer for his people.

Step 2: Read the Passage

Genesis 12:1–20

Step 3: Summarize the Passage

Abram was from Haran (11:32) when God told him he was to leave his county and family and go to a new land that God would show him. God said he would make Abram a great nation there and bless him. Whoever treated Abram well would be treated well by God; whoever didn’t treat Abram well would be dealt with by God.

So Abram left with his wife Sarai and took his nephew Lot with him. They took what they owned and went to Canaan. God appeared to Abram there and told him this was the land he wanted to give. Abram built and altar and worshiped there. Abram then went into the hills and built another altar and worshiped God again.

In time, a famine happened so Abram went to Egypt. But because he was worried that he would be killed and his wife would be taken, he asked Sarai to lie and say she was his sister. When they got to Egypt, Pharaoh did take Sarai but treated Abram well.

God, however, struck Pharaoh’s house with diseases for taking Sarai. When he learned Sarai was Abram’s wife, he was angry and told him to take Sarai and leave.

Step 4: Interrogate the Passage

Questions you and your family ask might include:

Why did God choose Abram?What does it mean that God would make Abram “a great nation”?What does it mean that God would bless Abram?What blessing would all the families of the world receive through Abram?Was it okay that Abram took Lot?Why did God choose to start a nation with an older, childless couple?Was Abram supposed to travel through the land, or was he supposed to have stayed at Shechem?Was it okay for Abram to go to Egypt during the famine?Why was Abram worried for his life when God had just said he’d make him a great nation?Step 5: Wonder about the Passage

Wonder statements you and your family make might include:

I wonder how God appeared to Abram.I wonder if it was hard for Abram to leave his home and family.I wonder if Sarai was okay with saying she was Abram’s sister.I wonder what it was like for Sarai to be taken into Pharaoh’s household.Connect the Passage to ChristStep 6: Find the World in Front of Text

This marks a major turning point in God’s plan to provide a Rescuer to make right what people had broken. God calls Abram, who will later be called Abraham, from his home to go to the future land of Israel and be the start of God’s people. Abram and his wife are older and have no children, making them a curious choice. But God’s point is that he will not form a people from what exists; rather, he will form a people from not only a new people, but from the least expected of people. He will bring life from death.

The world we see is a glimpse of the world that God intends—the restored world where he rules over his numerous and prosperous people who have spread out, fulfilling his original command in Eden and what he had commanded Noah after the flood. It’s a world in which his people trust and obey him, even if they don’t have all the details. It’s a world in which God’s people not only love and serve him, but in which they also love and serve others.

This passage gives us a snapshot of that world, but here, it isn’t that ideal world just yet. To his great credit, Abram obeys God, but he also appears to doubt God when he worries for his life in Egypt. Because of his deception, Abram doesn’t bring blessing to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but rather curses. Indeed, Pharaoh and his people seemed to fulfill Abram’s role better than he did—they welcomed strangers into their land and gave freely to them.

Step 7: Find the World of Jesus of the Text

God’s command for Abram to obey him and his promise that he would use him to start a new people and bring blessing to the world has Jesus in mind. Jesus came from Abram’s family and brought the greatest blessing of all to the world: salvation from sin and restored relationship with God. But we also see Jesus in how Abram was to obey God and bless others himself. Jesus obeyed God perfectly on earth, but he also showed amazing hospitality. He was known as a friend of sinners. He didn’t shun people; he moved toward them, wanting to be in friendship with them. He reached out to the unloved and outcasts. He did exactly what God talked about here.

Translate It to Your ContextStep 8: Connect the World of Jesus of the Text to Your World

How can you show someone hospitality this week? How can you treat someone with friendship, love, and kindness? Think about people who you know of or barely know, especially anyone who seems like he or she might need a friend. What will you do to be a friend to them?

How can you obey God this week, in big ways and small ways, so that people might see Jesus in you? Think about all the places you will be this week and what you will do. How can you obey God and people he has placed in authority with joy?

NEXT: Act 3: God Promises Jesus; Scene 2: Abraham and Lot (Genesis 13:1–18)

Learn more about this family discipleship method here.