Genesis 12:1–3

Memory Verse

And the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and from your family and from your father’s house into a land which I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. And I will bless those blessing you, and I will curse him who curses you, and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Genesis 12:1–3

God selected to make a nation for Himself from Abram, a man from Ur of the Chaldeans, calling him to leave his country and family. Abram first went with his father, Terah, and his nephew, Lot, to Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205 (Genesis 11:31–32). Haran was a city in Mesopotamia, about 20 miles from southeastern Turkey. After his father’s death, Abram followed the word of the Lord and departed from Haran to Canaan. In contrast, other members of Abram’s household remained in Haran. Later, at the behest of his mother and after her plot to take Esau’s blessing was successful, Jacob fled from his brother’s anger to Haran, where his uncle resided (Genesis 27:43).

Abram departed with a promise from God. With this blessing, God would bless those who bless him, and curse the man who curses him. Furthermore, God promised that through Abram, the families of the earth would be blessed. This is one of the early revelations of God’s coming redemption through Israel, through whom the Gentiles would also see salvation (Acts 3:25–26).