King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 9 notes
1Now 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 shew thee:
Now the lord had said to Abraham… when did the lord say unto him? Let me check other versions.. I'll be back
I'm back, and several versions maintain the "had said" and some just used "said".
Either ways we are not told when God said to him.
However, we see earlier that Abraham's father had set off to go to the land of Canaan.
Some say he had the calling first but did not fulfil it, hence it was transferred to Abraham.
It's an inference from Genesis 11:31 KJV
And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
And into the land of Canaan they came indeed.
It was as if to say that Terah had set off to go into the land of Canaan and they ended up settling in Haran but in Abraham's case he completed the journey.
Abraham separating himself to go to Canaan was no new thought.
That was his father Terah's goal the whole time but it seems Terah could not accomplish that.
Maybe the sheer numbers of his family 👪 with other accompanying responsibilities prevented him from moving the entire tribe to a distant unknown land.
Maybe just maybe in the course of Terah's journey with his family to go to Canaan, they found a comfortable place with good land and settled.
However Abraham heeded this difficult call and gathered his family and left.
God had a plan for Abraham's lineage in Canaan and needed them to be willing to cross over from their comfort zone to Canaan, the land of promise.
And of course today we see and know how that grand plan unfolded.
6And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
7And 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.
Having completed his obedience, God now appears to him to give further specifics.
Our walk with God is a journey.
As we complete one quest of obedience, he comes with the next update. In between times he nudges, watches, observes, repeats the instruction as need be till we complete the command and then fresh orders and updates come. Till then we would go in circles on the same track 🏁
8And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Here again he called upon the name of the Lord.
9And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
10And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
11And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
12Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
14And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
15The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Maybe it was common in those days to have women keep their youth and beauty way into their old age.. Sarah was in her mid sixties at least.
16And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
This looks like fresh assets that had been acquired whiles in Egypt.
17And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
18And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
19Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
This event so simply written in a few verses must have taken days of squabble …maybe Abraham was summoned to a judgment sitting or a hearing of some sorts, before eventually being sent away.
20And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
Egypt 🇪🇬 and Pharaoh, they were to play a pivotal role again in the lives of Abraham's descendants centuries later.