Go From Your Country

             The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

In comparison to the drama of the burning bush Moses saw, God called Abram with what might be described as a whisper. Abram’s father had moved them to Haran. Was that in response to being called? To Abram’s being called? Did he tell his father and the whole family moved that far but refused to move farther? Was this the first time God spoke to Abram? We don’t know. But after Abram’s father died, God called Abram to move to the land of Canaan – specifically away from his family.

Abram did – sort of. He took his nephew Lot (and likely Lot’s family) with him. Now, maybe Lot was effectively adopted into his family. That would change things, but we’re not told that. We’re told that Abram was told to leave his family and that he took Lot with him, along with all that both owned, and if you know the story, you know it didn’t work out well.

We are also not told what the call was like. Was Abram a follower of God before he was called? We don’t know. Unlike Moses, who was called to do a specific job, Abram was called to move to a specific area. Moses was given details. Abram was given promises. I can’t decide which I’d prefer. I tend to like details, but details tend to make demands, whereas promises give wiggle room. At the same time, God told both men what He was going to do.

This may be where we run into trouble with the whole idea of calling. I suspect we tend to think of it in terms of God telling us, “This is what you’re going to do,” or “This is what I want you to do.” And there is that aspect: go to pharaoh, go to Canaan. But in both these instances, and in many others, God also tells the one He calls what He is going to do. I’m not stating unequivocally that God must do both in order for Him to call someone, but the pattern is there.