“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 shew thee:” (Genesis 12:1)

This verse explains the reason Abram left the Ur of Chaldees (Genesis 11:29-31). But the problem was, Abraham did not immediately leave, or separate from, his kindred or from his father’s house. And he stopped short of where God was taking him.

Abram left the Ur of Chaldees, but he took his kinfolk and his daddy, and he stopped at Haran, until his daddy died.

Once again, this verse reveals the Sovereignty of God. God chose Abram; it was not Abram choosing God. There are several mountain peaks in the Scriptures of God’s movements that set the course of history. God’s choice of Abram was one of these events.

It had come time in God’s Plan and Purpose to separate a special people unto Himself, to reveal more of Himself. Therefore, He chose Abram out of all the people of the earth to confirm His Covenant unto. It would be through Abram that God would bless the earth with Christ. (See Matthew 1:1-25.) However, you must view not the physical genealogy, but the spiritual genealogy through Faith. (Please read Romans 9:6-; Galatians 3:21-29; Hebrews 11:8-17.)

The line of continuity was Faith from Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abram, Isaac, Jacob, Judah – down to Jesus. Then in Romans 9, 10, and 11; not only Jew, but also elect Gentiles are included in the Children of Promise, the Church (Galatians 3:25-29).

This misunderstanding of the physical genealogy and the spiritual genealogy of Faith is why the Jews and the Arabs are still fighting to this present day. The war is between the Isaac’s and the Ishmael’s; between the Jacob’s and the Esau’s. All of them came from Abraham; but all are not Children of Promise, or of Abraham’s Faith. (That is, of the same Faith that Abraham possessed, who was Christ.)

The calling of Abram, and separating him to God and to God alone; and God confirming His Covenant with him; is a definite turning point in the Word of God. (Please review our booklet on The Inheritance and read Book II of our Old Testament Survey on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.)

Reader, today’s devotion is just to introduce you to Abraham and to God’s Sovereign Call to him out of idolatry in Ur of the Chaldees.

Just remember, according to Matthew 1:1-25, God goes back to Abraham and traces 42 generations down to Jesus. But the real genealogy is spiritual; for Jesus had no earthly father.

Here, with Abraham, is where God separated a nation for Himself – the Nation of Israel (Jacob’s new name; see Genesis 32). The first Godly line was Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah – that was before the flood. After the flood – it was Shem, then Abram.

Abraham is called the father of the faithful; for it was with Abraham that God revealed Faith and the details of the Everlasting Covenant. God revealed part of it to Noah in the Ark and Salvation in the Ark. But now, God is going to reveal The Land (the Church, the Kingdom of God; see Hebrews 11:10-13), and The Blessing (through Isaac, or Christ; see Galatians 3:13-18).