LECH LECHA

“I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all families of the earth will be blessed.”
Genesis 12:2-3

There are times in life when Adonai gives us a simple command. Since we have been given freewill, He cannot perform the command for us. It comes down to us and whether we will obey or not. For Avram (Abram), just such a simple command was given. Genesis 12:1 tells us that Adonai gave Avram the command to get out of the country he was currently residing in. He was to get away from the land and the relatives and travel to a land that would be shown to him. We see that Avram was in a Mesopotamian city called Ur of the Chaldeans, which archaeologists believe they have found remains of near the Euphrates River in southern Iraq. The blessing of a great nation was given to him at this same time, but everything hinged on his obedience, and obedience was Abram’s first test. In Genesis 12:4 we read of this obedience and find that when tested, he did indeed obey God.
But let us consider another piece to this getting out that Abram was commanded in regards to. He was commanded to leave behind the gods, and embrace only God. His background, his family line, was steeped in polytheism and idolatry. Yet all that was left behind by Abram. Whether he never embraced it from the start, or whether he forsook it, he did not bring it with him as he traveled in God’s direction. Truth be told, he became fiercely loyal to the one true God. When the family caravan made a stop at Haran, however, it was Abram who trudged forward and refused to continue on in the ways his father Terah embraced. Haran was a city much like Ur, where the people worshiped pantheon gods. For Abram, Sarai, and nephew Lot, this was not an option.
If we skip ahead into Joshua 24:2-3 we read that Adonai “…took your father Avraham from beyond the river.” This means more than just beyond the Euphrates. The word ‘across’ or ‘beyond’ is the Hebrew word EBER. While literally Abraham came from across the river, symbolically he also went across the river. Perhaps we know this term better as conversion or being born again. Regardless of what we name it, it was for him a conversion of the heart and a new birth. In leaving Ur, leaving behind the gods, leaving behind all the common known life, Abraham was reborn in Canaan, into the serving of the one true God, and into a whole new faith.
As I continue to grow in my relationship with Adonai, I want to also grow in the speed with which I obey. I want to stop asking questions and stop trying to find a way around what I am being asked to do and just do it. If He says to get myself out, I want to get myself out. If He requires me to leave the gods behind to be born again in Him, then I want to do it. The blessing for doing His will is just an obedient step away. If I want the blessing, I need to obey.