Verse 1
Genesis 12:1. We have here the
call whereby Abram was removed
from, the land of his nativity
into the land of promise. This
call was designed both to try
his faith and obedience, and
also to set him and his family
apart for God, in order that the
universal prevalence of idolatry
might be prevented, and a
remnant reserved for God, among
whom his true worship might be
maintained, his oracles
preserved, and his ordinances
established till the coming of
the Messiah. God seems also, by
sending him into Canaan, a
country given up to the most
gross, cruel, and barbarous
idolatry, even the sacrificing
of their own children to their
idols, to have intended that he,
and the other patriarchs
descended from him, should be
witnesses for God to these
nations before their
destruction; which is the plan
God has generally, if not
always, pursued; seldom, if
ever, destroying a people for
their wickedness, till he has
sent his truth, in one form or
another, and his witnesses among
them.
Concerning the circumstances of
this call, we may receive
further information from
Stephen’s speech, Acts 7:2,
where we are told, 1st, That the
God of glory appeared to him, to
give him this call, and that in
such displays of his glory as
left Abram no room to doubt. 2d,
That this call was given him in
Mesopotamia; and that, in
obedience to this call, he came
out of the land of the
Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran
or Haran about five years: and
from thence, when his father was
dead, by a fresh command, he
removed him into the land of
Canaan. Get thee out of thy
country — Now, by this precept,
he was tried whether he loved
God better than he loved his
native soil, and dearest
friends: and whether he could
willingly leave all to go along
with God. His country was become
idolatrous, his kindred and his
father’s house were a constant
temptation to him, and he could
not continue with them without
danger of being infected by
them; therefore God said, Get
thee out. Hereby also he was
tried whether he could trust God
farther than he saw him; for he
must leave his own country to go
to a land that God would show
him; he doth not say, it is a
land that I will give thee: nor
doth he tell him what land it
was, or what kind of land; but
he must follow God with an
implicit faith, and take God’s
word for it in general, that he
should be no loser by leaving
his country to follow God.
Verse 2
Genesis 12:2. I will make of
thee a great nation — When God
took him from his own people, he
promised to make him the head of
another people. This promise was
both a great relief to Abram’s
burden, for he had now no child,
and a great trial to Abram’s
faith, for his wife had been
long barren; so that if he
believe, it must be against
hope, and his faith must build
purely upon that power which
“can out of stones raise up
children unto Abraham.” I will
bless thee — Either particularly
with the blessing of
fruitfulness, as he had blessed
Adam and Noah; or in general, I
will bless thee with all manner
of blessings, both of the upper
and nether springs: leave thy
father’s house, and I will give
thee a father’s blessing, better
than that of thy progenitors. I
will make thy name great — By
deserting his country he lost
his name there. Care not for
that, says God, but trust me,
and I will make thee a greater
name than ever thou couldst have
had there. Thou shalt be a
blessing — Thy testimony for
God, thy example, thy prayers,
and power with God, thy wisdom
and prudence, thy peaceable and
benevolent disposition and
conduct, shall make thee a
blessing in all places where
thou shalt sojourn. I will bless
them that bless thee, &c. — I
will be a friend to thy friends,
and an enemy to thy enemies;
thus making, as it were, a kind
of league, offensive and
defensive, with Abram. Abram
heartily espoused God’s cause,
and here God promises to
interest himself m his behalf.
Verse 3
Genesis 12:3. In thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed
— This promise crowned all the
rest; for it pointed at the
Messiah, “in whom all the
promises are yea and amen.” Now,
with what astonishing exactness
has God fulfilled these
promises, and yet how unlikely
it was, at the time they were
made, that they should be
fulfilled! Surely we need no
other proof that the historian
wrote by inspiration of God!
Verse 4
Genesis 12:4. So Abram departed
— He was not disobedient to the
heavenly vision. His obedience
was speedy and without delay,
submissive and without dispute.
So should ours be to him who
says, “Deny thyself, take up thy
cross, and follow me.”
Verse 5
Genesis 12:5. They took with
them the souls that they had
gotten — That is, the proselytes
they had made, and persuaded to
worship the true God, and to go
with them to Canaan; the souls
which (as one of the rabbis
expresseth it) they had
“gathered under the wings of the
Divine Majesty.”
Verse 6
Genesis 12:6. The Canaanite was
then in the land — He found the
country possessed by Canaanites,
who were likely to be but bad
neighbours; and for aught
appears, he could not have
ground to pitch his tent on but
by their permission.
Verse 7
Genesis 12:7. And the Lord
appeared to Abram — Probably in
a vision, and spoke to him
comfortable words: Unto thy seed
will I give this land — No place
or condition can shut us out
from God’s gracious visits.
Abram is a sojourner, unsettled,
among Canaanites, and yet here
also he meets with him that
lives, and sees him. Enemies may
part us and our tents, us and
our altars, but not us and our
God.
Verse 8
Genesis 12:8. And there he built
an altar, and called on the name
of the Lord — Such, it appears,
was his constant practice,
whithersoever he removed. As
soon as he came into Canaan,
though he was but a stranger and
sojourner there, yet he set up,
and kept up the worship of God
in his family; and wherever he
had a tent, God had an altar,
and that sanctified by prayer.
Verse 10
Genesis 12:10. And there was a
famine in the land — Not only to
punish the iniquity of the
Canaanites, but to exercise the
faith of Abram. Now he was tried
whether he could trust the God
that brought him to Canaan, to
maintain him there, and rejoice
in him as the God of his
salvation, when the fig-tree did
not blossom. And Abram went down
into Egypt — See how wisely God
provides, that there should be
plenty in one place, when there
is scarcity in another; that, as
members of the great body, we
may not say to one another, “I
have no need of you.” No doubt
he was sent into Egypt to be a
witness for God there also; but,
alas! through yielding to
unbelief, eminent as he
generally was for faith, he
became rather a stumbling-block
in the way of such as feared the
true God, than an example for
their imitation!
Verse 13
Genesis 12:13. Say thou art my
sister — The grace Abram was
most eminent for was faith, and
yet he thus fell through
unbelief and distrust of the
divine providence, even after
God had appeared to him twice!
“Let him that standeth take heed
lest he fall.”
Verse 17
Genesis 12:17. And the Lord
plagued Pharaoh and his house —
We are not told particularly, in
what way they were plagued; but,
doubtless, there was something
in the plagues themselves, or
some explication added to them,
sufficient to convince Pharaoh
and his house that it was for
Sarai’s sake they were thus
plagued.
Verse 18
Genesis 12:18. What is this that
thou hast done — What an ill
thing: how unbecoming a wise and
good man! Why didst thou not
tell me that she was thy wife? —
Intimating, that if he had known
that he would not have taken
her. It is a fault, too common
among good people, to entertain
suspicions of others beyond what
there is cause for. We have
often found more of virtue,
honour, and conscience in some
people, than we thought there
was; and it ought to be a
pleasure to us to be thus
disappointed, as Abram was here,
who found Pharaoh to be a better
man than he expected. |