Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.””
(Genesis 12:1-3)

Abram was still living with his family in Ur when God spoke to him. God wanted to separate Abram from his family. Not as punishment, but so that He could bless Abram. We know from Joshua 24:2 that Abram’s family worshiped idols. You cannot have mixed worship and expect anything from God. We need to be fully trusting in the Lord if we expect to be able to clearly hear Him and have the self-control to obey (James 1:6-7). Abram was going to receive some BIG things from the Lord. He needed to be in an environment where he could focus on the Lord and commit to Him completely.

God chose to make Abram a blessing, but first He would bless Abram. We cannot bless others if we are not first blessed. It is the Lord who makes us great. It is the Lord who puts us into a position where we can be a blessing. The blessing is the overflow that God puts into our lives specifically so that it will reach other people who are around us. Abram’s calling was to be blessed so that he could bless others. Prosperity isn’t hoarding for ourselves. Prosperity is being blessed in order to bless others. It happens spiritually first, and then every other way (emotionally, mentally, relationally, physically, financially, etc). It is an OUTGOING process, not an INWARD process.

God tells us what His plans are, but He only tells us what we can handle. The closer we are to Him, the more we can handle. At this time, Abram is only told of ONE nation that will come from him. Later, he is told he will be the father of MANY nations. The difference is the relationship Abram has with God later is greater than the relationship he has with God now. God hints at this deeper revelation (All the families of the earth will be blessed through you), but God keeps the details back until Abram can handle it.

Notice that Abram is asked to leave his family and go to a land that WILL be shown to him. He is being given the opportunity to start building his trust in the Lord right away. He doesn’t have a clear goal. Everything is ‘will be’. He has to trust in the Lord. Trust Him for direction. Trust Him for revelation. And trust Him for reception of the promises in a real physical way. Some of this must have sounded crazy. And the methodology is kept from Abram (not a HINT of having offspring yet). Instead, God gives him a future to eagerly anticipate (being blessed). God gives him a calling to anticipate (blessing others). And God gives him a chance to begin to build his trust with a simple directive (leave your family and start to travel). God always starts us growing with something to DO, but He fuels it with eager expectation of His goodness. We start with a vision and we grow from that into Him so that we can handle the specifics of what His will is.

Going from everything you know would be scary. It would not be without danger. Abram would in some ways be exposing himself to harm. God wraps protection up in the promises. If Abram goes, he will be blessed. But if Abram goes, anyone who sets themselves against him would be cursed. God promises protection – not easy street. If Abram is willing to trust the Lord with his life and the direction of his life, God is promising that Abram can also trust in God’s protection. He will NOT be overcome by the world. Those in the world who treat him well will be treated well by God on his behalf. Those in the world who strike out at him will be struck by God on his behalf. In essence. God is promising that the world will reap what it sows when it comes to their treatment of Abram. It is telling of Abram’s character that he never takes advantage of this or lords it over anyone.

The sage Sforno writes: ‘אל הארץ אשר אראך, to the specific area within the country which I will show you in a heavenly vision. This is why Avram kept moving further into the land without pitching his tent to settle down until he received the appropriate sign from G’d. This occurred when he reached Shechem, where we are told that G’d appeared to him (verse 7)’

The sage Chizkuni writes: ‘וממולדך, “G-d added this to prevent Avram from returning to his birthplace, Ur Casdim. ומבית אביך, “and from the house of your father.” G-d did not want Avram to ever return to his father’s house in order to receive his share of the inheritance. He promised to reward him far beyond anything he could expect as his share of his father’s estate. Rashi here adds a peculiar comment, writing that here the meaning of בית אביך is that where Avram had resided thus far he would not be able to become a father of children. Apparently, he bases himself on our sages in the Jerusalem Talmud, Taanit: 2,1: that there are three things which are apt to cancel a decree against someone siring children: changing the place of one’s residence, changing one’s name, and observing a fast, praying for children. (Compare also Bereshit Rabbah 44,11)’

The sage HaKtav VeHaKabalah writes: ‘”From your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house.” (Gen. 12:1) Every going, movement, and distancing from that which one departs from to that which one goes toward, whether physical movement from one place to another—such as going to the land of Canaan—or spiritual movement, meaning the distancing of thought from one occupation to engagement and contemplation of thoughts toward what lies ahead or above, as in the matter of “I will give you those who walk among those who stand” (Zechariah 3:7), these types of distancing are opposite in their nature. For physical distancing proceeds from what is before it to what comes after, as for example if one sets out on a journey, one first distances oneself from one’s household members with whom one lived in the same house and room, and the distancing gradually increases to separate also from one’s family members who live in one’s city or nearby, until finally one leaves one’s entire land and goes to another land. However, mental/thought distancing proceeds from back to front, from the distant to what is closer to oneself. For one who dwells in another country, while one’s home and family still hover before one’s eyes and thoughts, the matters of one’s country no longer come to mind, and as many days pass, even one’s family becomes like strangers to one, yet one’s household members still find dwelling in one’s thoughts. Now, since here [the text] first mentions the distancing of the land, secondly his birthplace, and his house last, it teaches us that it is not speaking of physical distancing, for if so it would have been proper to say the opposite: “from your father’s house, from your birthplace, and from your land.” And indeed, he was already distant from his land and had come to Haran (as Rashi writes). Rather, Scripture is speaking of mental distancing, and the intention of this statement is the abandonment of contemplating the conduct of the evil people of his land, and the removal of memory of the disgraceful ways of his family, and that even the matters of his father’s house should be distant from him so as not to bring them to his mind, for they were all equal in the disgrace of their deeds and the lowliness of their beliefs. And on this intention, Rabbi Yitzchak opened this section (Bereshit Rabbah): “Forget your people and your father’s house” (Psalms 45:11)—see there. For in forgetting, which is mental distancing, the people precede one’s father’s house.’

The sage Radak writes: ‘ואברכה מברכך, your allies and those who seek your welfare.” A reference to Oner, Eshkol, and Mamre, Avram’s allies, as well as others whom the Torah has not named. The blessing‘s effect is that people displaying sympathy and love for Jews will be recompensed by G’d. A prominent example of this is that the house of Potiphar was blessed as a result of Potiphar’s positive attitude to Joseph, his Hebrew slave. (Genesis 39,5) Even Yaakov’s arch enemy Lavan, admitted that his presence with him had resulted in G’d making him rich. (Genesis 30,27)’