Catholic Commentary on Genesis 12

"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." (Genesis 12:2)

The Call of Abram

The LORD said to Abram: go from your country, your people, and your father's household to the land I will show you. The call is built on four separations: land, people, household, and the past itself. God does not give Abram a destination; he gives a direction. Go. The land will be shown along the way. The Catechism identifies this as the defining structure of all faith: obedience to a call whose full destination is not yet visible, sustained by the word of the one who calls (CCC 145). Abram is seventy-five years old. He goes.

The promise attached to the call is threefold and universal in scope: 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. Abram's call is not for Abram's benefit alone. It is the beginning of God's answer to the curse of Babel: through this one man and his descendants, all the families of the earth will receive blessing. St. Paul will argue in Galatians 3 that this promise is fulfilled in Christ, the seed of Abraham in whom all nations are blessed.

Abram travels through Canaan to Shechem, where God promises to give this land to his offspring. Abram builds an altar. He moves to the hills east of Bethel and builds another altar. A famine drives him to Egypt, where he deceives Pharaoh about Sarai, nearly losing her to the Egyptian court. God afflicts Pharaoh's household and the truth comes out. Abram is expelled from Egypt, but he leaves with great wealth.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Abram left without knowing where he was going. He went on the word alone. Every step of faith in your own life that has required leaving something behind before the destination was clear is participation in the obedience of Abraham. The destination is always shown along the way, never in advance. Trust the one who calls and begin to move.

Prayer

Lord God, you called Abram from his country and his people with a promise of blessing for all nations. Call us from whatever keeps us from going where you lead. Let us be blessed and be a blessing. And fulfil in us the promise you made to Abraham, which is yes and amen in Christ Jesus. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

12
The Call of Abram
(Genesis 26:1–5; Acts 7:1–8)
1 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.* 12:1 Cited in Acts 7:3
 
2 I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you;
and all the families of the earth
will be blessed through you.† 12:3 See Galatians 3:8”
 
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan.
 
When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak ‡ 12:6 Or Terebinth or Great Tree of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.
 
7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.§ 12:7 Cited in Galatians 3:16” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
 
8 From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.
 
9 And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt
 
10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”
 
14 So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh. 16 He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.
 
17 The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”
 
20 Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

*12:1 12:1 Cited in Acts 7:3

†12:3 12:3 See Galatians 3:8

‡12:6 12:6 Or Terebinth or Great Tree

§12:7 12:7 Cited in Galatians 3:16

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