Parashat Lech-Lecha
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We are now looking into the calling of Abram and Sari. So, today I will be preaching a sermon that my wife, Eleanor, wrote for her preaching class, with maybe 1 or 2 of my own additions. We will begin with a story.
Imagine it’s the 1840s. You’ve packed everything you own into a covered wagon — your food, tools, a few precious keepsakes — and you’re heading west on the Oregon Trail. You don’t know exactly where you’ll end up. There are no maps, no phones, no guarantees. Just the promise of a new future ahead.”
That’s similar to Abram. Though in his case, he left everything and went West out of obedience to God. Originally from Ur, he lived in a place called Haran, a thriving city of trade and commerce— comfortable, successful, secure — when God suddenly told him, “Go… to the land I will show you.” No description. No details. Just a promise that he would lead him. It must have been an amazing promise for him to leave everything.
Let’s now read a passage that most of you are hopefully familiar with: Gen. 12:1-9
Then Adonai said to Abram, “Get going out from your land, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you, to make your name great so that you may be a blessing. My desire is to bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. So Abram went, just as Adonai had spoken to him. Also Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the people that they acquired in Haran, and they left to go to the land of Canaan, and they entered the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the place of Shechem, as far as Moreh’s big tree. (The Canaanites were in the land then.) Then Adonai appeared to Abram, and said, “I will give this land to your seed.” So there he built an altar to Adonai, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the mountain to the east of Beth-El and erected his tent (with Beth-El to the west and Ai to the east). There he built an altar to Adonai and called on the Name of Adonai. So Abram kept on journeying southward.
This passage marks a turning point in Scripture. After the fall of Adam and Eve, and after Noah and the flood, and after the rebellion at Babel, God narrows His focus to one man — Abram — through whom He will reach all humanity.
God has a redemptive plan. A plan built on three specific promises He gave to Abraham:
A land, a nation (people), and a blessing
A land, a nation (people), and a blessing
So let’s look closely at each of these promises and see what they reveal about God’s redemptive plan.
God Promised Abram a Land
God Promised Abram a Land
Let’s look at Genesis 12:1 again, “Then Adonai said to Abram, “Get going out from your land, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”
Abram had to leave his country, his family, his security — everything he knew — to follow God. And remarkably, when God told Abram to go, we see from verse 4 that “Abram went, just as God had spoken to him.” Now, That’s faith!
Faith begins when we obey without full understanding.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he was to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going.
Imagine the conversation with Sarai?
“Abram, where are we going?”
“I don’t know.”
“How far are we traveling? And how much food should I prepare for the journey?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how will we know when we’ll get there?”
“I don’t know – God said He will show us!”
Now this promise of land extended through Abraham to his descendants – Isaac and Jacob (renamed Israel), and Jacob’s twelve sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. The Children of Israel inherited the land under Joshua. And Scripture is clear that the land was given to Abraham and his descendants forever, not on the basis of their behavior or merit, but on the basis of God’s covenant. Psalm 105:8-11 says:
He remembers His covenant forever— the word He commanded for a thousand generations— which He made with Abraham, and swore to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance.”
God Promised Abram a Nation and a Great Name
God Promised Abram a Nation and a Great Name
Genesis 12:2 “My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you, to make your name great so that you may be a blessing.”
God promised to make Abram into a great nation, and as a result, to make his name great. Notice the contrast here: the people at the Tower of Babel tried to make a name for themselves — but Abraham’s name was made great by God.
And indeed, Abraham’s name is great — not because of human achievement, but because God identified Himself with Abraham and his descendants. He is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of Israel. Because God is Eternal, His promise is eternal, which makes Israel eternal. In Jeremiah 31, God uses the sun, moon, stars, and the roaring sea—as a guarantee of His covenant faithfulness to Israel. Only if these pass away, will Israel cease to be a nation before Him.
Now the purpose of the land was to make Abram a great nation. You can’t have a nation without land, borders and people. Abraham had to leave his nation so that God could make him a great nation. God wanted to bring about His plan of salvation through a people — through the nation of Israel.
That’s why the Hebrew Scriptures trace Israel’s story so carefully — because it’s through Israel that the Messiah, Yeshua, would come.
Now Israel has never been perfect. We all know about the golden calf, and even how they worshiped other gods during the times of the judges and kings of Israel. And though they were eventually exiled from the land by the Babylonians, and much later by the Romans — God has been faithful to bring them back to the land He promised. Why? Because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Lev. 26:44-45 says,
Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I hate them into utter destruction, and break My covenant with them, for I am Adonai their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors.
Even when Israel disobeyed and was scattered among the nations, God’s faithfulness never wavered. He promised He would not forget them — and He hasn’t. God repeated the same promise in Deut. 30 and Eze. 36–37.
Let’s read Deut. 30:3-5
Then Adonai your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you, and He will return and gather you from all the peoples where Adonai your God has scattered you. Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the heavens, from there Adonai your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. Adonai your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, and you will possess it; and He will do you good and multiply you more than your fathers.
We see also in this verse that God told Abram that He would bless him and make him a blessing. What does the word “bless” mean? To be “blessed” means to receive God’s divine favor — and is often in context with being able to have children.
God’s blessing to Abraham echoes back to Creation where God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to be fruitful and multiply. God is promising His divine favor which will enable Abram to be fruitful and multiply – to be numerous and prosperous, influential and wealthy. But let’s not forget that Abraham and Sarah were barren.
The Nation of Israel exists because God created it. Both its creation and existence today are miraculous! Let me repeat that.
However, God’s blessings were never meant to end with Israel. God’s heart has always been to bless the world through Israel. And Israel truly has been a blessing! Through the Jewish people, we have the Scriptures, the Prophets, David Worship and ultimately, the Messiah Himself.
God’s purpose for blessing His people has always been so that they might be a blessing to others. To share His divine favor. Blessing is not for privilege, but for participation — participation in God’s redemptive plan. Israel’s calling and election is missional — they are called the “chosen people” because they were chosen for a purpose. Not because they were greater than others, but because of God’s faithfulness.
In Deut. 7:7–8, God reminds Israel:
“It is not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that Adonai set His love on you and chose you—for you are the least of all peoples. Rather, because of His love for you and His keeping the oath He swore to your fathers, Adonai brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
God’s Blessing Extends to the Nations
God’s Blessing Extends to the Nations
Genesis 12:3 “My desire is to bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Again, God identifies Himself personally with Abram and his descendants — the nation of Israel. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And He takes personally how other nations treat His people.
Those who bless Israel, He will bless.
Those who curse Israel, He will curse.
Now, the Hebrew text here gives us an important nuance. The first word translated “curse” is different from the second word “curse.” The first word “curse” really means “to despise” or “to belittle.” While the second of the word “curse” is (to invoke harm) the same word used in the list of curses seen in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
So the verse could be translated: “Whoever dishonors you, I will curse.” (ESV captures this)
Mitch Glaser, President of Chosen People Ministries, puts it this way:
Those who devalue or make light of Israel’s role in the plan of God or somehow demean the role of the Jewish people could actually experience the very same curses God promised the Jewish people… for disobedience of the Torah.
Paul gives the same warning in Romans 11, reminding Gentile believers not to boast against the natural branches — that is, Israel.
Then we come to the climactic phrase. God says to Abram: “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” This is the heartbeat of the covenant — the Messianic promise. Through Israel would come the Messiah — the ultimate representative of His people.
Isaiah 49:6 captures this beautifully:
So He says, “It is too trifling a thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved ones of Israel. So I will give You as a light for the nations, that You should be My salvation to the end of the earth.”
This covenant promise to Abraham is the foundation of God’s global redemption.
The Apostle Paul explains this in Galatians 3:8:
The Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the Good News to Abraham in advance, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed through you.”
And verse 16, that the promised “Seed” is Messiah Yeshua. Paul then explains to the Galatians how the new covenant does not cancel the promise given to Abraham. Galatians 3:17-18:
What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise. But God has graciously given it to Abraham by means of a promise.
So while the ultimate fulfillment of this blessing is in Messiah Yeshua, God’s plan still includes Israel. He’s not finished with them. Remember, “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29)
There is still the kingdom to come. Yeshua will sit on the Throne of David. That’s why the disciples asked Yeshua, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” (Acts 1:6).
Just like the Jewish people were instrumental in Yeshua’s first coming, so they will be instrumental in Yeshua’s second coming.
Paul says in Romans 11:12
Now if their transgression leads to riches for the world, and their loss riches for the Gentiles, then how much more their fullness!
And Rom. 11:15
For if their rejection leads to the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
In other words, when Israel finally recognizes Yeshua as Messiah, it will usher in worldwide blessing and revival — life from the dead! No other nation in the world has a promise like this — that their salvation would bring blessing to the whole world. Only Israel.
Yeshua Himself said that Jerusalem would not see Him again until they say,
“Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai — Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
In other words:
When Israel finally recognizes Yeshua as Messiah, He will return.
And when He returns, He will come as King of Israel, reigning from Jerusalem over all nations.
The curse will be lifted. Creation will be renewed. The nations will walk in His light.
This is the ultimate blessing promised to Abraham — global restoration through the Messiah and through the people of Israel.
How Does This Apply to Us?
How Does This Apply to Us?
The story isn’t finished. God is still working out His plan.
When the disciples asked Yeshua,
“Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
He didn’t correct them. He didn’t say, “There is no kingdom for Israel.”
He simply said, “It’s not for you to know the time.”
Then He said: “Go… be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Israel’s future is certain.
Our mission is now
Our mission is now
In a sense, God’s call to Abram in Genesis 12 was the Great Commission of the Hebrew Bible:
“Through your descendants, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
And Yeshua gives the Great Commission of the New Testament:
“Go and make disciples of all nations.”
As disciples of Yeshua, and as children of Abraham by faith, we are called to make Him known.
We proclaim the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
We proclaim Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel.
We proclaim that there is salvation in His name — and greater blessings still to come when He returns.
Proclaim that God’s Promises Still Stand
Proclaim that God’s Promises Still Stand
God’s promises are real. They are literal. They are eternal. And they are relational.
Throughout Scripture God reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham and his descendants — a land, a people, and a blessing — and He said again and again that this covenant would last forever. Because God has been faithful to keep His promises to Israel, we can trust Him to be faithful to us.
This is why Charles Spurgeon warned the church to “remind the Jews often of that splendid future” promised to them in both Testaments — because their future blessing means blessing for the whole world.
And today we see God fulfilling His word.
He has brought the Jewish people back to the land of Israel.
He has restored their nation.
This is not an accident of history.
This is the hand of God.
It is also a sign — a reminder that the Lord is returning soon.
Yeshua will return to the land of Israel.
He will return to people of Jerusalem.
And when He comes, that will be the ultimate blessing to the world — and the complete fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.
You see, that was an incredible promise. No wonder Abraham was willing to leave everything and follow God.
Let us pray:
“Lord, help us to walk in the faith of Abraham, to bless Israel, and to share the blessing of Messiah Yeshua with the world — until the day He returns as King.
