"Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous"  Nehemiah 9:7-8 (KJV)

Have you ever wondered how significant things come about in the course of daily life?  I have.  Small innocuous incidents often lead to events that impact the entire world.  One such incident happened in Haran; a city located somewhere in what is today Turkey.  But the story starts before Haran.  God had spoken to a man named Abram in a place called Ur.  That conversation was the start of something big; really big!

What did the Lord God Jehovah have to say?  Why Abram?  The Bible gives the account of Abram's (Abraham) conversation with the Lord God Jehovah in Genesis 12.

"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee"  Genesis 12:1

The Lord God Jehovah had spoken to Abraham and given him specific instructions.  The account in Genesis 12 is told in hindsight; "the Lord had said" so the question arises when did the Lord speak.  Genesis 11 tells us that Terah, Abraham's father, lived in Ur.  Terah was descended from Noah's son, Shem.  It is assumed that Terah was aware of God's instruction to Abraham because he took Abraham, Abraham's wife Sarai (Sarah), and his grandson Lot out of Ur, settling in Haran.  When Terah died there, Abraham recalled the words of the Lord and the great promise the Lord God Jehovah had made to him: 

"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:  and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:  and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."  Genesis 12:2-3

This was the beginning of the great nation, Israel.  Many thoughts cross my mind as I ponder the impact of this simple instruction to go out.  What if Abraham had not obeyed God?  What if he had decided to stay in Haran to be near his father's burial place?  What if he had grown so content in this foreign place that he no longer had a zeal to follow the Lord?  What influences might they have encountered that would have tempted them away from worship of the true god, the Lord God Jehovah?

We don't know how long the family was in Haran before Terah died, so we don't know how attached they might have become to this place at the crossroads of commerce and culture.  An interesting bit of information is that the early Mesopotamians in this area worshipped the Moon God they called "Sin," symbolized by a crescent moon.  In fact, worship of the Moon-god was the dominant religion throughout Mesopotamia and Syria,  carrying down through the centuries to the Assyrians and Babylonians and Arabians.  It continued even into the early Christian time.  Archaeological excavations have revealed the extent of Moon-god worship among the peoples of the Middle East.

God clearly had called them away, not only from their country, their people, and all that was familiar.  The Lord God Jehovah had delivered them out of an idolatrous city and nation, for Ur was the capital of Sumeria.  He delivered them away from the influence of Moon-god worship.

Abraham, Sarah, and Lot followed the Lord God Jehovah.  There are many lessons we can learn from Abraham's story.

Leaving to start a new life in a new place is fraught with uncertainty.  What did Sarah think about God's call?  How did she react?  Did she cry as she sorted through her belongings, deciding what to take and what to leave behind?  Did she argue with Abraham like many of us might have done?  And what of Abraham?  Did he have a lump of fear in the pit of his stomach at the thought of venturing out into the unknown?  Or might he have been thrilled, wondering about the place the Lord God Jehovah would lead him to?

How would we react if God called us to something beyond our imagination or understanding?  Do we listen when God speaks to our hearts?  When you feel His prompting through the Holy Spirit, do you stand still and listen?  Do you make sure that what you hear is consistent with God's Word? 

Many Christians today claim to hear a word of knowledge from God.  Some speak of a new revelation or a new prophetic message.  They speak with authority and with conviction, but they are proven wrong, demonstrating their message is not of God.  People today continue to follow after false teaching and false prophets, even Christians.  Test the spirits to see if they be from our Lord it says in 1 John 4:1.  Learn what the Bible says, and believe it.  It does not change with the times.  The Lord God Jehovah does not change. 

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:  because many false prophets are gone out into the world."  1 John 4:1

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.  For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace..." Hebrews 13:8-9a 

Abraham followed the instruction of the Lord God Jehovah because he was certain He was the only one true God.  He didn't follow half-heartedly, hoping for a better deal elsewhere.  He followed with the intent of obedience to God's every command. 

Life gets in our way from hearing God.  We suppose we have understanding of God's intent, and carry out what we think is His will, but unless we have sought Him in prayer, we may miss God's plan.  We may have unconsciously substituted our own, thinking it is His.  Abraham made this mistake. 

Abraham kept on traveling into the land of Canaan to Sichem in the plain of Moreh.  There, God appeared to Abraham:

"And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land:  and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him."  Genesis 12:7

Finally this was the place.  God had appeared and spoken.  Half his promise was fulfilled.  Abraham and Sarah and Lot had arrived.  After he built the altar, Abraham moved on a bit to a mountain near Bethel and built another altar and the Bible says he called upon the name of the Lord. 

At this point the story takes a new turn in the later part of Genesis 12.  Conditions in the area were becoming dire because of a great famine.  So Abraham decided to go to Egypt.  The Bible does not tell us that he consulted with God.  In fact, the outcome leads one to believe that he didn't.  Despite being shown the promised land and the ownership transferred to Abraham, he kept on going all the way to Egypt.  God didn't even stop him.  Abraham had spent time with the Lord praising and glorifying Him, yet He missed God's plan.  How is that possible? 

Missing God's plan is very easy to do if we forget to consult Him.  We can begin to feel very comfortable and when that happens, we begin to assume we know and understand God.  We bring Him down to our level and make him a pal.  We're in this together, God.  Our own understanding clouds our vision and blocks our hearing.  Oftentimes our hearts are so full of our own plans, we can't see God's plan.  Since God didn't stop him, Abraham assumed he was following God's plan.  Do not make this mistake we are so prone to do.  There is danger in assuming we know God's will and can carry it out without seeking Him. 

Egypt became a place for sin in Abraham's life.  He passed his wife Sarah off as his sister to the Pharaoh, and truly she was a half-sister, but he told a half-truth by withholding the fact that she was also his wife.  The Lord caused plagues to come upon Pharaoh and his household, until Pharaoh realized the truth. Then he sent Abraham and Sarah away. 

When you lose sight of God, it's best to go back to where you left Him.  That's what Abraham did.  He went back to the first altar he built and there he called out to the Lord.  Now God was ready to make known His plan to Abraham.  First, Lot and Abraham parted ways, for Lot was not going to be a partner to God's covenant with Abraham.  Each had become prosperous and were straining for space in which to grow. Abraham settled in the area known as Hebron, and built an altar.  Lot settled in the cities of the plain, namely Sodom. 

The cities were extremely wicked and before long trouble arose.  Enemies attacked the cities and Lot and his family were taken captive. Upon hearing the news, Abraham rose up with his servants and fought the enemy, succeeding in rescuing Lot and all that had been taken from Sodom.  Melchizedek, King of Salem and most importantly, "the priest of the most high God" (Genesis 14:18), came and blessed Abraham and received tithes from him.  The King of Sodom also wanted to reward Abraham, but Abraham rejected all that the King offered, except for the portion due his servants. 

Yet God wasn't finished with Abraham just yet.  God didn't just lead Abraham to the promised land, and dump him.  The Lord continued to be with Abraham.  Before long, Abraham had a vision and God spoke to him:  "Fear not, Abram:  I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Genesis 15:1b)

Abraham replies:  "Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed:  and lo, one born in my house is mine heir." (Genesis 15:2)

God replies:  "...This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine."  (Genesis 15:4b)

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them:  and he said unto him, So shall they seed be.  And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness."  Genesis 15:5-6

Abraham questioned God.  He wanted assurance.  That's what we need too.  We want to make sure we have heard rightly.  Abraham got the assurance he needed.  God had him prepare a sacrifice.  But God didn't consume the sacrifice right away.  Abraham went into a deep sleep the Bible says, and God spoke to him, revealing the future of his descendants.  Abraham learned they would be oppressed in a strange land, and would be delivered.  God graciously revealed how His promise would be fulfilled.  Not only would God build a great nation through Abraham, but He would also preserve them.

Then as the sun was going down, the sacrifice was consumed.  God made a covenant with Abraham:

"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:  the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and Girgashites, and the Jesusites." Genesis 15:18b-21

This was the beginning of something really big, the creation of a new nation, consecrated to the Lord God Jehovah. 

Resources: 

"Sin." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 03 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545523/Sin>.

"Allah, The Moon God."  <http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm>

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"I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me." Psalm 13:6