Genesis 12:4
So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Abram at seventy-five years old departed out of Haran promptly and exactly as the Lord had spoken, leaving his country, kindred, father's house, home and friends, and Lot went with him. He went to a land he did not know without seeing the future opened before him, and the command was no small trial but a severe test of faith. His departure rested on God's covenant promise to make of him a great nation, to bless all families of the earth in him, and to give Canaan to his descendants for an everlasting possession. His faith was not belief only but trust in God that produced fruits in obedience, and he was saved by faith in Christ imputed for righteousness just as sinners are saved today. The verse therefore teaches complete confidence in God's leading, trusting God and following duty even against inclination, and promptly changing surroundings and cutting loose from hindering associates when they are the worst spiritual enemies.
Leaving Haran in Obedience
Abram left Haran promptly and exactly as the Lord had spoken to him, going out from his country and from his kindred and from his father's house into a land God would show him, trusting the promise to make of him a great nation. He was seventy-five years old when the word came and he departed, leaving homeland, home and friends, and Lot went with him as his companion into a strange land as pilgrims and strangers. His departure placed him in different associations where Satan's snares could be broken.
He went to a land he did not know, with the future not opened before him, leaving country, home and father's house at the command of a God whom he scarcely knew, with a heart disposed to obey. He did not first know whether the destination would be fertile, pleasant, or easy, whether he would have ease, or what influences would surround him. Yet he grasped the meaning of God's will with sanctified intellect and living faith, pressing on in the narrow way while cultivating his capabilities and wisely employing his powers. His move set him where he could influence others for good.
The Lord bade him leave because He knew how strong the temptations would be if he remained, to separate His servant from every species of idolatry and from his idolatrous countrymen and send him to a country God would tell him. The call promised Canaan to him and his descendants as an everlasting possession.
The command to leave his country, kindred and father's house was no small trial but a severe, immeasurable test and trial of faith. Through that test God revealed Himself to Abraham.
He departed in complete confidence that God was leading, guiding and protecting him wherever he went, though he had no outward evidence that the promise that his descendants would possess Canaan would be fulfilled. When he came into that land he found the Canaanites there with all their idolatry to meet him, and he could see no possession he could claim as his own. He had turned away from family home and ancestors' graves to set out toward the promised land as a stranger in the land of his inheritance, and the beginning brought perplexity, poverty, famine and hardship to test whether he would trust God under adverse circumstances.
Promise and Saving Faith
Abram left Haran because God had bound Himself by covenant promise to make of him a great nation, to bless all families of the earth in him, and to give Canaan to his descendants as an everlasting possession. At seventy-five years old he promptly and exactly obeyed the call to get out of his country and from his kindred and from his father's house into a land God would show him. He rested on that promise with no outward evidence that it would be fulfilled, trusting God to guide and protect him wherever he went.
The command was a test and trial no one can measure, and through that test God revealed Himself to Abraham. When Abraham came into that land and found the Canaanites there with all their idolatry and could see no possession he could claim as his own, God in his perplexity condescended to preach the gospel to him and show him the possession he should have for an eternal inheritance.
He did not receive the promised possessions in his lifetime but died in faith looking for a better country, that is, an heavenly. Neither he nor his son nor his son's son received possession in the earth, and his sole possession in the land of promise was the rock-hewn tomb in the cave of Machpelah which he had to buy from the Canaanites for a burial-place. Though he possessed great substance and used it to the glory of God and the good of his fellow men, he did not look upon this world as his home.
His departure was an act of trust, for the true faith of Abraham was not belief only but trust in God that produced fruits in obedience to what God spoke. He was saved by faith in Christ imputed for righteousness, just as sinners are saved by faith in Christ today. The voice that told him to leave his country was the same voice that later told him to offer his son as a sacrifice.
God called him with full sight of all the dangers around him, having chosen him as a witness to bear a message to many people, as His chosen representative to reveal His righteousness, electing him to become a member of the Lord's family. His departure out of Haran begins the 430-year sojourning of the children of Israel that ends with the giving of the law at Sinai. That 430 years includes the sojourning of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Canaan, and the actual time spent in Egypt was only about 215 years. The 400 years of affliction begin about thirty years later, about the time Ishmael persecuted Isaac.
Example and Call Today
Abram's obedience on leaving Haran became a pattern for worship on the way, for wherever he pitched his tent while traveling with his company as pilgrims and strangers, his first work was to build an altar and worship God with those traveling with him. That example shows that faith is expressed through action and that honoring God and His worship comes first. His move in obedience to the Lord's direction for a country he did not know placed him where he could influence others for good. It put him in different associations that could help him break Satan's snares.
His departure brought hardship, including poverty and famine, and tested whether he would trust God despite adverse circumstances. His faith and confidence under those adverse circumstances eventually brought great possessions and, above all, God's blessing. The departure shows complete confidence that God was leading him, though he left his country and friends without first knowing whether the destination would be fertile, pleasant, or easy. It therefore teaches trusting God and following duty even when duty goes against inclination.
As Abraham was told to leave his own country and his father's home because of how strong the temptations would be if he remained, so God calls a person to leave country, home, and friends when those surroundings and associates are the worst spiritual enemies. The call is to change surroundings and cut loose from associates promptly without waiting too long lest he become earth-bound, in order that, separated from hindering influences and from every species of idolatry, he can receive help to strengthen him in right resolve and obey in the strength of Him who paid the price of His own life for his soul's salvation. Abraham grasped the meaning of God's will with sanctified intellect and living faith, pressing on in the narrow way while cultivating his capabilities and wisely employing his powers. With his heart disposed by God to obey, at the command of a God whom he scarcely knew he left his country and his father's house for a land he did not know, proving that conscience is a safe guide only when God has control of the being and man keeps a conscience void of offense toward God and man.
God called Abraham out of Haran with full sight of all the dangers around him, electing him to become a member of the Lord's family. In the same way every truly converted soul, and especially ministers, is called to sense responsibility as God's messenger, to never lose sight of mission, to come out from the world in speech and action, to maintain a separate holy character under discipline to Jesus Christ, and to be a representative of Christ in example by constantly learning and teaching the most solemn message ever given to mortals. Abraham's faith in departing in obedience to God's word without seeing the future opened before him means moving out at God's command while trusting Him for what comes next. It applies when a person is convicted about the Sabbath but fears how he will support himself and his family, calling him still to obey and trust.