Abraham’s Separation
May 2024
“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: 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 12:1-3
The study of the life of Abraham is actually the study of the doctrine of justification by faith. As well, it is the study of the making of the child of God. Through Abraham’s life, we learn how the Lord desires to work in our lives. In this series of articles highlighting the life of Abraham, I pray that you will learn how the Lord works in our lives and what the Lord desires for His children.
The first thing the Lord told Abraham was, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house.” Let’s break this down.
1. Your country. The Lord has a specific place for His children to be, and the believer seeks a country, meaning this place, this world, is not our home. Our hearts desire to be in the place God wants us. This world is to hold no allegiance to the believer. We are on a journey, a spiritual journey to the place God has for us. Ur of the Chaldees was not to be Abraham’s home, just as Egypt was not to be home to Moses and the children of Israel. The country we long for is not a place on a map, but it is a person—the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Separate from your kindred. Abraham now belonged to the Lord—not his family, but to the Lord exclusively. As well, we now belong to the Lord, and nothing or no one is to come between us and our relationship with the Lord. In Matthew 4:19, we read, “And He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At His call, these men were to separate themselves from everything that could hold them back from doing God’s will. The Lord is calling us to separate ourselves from anyone or anything that will interfere with our relationship with the Lord. We are to love our family and to seek the best for them, but we must not let family come between us and the Lord.
3. From your father’s house. This statement refers to whatever close family members have planned for you. So often, fathers want their children to follow in their footsteps, and sometimes that may also be God’s will. However, we must be sure that we seek the Lord for ourselves. The Lord has a specific plan for your life and a specific place for you. True happiness can only come when we are in the center of God’s will.
4. Unto a land that I will show you. Notice here the Lord said, “Unto a land that I will shew thee.” Abraham had no say in the matter. He was to do what the Lord told him to do. We are to seek the Lord as to what His will is for our lives. Separation from the world to Christ exclusively always brings blessing, as Genesis 12:2 tells us, “And I will make of thee a great nation.” Abraham couldn’t understand it all, but because of his obedience, the Lord would bring forth from his loins a great nation that would bring to the world the Bible and the Savior. God’s plans for us are always bigger than we could ever imagine. We can’t see the whole plan of God at one time, but it is revealed to us a little at a time as we obey His command.
5. And I will bless you and make your name great. This statement refers to the favor of God upon Abraham’s life. When we separate ourselves unto God, He, in turn, will bless us. To bless means “to increase.” The Lord would bless Abraham spiritually and financially. His favor was upon Abraham all because he obeyed the Lord; he separated himself to God for God’s pleasure and God’s use.
6. And you shall be a blessing. Abraham’s greatest blessing was the meaning of salvation, which is justification by faith (Gen. 15:6).
Abraham’s life truly began when he obeyed God’s command for separation. The Lord has a plan for each of us, but in order to receive the plan, we must separate ourselves unto the Lord.