Genesis 12:1-4 records the call of Abraham to forsake his life in Ur and go to a new land that God would give to him and to his descendants. His call is “Just trust me!” He promised to bless Abraham, to make Abraham prosperous and to bless his descendants. He promised to make him famous in the all the world in every generation. He also promised to bless everyone who blesses him and to curse all his enemies. All Abraham had to do was trust God! We too are called to trust God. He says to us “Just trust me!”
Here is the message of Genesis: God is worthy of our trust. He is faithful even though we are not. We often think Abraham and other biblical characters are perfectly flawless in their faith, but that’s not the case at all. Abraham no sooner arrived in the Promised Land that things got tough for him. Verse 10 says, “Now there was a famine in the land. So, Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.” Abraham had his failures. Yet, he is held up as the “father of all those who believe.” The rest of the book of Genesis will show us how God keeps his promises to Abraham and his descendants. Please notice that Abraham’s faith was not perfect. Several times he doubted and took matters in his own hands, but God still remained faithful. The point of Abraham’s failures is to assure us that although we too are not perfect in our faith or obedience, God remains faithful to His promises to us.
The message of Genesis is God is trustworthy! He will keep his promises. It is that truth that brought Abraham out of Egypt and back to where he was supposed to be. God didn’t give up on Abraham and He won’t give up on you or me! God hasn’t changed. You and I can trust him also. He will keep his promises to us even when we fail to live up to our promises to Him. Even though Israel failed often during their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, God remained faithful. The culmination of this long and painful journey is found in Joshua 21:45. It says, “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” Without exception, without doubt, that will be our testimony as well!