Seventy-five may seem rather old to start on a new adventure, but Abram was seventy-five when his life changed not only for himself, but for the history of mankind. His father and two brothers, descendants of Shem, left Ur of the Chaldeans for Canaan. There, Abram’s father died. With the earth shattering loss of his father came a message from God, clear as day. Abram received a call from God, the promises of God, and responded.
A Call From God
Abram and his wife Sarai were living in Haran when Terah, his father, died. God spoke to him. “Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house, to a land I will show you.”
The Promises of God
God made promises to Abram at this time. “I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing, I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Abram Responded
God isn’t bound by time as we are. He wasn’t concerned that Abram was seventy-five or that his father had just died, or that Abram didn’t know much about from Whom the call came. What mattered to God was the response. In Hebrews we read “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Paul writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.”
Abram received a call from God, the promises of God, and responded in faith. Therein God found righteousness.