12:4,5
So Abram went, and Lot went with him. As noted earlier, the Bible does not comment on the fact that Lot went with Abram. Lot would cause trouble, but in the instances where this was so, Abram acted rightly, and came out of things well. Abram was seventy five, and left with all his possessions and his people. They set out for the land of Canaan and arrived. If we did not know the whole story, we might think that that was it! He had arrived! As we know, it was only the beginning. If God calls us to a new place or a new venture in life, or to take up some new position, we might think that we have “arrived”. This is never the case. It is only the beginning. We are now on the anvil where God can shape us into the people He wants us to be. God’s promises in 12:2,3 were amazing, but there was a problem. Sarai was barren, so how could Abram become a great nation? But God does not base His plans, nor His purposes for our lives, on our abilities, but upon His power and grace. This weakness in Abram and Sarai would be the focal point of God’s dealings with them, and the source of their greatest failing.
12:6
Abraham passed through the land to Shechem. Shechem was situated between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and was at the intersection of various trade routes. When the Israelites conquered the land it was given to Ephraim, and was the place where Joshua renewed the covenant with the people (Josh 24:25). Initially it was the capital of the northern kingdom, but only for a short time. It was near Shechem that Jesus met the woman at the well.
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