Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

THE PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH 12:4, 5
leave the father’s house’ as well, 12:1. It was to ‘the land
I will show thee (in detail)’; he knew it was Canaan (v.
5). With this call came promises: (I) personal election,
divine discrimination, for ‘salvation is of the Jews,’ John
4:22. God had previously associated Himself with groups,
Noah, and Shem (9:26), but with antecedent ethical dis-
tinction; Abram’s only plea was faith, Heb. 11:6. Elec-
tion proves God’s control of history and keeps the re-
cipient in humility. He promised Abram posterity, bless-
ing, and fame; and Abram’s whole subsequent life demon-
strated divine monergism; in his own power he had no
seed, no land, no property, 14:23. (2) universality, 12:3,
for all nations were to be blessed in him. He was an
example of faith, Gal. 3:8; and the Gentiles are blessed
with faithful Abraham, for Gen. 12:3 is not strictly as
Messianic a prophecy as 22:18, where his ‘seed’ is specified,
cf, Acts 3:25.” (1) The student will again note the dis-
agreement among eminent authorities as to whether Abram
was the recipient of one or two divine calls. There seems
to be no way of resolving this problem conclusively. Note
however, our own conclusion, and the reasons for it, in
preceding paragraphs. (2) The student must also keep
in mind that the history of the cities of Asshur and
Nineveh extends far back into that of Mesopotamia, as far
back indeed as the fourth millenium B.C. (Gen. 10:10-12).
This great antiquity is well confirmed by archaeology.
These cities did not attain pre-eminence, however, until the
rise of the Assyrian Empire. The First or Old Assyrian
kingdom had its beginning about 1750 B.C., soon after the
fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur.)
Lange (CDHCG, 393): “The calling of Abram: 1.
In its requisitions; 2. in its promises; 3. in its motives.
(a) The grace of God. The election of Abram. The
choice of God reflects itself in the dispositions of men,
the gifts of believers. As every people has its peculiar
disposition, so the race of Abram, and especially the
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