…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.– Genesis 12:3b

Scripture reading: Genesis 12:1-9

The call of Abram in Genesis 12 marks the beginning of the story of Israel as God’s special covenant people. The promises that God gives to Abram are the promises that drive the whole rest of the story. God had promised in Genesis 3:15 that He would defeat the serpent, that He would defeat sin and death, and in Genesis 12, He proclaims that He will do that through Abram’s family.

God gave Abram the promise of land, the promise that would guide so much of Israel’s story: the Exodus, the conquest of Canaan, the time of the Judges, the exile and the return. He gave the promise of descendants, the promise that would motivate the hopes and dreams of Isaac and Jacob, of Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel. As a result of both of these promises, Israel was tempted to think everything was about and for them. They were tempted to forget the third promise, the promises that actually gave the reason for all of this:

“and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3b).

This is the promise that would drive the rest of the story, that through Abram’s family, God would bless all the families of the earth. In that promise, we hear God’s heart for His lost world. In that promise, we hear the mission of God.

Suggestions for prayer

That we would receive the good news that God had desired from the beginning to bless all the nations of the world and that we would love and serve Him in return.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Nick Smith is pastor of the United Reformed Church of Nampa, Idaho.