Jehovah commands: “Go your way out of your country and from your relatives and from the house of your father to the country that I shall show you; and I shall make a great nation out of you and I shall bless you and I will make your name great; and prove yourself a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and him that calls down evil upon you I shall curse, and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you.”​—Genesis 12:1-3.

Responding to the Call

Leave prosperous Ur of the Chaldeans? Why, some homes in Ur are lovely two-story brick buildings surrounding a central patio and contain up to 14 rooms! No wonder French historian Henri Gaubert thought of Abram only as a nomad and found it hard to believe that he could have deserted a “house at Ur with its rooms furnished with beds and cushions, his comfortable dwelling, cool in summer and warm in winter, his well-stocked cellar, his fountain of cool fresh water.” Abandon all of this to take up life as a nomad? Incredible!

And what about Abram’s family members​—some to be left behind? In the Middle East, such ties are so strong that banishment from one’s family is tantamount to a death sentence. How can Abram be expected to leave all of this behind for mere promises? Indeed, how will God make this man​—yet childless—​“a great nation”? Where is this promised land?

However, Abram is a man of faith and has an “assured expectation of things hoped for.” (Hebrews 11:1) He knows from past events​—such as the global Deluge—​that God’s word always comes true. Abram is not disturbed because he does not know exactly how, when, or where those divine promises will be fulfilled. To him, neither a lovely home, a secure livelihood, nor even family ties are as valuable as Jehovah’s friendship. For Abram, then, there can be only one decision: Obey God and leave Ur!

Map/​Pictures on page 26]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Abraham’s Journey

Ur

Haran

Carchemish

CANAAN

Mediterranean Sea

[Credit Line]

Based on a map copyrighted by Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est. and Survey of Israel

[Picture]

The Euphrates near Ur

[Picture]

Haran today

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The Euphrates near Carchemish