“The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham…and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’”
– Acts 7:2-3
The first time God appeared to Abraham is recorded in Acts 7. In this initial vision, God only mentioned the land (v. 3). When God appeared in Genesis 12, He mentioned both the land and the nation (vv. 1–2). In Genesis 13, God said that He would make Abraham’s seed as the dust of the earth in number (v. 16). In Genesis 15, God said that Abraham’s seed would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens (v. 5). In Genesis 17, God promised that He would make nations of him and that kings would come forth from him (v. 6). In Genesis 22, God promised that Abraham’s seed would be like the stars of the heavens and the sand on the seashore, the seed would possess the gate of his enemy, and in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed (vv. 17–18). Each appearance brought a new experience of God, but God would never alter the initial vision that He, as the land, is the portion of the called ones.
Adapted from A Sketch of Genesis,
by Titus Chu; pages 101-102.
Tomorrow: “God as Our Unique Portion” (4)