Calling Him

The First Time

God motivated Abraham by calling him. He called Abraham the first time by appearing to him as the God of glory (11:31; Acts 7:2-4a). God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans and from his relatives into Canaan. On the one hand, Abraham received God’s call, but on the other hand, he was not so willing to carry out God’s call. Abraham came out of Chaldea, but instead of going into Canaan, he went with his father Terah and his nephew Lot and stopped at Haran. No doubt, Abraham was not willing to leave his nephew, his relative. Probably he proposed to his father to bring Lot with them. God motivated his calling, but he was not willing to carry it out absolutely. Thus, Abraham came out of Ur of the Chaldeans with Terah, Lot, and his wife Sarai. They all came out of Chaldea, the country full of idols. At that time mankind had become joined with Satan, making themselves one with Satan, so God had given them up. God then came to another person to motivate something, to get a new race. This person was Abraham.

The Second Time

God called Abraham the second time after the death of his father Terah (Gen. 12:1, 4; Acts 7:4b). God called him out of his country, from his kindred, and from his father’s house into the land that Jehovah would show him. Thus, Abraham went with his nephew Lot at seventy-five years of age.

Abraham left Chaldea, but he became stuck at Haran. This may have been motivated by Abraham’s father, and this displeased God. Eventually, Terah died at Haran, and this should have been taken by Abraham as a warning. At that time God came again to motivate him further. That was his second calling by which he was motivated and led by God into the land of Canaan.

When Abraham responded to this second call, God undoubtedly was very happy. I believe that God was happier with Abraham as the one called by Him and sent by Him than He was with Adam as the one created by Him. Do you prefer to be a descendant of Adam or a descendant of Abraham? Abraham is much more pleasant to God than Adam is. Abraham is a wonderful sign of the Christian life. The Christian life should be and could be a pleasant matter to God. It is always a pleasant thing to God for us to live the Christian life.