False Start
Genesis 11:27-12:8

The Big Idea
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was
called to go out to a place that he was to
receive as an inheritance. And he went
out, not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11:8 (ESV) 2

False Start
Genesis 11

Meet the family
Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah
fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran
fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his
father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the
Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The
name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of
Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of
Genesis 11:27–32 (ESV) 4

Meet the family
Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was
barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram his son
and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his
daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went
forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into
the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran,
Genesis 11:27–32 (ESV) 5

Meet the family
they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years,
and Terah died in Haran.
Genesis 11:27–32 (ESV) 6

Meet the family
Ur of the Chaldeans
Terah
Abram-wife Sara barren
Nahor-wife Micah
Haran died, his wife not mentioned
7

Terah the patriarch
Terah means tarrying or delaying
A family of polytheists- worshipped the moon goddess Zin as
well as YHWH. Joshua 24:2 (ESV) Thus says the LORD, the God
of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,
Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served
other gods.
Left their family and went to Canaan but settled in Haran. they
came unto Haran—two days’ journey south-southeast from Ur,
on the direct road to the ford of the Euphrates at Rakka, the
nearest and most convenient route to Palestine.
8

Abram’s Call
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from
your country and your kindred and your
father’s house to the land that I will show
you. And I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you and make your name
Genesis 12:1–3 9

Abram’s Call
great, so that you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and him who
dishonors you I will curse, and in you all
the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1–3 10

False Start!
Not the first time God spoke to Abram
11

Stephen’s Defense
Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of
glory appeared to our father Abraham
when he was in Mesopotamia, before he
lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out
from your land and from your kindred
Acts 7:2–5 (ESV) 12

Stephen’s Defense
and go into the land that I will show you.’
Then he went out from the land of the
Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his
father died, God removed him from there
into this land in which you are now living.
Acts 7:2–5 (ESV) 13

Not the first time God spoke to him!
Father of faith did not act until his father passed
away! FALSE START!
14

He Who Hesitates…
1. In Mesopotamia
2. Leave all
3. God will lead
4. Settled for less
5. Removed from Haran
15

Salvation-What will happen?
Spiritual gifting-Will I lose control?
Sanctification-What if nothing happens?
Future hope-Is it true?
16
“By
faith”
is
hard!

God removed him from the land
Many are the plans in the mind
of a man, but it is the purpose
of the LORD that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21 17

The Call
Go from your country and your kindred and
your father’s house to the land that I will show
you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I
will bless you and make your
18

The Call
name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and him who
dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the
families of the earth shall be blessed.
19

A call to action
Go
Leave
Guide20

I will bless you
Great nation
Great name
Bless the nations
Friends blessed
Foes cursed
All families blessed 21

What obedience looks like
So Abram went, as the LORD had told him,
and Lot went with him. Abram was
seventy-five years old when he departed
from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot
Genesis 12:4–5 22

What obedience looks like
his brother’s son, and all their possessions
that they had gathered, and the people
that they had acquired in Haran, and they
set out to go to the land of Canaan.
Genesis 12:4–5 23

What does obedience look like for you?
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be
steadfast, immovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, knowing that in the
Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58 24

Obedience is an action
1.Kingdom Work
2.Build the Body
3.Works that glorify God
25

God reveals
Then the LORD appeared to
Abram and said, “To your offspring
I will give this land.”
Genesis 12:7a 26

Abram reacts
So he built there
an altar to the
LORD, who had
appeared to him.
Genesis 12:7b 27

Continued Obedience
From there he moved to the hill
country on the east of Bethel
and pitched his tent, with Bethel
on the west and Ai on the east.
Genesis 12:8a 28

Between Bethel and Ai
Ur of the Chaldeans- Land of my birth
Haran- Road or Path
Bethel- House of God
Ai- Ruins
29

Relationship
And there he built an altar to
the LORD and called upon the
name of the LORD.
Genesis 12:8b 30

Obedience is contagious!
And Abram journeyed on,
still going toward the Negeb.
Genesis 12:9 31

Faith Playbook
1.Listen
2.Obedience
3.Expectation
4.Celebrate
5.Continue 32

False Start
Genesis 11