Genesis 12:1-3 ~ I will bless you

The Prophet Jeremiah, painted by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

Genesis 12:1-3

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. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 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.^{[by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves].}

Let's face facts as we look to see if Prophet's are loving people.


Genesis 12

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. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 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.”

4 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. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot 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. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 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. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.


How did Abram react to hearing prophecy from the LORD?

James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

We have read Abraham went as the Lord had told him. And we know Abraham fretted and doubted.

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Abraham continued down God's path with some doubt, wondering if Abraham should work to do God's promise himself.

And in Chapter 18 of Genesis we witness Abraham's merciful heart:

22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

God uses the merciful and holds them dear to HIM.

Matthew 1
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac

jumps to

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.


Witness who would raise the Son of God.


Matthew 1:18-21
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Luke 6:36
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.


This mercy enabled God to know he could reason with Joseph.


Matthew 2:13-15
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”


Mercy would be very important to a merciful God, leaving hearts open.

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Powerful words - mercy. The generals of Germany knew they were completely defeated towards the end of World War II, they say the American Armies had desserts and birthday cakes from America in Europe. So God sees mercy as a chief component to be merciful. How could we do less?


Lord, with open hands we pray - help us to be merciful to the ones around us. And loving of heart to be fruitful for Your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

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