And I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.
God speaks these words to one man, Abram, just after the world had tried to make a name for itself at Babel. The promise grows in stages: a nation, a blessed man, a great name. Then it turns Abram himself into a blessing for others.
A New Beginning in God's Ways
The call marks a turning point in the Bible's story. The layout of Genesis shows how big the change is.
The nation's history began when God called Abraham out of his old place and connections. He was to go to the land of God's choice, and there God would make him a great nation. This is shown in Genesis 12:1-3, and it was an event that opened a new age. Genesis 1-11 covers a slightly longer stretch of time than all the rest of the Old Testament. Yet it packs that time into a few chapters, while the rest is spread out over many books. The call of Abraham marked a new departure in God's ways with the earth.
Babel's Name and God's
Just one chapter earlier, men on the plain of Shinar said, "let us make a name for ourselves" (Genesis 11:4). God answers that ambition by promising the opposite kind of greatness to a man who leaves it all behind.
Notice the Lord's word to Abram in Genesis 12:2, "I will make your name great." Compare it with the ambition of the men in chapter 11:4: "Let us make a name for ourselves." Men's schemes, whether the Tower of Babel or any other, come to an end. The names of those who plan them and push them through die with the world they belong to. But the man who ties himself to God's interests gets a name that will last for ever. Far better to let God make our name great than to seek anything for ourselves in a scene like this.
Abraham's name has outlived the builders'.
The call of God carried Abraham into a path far away from the power and fame of the men who built Babel. He started his pilgrimage with God's promise to make him a great nation, to bless him, to make his name great, and to make him a blessing. God has been as good as His word. People still honour the name of Abraham today. That, however, is a small thing. Far greater is the honour that God Himself calls him "Abraham, my friend" (Isaiah 41:8). Here is true greatness — greatness that lasts, while Nimrod's tower and city are only shapeless ruins on the plains of Mesopotamia.
Blessing for the Separated Man
The promise is attached to obedience to the call — the man who steps outside receives what those inside are grasping for.
Fourthly, there is great present blessing for the one who answers the call. As separated from this present evil world, God says to Abraham, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great." The men of this world seek to make a great name for themselves; they say, "Let us make us a name." But God says to the separated man, "I will bless you and make your name great."
The word came true in his lifetime, and it was the world itself that admitted it — at the grave of Sarah, where Abraham still called himself a stranger.
Sixty years before this, God had said to Abraham that one result of answering the call of God, and taking the outside place, would be that God would make his name great (Genesis 12:2). Here we see this word fulfilled, for the world itself has to own that this separate man is "a mighty prince of God."
From Blessed Man to Blessing
The last clause is not more of the same. It changes Abram's role entirely.
It was much for God to say, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great." But there was another word, and this was especially dear to the heart of one so blessed himself. "You shall be a blessing." This was to make him not only the object of grace, but the instrument of it. It was to give him fellowship with God Himself in the activity of His own goodness.
The Nation, the Seed, and Christ
Commentators separate the parts of the promise.
God says, "I will make of you a great nation, and you shall be a blessing." He puts him at the centre of blessing... and then you get the point Galatians 3 presses: "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The seed is not mentioned here: the great nation is the line of natural descendants. Abram is the root of the tree of promise.
That blessing reaches beyond Abram himself:
This is above all a prophecy concerning Christ, the Seed of Abram, through whom blessing is to come to the entire world.
Promise, Not Bargain
God asks for nothing in return. He only says what He will do.
God's covenant set no conditions. It made no demands. It put no yoke on the neck and no burden on the shoulder. When "the God of glory appeared to Abraham" in Ur of the Chaldeans, He did not speak to him with words like "you shall do this" and "you shall not do that."... His word to Abraham was, "I WILL GIVE."
Summary
- Called — God called Abraham out of his old place and connections, and that call opened a new departure in God's ways with the earth.
- Given — the promise sets no conditions and strikes no bargain. God's word is "I will give," so it rests on His faithfulness alone.
- Named — Babel wanted a name for itself and lies in ruins. God made Abraham's name great, and even the world called him a prince of God.
- Sent — "you shall be a blessing" makes him not only the object of grace but its instrument, sharing God's own goodness toward others.
- Widened — the great nation is his natural line, but through Abram blessing reaches all the families of the earth in Christ.