"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. 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. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed"" (Gen. 12: 1-3). Later, God renews this promise and also makes a small addition to it: "He [God] brought him [Abram] outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendents be." And he believe the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness" (Gen. 15: 5-6). Clearly, God begins to take action in Abraham's life right from the start. And, because of Abraham's overwhelming faith, God sets him as the leader of His "chosen" people, the Israelites. The conditional covenant that defines the relationship between God and Abraham (and, therefore, between the chosen people as well) extends through Genesis and Exodus, the first two books of the Bible.
In the covenant that God makes with Abraham, we find him revealing more definitely his saving purposes, and building upon what he has already promised before in the time of Adam and of Noah. We are struck with the aspect of God's sovereignty in this covenant. God does not ask Abraham to enter into a covenant agreement with him he, decrees it. This powerful commanding tone is repeated in God's dealings with his servant Abraham. Here is God's effectual call. The only explanation for God's calling Abraham is a pure act of God's grace, especially when we take into consideration that Abraham's family worshipped idols as did the entire nation from which he came.
God calls upon Abraham to sojourn, and to be a pilgrim, bringing him into the land of Canna where He promises him that his seed would inherit the land.
