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Bible Reading

After Babel, Moses zooms in on one family line.

Genesis 11:10 — These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

Ten generations of ordinary names — until we come to Terah.

Genesis 11:26–32 — 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 12:1–5 — 1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

PRAY: Thank God for faithful generations before us. Ask Him to open dead ends only He can open and to make us a family that goes.

INTRODUCTION

BE HONEST

How many of you skip the genealogies? “Shem begat Arphaxad… Arphaxad begat Salah…” — and your eyes jump to the next story.

This morning, we’re not going to skip them. Genesis is built around a recurring heading — “these are the generations” . Two of them sit back to back here: 11:10 and 11:27. Hidden in these names is the hinge of the whole Bible, from the story of the nations to the story of one family sent to the nations.

WHERE WE ARE IN THE STORY

At Babel, man said: “Let us make us a name.” (11:4)
God came down and scattered the families of the earth. (11:8)
Then the story narrows to one line of names — and ends in a barren woman and a family stuck halfway.
Until God says to one man: “I will make thy name great.” (12:2)

MAN JUST FAILED TO MAKE A NAME. NOW GOD GIVES ONE.

BIG IDEA

GOD SCATTERED THE NATIONS. THEN HE SENT A FAMILY AFTER THEM.

THE ROAD MAP

Point 1: Faithfulness across ordinary generations is how God’s plan advances. (11:10-32)

Point 2: God sends one family to bless the scattered nations. (12:1-3)

Point 3: Faith obeys when God says go. (12:4-5)

TRANSITION: So let’s read the names we usually skip.

1. Faithfulness across ordinary generations is how God’s plan advances.

THE QUIET LINE | Genesis 11:10-32

A. God picks up the line called “Name.”

Shem means “name.” Babel tried to make a name and failed. The very next verse follows the line of Name.
While the nations scattered, God was quietly carrying His promise forward. Babel didn’t stop the plan. It set the stage for it.

B. The line moves through ordinary lives.

Moses shaped this list on purpose. Genesis 5: ten generations, Adam to Noah, ending with three sons. Genesis 11: ten generations, Shem to Abram, ending with three sons. (11:26)
Same pattern, same signal: after Noah came a new beginning. Another one is coming.
Listen to the rhythm: “lived… and begat… and lived after… and begat sons and daughters.” No miracles. No headlines.

God did not skip the ordinary generations to get to Abram. He worked through them.

C. The line runs into dead ends.

Then the list reaches Terah and in six verses, Moses shows us four dead ends:

An idol-worshiping family. “Terah… served other gods.” (Josh 24:2) Ur and Haran were both centers of moon-god worship.
A grieving family. “Haran died before his father” (11:28) — in Terah’s own lifetime, leaving Lot fatherless.
A family with no future:

Genesis 11:30 — But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

After sixteen verses of “begat… begat… begat,” the line stops cold. Moses says it twice. The one thing the promise needs is the one thing they can’t produce.

A family that stopped short.
They set out for Canaan but came to Haran and “dwelt there” (11:31) — the same words as Babel. (11:2) And Terah died in Haran.

HUMANITY HAS RUN OUT OF ROAD. IF ANYTHING HAPPENS NOW, GOD WILL HAVE TO DO IT.

D. Ordinary faithfulness is never wasted.

In 1855, Sunday school teacher Edward Kimball walked into a Boston shoe store and led a young clerk to Christ — D. L. Moody. The chain often traced from Moody runs all the way to Billy Graham.
Everyone knows Moody. Almost no one knows Kimball. God used both.

Psalm 145:4 — One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I didnt know either but I know Jimmy Nelson. My Uncle who told me while dying of Leukemia how he heard the gospel while watching Billy Graham
Parents and grandparents: the bedtime prayers, the Sunday mornings, the faithful marriage — that is Genesis 11 work.
If you’re in a dead end — a family past, a grief, a barren prayer, a stalled calling — you serve the God:

Romans 4:17 — (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE FAMOUS TO BE FAITHFUL. AND NO DEAD END IS TOO DEAD FOR GOD.

TRANSITION: Into that barren, grieving, idol-worshiping, stalled-out family — God speaks.

2. God sends one family to bless the scattered nations.

THE CALL (Genesis 12:1-3)

Genesis 12:1-3 — Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Watch what God’s call does: it demands, it delivers, and it directs.

A. God’s call demands separation. (v. 1)

“The LORD had said” — the call first came in Ur (Acts 7:2). Abram wasn’t seeking God. God sought an idolater. Grace before merit — always.
“Get thee out” Used only one other time in Genesis: “get thee into the land of Moriah.” (22:2) Abraham’s walk with God is framed by two calls to go.
Country. Kindred. Father’s house. Three circles: each one closer to the heart. In Abram’s world, those were your identity, security, and inheritance.
Ours have different names: career, reputation, the approval of family, the life we’ve built. God still calls us out of whatever we’ve built our identity on.

B. God’s call delivers blessing. (vv. 2-3)

God’s “I will” answers Babel’s “let us.” The name Babel grasped for (11:4), God gives as a gift. (12:2)
Five curses mark Genesis 1-11 (3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25). Five blessings fill 12:2-3. The curse is not the last word.
Three strands — land, seed, blessing — the fountainhead of every covenant that follows: the land (Deut 30), the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7), the New Covenant (Jer 31).
The land promise is still outstanding. Abraham never owned “so much as to set his foot on” (Acts 7:5). It awaits its fulfillment when Christ returns and reigns.

C. God’s call directs blessing to the scattered. (v. 3)

“All families of the earth” — the same word Moses used for the scattered nations of Genesis 10. (10:5, 20, 31, 32)
“Thou shalt be a blessing” is an imperative: “Be a blessing!” The blessing has a destination.

GOD SCATTERED THE FAMILIES AT BABEL. THEN HE SENT ONE FAMILY AFTER THEM.

BUT ISN’T “CHOSEN PEOPLE” UNFAIR?

Some of you are thinking it. “God picks one family out of the whole world? That sounds exclusive — even arrogant.”

Look at who He chose: an idol-worshiping family with a barren wife and a stalled journey. Not the best. Not the most — “ye were the fewest of all people.” (Deut 7:7)
Look at why He chose them: “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” They were chosen not instead of the world, but for the world.
Election in Genesis 12 is not God’s favoritism. It is God’s strategy — one family as the delivery route for the blessing to every family.
And the skeptic is in that “all.” Paul calls Genesis 12:3 the gospel preached before the gospel (Gal 3:8) — the reason it ever reached Georgia.

GOD DIDN’T CHOOSE ONE FAMILY TO SHUT THE WORLD OUT. HE CHOSE ONE FAMILY TO BRING THE WORLD IN.

A WORD ABOUT TODAY

Israel is in the news constantly, and sincere Christians disagree. Let Scripture set the terms.

What we are not saying

That Israel is righteous. God said of the land itself: “not… for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.” (Deut 9:6)
That every decision of a modern government is right. God’s covenant is not a blank check for any administration — Israel’s or ours.
That Jewish people are saved apart from Jesus. “Neither is there salvation in any other.” (Acts 4:12) Paul wept for Israel precisely because they needed Christ. (Rom 10:1-3)

What we are saying

God’s faithfulness to Israel rests on His character, not their performance. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom 11:29). He ratified the covenant alone (Gen 15) — and keeps it for His name’s sake:

Ezekiel 36:22 — Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

Paul holds both truths in one verse: “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” (Rom 11:28)
Even Israel’s stumbling serves God’s purpose — it opened the door to us, and our salvation is meant to draw them back:

Romans 11:11 — I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

EVEN WHEN THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ARE NOT LIVING ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL, THEY REMAIN IN GOD’S PLAN.

Which raises a question for us: does our joy in the Messiah make anyone jealous for Him?
Their future is repentance and faith in the Messiah: “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced” (Zech 12:10) — and “so all Israel shall be saved.” (Rom 11:26) So antisemitism has no place among us.
“I will bless them that bless thee” (12:3) is not a political slogan. The greatest way to bless Israel is to long for them to know their Messiah.
And the promise is for all families — including Arab and Palestinian families, many of them our brothers and sisters in Christ. God blessed Ishmael too (Gen 17:20), and promises a day when He will say: “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.” (Isa 19:25)

LOVING ISRAEL DOESN’T MEAN APPROVING EVERYTHING ISRAEL DOES. IT MEANS TRUSTING GOD TO KEEP HIS PROMISES — AND PRAYING THEY MEET THEIR MESSIAH.

TRANSITION: God has called. Now — will Abram go, or stop in Haran like his father?

3. Faith obeys when God says go.

THE GOING (Genesis 12:4-5)

Genesis 12:4 — So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

A call that demands, delivers, and directs — deserves obedience.

A. Obedience is about a Person, not a place.

Abram “departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him.” (12:4) The point was never Canaan on a map. It was the voice he was following.
That is why the call came before the destination: “unto a land that I will shew thee.” (12:1) Abram didn’t know where. He knew Who.

Hebrews 11:8 — By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Jesus issues the same call: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matt 4:19)

OBEDIENCE ISN’T ABOUT GEOGRAPHY. IT’S ABOUT WHO YOU’RE FOLLOWING.

Most of you will never move an inch on a map because of this sermon. But an invitation to go is an invitation to follow Him closely into a new area of life.

B. Obedience that doesn’t wait for perfect conditions.

“So Abram departed.” No recorded argument. No negotiation. No guarantee of a son yet.
He was seventy-five, married to a barren wife, carrying a grieving nephew. It is never too late — and never too complicated — to obey God.

C. Obedience that follows all the way.

Twice the text says “they went forth to go into the land of Canaan.” (11:31; 12:5) The first time, the family stopped in Haran.
This time: “and into the land of Canaan they came.” (12:5)

ABRAM DIDN’T JUST START FOLLOWING. HE FOLLOWED ALL THE WAY.

D. Obedience that brings others.

“The souls that they had gotten in Haran” (12:5) — people joined this family on the way. Some read it as people Abram and Sarai had led to God.
When one person follows God, others are carried into the blessing.

FOLLOW HIM INTO A NEW AREA OF LIFE

Abram’s step of faith looked like a journey. Yours may look like one of these:

Follow Him into your home. Lead family worship, pray with your spouse, disciple your kids. For many of us, that is uncharted territory.
Follow Him into a hard relationship. Make the call, forgive the debt, start the reconciliation you’ve avoided.
Follow Him into surrender. Name the habit or sin you’ve been managing instead of forsaking — and hand it over.
Follow Him into waiting. Like Sarai, some of you are in a barren season. Following can mean trusting His promise when nothing is changing.
Follow Him into serving. Take the role you’ve watched from the sidelines — kids’ ministry, foster care, hospitality.
Follow Him across the street. Learn your neighbors’ names especially the internationals in Alpharetta. The nations have come to US.
Follow Him into your workplace. Be known there as a follower of Jesus, not just someone who goes to church.
Follow Him into generosity. Make your Faith Promise a step of faith, not a comfortable number.
Follow Him to the nations. Take a short-term trip, adopt a missionary family, or ask honestly: “Lord, is it me?”

Abram could leave everything because he trusted the One who called him. You don’t follow by trying harder. You follow by trusting the God who spoke first, the God who called an idolater, kept a barren woman’s promise, and has never once failed to keep His word.

TRANSITION: Abram’s obedience was the beginning. But the blessing he carried was bigger than Abram.

CONCLUSION

MAN BUILT A TOWER TO MAKE A NAME. GOD CALLED A MAN AND GAVE HIM ONE.

ARE YOU ONE OF ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN?

Lead the first verse of “Father Abraham” — right arm, left arm, right foot… until everyone is spinning. ]

We sang it as kids and laughed. But that song makes a serious claim: a Gentile child in Georgia is Abraham’s child.
True, but we must be precise. Scripture speaks of Abraham’s seed in three senses:

His natural seed — Israel, the “great nation” (12:2), to whom belong the covenants and the Messiah according to the flesh. (Rom 9:4-5)
His spiritual seed — all who believe, Jew or Gentile. (Gal 3:7)
His ultimate Seed — Christ, through whom every promise runs. (Gal 3:16)

Galatians 3:29 — And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

We are Abraham’s children by faith, not by birth. We share his faith; we do not become Israel.

THE CHURCH AND ISRAEL

The church is distinct — a mystery “not made known” in other ages: Jew and Gentile in one body (Eph 3:5-6), born at Pentecost.
The church does not replace Israel. Gentile believers are wild branches grafted in among the natural ones:

Romans 11:17-18 — And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

THE TRUE AND BETTER ABRAHAM

“Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void, not knowing whither he went, to create a new people of God.”

Abram left Ur. Jesus left heaven.
Abram left his father’s house. Jesus left His Father’s side — and on the cross was forsaken by Him.
Abram went to bless the families of the earth. Jesus became a curse to bring that blessing to us:

Galatians 3:13-14 — Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

GOOD NEWS: God scattered the nations. Then He sent a family after them. Then He sent His Son — the Seed of Abraham — to bring the scattered home.

RESPOND

If you are not saved: You can sing the song and still not be Abraham’s child. Believe God, as Abram did and you will be.
If you are a believer: Name the new area of life God is calling you to follow Him into — and take the first step this week. And thank the “Edward Kimball” in your story.
As a church: We are a sent family, after the scattered. Pray. Give. Go.

CELEBRATE THE PROMISE-KEEPING GOD

He promised a barren woman a son — and Isaac was born.

He promised a childless man a nation — and Israel became as the stars.

He promised a Seed who would bless the world — and Jesus came.

He promised all families of the earth — and today in Taiwan, in Bosnia, in Alpharetta, the families of the earth are being blessed.

He promised Abraham the land — and when Christ reigns, He will keep that promise to the letter.

And He promised that whosoever believes will be Abraham’s child — and He has never broken a promise yet.

Romans 11:36 — For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Sent After the Scattered