If we asked Abram at this point what faith is, he would say that it is quite a nice thing and that it will pay off. When he obeyed God and left Ur, he was accompanied practically everywhere by success. He must have had doubts and concerns before the trip, but they turned out to be unnecessary. He got the impression that some invisible force preceded him and opened doors for him, led him to the right places and gave him success. It was something that none of the deities he had worshiped before afforded him - those gods were dead.

Not only did he prosper, but the new God gradually appeared to him and confirmed what he had promised. Isn't that amazing? Altars were already scattered to other deities in the land of Kannan. Now Abram walks among them and builds altars for his only God. However, the deities were not as benevolent, peaceful and wishful as his God and they did not care much for their people. When he looked at it from this side, it seemed like a happy win in the lottery - after all, this God himself found him!

He therefore remains calm and happy in his faith. Based on previous experience, he can expect that things will go further and further in the right direction, ever higher, and sooner or later, the long-desired offspring will eventually come.

Like everyone in the beginning, Abram interpreted God's word based on his hitherto experience, and his conclusions will therefore soon show to be wrong. Not essentially in the matter itself, but in the time. And in that his highest promise will not be fulfilled as easily as everything so far, but will come through the struggle of faith. The faith, which still seemed like a "nice thing" to him now, but after he spent the next 25 years... he already understood what it meant to have doubts as well as to stand against them.

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (Gen 12,7)

Abram deals with all the changes that moving to an unknown country has brought with it - and although they are not all pleasant, so far he can be positive in viewing his situation, the good prevails. As we saw, he learns to look up and builds altars for God, who called him to this land. If the new situation arouses uncertainty, he overcomes it by worshiping the Most High. Abram thus begins to take spontaneous positions of faith. So far, however, it is far from the faith "in spite of" - the future Abrahamic faith for which he was called its father. In the meantime he believes that now, after he obeyed God's voice, the most important expectation (the promise of the offspring) will surely be fulfilled soon. There can be no doubt that his new God is truthful!

In the beginning God "spoke to Abram". Apparently it was not just easily perceived words that forced him to leave his entire known world and go to Canaan, but the experience of the powerful presence of the highest power. Now that he has entered Canaan, the revelation is increasing: here God "appears" to him (12:7) and confirms his promise.

Scripture says that no one saw God (1 Tim. 6:16), and so even Abram did not see the whole picture. But he saw at least a reflection of it, just as Moses later did.

If a person goes in the right direction, God approaches him despite all the stumbling and falling, and he "sees" (knows) more and more. Although we will not avoid desert seasons, they will end one day. If we are right in our walk with God, our inner consciousness testifies to us that we are getting closer and closer to Him.

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as [b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (Gen 12,6-7)

Abram finally reached the land he was heading for. He must have been very curious: what is it like - will he be pleased or disappointed? The Scripture says nothing about his reactions, but we can conclude that the difference between the places where he lived so far - in the most developed part of the then world - and Kannan was a change for the worse. The development of the society and the economy was on a lower level, even though the country had to attract him as a farmer - yes, it offered many possibilities, not that it did not.

The main problem, however, was the fact that it was inhabited. And they were in no sence only peacefull people, friendly to newcomers, not so. Abram quickly realized that he would not be able to integrate among them, that he would have to live next to them and try not to arouse hostility because he was in minority. Whoever came later could not choose a place to settle and the best pastures, he had to be content with what was left over. He had to show respect for the natives and prove that he was coming in peace.

Abram saw that the land was good, or better to say: it had the potential to become excellent if wisely managed. But it didn't belong to him, and he didn't understand how it could happen one day. He was confused. Will the Canaanites withdraw from here? I'm here with a few people, I can't wage war with them ...

He walked gradually through the land, trying to work out the discrepancy between what God had put in his heart and the reality he saw around him. This discrepancy between what the mind sees and what the heart has accepted in God is the basis of the struggle of faith. Abram's inner struggle begins - and at the moment he does not know yet that he is to become forever an example for all who share the same struggle, so that one day he is even to be called the "father of faith."

So far, he is trying to process his new impressions. It seems to him that there is not much he can do for the occupation of the land now. So he remains worshiping God and building altars for him on his first journey through the land.

He rather prefers looking up to looking around. Like anyone who wants to keep the awareness that in the midst of impossibilities, God remains faithful and there is truly nothing impossible to Him.

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran (Gen 12,4-5) 

When Abram received the Lord, his life split in two parts - before and after that. He left idols and began to worship a new god, for whom (unlike the surrounding tribes) he had no visible likeness - he was invisible. He was surprised to find that this God was communicating with him, often helping him, but perhaps even more surprising was the discovery that this god cared about how Abram lived and was even interested in his inner setting - for example, whether Abram believed him or not. Compared with the kind of worship he had practiced before and seen around him, this was truly shocking.

On the way from Ur to Haran, their caravan covered about 800 km. Is such a long journey worthwhile? And it's not over, his God sends him further - but does it make sense to move on when we're doing well here? We have acquired property and slaves, will we choose certainty or risk? Can anyone guarantee it will continue to be better elsewhere?

It was not the first time that Abram had to make a decision between the temporary and future good. He had not yet thought of eternity (btw. this word was used for the first time by his new god), but he had to decide: further beyond Haran, civilization was at a lower level, the danger was greater. Here the local conditions were at least somewhat similar to what he knew from his native Ur, but what will he meet far out there, in an unknown country?

It wasn't an easy decision, but he did the right thing and set out. But at the moment he did it only because he believed it would be better for him there than here. He had not received the offspring the new god had promised him yet, and he believed that he would see it there.

Do not let us be mistaken: at the beginning of his journey, Abram follows God for his own good. He does not seek any higher ideas, does not think about, does not know them. He is the same as many who set out on this journey voluntarily. However, it is a credit to him he did not remain so.

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran (Gen 12,4-5)

The caravan traveled through fertile Mesopotamia until it reached north of the Promised Land, the city of Haran, which lies northeast of present-day Aleppo. They were slowly leaving the most developed area of ​​the then civilization between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Here they settled.

They started farming and they did well. Here the scripture speaks for the first, but not the last time, of Abram's property: "... the wealth... and the souls which they have acquired." In Haran, the family became a community, they developed their farms, and more herds and slaves were acquired.

When someone sets out to follow the call of God, he usually experiences great changes in the first phase of the journey and various blessings. We can even assume there is a kind of Charan in every man´s life - it is relatively easy to get to the point where God blesses us, because it seems that we have only gained so far.

In fact, it would even be easier to stay here and enjoy the good gifts we have obtained. Who understands the path of following only in the sense "what good can it bring to me", to him it is too hard to leave his Haran, very hard.

Abram abandoned his security and his hitherto known world. As we have seen, he did not completely obey and took with him those who were not to go with him, but the main thing he did - he set out on a journey. We do not know if he had visited such far places before, but at all events he had given up his previous life. It was almost certain he would not ever return back.

The new situation meant that he became a head of the group, which travelled eastward. Now it was up to him to determine where the caravan would settle, when they would move on, but gradually he also began to determine other things. Sooner or later, he must have told his loved ones about a powerful encounter with an unknown god and his promise. His worship - but their also - has changed, and it is clear that not only Abram but the whole group stopped worshipping other gods. It must have been an uneasy step for the other members of the caravan, who, unlike Abram, had no personal experience with God! Certainly, some disputes broke out around it (as an important element of every cult is the fear of punishment). This proves that Abram in reality possesed great authority in the group.

At the same time, he did not know God in many ways at this time. It is remarkable, however, how quickly he understood the content of the first commandment from the very beginning: this God can only be honored only as one. You can't have other gods beside him.

Abram was to leave his birthplace and his father's house - but why? "Why" is a two-sided question and it is not always worth asking, especially not in the sense of "why only is this happening to me?". On the one hand, we probably won't find a reasonable answer, at least not in that difficult moment, and on the other hand, the pondering will sap the huge amount of energy we need so that we can withstand or move away from the present situation. Therefore it is better to ask "HOW should I react, WHAT exactly can I do now?".

However, if we ask the question "why" because we want to understand God more ("why does God want this or that, why did God act in that situation and not differently?"), it is a completely legitimate question. However, we must reckon with the fact the answer will not always be obvious and we will understand it according to the level at which we currently stand in relationship with God.

The father's house represented a wide family, including servants, that is, people who lived and farmed together. The elders had a bigger say than the younger, and the father, the head of the tribe, enjoyed special respect. The house shared a common deity. It was decided by the father, but mostly in the sense that it was inherited from his ancestors.

Abram, whose father was still alive, could not simply begin to worship another god in the middle of his family and stop worshiping the old. In order to be able to follow the Lord in fullness and freedom, God asked him to abandon the old bonds of family relationships that would not allow it, and to become the head of a new community himself.

At that moment, we observe his first, but far from his last hesitation. He obeyed God, but only in part. He was to have left his "land, birthplace, and father's house" (12: 1). He did the first and the second, but not quite the third, the "father's house". On the contrary, he took a nice portion of it with him. In addition to the father Terach also Lot, his nephew.

He then (like everyone else) had to learn through difficult life situations what it will lead to, and WHY (here a good question!) it would have been much easier in the end if he had obeyed God right away.