(Genesis 12–15 )
The city of Ur was alive with smoke and idols. In its streets, men bowed before carved stone and baked clay, their prayers rising to gods that could neither hear nor speak. Merchants shouted in the markets, animals brayed, and the air smelled of incense mixed with dust.
In this city lived a man named Abram, son of Terah, a wanderer at heart though he had never left the walls of Ur. He was wealthy, with flocks and servants, yet his soul was restless. By his side was his wife, Sarai — beautiful, wise, and faithful — but barren. Her womb was silent, and years of waiting had turned her laughter into quiet sorrow.
One night, when the city lay still and only the stars kept watch, a voice came to Abram, not like the mutter of idols, not like the chant of priests, but living, burning, and real:
"Abram. Leave your country. Leave your father's house. Go to the land I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. Through you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
The words shook Abram like thunder in his bones. He fell to the ground, trembling, and Sarai came running. "Abram, what is it?"
He looked at her with eyes wide and fearful, yet filled with fire. "The God of heaven has spoken to me."
Within days, Abram gathered his household. His nephew Lot came with him, bringing servants and herds. They left behind the only home they had ever known, walking away from the towers of Ur, away from idols of clay, into the wilderness.
They journeyed across rivers and deserts, until they came to the land of Canaan. The hills rolled with grass, vineyards clung to the slopes, and oaks shaded the valleys. Here, God spoke again:
"To your offspring I will give this land."
Abram built an altar of stone, laying wood upon it, and worshiped the Lord who had called him out of Ur.
But the journey was not without trial. A famine struck, and Abram led his people south into Egypt. The land of the Nile was rich, but it was ruled by Pharaoh, a man feared by all. Fearing for his life, Abram said to Sarai, "Tell them you are my sister, lest they kill me for your beauty." And so it was: Pharaoh's men took Sarai into his house.
But the Lord struck Pharaoh's household with plagues, and Pharaoh, angry yet afraid, returned Sarai to Abram. "Why did you lie to me? Take your wife, your flocks, and go!" And Abram left Egypt richer than he entered, yet humbled by his fear.
Back in Canaan, the herds of Abram and Lot grew so vast that the land could not contain them. Quarrels broke out between their herdsmen. Abram called Lot to a hilltop and said, "Let there be no strife between us. Choose where you will go. If you take the left hand, I will take the right. If you go right, I will go left."
Lot looked over the land. To the east lay the fertile plains of the Jordan, green as Eden, with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah glimmering in the distance. To the west lay the rocky hills. Lot chose the plains, and Abram took the hills.
That night, the Lord spoke to Abram again:
"Lift up your eyes. Look north and south, east and west. All the land you see I give to you and your descendants forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, beyond number."
Still, Abram and Sarai were without child. Sarai's arms remained empty, and Abram's tents were filled with silence. One evening, God brought Abram outside beneath the dark sky. The stars shone countless above him, like scattered fire across black velvet.
"Look toward the heavens," God said. "Count the stars, if you are able. So shall your offspring be."
Abram looked until tears blurred his vision. He believed — against reason, against years of waiting, against the barrenness of Sarai. And God counted his faith as righteousness.
To seal His promise, God commanded Abram to prepare a sacrifice: a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon. Abram cut them in halves and laid them opposite one another. As the sun set, a dreadful darkness fell, and Abram shivered. A smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces, and God declared:
"Know this: your descendants shall be strangers in a land not their own, enslaved for four hundred years. But I will bring them out with great possessions. And to your descendants I give this land — from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates."
Abram awoke trembling, but with hope burning in his chest. The covenant was sealed.