Not Abandoned

Genesis 12 is often used to point out how the Jewish people became a chosen nation (though the Arabs also claim descent from Abraham). But it's about a whole lot more than that. God calls Abraham to be the founder of his chosen nation, to be sure, but the plan, according to verse 3. is that through Abraham all the nations of the earth will receive God's blessing.

It was supposed to work like this, according to a later piece of writing in the Hebrew Scriptures - Psalm 67:

May God be merciful and bless us. May his face shine with favor upon us...
Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him.

The only reason God made Abraham's descendents his chosen people was to demonstrate to the world that he had not abandoned the world just because the world had abandoned him. Israel, under God's care, was supposed to be a showpiece so that the rest of the world would "fear" God.

Fear him? It's not as nasty as you think. It simply means that the peoples of the world would come back and recognize the One who made them.

When life is crazy and despair is normal, what else could make a difference?