Have you ever started something, knowing you were supposed to keep going, but for some reason, you stopped short? Maybe you got comfortable, maybe life got in the way, or maybe fear crept in. That tension—the space between where we are and where God is calling us—is what we see in today’s passage.
This part of Genesis might not seem like much at first glance. It’s a genealogy, another long list of names tracing from Shem to Abram. But tucked inside this list is something really important. This passage isn’t just about tracing a family tree; it’s about how God moves through generations, how His plan unfolds even when people don’t fully understand it.
Yesterday, we talked about the Tower of Babel—how humanity tried to bring God down to their level, twisting faith into something they could control. That’s not unique to Babel. We still do that today. We turn faith into a transaction, expecting God to respond to our demands, rather than surrendering to who He truly is. The story of Babel shows us what happens when people lose sight of God’s holiness, and today’s passage shows us what God does in response. He doesn’t abandon humanity; He begins setting apart a family through whom He will reveal Himself.
This genealogy links Shem to Abram, and that connection is a big deal. If you remember back to the blessing Noah spoke over his sons, Shem was the one through whom the blessing would continue. And now, here we are, following that promise forward, seeing how God’s faithfulness moves through time. The people at Babel had scattered, but God’s plan was still unfolding.
One of the details that stands out is how the Bible pauses between the genealogy to give us glimpses of what was happening at the time. We saw this with Nimrod, and now we’re seeing it again. It’s a reminder that this isn’t just a dry historical record—it’s telling a story. The Tower of Babel wasn’t just a random event; it was part of how the nations were divided, and it happened before the genealogy we’re reading today. The order of events isn’t always what we expect, which is why reading Scripture in context is so important.
There’s something else in this passage that’s easy to miss if we’re just skimming—Sarai was barren. That detail might seem small now, but it’s setting the stage for everything that comes next. God is about to call Abram, promising to make him into a great nation, and yet his wife can’t have children. Right from the start, we’re seeing an impossible situation, one that only God can resolve. It’s a reminder that God’s plans don’t rely on human ability. He doesn’t choose Abram because he has everything figured out. He chooses him because He has a plan, and He is the one who will bring it to pass.
That’s something I think we need to remember in our own lives. How often do we look at our circumstances and think, this can’t be what God had in mind? Maybe it’s a dream that feels out of reach, or a situation that seems too broken to fix. But if God’s promise to Abram teaches us anything, it’s that His power is not limited by our circumstances.
There’s another piece of this story that we can’t overlook. Terah, Abram’s father, started heading toward Canaan, but he never made it there. He settled in Harran instead. We don’t know exactly why—maybe it was grief over the loss of his son, maybe it was comfort, or maybe it was just easier to stop than to keep going. Whatever the reason, he never finished what he started. And yet, after Terah’s death, God calls Abram to pick up the journey.
That right there is something to think about. Have you ever had to step into something someone else left unfinished? Maybe there’s a calling in your life that began generations before you, a story God has been writing long before you even realized it. Or maybe, like Terah, there’s something you started in faith, but for one reason or another, you stopped before reaching the destination.
God’s call to Abram wasn’t just about him. It was about something much bigger. And that’s true for us too. Sometimes we think faith is just about our individual walk with God, but Scripture shows us that our obedience is connected to a much larger story. God’s plans stretch across generations. The question is whether we’ll trust Him enough to keep going or settle in what feels safe.
As we move into Abram’s story, we’ll start to see how God reveals Himself in a brand new way—through covenant. Up until now, Genesis has been showing us why a covenant was necessary. We’ve seen humanity’s brokenness, the corruption that spread after the flood, and now, the distortion of who people thought God was. They tried to contain Him, control Him, and fit Him into their own ideas. But God doesn’t fit into human boxes. He is sovereign. He is holy. And He is about to set apart a people to know Him as He truly is.
So where does that leave us? Maybe today is a good time to ask ourselves some questions. Are there areas in our lives where we’ve settled, stopping short of where God is leading us? Are we shaping our view of God based on who He really is, or are we trying to make Him fit our expectations? Are we trusting Him with the impossible, or are we letting our limitations define what we think He can do?
As we keep going through Genesis, these are the things we’ll be unpacking together. Tomorrow, we’ll step into the story of Abram and see how God’s covenant begins. But for today, let’s sit with this truth—God is always moving, always working, and always inviting us to trust Him more.
Want to go deeper? Listen to today’s full episode of the Hearing Jesus Podcast here: Seeing God Clearly. Let’s keep learning and growing together.
