Call קָרָא

Today we see Abram doing something new. God made contact with Abram two times. First, he told him to leave his country, people, and family to the land he would show them. Abram obeys God. Then God appears to him in the land he was led to. There God promises to give him and his descendants the land he was standing on. After, at least two recorded initiatives by God to connect with Abram, we have these responses. Genesis 12:8 There he built an altar to the Lord and קָרָא called on the name of the Lord. Our word for today is קָרָא call, shout, name, summon, make an appeal, read out loud. It is used 731 times in the Old Testament. What I find interesting about this word is that it is the same word God uses in creation. Genesis 1:5 God קָרָא called the light Day, and the darkness he קָרָא called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Genesis 1:8 And God קָרָא called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. Genesis 1:10 God קָרָא called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he קָרָא called Seas. And God saw that it was good. God then invites Adam to participate in creation. Genesis 2:19-20 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would קָרָא call them. And whatever the man קָרָא called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. God creates then names. God acts in Abram’s life and Abram responds with our word identifying that now a relationship is established or named. YHWH is God. He is my God. He is the one I call out to. We see God initiate a relationship with people throughout the Bible and then waits for us to respond. This same concept is part of how God saves us from our sins that have separated us from Him. God loves us and wants to remove everything that would get in the way of us being together. But God won’t force this new relationship. We have to respond to the salvation he offers us through the death of his son in our place. Salvation is all about restoring a relationship that has been broken because of our sin so that we now have a new relationship with God through Christ where we call out to God naming him as our God. Romans 10:9-10, 13 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved … For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 22:12-13, 16 Ananias .. came to me, and standing by me said to me, “Brother Saul … now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”