Chapter 13 – Planning – Abraham Starting his Journey
Planning – Abraham Starting his Journey
The Journey of Independence
The departure from home represents a pivotal life transition filled with uncertainty and apprehension. Whether a child is leaving for college or an adult relocating for career opportunities, this separation prompts countless questions: Will they be safe? Do they possess necessary skills? What if difficulties arise? To mitigate anxiety, both departing individuals and those remaining typically develop plans – creating checklists of needed items, identifying purchasing requirements, and determining what existing resources can be transferred.
Abraham’s journey represents this transition pattern, though with extraordinary circumstances. Unlike typical departures with defined destinations and purposes, Abraham received a directive without specific location, duration, or objective details. This ambiguity raises profound questions about response and preparation when facing such open-ended directives.
The Call to Journey
Genesis 12:1 Now ADONAI said to Avram, “Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” 4 So Avram went, as ADONAI had said to him, and Lot went with him. Avram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5 Avram took his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, as well as the people they had acquired in Haran; then they set out for the land of Kena’an and entered the land of Kena’an.
Strategic Planning Through Divine Promise
Abraham’s journey began before the divine call. His father Terach had already departed from Ur Kasdim toward Canaan but detoured permanently at Charan (Genesis 11:31). This initial family journey demonstrates how easily missions become derailed – Terach intended to reach Canaan but settled comfortably in an intermediate location. Abraham thus inherited a familial model of incomplete planning and distraction vulnerability.
The divine approach to Abraham incorporated sophisticated motivational strategy. Rather than simply issuing directives, the Lord provided compelling incentives. Genesis 12:2 promises Abraham three specific rewards: becoming a great nation, receiving divine blessing, and achieving name recognition.
The medieval commentator Rashi explains this incentive structure as directly addressing three primary travel-related anxieties:
- Travel reduces progeny (through separation from spouse)
- Travel diminishes wealth (through business disruption)
- Travel reduces reputation (requiring rebuilding status in new locations)
By specifically addressing these concerns with corresponding promises, the divine plan created powerful motivation overcoming natural resistance. This incentive-based approach demonstrates a crucial management principle: effective plans must provide compelling benefits addressing stakeholders’ genuine concerns.
This motivational framework sustained Abraham through numerous challenges – Egyptian difficulties, Sodom conflicts, military engagements, and even the near-sacrifice of his son. Without clear incentive structure, Abraham might have abandoned his journey during these trials. While faith undoubtedly played crucial roles, the explicit promise framework provided concrete motivation during difficult periods.
Abraham’s journey didn’t yield immediate success – he reached age 100 before fathering his designated heir after cycling through several potential successors (Lot, Eliezer, Ishmael). Even then, land ownership remained elusive until Sarah’s burial necessitated property purchase. This extended timeline demonstrates the management principle that meaningful achievement often requires persistent effort through extended struggle periods.
Transformational Planning
The divine call required more than geographical relocation – it demanded personal reinvention. Genesis 12:1 instructs Abraham to leave his “father’s house” despite having already physically departed Ur Kasdim (Genesis 11:31). This distinction clarifies that effective transformation requires abandoning not just locations but inherited perspectives, skills, prejudices, and assumptions.
As monotheism’s early advocate, Abraham needed fresh approaches untethered from ancestral practices. His relocation created an opportunity for personal reinvention without family reputation constraints. While the text doesn’t explicitly detail Abraham’s early proselytizing effectiveness, the geographical change facilitated his transformational mission.
The plan’s open-ended destination created productive uncertainty. While comprehensive planning provides security, excessive detail potentially limits adaptability. This strategic ambiguity allowed Abraham flexibility, as demonstrated when famine drove him to Egypt shortly after reaching Canaan (Genesis 12:10). Had Abraham rigidly adhered to literal interpretation, his household might have perished rather than seeking alternative provisions.
This adaptability demonstrates that even divinely-directed plans sometimes require contextual adjustment to achieve underlying objectives. Effective managers similarly approach transitions with renewed perspective—viewing changes as opportunities rather than hardships and leaving behind limiting habits during organizational transformations.
Organizational Elements in Abraham’s Journey
Creating Welcoming Environments
Despite apparently disadvantageous desert location, Abraham’s tent positioning provided access to travelers – potential converts to monotheistic beliefs. According to commentaries, his tent featured four open sides welcoming guests from any direction. This accessibility transformed his dwelling into an effective organizational headquarters where employees and strangers received a consistent welcome.
Abraham’s hospitality extended beyond passive accessibility to active engagement. After his circumcision, he offered three visiting men shade, bread, meat, and foot-washing water. The Talmud teaches that these specific hospitable acts earned the Israelites corresponding divine provisions in the desert:
- Abraham’s shade → Cloud of glory for protection
- Abraham’s food offerings → Manna provision
- Abraham’s water → Miriam’s wellspring
This hospitality principle applies directly to modern management—creating inviting organizational environments and accessibility generates long-term benefits that may materialize long after initial investment.
Leadership Development
Abraham intentionally created teaching opportunities within hospitality moments. When serving his guests, he involved his son in preparation, demonstrating the importance of experiential leadership development. Rather than merely issuing directives, Abraham personally demonstrated desired behaviors – running to provide food and involving his entire household in service activities.
The effectiveness of this development approach appears when comparing the angels’ experiences at Abraham’s tent versus Sodom. Despite entering a community where hospitality was reportedly illegal, the angels received welcome from Lot – Abraham’s former apprentice. Though Lot had physically separated from Abraham and established independent life, he maintained the hospitality principles learned through Abraham’s modeling (Genesis 19:1-3). This transfer of values demonstrates that effective leadership development creates lasting impact transcending organizational boundaries.
Self-Direction and Initiative
Unlike Moses who received detailed divine instructions, Abraham received minimal direction and exercised substantial autonomy. He independently traveled to Egypt during famine, returned at his discretion, and mobilized forces during the war with the kings. This self-direction allowed Abraham to develop implementation approaches aligned with divine objectives without micromanagement.
Abraham’s concern for others contrasts sharply with earlier biblical figures. Unlike Cain who disavowed responsibility for his brother, Abraham demonstrated genuine concern beyond familial boundaries. He engaged in warfare to rescue his nephew Lot (Genesis 14) while explicitly rejecting personal enrichment from the conflict (Genesis 14:23).
The Hebrew term describing Abraham – “Haivri“—means both “Hebrew” and “one who crosses over.” This linguistic dual meaning reflects Abraham’s transformational nature – crossing rivers, lands, positions, and attitudes. He transcended self-interest patterns established by previous generations (Cain, post-flood Noah, Nimrod) by prioritizing others’ welfare.
This other-centered orientation appears in Abraham’s intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah. Instead of specifically requesting his nephew’s preservation, Abraham advocated for all righteous inhabitants (Genesis 18:23-32). Though the dialogue ends without definitive resolution (the Lord agrees not to destroy for ten righteous people but doesn’t specify whether that threshold exists), Abraham demonstrates willingness to advocate for others without certainty of personal benefit.
Proactive Implementation
The narrative describes Abraham’s actions with dynamic verbs highlighting initiative:
- “Abraham went” (Genesis 12:4)
- “Abraham took” (12:5)
- “Abraham hastened” (12:6)
- “Abraham traveled” (12:9)
- “He ran towards” (18:2)
- “I will fetch” (18:5)
- “Abraham hastened” (18:6)
- “Abraham ran to” (18:7)
This active language demonstrates Abraham’s aggressive pursuit of directives without questioning their merit – most dramatically illustrated in his willingness to sacrifice his son. While other biblical figures performed specific tasks (Noah building the ark, Solomon constructing the Temple), Abraham displays unprecedented proactivity that attracted followers. His dynamic approach proved essential for monotheism promotion, enabling him to develop a following from Charan.
This principle applies directly to modern management – employees naturally gravitate toward leaders demonstrating action and implementation effectiveness.
Delegation Development
Startups often fail not from concept deficiencies but implementation structure inadequacies. Effective management requires delegation capability – a skill Abraham progressively developed. Like Moses who later struggled with delegation, Abraham initially performed tasks personally but gradually incorporated others. The visiting angels episode and servant-accompanied journey to sacrifice his son demonstrate this development.
The Bible’s longest dialogue between humans (rather than divine-human communication) occurs between Abraham and his servant Eliezer, whom Abraham entrusts with finding Isaac’s wife (Genesis 24). This crucial assignment – potentially determining the Jewish people’s future – demonstrates sophisticated delegation:
- Securing the servant’s commitment through promise
- Providing specific guidelines
- Allocating adequate resources
- Clarifying that conscientious effort would absolve responsibility regardless of outcome
This comprehensive delegation model offers modern managers guidance for effective task assignments – obtaining commitment, providing resources, establishing clear expectations, and creating psychological safety regardless of outcomes.
Priority Alignment
Genesis 12:5 lists Abraham’s journey companions in revealing sequence: wife Sarah, nephew Lot, family possessions, and finally “souls” (followers) from Charan. This ordering reveals Abraham’s value hierarchy – family before possessions before followers.
This prioritization contrasts with Lot’s subsequent choices. When conflict arose between their herds (Genesis 13:10), Lot selected land based on livestock advantages rather than social environment – choosing Sodom despite its poor reputation. Lot prioritized possessions over family welfare, with disastrous consequences.
Abraham’s limited mention of his Charan followers suggests potential misalignment in his early prioritization. Their disappearance from the narrative may indicate that Abraham initially undervalued their importance – perhaps explaining his later passionate advocacy for Sodom’s inhabitants as compensatory recognition of human value.
Genesis 24:1 states that “the Lord had blessed Abraham with everything,” interpreted as complete satisfaction rather than excessive accumulation. This represents self-actualization in Maslovian terms—contentment with existing resources rather than perpetual acquisition. Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 2:9) describes this as possessing a “good eye” – satisfaction with current circumstances—rather than a “bad eye” of perpetual discontent.
Personal Responsibility
The Hebrew phrase “Lech Lecha” (Genesis 12:1) means “go for yourself” or “go by yourself,” indicating Abraham’s personal responsibility journey. Though traveling with companions, Abraham undertook individual accountability for outcomes regardless of success or failure.
This responsibility consciousness initially manifested as self-preservation when famine drove him to Egypt (Genesis 12:10) and prompted him to present Sarah as his sister to avoid personal harm (12:12). His growth appears when comparing two similar incidents – in Egypt, Abraham asked Sarah to claim sisterhood (Genesis 12:12), while later with Abimelech, Abraham personally made this representation (Genesis 20:2). This shift from deflecting responsibility to personal ownership demonstrates leadership maturity.
Effective managers similarly accept challenges without deflecting responsibility to subordinates. While success requires collaboration, accountability remains with leadership rather than being transferred to team members during difficulties.
Deliverables
Effective organizational planning requires:
- Adaptive Planning: Develop flexible frameworks accommodating contingencies rather than rigid specifications.
- Initiative Over Analysis: Begin implementation despite incomplete information—Abraham would never have departed had he demanded comprehensive details before starting.
- Continuous Teaching: Integrate development opportunities into regular operations rather than isolating learning from implementation.
- Effective Delegation: Create successful delegation through commitment securing, resource provision, clear instruction, and psychological safety.
- Value Alignment: Establish appropriate priorities placing relationships and purpose above material acquisition.
Discussion Questions
- If you had five minutes to take valuables out of your house due to a fire, what would you take and why?
- Abraham is translated as “father of many.” What name would you like to be called and why?
