Jehovah speaks to Abram to leave the land, Charan, and his kindred and the house of his father and to go where Jehovah shows him and Abram obeys.

When Abram passes over the land and comes to Shechem, to the oak of Mamre and the Canaanite is then in the land, Jehovah appears to him. This is the first instance of God appearing to a person on the earth since he walked in the garden of Eden with the one 'of the earth'. This I see as a relationship of increasing closeness.

But Abram does not trust Jehovah to keep him safe in Egypt. Fear is the maker of division between us and our God. Perfect love casts out all fear so we have to learn to love God, to know God, more and more so that there is no place for fear in our lives and we will not make wrong decisions because of fear. Instead we will ask God and listen to God for what we should do. ...