In the order of printing, the first verse of the Bible is Genesis 1:1; but in the order of history and spiritual development it is Genesis 12:1:
"Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Thus simply is recorded the call of Abram, one of the most stupendous events in the history of the human race, surpassing in importance all other events except the incarnation of God in Christ, which is itself a consequence of and involved in these words. What in the Bible precedes this text is introduction, and all that follows, to the last chapter of Revelation, is the story of the development and fulfillment of this promise.
-Albertus Peiters