Genesis 12:1 Now יהוה had said to Abram, Get out of your country and away from your kinsmen and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you: C-MATS
Question: What change took place through Abraham? After twenty generations of failure, the privilege of being יהוה‘s Chosen People was earned by Abraham and his offspring. Abraham did not win his new status by default; he had to prove his greatness by passing ten tests of faith (Avos 5:4). Chumash
Question: What was Abraham’s first test of faith? The first trial mentioned in Scripture is the command that Abraham would give up his entire past and follow יהוה‘s lead to a new land. The Torah expresses Abraham’s test in ascending degrees of difficulty. It is hard for someone to leave his homeland, even harder to leave his extended family, and hardest of all to leave his parents (Ramban). Abraham and Sarah severed all ties with their past and loved ones — when they were 75 and 65 years old. Chumash
Question: What is a Heavenly test? A Heavenly test is one that forces a person to choose between יהוה‘s will and his own nature or understanding of what is right. Clearly, it would be no challenge to Abraham, who was the epitome of kindness, to be asked to help the needy, but it would be a supreme test of faith for him to desert his aged father and homeland or to give his cherished, beloved son as an offering [Genesis 22]. Thus, Abraham was tested by being forced to make secondary his wishes and wisdom to what יהוה desired for him to do. By doing so, he demonstrated his conviction that man’s highest goal is to accept the Divine wisdom as the only truth. Chumash