Much of Abrams blessing was to come in the form of his offspring, but there was also the blessing that would come in the form of the Messiah, who would bring salvation to Gods people. Terah, Jewish literature records, was a craftsman who made idols. The dispersion of the descendants of the sons of Noah, who had now grown into numerous families, was necessarily followed on the one hand by the rise of a variety of nations, differing in language, manners, and customs, and more and more estranged from one another; and on the other by the expansion of the germs of idolatry, contained in the different attitudes of these nations towards God, into the polytheistic religions of heathenism, in which the glory of the immortal God was changed into an image made like to mortal man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things (Romans 1:23 cf. . Genesis - NIV Application Commentary by John Walton. The New Testament in no way diminishes the significance of the life and character of Abraham. So, according to that oral history, Abe one day waited for Terah to go out of Terah's idol-making shop, and then Abe smashed all the idols except the biggest one that stood prominently in the corner of the shop. God providentially led Terah to pull up roots at Ur and to move toward Canaan (11:31). Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). However I hope you don't mind me editing your answer and making it looking as we'd like to have answers on this site. Then, when Terah returned, saw the mess, and asked Abe what had happened. (6) The Christian walk is a process of growth in grace. God has said that all men are sinners, deserving of, and destined to eternal punishment. Abram told his father that Yahweh had instructed them to leave. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. We should not find this discouraging, but consistent with our own reluctance to put our future on the line in active, aggressive, unquestioning faith. God, in His electing grace, chose Abram to follow Him, while he was going his own way. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran." But when He had established a covenant with him after the flood, and thereby had assured the continuance of the earth and of the human race, the direct manifestations ceased, for God withdrew His visible presence from the world; so that it was from heaven that the judgment fell upon the tower of Babel, and even the call to Abram in his home in Haran was issued through His word, that is to say, no doubt, through an inward monition. In one sense, the command of God to Abram was very specific. 176. by Ray. He left Haran, not because it was the easiest thing to do, but because God intended for him to do it. The Chaldeans, no longer in existence,. On the other hand, Gods command was deliberately vague. Even to Noah He revealed Himself before the flood as one who was present on the earth. In the land of Uz, a Shemite, perhaps even at a later period, lived Job; and in the neighboring districts of Arabia were his several friends, all of whom acknowledged the true God. The obstacles were largely overcome by the initiative of God in the early stages of the life of Abram. God is not only sovereign in salvation, but sovereign in the process of sanctification. 134 Cassuto, the great Jewish scholar disagrees. At the time of the call, Abram did not know where this land was. What was Terah's son named? Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. 2. They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Paddan Aram region. The heroes of the Bible are men with like passions (James 5:17) and feet of clay. Over 40 Old Testament references are made to Abraham. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there. Now the promise to Abram was four hundred and thirty years before the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt Exodus 12:40. The Hebrew word for "served" can also mean to "work," hence the tradition that Terah was a craftsman who made idols. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. I do not find such people in the Bible. Acts 17:27). This is why, despite that Stephen says that God had called Abe the first time prior to when Abe left Ur to settle in Haran, the ending of Genesis 11 credits Terah for taking his household, including Abe, to go to Canaan. They sought blessing in the product of their own labors, rather than in the promise of God. Technically, the covenant with Abram is not found in chapter 12, but in chapters 15 (verse 18) and 17 (verses 2,4,7,9,10,11,13,14,19,21) where the word covenant appears. Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:30). - From these varying forms of appearance it is evident that the opinion that the Angel of the Lord was a real angel, a divine manifestation, "not in the disguise of angel, but through the actual appearance of an angel," is not in harmony with all the statements of the Bible. But it was not the lot of Terah to enter the land, where he would only have been a stranger. Though Josephus (j) represents it in this light, that Terah hating the country of Chaldea, because of the mourning of Haran, he and all his went out from thence: and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there; which Josephus (k) calls Charan of Mesopotamia, and yet Stephen speaks of Abraham being in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charan; but then Mesopotamia is to be taken both in a more general and a more limited sense; in general, it took in Mesopotamia and Chaldea, and in the eastern part of it was Ur of the Chaldees, and when Abram came from thence to Haran, he came into Mesopotamia, strictly so called. - All this occurred as a type for the future, that Israel might know and lay to heart the fact, that bodily descent from Abraham did not make a man a child of God, but that they alone were children of God who laid hold of the divine promise in faith, and walked in the steps of their forefather's faith (cf. Kharan, and was so called in Accadian times, in which language the word means road, being, according to Mr. Sayce, the key of the highway from the east to the west. Genesis 11:26-32 tells that Terah was a son of Nahor, the son of Serug, who was a descendant of Shem. - Thus, walking in faith, the patriarchs were types of faith for all the families that should spring from them, and be blessed through them, and ancestors of a nation which God had resolved to form according to the election of His grace. Context. A physical death interpretation would state that Terah had died and his total lifespan is recorded as 205 years. At least two things must be said in response to this question. One purpose of the genealogy of chapter 11 is that it informs us that men were living shorter lives, and having children younger. "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. The former appears to us to be the only scriptural view. Five years? Nahor lived 119 years. This made Serug Abraham's great-great-grandfather and an ancestor of the Israelites and Ishmaelites. 135. l. 5. c. 24. Abraham was a man of great faithafter years of testing by God. It will be observed, also, that we have set down seventy opposite Abram as the date of his call, from which is counted the definite period of four hundred and thirty years to the exodus. That is my query, Hi Carel, welcome to the BH site. 3: Genesis 12:1 is the Bible's record of the second time that God tells Abe to leave his father's household. He said in his comments on Genesis 12:7. But Terah was influenced by other motives to put himself at the head of this movement. Did Abraham meet Jacob as alluded in Hebrews 11:9? Ur was a large and prosperous city-state in Mesopotamia (present-day southern Iraq). (i) Elmacinus, p. 31. apud Hottinger. So we know that Abraham told his father Terah to leave, because God appeared to Abraham, not Terah. But when they came He came in the same form to Gideon, and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah with a staff in His hand (Judges 6:11 and Judges 6:21); also to Manoah's wife, for she took Him to be a man of God, i.e., a prophet, whose appearance was like that of the Angel of Jehovah (Judges 13:6); and lastly, to Manoah himself, who did not recognise Him at first, but discovered afterwards, from the miracle which He wrought before his eyes, and from His miraculous ascent in the flame of the altar, that He was the Angel of Jehovah (Judges 13:9-20). Rather, your question should be: why did Abraham leave Haran. Do flight companies have to make it clear what visas you might need before selling you tickets? It is quite possible that God made the three promises to Abraham's father Terah first, but he failed the test by remaining in Haran. Thirdly, the Angel of Jehovah is also identified with Jehovah by the sacred writers themselves, who call the Angel Jehovah without the least reserve (cf. Twenty years? And the guidance vouchsafed had for its object the calling forth of faith in response to the promise, which should maintain itself amidst all the changes of this earthly life. Genesis 16, where He is mentioned for the first time, contains no distinct statement as to His shape, but produces on the whole the impression that He appeared to Hagar in a human form, or one resembling that of man; since it was not till after His departure that she drew the inference from His words, that Jehovah had spoken with her. Exodus 3:2 and Exodus 3:4, Judges 6:12 and Judges 6:14-16, but especially Exodus 14:19, where the Angel of Jehovah goes before the host of the Israelites, just as Jehovah is said to do in Exodus 13:21). As such, it would have been an act flowing from faith. For unknown reasons, Terah never made it to their destination but stopped and settled in Harran instead. Ephesians 2:19, I Peter 1:17, 2:11). These appearances, which were constantly repeated from that time forward, must have taken place from heaven; for we read that Jehovah, after speaking with Abram and the other patriarchs, "went away" (Genesis 18:33), or "went up" (Genesis 17:22; Genesis 35:13); and the patriarchs saw them, sometimes while in a waking condition, in a form discernible to the bodily senses, sometimes in visions, in a state of mental ecstasy, and at other times in the form of a dream (Genesis 28:12.). The site of the great city was first discovered in 1854, and has since that time been excavated, revealing much about life in the times of Abram.130 While the actual period that Abram lived in Ur may be a matter of discussion, we can say with certainty that Ur was justified in its boast of being a highly developed civilization. We reached the conclusion that God called Abram to leave Ur in order to travel to Canaan, and he did that before Terah's death, although he Abram told his father that Yahweh had instructed them to leave. How unlike mans ways are from Gods. How to draw a truncated hexagonal tiling? (4) The Christian walk is rooted in the reliability of the Word of God. He believes that the land is thus divided into three regions: one extending from the northern border to Shechem, the second from Shechem as far as Bethel, and the third from Bethel to the southern boundary.136. Men of all nations would be blessed by the Scriptures which, to a great extent, came through the instrumentality of the Jewish people. The appearances of the angel of Jehovah (or Elohim) cannot have been essentially different from those of Jehovah (or Elohim) Himself; for Jacob describes the appearances of Jehovah at Bethel (Genesis 28:13.) 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. The lesson we may need to learn is this: very often the way God would have us go is the most sensible way that we would have chosen anyhow. Broken down with fatigue, he halts for a season at Haran to recruit his wasted powers. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. In Genesis chapter 12 we come not only to a new division and an important theological covenant, but most of all to a great and godly manAbraham. We have already seen that Abram was seventy-five years of age at the death of Terah. It is difficult to believe that Abrams public act of worship was not noted and viewed with particular interest by the Canaanites. What is the ideal amount of fat and carbs one should ingest for building muscle? But we neither regard this rendering of the psalm as in harmony with the context, nor assent to the assertion that with a double accusative, in the sense of making into anything, is ungrammatical.)<. He had twelve chief gods, one for each month of the year, and other idols. In the first place, the Angel of God identifies Himself with Jehovah and Elohim, by attributing to Himself divine attributes and performing divine works: e.g., Genesis 22:12, "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me" (i.e., hast been willing to offer him up as a burnt sacrifice to God); again (to Hagar) Genesis 16:10, "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude;" Genesis 21, "I will make him a great nation,"-the very words used by Elohim in Genesis 17:20 with reference to Ishmael, and by Jehovah in Genesis 13:16; Genesis 15:4-5, with regard to Isaac; also Exodus 3:6., "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, and I am come down to deliver them" (cf. (5) The Christian walk is simply doing what God has told us to do and believing that He is leading us as we do so. Terah, it seems, decided to stay in the northern Mesopotamian "city of Haran," (no connection with his son Haran) rather than continue the journey to Canaan, which was the family's original intent. But this exclusiveness contained from the very first the germ of universalism. Terah was the son of Nahor, who was of Noah's son's Shem's line. The death of Haran, his oldest son, loosened his attachment to the land of his birth. version of the Old is used as a proper name; it is a simple appellative, as is apparent from the fact that in every instance, in which further reference is made to an angel who has appeared, he is called , with or without . When Abram had an encounter with God, [1] this brother directed his family to leave their native land and go to the land of Canaan. Benjamin of Tudela (p) speaks of it as in being in his time, and as two days journey from the entrance into the land of Shinar or Mesopotamia; and says, that in that place where was the house of Abraham, there is no building on it, but the Ishmaelites (the Mahometans) honour the place, and come thither to pray. l. 1. c. 6. sect. May God enable us to grow in grace as we walk the path which He has ordained, and as we continue to study the growth of the faith of Abram over many years. (The date that Abram left the city of Ur and other patriarchs' timelines can be read here. Accordingly, the name of the true God was known and revered, at least in outward form, wherever Abram went, throughout the land. Answer Terah is known in the Bible as the father of Abram (known later as Abraham), who in turn received the covenant promise of God regarding the future birth of His Son, Jesus. 58-64. We often read of Abraham, the man of faith, supposing that he was always that kind of man. Did God give an oath to Isaac as alluded in Psalms 105:8-10? Gordons view is held by Harold G. Stiflers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), pp. Terah took him out of Ur (Genesis ch.11). At Shechem, God promised to give this land to Abram (12:7). Genesis 12:1 is the only call by God to Abraham noted in scripture. The final promise was that of blessingblessing for him, and blessing through him. The land, as we have already said, is implied in verse 1. Ultimately, the whole world was blessed by the coming of the Messiah, who came to save men of every nation, not just the Jews: Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith that are sons of Abraham. 31 And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. Now Abram did leave Ur and go to Haran, but it appears to me that this was only because his pagan father decided to leave Ur. 137 Now we can understand why the Torah stressed, in all their detail, Abrams journeys on entering the land of Canaan, at first as far as Schechem, and subsequently up to Ai-Bethel. Can patents be featured/explained in a youtube video i.e. Abram died at the ripe old age of 175 (25:7-8), a much shorter time than Shem (11:10-11) or Arpachshad (11:12-13). God providentially led Terah to pull up roots at Ur and to move toward Canaan (11:31). Scripture intended to present us here, through the symbolic conquest of Abram, with a kind of forecast of what would happen to his descendants later. Cassuto, Genesis, II, pp. 2. There are many speculations on why Terah took his family, left the Ur of the Chaldeans and headed for Canaan. The angel of God, who shows the sacred seer the heavenly Jerusalem, and who is supposed to say, "Behold, I come quickly" (Revelation 22:7), and "I am Alpha and Omega" (Revelation 22:13), refuses in the most decided way the worship which John is about to present, and exclaims, "See I am thy fellow-servant: worship God.". The question arises, therefore, whether the angel of Jehovah, or of God, was God Himself in one particular phase of His self-manifestation, or a created angel of whom God made use as the organ of His self-revelation. John 14:1-3). Beside this, we frequently read of appearances of the "angel of Jehovah" (Genesis 16:7; Genesis 22:11, etc. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. But in Genesis 18:1. it is stated that three men came to Abram, one of whom is introduced as Jehovah, whilst the other two are called angels (Genesis 19:1). Thank God our spiritual lives are ultimately dependent upon His faithfulness and not ours. We must remember that Cassuto, as a Jew, did not regard the New Testament to be authoritative. Consequently, Terah was 130 years old when Abraham was born (205 -75 =130). How utterly irreconcilable this fact is with the opinion that the Angel of Jehovah was a created angel, is conclusively proved by Revelation 22:9, which is generally regarded as perfectly corresponding to the account of the "Angel of Jehovah" of the Old Testament. God promised Abram a great name (what the people of Babel sought, 11:4) as a result of leaving Ur, leaving the security of his relatives, and trusting only in God. (q) Travels, par. Additionally, we can conjecture that he was born sometime during the 20th century BCE and dwelt in the land of Ur, commonly referred to as Ur III by historians. Cassuto concludes that Abrams journey unknowingly outlined the territory which would belong to Israel, and that the places he stopped symbolically forecast the future conquest of the land.137 In an additional comment, Cassuto adds the fact that these places were also religious centers of Canaanite worship.138 In effect, Abrams actions of building altars and proclaiming the name of the Lord prophesied the coming time when true religious worship would overcome the pagan religion of the Canaanites. I would have assumed that Terah was a God-fearing man, who brought up his son, Abram, to believe in only one God, unlike the people of his day, but this was not so. Terah received instructions from God to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into the land of Canaan. What is the best way to deprotonate a methyl group? When Sarah died, he had to buy a portion of the land for a burial site (23:3ff.). Three major promises are contained in verses 2 and 3: a land; a seed; and a blessing. (n) Though the oracle of God came to Abram, yet the honour is given to Terah, because he was the father. That is the message of the New Testament (cf. Charan was Lot's father so he lived to be at least a young man, but he died before his own father Terah did. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). I can identify with men and women like this. ------------------------------------------------------------. It is there that the specific details of the covenant are spelled out. He does not invest heavily in that which will not last. Terah is the one who told the people to leave Ur Kasdim in the book of Genesis, not Abram. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN? Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. He is promised a seed and when that seed is delayed, he must somehow see meaning in that delay and learn faith in God. And that brings us to the second reason. Why did Lot offer up his daughters to be gang raped? He dare not become too attached to that which he cannot take with him. The command of God to Abram is, in effect, a reversal of what man attempted at Babel. For neither in the New Testament nor in the Alex. First, the emphasis of Hebrews 11 is on faith. In the year 1921 B.C. 139 . Do not expect that God will indicate each turn in the road with a clearly marked sign. Abram would have been on social security for over ten years. So far as we can tell, then, Terah was an idolater, like those of his days. Abrams age was not a factor in favor of leaving Ur for some unknown land either. For the greater part of the temple furniture summed up in this passage, of which it is stated that Solomon made them of gold, was composed of pure gold; and if some of the things were merely covered with gold, the writer might easily apply the same expression to this, because he had already given a more minute account of their construction (e.g., Genesis 3:7). In Genesis 11, we read that Terah came from Ur of the Chaldeans. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. Although listed first among the three sons of Terah, at Genesis 11:26, Abraham was not the firstborn. Acts 7:2-4 supports this single call theory: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in When you stop to think about it, Abram had no concrete, tangible proof that a life of blessing lay ahead, outside of Ur, away from his family. According to the biblical book of Genesis, Abraham left Ur, in Mesopotamia, because God called him to found a new nation in an undesignated land that he later learned was Canaan. As we will see next week, the Lord in His grace reached into a family that did not know Him and called Abram out to create a people devoted to Himself. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, the One Abram looked for in the future, to die on the cross to suffer the penalty for mans sin. James referred to Abraham as a man who demonstrated his faith to men by his works (James 2:21-23). Are there conventions to indicate a new item in a list? (Antiqu. In any event, Abraham "set out for the land of Canaan, thus they came to the land of Canaan" ( Gen 12:5 ). It would be many years before Abram would fully grasp that this heir that God had promised would come from the union of he and Sarai. Here in chapter 12 the general features of the covenant are introduced. Although no direct evidence of Abrahams residence is available, it is significant that the city of Ur reflects a long history preceding Abrahams time, possessing an elaborate system of writing, educational facilities, mathematical calculations, business and religious records, and art. How long have you been a Christian, my friend? 135 Haran, for example, in Assyrian (harranu) meant main road. Waltke, class notes, p. 14. He quoted the shopworn saying, God said it. All that the Septuagint rendering proves, is that the translators supposed "the angel of the Lord" to be a created angel; but it by no means follows that their supposition is correct.). Much more important than where he was, God was concerned with who he was, and in Whom he trusted. People came to offer sacrifices to these idols, or to buy them, and Terah had a thriving business. God had called him to gather his family and leave Ur behind. Why did Terah want to leave Ur? (r) Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 14, 15. This would be a slow, arduous and dangerous journey. This explanation of the order of events is confirmed by the statement of Stephen: "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran. All he had to rely upon was God, Who had revealed Himself to him. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran and said to him, Depart from your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you (Acts 7:2-3). The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? in 1971. Question:Clive wrote"I really enjoyed your Bible study. Terah had himself been betrayed into compliance with this form of impiety. Terah, their father, coordinated the gathering of his family to journey west to their destination ( Genesis 11:31 ). When he is promised a land, and when that land is not given, he must look beyond the promise to its Maker so that he may understand. ), or of "Elohim," and the "angel of Elohim" (Genesis 21:17; Genesis 31:11, etc. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. Had Abrams spiritual life depended solely upon his faithfulness, the story of Abram would have ended very quickly. Joshua gives us helpful insight into the character of Terah in his farewell speech at the end of his life: And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods (Joshua 24:2). Faith is not developed by living life by some kind of map, but by using Gods Word as a compass, pointing us in the right direction, but challenging us to walk by faith and not by sight. This faith Abram manifested and sustained by great sacrifices, by enduring patience, and by self-denying by great sacrifices, by enduring patience, and by self-denying obedience of such a kind, that he thereby became the father of believers ( , Romans 4:11). Genesis 11:27-32 gives a genealogy leading up to Abram and Sarai, beginning with Terah, Abram's father. Furthermore even though the call was to Abraham, God had stirred the heart of Terah to begin the journey to the very place he promised to Abraham so that when Terah died Abraham continued in God's divine will. Still, there may have been some tradition in the family, or knowledge handed down from patriarchal times, which made them look upon Canaan as their land of hope; and the expedition of Amraphel, king of Shinar, and others against the south of Palestine, recorded in Genesis 14:1-16, and confirmed by our large present knowledge of these popular movements, shows that we must not assume that, far removed from one another as were Babylonia and Canaan, therefore they were lands mutually unknown. This remains to be proven. While what was to be left behind was crystal clear, what lay ahead was distressingly devoid of detail: to the land which I will show you.. How to delete all UUID from fstab but not the UUID of boot filesystem. The Christian life is not knowing exactly what the future holds, but knowing Him Who holds the future. And, most important, I can find hope for a person like myself. In the words of Vos, Regardless of when Abraham left Ur, he turned his back on a great metropolis, setting out by faith for a land about which he knew little or nothing and which could probably offer him little from a standpoint of material benefits.132. Secondly, the Angel of God was recognised as God by those to whom He appeared, on the one hand by their addressing Him as Adonai (i.e., the Lord God; Judges 6:15), declaring that they had seen God, and fearing that they should die (Genesis 16:13; Exodus 3:6; Judges 6:22-23; Judges 13:22), and on the other hand by their paying Him divine honour, offering sacrifices which He accepted, and worshipping Him (Judges 6:20; Judges 13:19-20, cf.

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