(The date that Abram left the city of Ur and other patriarchs' timelines can be read here. Can a private person deceive a defendant to obtain evidence? 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. Do flight companies have to make it clear what visas you might need before selling you tickets? God is not nearly so concerned with geography as He is with godliness. It only takes a minute to sign up. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Hence, Abram is placed first in the list of Terah's sons, simply on account of his personal pre-eminence as the father of the faithful and the ancestor of the promised seed; he and his brother Nahor are both much younger than Haran, are married only after his death, and one of them to his grown-up daughter Milkah; and he and his nephew Lot are meet companions in age as well as in spirit. (i) Elmacinus, p. 31. apud Hottinger. Stephen informs us in Acts 7:2 Brothers and fathers, listen to me. And that brings us to the second reason. How long have you been a Christian, my friend? But why did they intend to go into the land of Canaan? As Abram subsequently continued this migration in simple dependance upon Gods guidance (Genesis 12:1), it was probably the Divine rather than the human purpose that is here expressed. When Sarah died, he had to buy a portion of the land for a burial site (23:3ff.). So Terah was finally convinced to believe that Shem's advice was right. Why did God punish Pharaoh for Abrams lie (Genesis 12:17)? (r) Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 14, 15. 24. Moses tells us that Abram was 75 when he entered the land of Canaan. The need for spiritual purity surpassed the need for genetic purity at this particular point in time. (n) Nat. (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. We will examine these, first of all, for the purpose of obtaining a clear conception of the form in which the Angel of Jehovah appeared. It follows that he was born when Terah was one hundred and thirty years old, and consequently sixty years after Haran. Is this inconsistent with the words of the writer to the Hebrews? 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. There are ample evidences of elaborate wealth, skilled craftsmanship, and advanced technology and science.131 All of this tells us something of the city which Abram was commanded to leave. It could be that they left in obedience to the call of God, which we read more of in Genesis 12. 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. The faith to which we are called is not faith in a plan, but faith in a person. 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). Terah started out well (11:31), journeyed about four months, probably stopped at Babylon and then did something very strange. Stephen clarifies the time that Abram was first called of God. The Chaldeans, no longer in existence,. Hence, they all abode in Haran for the remainder of the five years from the date of Abram's call to leave his native land. Did God give an oath to Isaac as alluded in Psalms 105:8-10? Those who first read the book of Genesis were about to take possession of the land which was promised Abram. The answer is because God told him to (Genesis ch.12). Paul chose Abraham as the finest example of a man who is justified before God by faith apart from works (Romans 4). Exodus 13:21. When Terah died, Abraham was free to set out from Haran on his way to Canaan. Terah was accordingly two hundred years old when he undertook the long journey to the land of Kenaan; for he died at two hundred and five, when Abram was seventy-five. Hence the new form which the divine guidance of the human race assumed in the call of Abram was connected with the general development of the world, - in the one hand, by the fact that Abram belonged to the family of Shem, which Jehovah had blessed, and on the other, by his not being called alone, but as a married man with his wife. Ur was in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and was the starting point for Abraham's journey to Canaan. 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). Romans 9:6-13). This whole calculation exactly agrees with the incidental statement of Paul to the Galatians Gal 3:17 that the law was four hundred and thirty years after the covenant of promise. Did Abraham leave Haran before or after his father died? and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, Terah and Abram went forth with Lot and Sarai, or "with them" may mean with Nahor and Milcah: for Josephus (h) says, that all went into Charan of Mesopotamia, the whole family of Terah; and the Arabic historian (i) is express for it,"Terah went out from Chorasan, and with him Abram, Nahor, Lot, his children, and their wives, and he went to Charan, where he dwelt:''and it is certain, if Nahor and his wife did not set out with them, they followed them afterwards, for Haran was the city of Nahor, where his family in later times dwelt, see Genesis 14:10 what moved Terah to depart from Ur of the Chaldees seems to be the call of God to Abram, which, though after related, was previous to this; and he acquainting his father Terah with it, he listened to it, being now convinced of his idolatry and converted from it, and readily obeyed the divine will; and being the father of Abram, is represented as the head of the family, as he was, and their leader in this transaction; who encouraged their departure from the idolatrous country in which they were, and set out with them to seek another, where they might more freely and safely worship the true God. rev2023.3.1.43266. The foundation for this was laid by God in the call and separation of Abram from his people and his country, to make him, by special guidance, the father of a nation from which the salvation of the world should come. And if we are honest with ourselves, that is just about where most of us are. Thus, he seems to have rejected Stephens words flatly. The surroundings were comfortable in the civilised city of Ur, so Terah may have been reluctant to leave. He is removed to the better country, and by his departure contributes no doubt to deepen the faith of his son Abram, of his grandson Lot, and of his daughter-in-law Sarai. (l) Hist. But whilst, regarded in this light, the continuity of the divine revelation was guaranteed, as well as the plan of human development established in the creation itself, the call of Abram introduced so far the commencement of a new period, that to carry out the designs of God their very foundations required to be renewed. People came to offer sacrifices to these idols, or to buy them, and Terah had a thriving business. Now Abram obeyed God by faith and entered into the land of Canaan, but only after considerable preparatory steps had been taken by God. as an appearance of "the angel of Elohim," and of "the God of Bethel" (Genesis 31:11, Genesis 31:13); and in his blessing on the sons of Joseph (Genesis 48:15-16), "The God (Elohim) before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God (Elohim) which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads," he places the angel of God on a perfect equality with God, not only regarding Him as the Being to whom he has been indebted for protection all his life long, but entreating from Him a blessing upon his descendants. When he is commanded to sacrifice Isaac, he must obey with a willing heart of love, yet somehow see through to balance the command with the promise of the seed of a nation and leave the outcome to God and to find in God all sufficiency. The second promise of the Abrahamic Covenant was that of a great nation coming from Abram. Without it we are inclined to think that the call of Abram came at Haran, rather than at Ur. I respect Abraham for not only leaving the security of his father's home, but also the familiarity of his father's faith. Lucan. 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. One purpose of the genealogy of chapter 11 is that it informs us that men were living shorter lives, and having children younger. 131 The city of Ur on the lower Euphrates River was a large population center, and has yielded extensive information in the royal tombs which were excavated under the direction of Sir Leonard Wooley and the sponsorship of the British Museum and the museum of Pennsylvania University. No stop along the path was irrelevant or without purpose. That settles it. The preacher said it could be said even shorter. - On the other hand, the objection is raised, that in the New Testament, which is confessedly the Greek rendering of , is always a created angel, and for that reason cannot be the uncreated Logos or Son of God, since the latter could not possibly have announced His own birth to the shepherds at Bethlehem. The account that can be deduced from these four sources looks like this: Abe had had decisive contact from Shem, as is implied by the fact that Shem's autobiographical account (Genesis 11:10-23) ends with Abe. The command of God to Abram was in conjunction with an appearance of God.134 While Moses mentioned only an appearance of God after Abram was in the land (12:7), Stephen informs us that God appeared to Abram while in Ur (Acts 7:2). 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). Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. ). 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. In one sense, the command of God to Abram was very specific. The revelations consisted almost exclusively of promises; and so far as these promises were fulfilled in the lives of the patriarchs, the fulfilments themselves were predictions and pledges of the ultimate and complete fulfilment, reserved for a distant, or for the most remote futurity. Terah died in Haran (Genesis 11:32), so Abraham was free to follow that call. Historians share that the father of Serug was Reu. The writer wished to stress here the positive aspects of the Christians walk, not his failures. Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charran.(NIV). Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. - Terah takes the lead in this emigration, as the patriarch of the family. Haran.The Charran of Acts 7:4, that is, Carrhae in North-west Mesopotamia, about twenty geographical miles south-east of Edessa. God had called him to gather his family and leave Ur behind. He must leave his country, his relatives, and his fathers house. Does With(NoLock) help with query performance? We are, as I said before, never told why he packs it in in Ur and heads for Canaan. Terah left the city of Ur probably for two reasons: 1. p. 282. He does not invest heavily in that which will not last. "Abraham was a man of faith that works; Isaac, of faith that endures; Jacob, of faith that wrestles" (Baumgarten). Why did Lot offer up his daughters to be gang raped? Abram was secure and comfortable in Ur, a great city. - 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. Those who recognized the hand of God in Abram and his descendants would be blessed by contact with them. The family were in the city of Haran for five years. A look at a map of the ancient world of patriarchal times would indicate that Abram traveled the well-trodden roads of his day.135 This route was that commonly traveled by those who engaged in the commerce of those days. There are nearly 75 references to him in the New Testament. Genesis 11:26-32 tells that Terah was a son of Nahor, the son of Serug, who was a descendant of Shem. 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. Abrams life is a growth in faith developed under delayed fulfillment of divine promises. To this hope our Lord, the Messiah, spoke, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad (John 8:56). The force of these facts has been met by the assertion, that the ambassador perfectly represents the person of the sender; and evidence of this is adduced not only from Grecian literature, but from the Old Testament also, where the addresses of the prophets often glide imperceptibly into the words of Jehovah, whose instrument they are. While not all Bible students agree on the location of Ur,129 most agree that it is the Ur of southern Mesopotamia, on what used to be the coast of the Persian Gulf. The Hebrew word for "served" can also mean to "work," hence the tradition that Terah was a craftsman who made idols. The Chaldeans, no longer in existence, predate Israel. The people of Haran served the same moon god as the people in Terah's former location, the southern Mesopotamian "city of Ur". But at the point of Abrams call, he was a man whose faith was meager; real, but meager. As we turn our attention to Genesis chapter 12 let us do so with an eye to Abraham as an example of the walk of faith. What was Terah's son named? If we fix our eyes upon the method of the divine revelation, we find a new beginning in this respect, that as soon as Abram is called, we read of the appearing of God. Little wonder that men like Peter and not Paul, are our heroes, for we can see ourselves in them. I do not find such people in the Bible. At the time of the call, Abram did not know where this land was. 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. (q) Travels, par. Chapter 12 begins a new division in the book of Genesis. The mid-life crisis would have been past history for him. It should first of all be said that it was the route we would have expected him to have taken if he were going in that direction. 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. Terah left the city of Ur probably for two reasons: 1. They strove to find security and renown by banding together and building a great city (11:3-4). What a thrill that must have been for the people of Moses day to read this promise and realize that the time for possession had come. Is the Angel of the Lord identifying as God? All he had to rely upon was God, Who had revealed Himself to him. 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. 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. Since Abram was unwilling or unable to leave his fathers house, God took Abrams father in death (11:32). Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. The early Church regarded Him as the Logos, the second person of the Deity; and only a few of the fathers, such as Augustine and Jerome, thought of a created angel (vid., Hengstenberg, Christol. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Question:Clive wrote"I really enjoyed your Bible study. (Tomkins Studies on Times of Abraham, 55ff.). Ur was a large and prosperous city-state in Mesopotamia (present-day southern Iraq). When Terah died, Abraham was free to set out from Haran on his way to Canaan. There is a dispute about that too, if we take into account the Samaritan Pentateuch we accept a version that states that Terah only lived 145 years. Acts 17:27). Vos, Genesis and Archaeology, pp. For the election of God was not restricted to the separation of Abram from the family of Shem, to be the father of the nation which was destined to be the vehicle of salvation; it was also manifest in the exclusion of Ishmael, whom Abram had begotten by the will of man, through Hagar the handmaid of his wife, for the purpose of securing the promised seed, and in the new life imparted to the womb of the barren Sarai, and her consequent conception and birth of Isaac, the son of promise. Abraham was a man of great faithafter years of testing by God. Shem had converted Abe. Besides, Abram and Sarai were no doubt especially dear to him, and he did not wish to lose their society. The inhabitants also of Ur had fallen into polytheism, or, if we may so speak, allotheism, the worship of other gods. He is promised a seed and when that seed is delayed, he must somehow see meaning in that delay and learn faith in God. (k) Ibid. But as soon as Abram had gone to Canaan, in obedience to the call of God, Jehovah appeared to him there (Genesis 12:7). Terahs migration was partly perhaps a movement of a tribe of the Semites northwards (see Note on Genesis 11:28), made restless by the Elamites, who about this time overran Western Asia; but chiefly it had a religious motive: for Ur was the especial seat of the worship of the moon-god, Sin; and though Terah had not attained to the purity of Abrahams faith, yet neither was he altogether an idolater. As the writer to the Hebrews put it, he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). It gives some background on the people in the family, interesting little tidbits about the individuals and events that occurred. Moses account of his initial steps of faith makes it evident that much was to be desired, and to be developed in him. Nahor lived 119 years. 2. Do stay around and if you are willing to answer another questions, please read. Why was Abraham promised land that belonged to others (Genesis 12)? Christian faith grows. 129 Cyrus Gordon has suggested that the true Ur of Genesis 11:31 is to be found in northern Mesopotamia, probably northeast of Haran. Terah and his family had been chosen by God to establish His seed on earth. At both Shechem and Bethel he built altars, like Abram, his grandfather (33:20; 35:7). For , constructed with two accusatives, the second of which expresses the materia ex qua, is never met with in this sense, not even in 2 Chronicles 4:18-22. 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