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). It is critical to a correct understanding of Bible prophecy. He does not invest heavily in that which will not last. (n) Though the oracle of God came to Abram, yet the honour is given to Terah, because he was the father. Terah is mentioned in Jesus' genealogy in Luke 3:34. The writer wished to stress here the positive aspects of the Christians walk, not his failures. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Having called Abram, it was God Who providentially brought Abram to the point of leaving home and homeland and entering Canaan. 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. l. 1. c. 6. sect. God is not only sovereign in salvation, but sovereign in the process of sanctification. 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. Genesis 12:1 is the only call by God to Abraham noted in scripture. Terah was just too old, by that time, to actually make any life in Canaan, and might even have died from the long journey that would have been required to get all the way to Canaan. Terah coordinated the journey, intending to go to this new land, but stopped in the city of Haran along the way, where he died at the age of 205. He had twelve chief gods, one for each month of the year, and other idols. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). 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). 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. The second promise of the Abrahamic Covenant was that of a great nation coming from Abram. 2. Acts 17:27). 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. Terah, their father, coordinated the gathering of his family to journey west to their destination ( Genesis 11:31 ). The Hebrew word for "served" can also mean to "work," hence the tradition that Terah was a craftsman who made idols. Think of it. This chapter leaves them about mid-way between Ur and Canaan, where they dwelt till Terah's death. I am greatly distressed by the glamorizing of heroes, especially by Christians. The beginning of Genesis 12:1 indicate that the call had already been given and the response was only now being recorded. In this life we cannot expect to fully possess what lies in the future, but only to survey it. Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. One of the first questions I had to answer for my current project was: why would only part of Abraham's family leave Ur? Beyond this, Abram was destined to become a blessing to men of every nation. At the time of the call, Abram did not know where this land was. 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. Consequently such passages as Psalm 34:7; Psalm 35:5-6, etc., where the angel of Jehovah is not more particularly described, or Numbers 20:16, where the general term angel is intentionally employed, or Acts 7:30; Galatians 3:19, and Hebrews 2:2, where the words are general and indefinite, furnish no evidence that the Angel of Jehovah, who proclaimed Himself in His appearances as one with God, was not in reality equal with God, unless we are to adopt as the rule for interpreting Scripture the inverted principle, that clear and definite statements are to be explained by those that are indefinite and obscure. 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. 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. 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. Historians share that the father of Serug was Reu. Question:Clive wrote"I really enjoyed your Bible study. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). 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. Even to Noah He revealed Himself before the flood as one who was present on the earth. Rauwolff, who was in this town A. D. 1575, calls it Orpha; his account of it is this (q), that it is a costly city, with a castle situated on the hill very pleasantly; that the town is very pleasant, pretty big, with fortifications well provided; and that some say it was anciently called Haran and Charras: a later traveller (r) says, who also calls it Orpha,"the air of this city is very healthful, and the country fruitful; that it is built four square, the west part standing on the side of a rocky mountain, and the east part tendeth into a spacious valley, replenished with vineyards, orchards, and gardens: the walls are very strong, furnished with great store of artillery, and contain in circuit three English miles, and, for the gallantness of its sight, it was once reckoned the metropolitical seat of Mesopotamia. God also appeared to Moses at the time of his call (Exodus 3:2, etc.). 4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. Why was Abraham promised land that belonged to others (Genesis 12)? To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. This intimates that he would have proceeded with the others to the land of Kenaan if his life had been prolonged, and likewise that they did not leave Haran until his death. (n) Nat. I can identify with men and women like this. Terah was the son of Nahor, who was of Noah's son's Shem's line. are patent descriptions/images in public domain? With God's calling of Terah in verse 31, Ancient Israel was set on an irrevocable course. Map of Ancient Mesoptomia (Courtesy israel-a-history-of.com). Isaac also was strong in patience and hope; and Jacob wrestled in faith amidst painful circumstances of various kinds, until he had secured the blessing of the promise. Consequently, Terah was 130 years old when Abraham was born (205 -75 =130). Haran.The Charran of Acts 7:4, that is, Carrhae in North-west Mesopotamia, about twenty geographical miles south-east of Edessa. For unknown reasons, Terah never made it to their destination but stopped and settled in Harran instead. Abram was called, that through him all the families of the earth might be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). It was not until chapter 15 that a full description of the land was given: On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18). 133-134. I see Terah took Abram, Lot & Sarai to go to Canaan, & died on route in Haran, seemingly before God spoke to Abram to leave his country. And if we are honest with ourselves, that is just about where most of us are. God, in His electing grace, chose Abram to follow Him, while he was going his own way. 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. It is difficult to believe that Abrams public act of worship was not noted and viewed with particular interest by the Canaanites. 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. They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Paddan Aram region. We must confine ourselves to the passages in which "the Angel of Jehovah" is actually referred to. Later he was instructed to go up to Bethel (35:1; cf. 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. 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. Cassuto has suggested that the places mentioned (Shechem, Bethel, the Negev) are significant. Terah may have told Abraham why he was leaving Ur and why he decided to settle in Haran. Charan was Lot's father so he lived to be at least a young man, but he died before his own father Terah did. 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. . (j) Ut supra. Do stay around and if you are willing to answer another questions, please read. God was going to make a new nation, not merely revise an existing one. Aben Ezra suggests, that the agreeableness of the place to Terah caused him to continue there; but it is very probable he was seized with a disease which obliged them to stay here, and of which he died. 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.)<. In Genesis 11, we read that Terah came from Ur of the Chaldeans. We gather also that the Divine summons came to Abram in Ur (see Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:2), but we learn in Genesis 12:1 that his final destination was not then definitely told him. Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:30). How to delete all UUID from fstab but not the UUID of boot filesystem. Acts 7:2-4 supports this single call theory: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in For the essential unity of the Angel of Jehovah with Jehovah Himself follows indisputably from the following facts. The Christian life is not knowing exactly what the future holds, but knowing Him Who holds the future. The former appears to us to be the only scriptural view. Pharaoh, for example, was blessed by exalting Joseph. Terah wanted to leave Ur because he was afraid a war would start. The first eleven chapters have often been called primeval history. The last chapters are known as patriarchal history. While the effect of mans sin has become increasingly widespread, the fulfillment of the promise of God in Genesis 3:15 has become more selective. (i) Elmacinus, p. 31. apud Hottinger. (p) Itinerarium, p. 60. God is not nearly so concerned with geography as He is with godliness. Abram would have been on social security for over ten years. 58-64. Terah took him out of Ur (Genesis ch.11). 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). 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. It is probable that the revelation Abram had received from heaven was the means of removing this cloud from his mind, and restoring in him the knowledge and worship of the true God. Ephesians 2:19, I Peter 1:17, 2:11). It is there that the specific details of the covenant are spelled out. Since Abram was unwilling or unable to leave his father's house, God took Abram's father in death (11:32). In Genesis chapter 11, we are told that Terah, his son Abram, his grandson Lot and his daughter-in-law Sarai left their hometown called the Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the Land of Canaan. I would hope that our study of the initial period of his life indicates otherwise. The form of the Angel of Jehovah, which was discernible by the senses, varied according to the purpose of the appearance; and, apart from Genesis 21:17 and Genesis 22:11, we have a sufficient proof that it was not a real angelic appearance, or the appearance of a created angel, in the fact that in two instances it was not really an angel at all, but a flame of fire and a shining cloud which formed the earthly substratum of the revelation of God in the Angel of Jehovah (Exodus 3:2; Exodus 14:19), unless indeed we are to regard natural phenomena as angels, without any scriptural warrant for doing so. Through all of his experiences he must come to see God as the origin of all that will endure. Stagers, Genesis, p . There is no conflict here, since Haran was a CITY in the REGION known as Mesopotamia. That is the message of the New Testament (cf. Was afraid a war would start chief gods, one for each month of the Covenant... 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