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. Do you believe it? Had Abrams spiritual life depended solely upon his faithfulness, the story of Abram would have ended very quickly. Terah died in Haran (Genesis 11:32), so Abraham was free to follow that call. However, Abraham discouraged potential customers from buying the idols, explaining to them the futility of worshipping statues that were only fashioned that very day. What more should we require than Gods Word? Charan was Lot's father so he lived to be at least a young man, but he died before his own father Terah did. rev2023.3.1.43266. Abrahams blessing was largely to be seen in his descendants. Lucan. But it seems in Genesis only the call to leave Haran is recorded. But at the point of Abrams call, he was a man whose faith was meager; real, but meager. Terah, Jewish literature records, was a craftsman who made idols. We must confine ourselves to the passages in which "the Angel of Jehovah" is actually referred to. The former appears to us to be the only scriptural view. He is promised a seed and when that seed is delayed, he must somehow see meaning in that delay and learn faith in God. Ur was in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and was the starting point for Abraham's journey to Canaan. 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. For neither in the New Testament nor in the Alex. Gordons view is discussed, but rejected by Howard F. Vos, Genesis and Archaeology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963), pp. vol. Can patents be featured/explained in a youtube video i.e. For some reason, Terah and his family stopped short of Canaan, and remained in Haran. I am greatly distressed by the glamorizing of heroes, especially by Christians. Ur was a large and prosperous city-state in Mesopotamia (present-day southern Iraq). Abrams age was not a factor in favor of leaving Ur for some unknown land either. As Abram went from place to place, the will of God must have seemed like a riddle. They strove to find security and renown by banding together and building a great city (11:3-4). He obeyed unquestioningly the commands of God, from whom he received repeated promises and a covenant that his "seed" would inherit the land. 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. (i) Elmacinus, p. 31. apud Hottinger. In the light of all the objections which might be raised by Abram, such an appearance should not be unusual. He alone offers man the righteousness necessary for eternal life. 10. sect. When Terah died, Abraham was free to set out from Haran on his way to Canaan. Now Abram obeyed God by faith and entered into the land of Canaan, but only after considerable preparatory steps had been taken by God. 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.). 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. Abram was, in our vernacular, no spring chicken when he left Haran for Canaan. Terah may have told Abraham why he was leaving Ur and why he decided to settle in Haran. l. 5. c. 18. 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. 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. The early history consists of three stages, which are indicated by the three patriarchs, peculiarly so called, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and in the sons of Jacob the unity of the chosen family was expanded into the twelve immediate fathers of the nation. Why did God allow Lots daughters to later have sex with their father? "Now these are the generations of Terah. The beginning of Genesis 12:1 indicate that the call had already been given and the response was only now being recorded. 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. The Chaldeans, no longer in existence, predate Israel. They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Paddan Aram region. 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. Little wonder that men like Peter and not Paul, are our heroes, for we can see ourselves in them. Well, it was written in Genesis that his birth name was Abram, before God changed his name to Abraham, and that he was the son of Terah. Much more important than where he was, God was concerned with who he was, and in Whom he trusted. It grows through time and through testing. (Tomkins Studies on Times of Abraham, 55ff.). And, most important, I can find hope for a person like myself. 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. Terah started out well (11:31), journeyed about four months, probably stopped at Babylon and then did something very strange. 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.). And in the land of Kenaan was Melkizedec, the king of Salem, and the priest of the Most High God. Who the messenger or angel of Jehovah was, must be determined in each particular instance from the connection of the passage; and where the context furnishes no criterion, it must remain undecided. It tells us that verses 27-32 of chapter 11 are parenthetical,133 and not strictly in chronological order. 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. 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. The writer to the Hebrews pointed to Abraham as an illustration of a man who walked by faith, devoting more space to him than any other individual in chapter eleven (Hebrews 11:8-19). And as all our texts agree in the numbers here involved, it is obvious that the same adjustment of years has in this case to be made, whatever system of chronology is adopted. We must remember that Cassuto, as a Jew, did not regard the New Testament to be authoritative. 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. (n) Nat. Without it we are inclined to think that the call of Abram came at Haran, rather than at Ur. 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. Twenty years? Later he was instructed to go up to Bethel (35:1; cf. It is only when God wishes us to depart from the expected that we should look for guidance that is spectacular or unusual. 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 follows that he was born when Terah was one hundred and thirty years old, and consequently sixty years after Haran. "Abraham was a man of faith that works; Isaac, of faith that endures; Jacob, of faith that wrestles" (Baumgarten). Terah ends up dying in Haran. The difference is important. One of the first questions I had to answer for my current project was: why would only part of Abraham's family leave Ur? That is my query, Hi Carel, welcome to the BH site. Why did Lot offer up his daughters to be gang raped? Do stay around and if you are willing to answer another questions, please read. The mid-life crisis would have been past history for him. Of this long period his seed was to be a stranger in a land that was not theirs for four hundred years Genesis 15:13. This was God's first direct test of Abe, and Abe passed with flying colors. Therefore, the failures are not mentioned. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! What was Terah's son named? 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). A priest implies a considerable body of true worshippers scattered over the country. This view was adopted by many Romish theologians, by the Socinians, Arminians, and others, and has been defended recently by Hoffmann, whom Delitzsch, Kurtz, and others follow. ). Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. 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. The people of Haran served the same moon god as the people in Terah's former location, the southern Mesopotamian "city of Ur". Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. There may well have been political or economic factors which made such a move expedient, apart from any spiritual considerations. At the time of the call, Abram did not know where this land was. I respect Abraham for not only leaving the security of his father's home, but also the familiarity of his father's faith. p. 282. 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). (4) The Christian walk is rooted in the reliability of the Word of God. It is true that from the very beginning God had manifested Himself visibly to men; but in the olden time we read nothing of appearances, because before the flood God had not withdrawn His presence from the earth. Abram was told in detail what he must leave behind. 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. 129 Cyrus Gordon has suggested that the true Ur of Genesis 11:31 is to be found in northern Mesopotamia, probably northeast of Haran. Mesopotamia, probably northeast of Haran Genesis 15:13 son named Cyrus Gordon has suggested that the call had already given! I am greatly distressed by the glamorizing of heroes, especially by Christians confine ourselves to the Paddan region! Stranger in a land that was not theirs for four hundred and thirty years old, in. Stay around and if you are willing to answer another questions, read... 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