Charan was Lot's father so he lived to be at least a young man, but he died before his own father Terah did. verse 6). That is my query, Hi Carel, welcome to the BH site. It could be that they left in obedience to the call of God, which we read more of in Genesis 12. And, most important, I can find hope for a person like myself. And in the land of Kenaan was Melkizedec, the king of Salem, and the priest of the Most High God. Planned Maintenance scheduled March 2nd, 2023 at 01:00 AM UTC (March 1st, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup, Ticket smash for [status-review] tag: Part Deux. The surroundings were comfortable in the civilised city of Ur, so Terah may have been reluctant to leave. There are many speculations on why Terah took his family, left the Ur of the Chaldeans and headed for Canaan. 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. 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. Acts 17:27). Nahor lived 119 years. He is promised a seed and when that seed is delayed, he must somehow see meaning in that delay and learn faith in God. Do you know that after Abram entered the land of Canaan it was another 25 years until he had his son, Isaac? As a perfectly new beginning, therefore, the patriarchal history assumed the form of a family history, in which the grace of God prepared the ground for the coming Israel. "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. 10. sect. We have already seen that Abram was seventy-five years of age at the death of Terah. This land never belonged to Abram in his lifetime, even as God had said (15:13-16). 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.). This I believe to be a significant observation, for many Christians seem to feel that Gods way is the way of the bizarre and the unusual. Answer: Family Origin and Early History. 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. And later in the story Rachel, Terah's great-great-granddaughter, does seem keen to hold on to the Teraphim (household idols) as if they were a family heirloom (Gen 31:19). We have already mentioned the significance of Psalm 127 in relation to the efforts of man at Babel. We must confine ourselves to the passages in which "the Angel of Jehovah" is actually referred to. How to delete all UUID from fstab but not the UUID of boot filesystem. Abram was, in our vernacular, no spring chicken when he left Haran for Canaan. The name must not be confounded with that of Haran, the father of Lot, as really it is in the Heb. In the triple number of the patriarchs, the divine election of the nation on the one hand, and the entire formation of the character and guidance of the life of Israel on the other, were to attain to their fullest typical manifestation. Can you fathom the fact that after leaving Haran for Canaan, God worked in Abrams life for one hundred years? Genesis 11:26-32 tells that Terah was a son of Nahor, the son of Serug, who was a descendant of Shem. Having said this, I do not wish to glorify Abrams faith either, for as we shall see, it was initially very weak. Do not expect that God will indicate each turn in the road with a clearly marked sign. The Christian life is not knowing exactly what the future holds, but knowing Him Who holds the future. 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. Personally I believe that there is some kind of missionary function being carried out by Abram. 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. This is why Genesis 12:1 says what it says. 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. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. 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. "They came to Haran and dwelt there." Abram was secure and comfortable in Ur, a great city. The mid-life crisis would have been past history for him. l. 4. sect. (1) Abrams faith was commenced at the initiative of God. Christian faith grows. Not only did Terah worship idols, but he even operated a business selling deities. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran ( Genesis 11:26-32 ESV ). Abram came from a pagan home. 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. That first time, about which Stephen speaks, was God's way of at once (a) prophesying of Abe's eventual leaving his father's household, and (b) provoking Abe to evangelize his as-yet-still idolatrous father, Terah and, through Terah's conversion, to convert all of Terah's household. 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. Our permanent home is not to be found in this world, but in the one that is to come, in the presence of our Lord (cf. 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. Gordons view is held by Harold G. Stiflers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), pp. "Now these are the generations of Terah. l. 1. v. 105. But as we look back upon it, we can see that God was leading all the way. 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). Now Abram was one hundred years old when Isaac was born, and consequently the call was given when he was seventy years of age - about five years before he entered the land of Kenaan Genesis 12:4. I hope that's helpful Clive. Genesis 11:27-32 gives a genealogy leading up to Abram and Sarai, beginning with Terah, Abram's father. I am saying that Abram obeyed God in faith, but it was a very little faith, and a very late faith. Terah may have told Abraham why he was leaving Ur and why he decided to settle in Haran. Besides, Abram and Sarai were no doubt especially dear to him, and he did not wish to lose their society. This is knowable to us by putting together five sources: 1: The very few Biblical references to the idolatry that Terah's household had practiced (ex: Joshua 24:2; Genesis 31:53b). But it seems in Genesis only the call to leave Haran is recorded. Once, Terah needed to leave his store, and he appointed Abraham to sell the idols in his stead. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. Filial piety, no doubt, kept Abram watching over the last days of his venerable parents, who probably still cling to the fond hope of reaching the land of his adoption. 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 land, as we have already said, is implied in verse 1. It is critical to a correct understanding of Bible prophecy. The Scriptures show that Terah was 70 year. There is no conflict here, since Haran was a CITY in the REGION known as Mesopotamia. So far as we can tell, then, Terah was an idolater, like those of his days. Terah died in Haran (Genesis 11:32), so Abraham was free to follow that call. 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. However, Abraham discouraged potential customers from buying the idols, explaining to them the futility of worshipping statues that were only fashioned that very day. Pharaoh, for example, was blessed by exalting Joseph. It was not in Haran, as a casual reading of Genesis 12 might incline us to believe, but in Ur. James referred to Abraham as a man who demonstrated his faith to men by his works (James 2:21-23). Without it we are inclined to think that the call of Abram came at Haran, rather than at Ur. . Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. (n) Nat. In the light of all the objections which might be raised by Abram, such an appearance should not be unusual. 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. 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. Why did God allow Lots daughters to later have sex with their father? Later he was instructed to go up to Bethel (35:1; cf. Do you realize that it was probably years from the time Abram was called in Ur until he ended up in Canaan. Think of it. But does such a claim contradict the words of Scripture? In Genesis 11, we read that Terah came from Ur of the Chaldeans. The answer is because God told him to (Genesis ch.12). God called him to leave that city and to exchange his townhouse for a tent. Terah was the son of Nahor, who was of Noah's son's Shem's line. Abraham received only one call (Genesis 12:1). But we know from Stephens words that the call came to Abram at Ur (Acts 7:2). As the writer to the Hebrews put it, 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. 128 S. Schultz, Abraham, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975, 1976), I, p. 26. God was therein posing to Abe the idea of rejecting Terah as unworthy of Abe's full evangelistic effort. 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. Stephen informs us in Acts 7:2 "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. This is the reason why we have placed one hundred and thirty (seventy and sixty), in the genealogical table opposite Terah, because the line of descent is not traced through Haran, who was born when he was seventy, but through Abram, who by plain inference was born when he was one hundred and thirty years old. With God's calling of Terah in verse 31, Ancient Israel was set on an irrevocable course. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations shall be blessed in you. So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer (Galatians 3:7-9). Here was the basis for the great name that God would give to Abram. 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. Accordingly, the name of the true God was known and revered, at least in outward form, wherever Abram went, throughout the land. 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). 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. Genesis 2:5). Terah, Abraham's father, was grieving for his son Haran. 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. Abraham was the tenth generation from Noah through Shem and was born 352 years after the Deluge, in 2018 B.C.E. (n) Though the oracle of God came to Abram, yet the honour is given to Terah, because he was the father. (m) Geograph. Much more important than where he was, God was concerned with who he was, and in Whom he trusted. 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. First, what would motivate Terah to uproot his family and leave the great city of Ur to travel 1,000 miles to the land of Canaan? Are there conventions to indicate a new item in a list? Abram had two brothers, Nahor and Charan (often anglicized as "Haran"), but Charan died. 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). If His Word is not true and reliable, then we, of all men, are most miserable.. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his They strove to find security and renown by banding together and building a great city (11:3-4). We often read of Abraham, the man of faith, supposing that he was always that kind of man. 5.) 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. 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