Terah may have told Abraham why he was leaving Ur and why he decided to settle in Haran. 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.) Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran." Now Abram obeyed God by faith and entered into the land of Canaan, but only after considerable preparatory steps had been taken by God. 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). 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. For unknown reasons, Terah never made it to their destination but stopped and settled in Harran instead. It only takes a minute to sign up. I guess he was mad that you were allowing yourself to be misled by the other, false idols.". There may well have been political or economic factors which made such a move expedient, apart from any spiritual considerations. So far as we can tell, then, Terah was an idolater, like those of his days. Abe passed God's first personal test. Broken down with fatigue, he halts for a season at Haran to recruit his wasted powers. Men of all nations would be blessed by the Scriptures which, to a great extent, came through the instrumentality of the Jewish people. Here in chapter 12 the general features of the covenant are introduced. (o) -----------Miserando funere Crassus, Assyrias latio maculavit sanguine Carrhas. Yes, God twice told Abra(ha)m to "leave your father's household, and go to the land of Canaan." 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. On the other hand, He appeared to Moses (Exodus 3:2) in a flame of fire, speaking to him from the burning bush, and to the people of Israel in a pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 14:19, cf. 2. 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 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. 139 . Terah is the one who told the people to leave Ur Kasdim in the book of Genesis, not Abram. 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. 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. The former appears to us to be the only scriptural view. God called him in Ur, but Abram did not leave his fathers house or his relatives. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his With the choice of Abram and revelation of God to man assumed a select character, inasmuch as God manifested Himself henceforth to Abram and his posterity alone as the author of salvation and the guide to true life; whilst other nations were left to follow their own course according to the powers conferred upon them, in order that they might learn that in their way, and without fellowship with the living God, it was impossible to find peace to the soul, and the true blessedness of life (cf. (Antiqu. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Even to Noah He revealed Himself before the flood as one who was present on the earth. As the writer to the Hebrews put it, he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Starting in Genesis 11:27, we have the account of Terah's (Abraham's father) family line. 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. 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. That settles it. The preacher said it could be said even shorter. The difference is important. Do not expect that God will indicate each turn in the road with a clearly marked sign. 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. 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. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). He simply wrote, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out. Let us remember that Abram did go to Canaan, just as Moses went to Egypt, but not without considerable pressure from God. God providentially led Terah to pull up roots at Ur and to move toward Canaan (11:31). 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. But this important difference has been overlooked, that according to Greek usage, denotes an (any) angel of the Lord, whereas according to the rules of the Hebrew language means the angel of the Lord; that in the New Testament the angel who appears is always described as without the article, and the definite article is only introduced in the further course of the narrative to denote the angel whose appearance has been already mentioned, whereas in the Old Testament it is always "the Angel of Jehovah" who appears, and whenever the appearance of a created angel is referred to, he is introduced first of all as "an angel" (vid., 1 Kings 19:5 and 1 Kings 19:7). Do you believe it? Besides, Abram and Sarai were no doubt especially dear to him, and he did not wish to lose their society. 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. No wonder God commanded Abram to leave his fathers house (Genesis 12:1)! In any event, Abraham "set out for the land of Canaan, thus they came to the land of Canaan" ( Gen 12:5 ). It may be supposed at at that time God had then called Abe, and Abe's response to God's call was the dramatic ploy that Jewish oral tradition says that Abe did: Abe was determined to do anything necessary to try to convince his father, Terah, to take Shem's witness to heart. The heroes of the Bible are men with like passions (James 5:17) and feet of clay. Exodus 13:21. 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. Abram was told in detail what he must leave behind. 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. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. ), which were repeated throughout the whole of the Old Testament, and even occurred, though only in vision, in the case of the prophet Zechariah. As such, it would have been an act flowing from faith. Terah wanted to leave Ur because he was afraid a war would start. 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. A priest implies a considerable body of true worshippers scattered over the country. One of the first questions I had to answer for my current project was: why would only part of Abraham's family leave Ur? 1. (q) Travels, par. 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. David saw Him by the threshing-floor of Araunah, standing between heaven and earth, with the sword drawn in His hand and stretched out over Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 21:16); and He appeared to Zechariah in a vision as a rider upon a red horse (Zechariah 1:9.). 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. So Terah had two reasons to leave the city of Ur of the Chaldees. 135 Haran, for example, in Assyrian (harranu) meant main road. Waltke, class notes, p. 14. Specifically, Stephen's comment, in reply to the high priest (Acts 7:1), is based on Jewish oral tradition, and was recognized by the Jewish High Counsel (called the "Sanhedren"). 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran. God, in His electing grace, chose Abram to follow Him, while he was going his own way. Then, when Terah returned, saw the mess, and asked Abe what had happened. Terah's Descendants. 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. 24. 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). From Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. 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. 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. Abram, like Paul, and true believers of every age, would acknowledge that it was God Who sought him out and saved him, on the basis of divine grace. This chapter leaves them about mid-way between Ur and Canaan, where they dwelt till Terah's death. This seems to be upheld by Scripture: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and served other gods'" (Josh 24:2). 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. The faith to which we are called is not faith in a plan, but faith in a person. 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. 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. 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). To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran." Terah set out on his journey, no doubt, as soon after the call of Abram as the preparatory arrangements could be made. 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. Such will be the case as we can look back upon our lives from the vantage point of time. In the final analysis, that is all anyone can have. Does With(NoLock) help with query performance? Did God give an oath to Isaac as alluded in Psalms 105:8-10? - 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. Ur was in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and was the starting point for Abraham's journey to Canaan. Personally I believe that there is some kind of missionary function being carried out by Abram. The Christian life is not knowing exactly what the future holds, but knowing Him Who holds the future. 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. 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. Canaan, where they dwelt till Terah & # x27 ; s death statements based on ;. Why he decided to settle in Haran. was called, obeyed by going out not. Leaves them about mid-way between Ur and Canaan, where they dwelt till &... 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