Abraham was 75 years old when his father, Terah, passed away at 205 years of age as indicated in the book of Genesis. It is there that the specific details of the covenant are spelled out. Those who first read the book of Genesis were about to take possession of the land which was promised Abram. ------------------------------------------------------------. Do what God tells you to do in the most sensible way you know how. He dare not become too attached to that which he cannot take with him. James referred to Abraham as a man who demonstrated his faith to men by his works (James 2:21-23). Abrams early history is partly that of his gradual disentanglement from country, kindred and fathers house, a process not completed until the end of chapter 13. Derek Kidner, Genesis (Chicago: InterVarsity Press, 1967), p. 113. In the first place, the Angel of God identifies Himself with Jehovah and Elohim, by attributing to Himself divine attributes and performing divine works: e.g., Genesis 22:12, "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me" (i.e., hast been willing to offer him up as a burnt sacrifice to God); again (to Hagar) Genesis 16:10, "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude;" Genesis 21, "I will make him a great nation,"-the very words used by Elohim in Genesis 17:20 with reference to Ishmael, and by Jehovah in Genesis 13:16; Genesis 15:4-5, with regard to Isaac; also Exodus 3:6., "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, and I am come down to deliver them" (cf. Terah received instructions from God to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into the land of Canaan. And lastly, it appeared still more manifestly in the twin sons born by Rebekah to Isaac, of whom the first-born, Esau, was rejected, and the younger, Jacob, chosen to be the heir of the promise; and this choice, which was announced before their birth, was maintained in spite of Isaac's plans, or that Jacob, and not Esau, received the blessing of the promise. But when they came Having called Abram, it was God Who providentially brought Abram to the point of leaving home and homeland and entering Canaan. "They came to Haran and dwelt there." Once, Terah needed to leave his store, and he appointed Abraham to sell the idols in his stead. Stephen informs us in Acts 7:2 "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The sovereignty of God in salvation is beautifully illustrated in the call of Abram. On the other hand, Gods command was deliberately vague. Even if we render this passage, with Delitzsch, "making His messengers of winds, His servants of flaming fire," the allusion, as Delitzsch himself observes, is not to the creation of angels; nor can the meaning be, that God gives wind and fire to His angels as the material of their appearance, and as it were of their self-incorporation. Though proceeding by easy stages, the aged patriarch seems to have been exhausted by the length and the difficulty of the way. Twenty years? Terah, Jewish literature records, was a craftsman who made idols. In our best moments, our faith is vibrant and vital, but in the moments of testing, it is weak and wanting. 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. Do you believe it? 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). 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. Additionally, we can conjecture that he was born sometime during the 20th century BCE and dwelt in the land of Ur, commonly referred to as Ur III by historians. We often read of Abraham, the man of faith, supposing that he was always that kind of man. It is of interest to note that Islam holds Abram second in importance to Mohammed, with the Koran referring to Abraham 188 times.128. God providentially led Terah to pull up roots at Ur and to move toward Canaan (11:31). 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. God said it. ), which were repeated throughout the whole of the Old Testament, and even occurred, though only in vision, in the case of the prophet Zechariah. This would be a slow, arduous and dangerous journey. d. What we do know, is that Terah NEVER LEFT Haran but died when the blessings were there . But isnt that enough? Pharaoh, for example, was blessed by exalting Joseph. 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. 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. As Abram went from place to place, the will of God must have seemed like a riddle. Consequently, Terah was 130 years old when Abraham was born (205 -75 =130). - 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. 129 Cyrus Gordon has suggested that the true Ur of Genesis 11:31 is to be found in northern Mesopotamia, probably northeast of Haran. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other 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. (Note: In the old Jewish synagogue the Angel of Jehovah was regarded as the Shechinah, the indwelling of God in the world, i.e., the only Mediator between God and the world, who bears in the Jewish theology the name Metatron. Terah took him out of Ur (Genesis ch.11). That is my query, Hi Carel, welcome to the BH site. Most of the errors so popular in Christian circles concerning the nature of the life of faith can be corrected by a study of the life of Abraham. Stephen informs us in Acts 7:2 Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Since Abram was unwilling or unable to leave his father's house, God took Abram's father in death (11:32). 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). The family were in the city of Haran for five years. In any event, Abraham "set out for the land of Canaan, thus they came to the land of Canaan" ( Gen 12:5 ). 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. 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). Abrams age was not a factor in favor of leaving Ur for some unknown land either. 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. It follows that he was born when Terah was one hundred and thirty years old, and consequently sixty years after Haran. Do you realize that it was probably years from the time Abram was called in Ur until he ended up in Canaan. Those who recognized the hand of God in Abram and his descendants would be blessed by contact with them. 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. set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN? For neither in the New Testament nor in the Alex. 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). "A faith, which laid hold of the word of promise, and on the strength of that word gave up the visible and present for the invisible and future, was the fundamental characteristic of the patriarchs" (Delitzsch). It tells us that verses 27-32 of chapter 11 are parenthetical,133 and not strictly in chronological order. In fact, there was a workshop in Terah's house, where idols of wood, stone, silver and gold were made. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. If His Word is not true and reliable, then we, of all men, are most miserable.. So Terah was finally convinced to believe that Shem's advice was right. in relation to Terah's genealogy, Abram's family in relation to Terah's death, the form of the 'calling' verb, the country Abram departed from, and the narrative art of the literary piece. Genesis 11:27-32 gives a genealogy leading up to Abram and Sarai, beginning with Terah, Abram's father. The New Testament in no way diminishes the significance of the life and character of Abraham. God providentially led Terah to pull up roots at Ur and to move toward Canaan (11:31). . 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. This chapter leaves them about mid-way between Ur and Canaan, where they dwelt till Terah's death. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Moses account of his initial steps of faith makes it evident that much was to be desired, and to be developed in him. Why was Abraham promised land that belonged to others (Genesis 12)? Terah set out on his journey, no doubt, as soon after the call of Abram as the preparatory arrangements could be made. Real blessing does not come from toil and agonizing hours of labor, but from the fruit of intimacy, namely children. 134 Cassuto, the great Jewish scholar disagrees. 2. In other cases He revealed Himself merely by calling and speaking from heaven, without those who heard His voice perceiving any form at all; e.g., to Hagar, in Genesis 21:17., and to Abraham, Genesis 22:11. We have already mentioned the significance of Psalm 127 in relation to the efforts of man at Babel. 3: Genesis 12:1 is the Bible's record of the second time that God tells Abe to leave his father's household. 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. Does With(NoLock) help with query performance? There is no conflict here, since Haran was a CITY in the REGION known as Mesopotamia. 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. Stephen calls it Charran it is by Herodian (l) called by Ptolemy (m) Carrae, by Pliny (n) Carra, a city famous in Lucan (o) for the slaughter of Crassus, by whom it is called an Assyrian city. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Charran; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell" Acts 7:2-4. they came unto Harantwo days' journey south-southeast from Ur, on the direct road to the ford of the Euphrates at Rakka, the nearest and most convenient route to Palestine. As we will see next week, the Lord in His grace reached into a family that did not know Him and called Abram out to create a people devoted to Himself. Theologically, Genesis chapter 12 is one of the key Old Testament passages, for it contains what has been called the Abrahamic Covenant. 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.
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