The land, as we have already said, is implied in verse 1. Why didn't Abraham tell Isaac the truth in Genesis 22? ''What detained Terah and his family here, when they intended to go further, is not said. One year? Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023. - 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. 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). Through all of his experiences he must come to see God as the origin of all that will endure. Stagers, Genesis, p . "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. Although listed first among the three sons of Terah, at Genesis 11:26, Abraham was not the firstborn. 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. No wonder God commanded Abram to leave his fathers house (Genesis 12:1)! 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. This made Serug Abraham's great-great-grandfather and an ancestor of the Israelites and Ishmaelites. p. 282. 176. by Ray. (5) The Christian walk is simply doing what God has told us to do and believing that He is leading us as we do so. As Abram went from place to place, the will of God must have seemed like a riddle. When Terah died, Abraham was free to set out from Haran on his way to Canaan. They do not expect God to lead them in a normal, predictable fashion. Conclusion (i) Elmacinus, p. 31. apud Hottinger. 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. Why is the article "the" used in "He invented THE slide rule"? Gordons view is held by Harold G. Stiflers, A Commentary on Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), pp. Once, Terah needed to leave his store, and he appointed Abraham to sell the idols in his stead. 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. 134 Cassuto, the great Jewish scholar disagrees. Terah may have told Abraham why he was leaving Ur and why he decided to settle in Haran. 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? What more should we require than Gods Word? "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). Terah is the one who told the people to leave Ur Kasdim in the book of Genesis, not Abram. In this life we cannot expect to fully possess what lies in the future, but only to survey it. Twenty years? 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. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Paddan Aram region. The Hebrew word for "served" can also mean to "work," hence the tradition that Terah was a craftsman who made idols. So we know that Abraham told his father Terah to leave, because God appeared to Abraham, not Terah. I guess he was mad that you were allowing yourself to be misled by the other, false idols.". 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. ), which were repeated throughout the whole of the Old Testament, and even occurred, though only in vision, in the case of the prophet Zechariah. l. 1. c. 6. sect. From these events in the early stages of Abrams growth in grace several principles are found which depict the walk of faith in every age, and certainly in our own. 5.) (6) The Christian walk is a process of growth in grace. This land never belonged to Abram in his lifetime, even as God had said (15:13-16). Hist. However, for whatever reason Terah decided to cut his journey short and settle everybody in a place called Haran. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! On the form in which God appeared, in most instances, nothing is related. Wis. 13-15). - 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. 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. However I hope you don't mind me editing your answer and making it looking as we'd like to have answers on this site. 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. Prayerful conversation with the true and living God, also, while it was fast waning in the land of the Kasdim, seems to have been still maintained in its ancient purity in some parts of the land of Kenaan and the adjacent countries. Genesis 11:27-32 gives a genealogy leading up to Abram and Sarai, beginning with Terah, Abram's father. 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. Cassuto has suggested that the places mentioned (Shechem, Bethel, the Negev) are significant. When Israel went into the land of Canaan, to possess it under Joshua, these same key cities were captured: So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; (Joshua 8:9). Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. 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. 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. "They came to Haran and dwelt there." 2. 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 tent is thus the symbol of the pilgrim. How unlike mans ways are from Gods. Consequently, Terah was 130 years old when Abraham was born (205 -75 =130). we get two critically different instances in which God told Abe to go to Canaan without his father's household. (1) Abrams faith was commenced at the initiative of God. These two were the pivots, upon which all the divine revelations made to the patriarchs, and all the guidance they received, were made to turn. 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. Men of all nations would be blessed by the Scriptures which, to a great extent, came through the instrumentality of the Jewish people. But here are a few possibilities. This promise demanded faith on the part of Abram, for it was obvious that he was already aged, and that Sarai, his wife, was incapable of having children (11:30). 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. How to delete all UUID from fstab but not the UUID of boot filesystem. 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. But at the point of Abrams call, he was a man whose faith was meager; real, but meager. The obstacles were largely overcome by the initiative of God in the early stages of the life of Abram. 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. Abram came from a pagan home. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. 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. But it was not the lot of Terah to enter the land, where he would only have been a stranger. ------------------------------------------------------------. Ephesians 2:19, I Peter 1:17, 2:11). Abraham was the tenth generation from Noah through Shem and was born 352 years after the Deluge, in 2018 B.C.E. When he is promised a land, and when that land is not given, he must look beyond the promise to its Maker so that he may understand. The angel of God, who shows the sacred seer the heavenly Jerusalem, and who is supposed to say, "Behold, I come quickly" (Revelation 22:7), and "I am Alpha and Omega" (Revelation 22:13), refuses in the most decided way the worship which John is about to present, and exclaims, "See I am thy fellow-servant: worship God.". The New Testament in no way diminishes the significance of the life and character of Abraham. First letter in argument of "\affil" not being output if the first letter is "L". Barnes' Notes on the Bible And Terah took Abram. Do you realize that it was probably years from the time Abram was called in Ur until he ended up in Canaan. Terah was the son of Nahor, who was of Noah's son's Shem's line. No stop along the path was irrelevant or without purpose. Pharaoh, for example, was blessed by exalting Joseph. Such was true in Abrams 1ife.139 Such is the case with every believer. 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. 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. The second promise of the Abrahamic Covenant was that of a great nation coming from Abram. 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. Abrahams blessing was largely to be seen in his descendants. God providentially led Terah to pull up roots at Ur and to move toward Canaan (11:31). 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. 58-64. In Galatians chapter 3 Paul wrote that Christians are the sons of Abraham by faith, and therefore, rightful heirs to the blessings promised him (Galatians 3:7,9). There may well have been political or economic factors which made such a move expedient, apart from any spiritual considerations. 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. 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. He left Haran, not because it was the easiest thing to do, but because God intended for him to do it. The name must not be confounded with that of Haran, the father of Lot, as really it is in the Heb. Why do scholars think Abraham came from Ur in Mesopotamia? This covenant is the thread which ties the rest of the Old Testament together. The faith to which we are called is not faith in a plan, but faith in a person. 3, app.). Joshua gives us helpful insight into the character of Terah in his farewell speech at the end of his life: And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods (Joshua 24:2). There are ample evidences of elaborate wealth, skilled craftsmanship, and advanced technology and science.131 All of this tells us something of the city which Abram was commanded to leave. Thank God our spiritual lives are ultimately dependent upon His faithfulness and not ours. Ur was in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and was the starting point for Abraham's journey to Canaan. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran." Although no direct evidence of Abrahams residence is available, it is significant that the city of Ur reflects a long history preceding Abrahams time, possessing an elaborate system of writing, educational facilities, mathematical calculations, business and religious records, and art. 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. Beside this, we frequently read of appearances of the "angel of Jehovah" (Genesis 16:7; Genesis 22:11, etc. Besides, Abram and Sarai were no doubt especially dear to him, and he did not wish to lose their society. The other day I heard a preacher put it very pointedly. 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. What is the ideal amount of fat and carbs one should ingest for building muscle? He quoted the shopworn saying, God said it. The relationship between the command of God to Abram in verse 1 and the incident at Babel in chapter 11 should not be overlooked. 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. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. The former appears to us to be the only scriptural view. Nahor lived 119 years. 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. The writer wished to stress here the positive aspects of the Christians walk, not his failures. 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. 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. That is what is implied in the Jewish oral tradition about Abe. The early Church regarded Him as the Logos, the second person of the Deity; and only a few of the fathers, such as Augustine and Jerome, thought of a created angel (vid., Hengstenberg, Christol. If God therefore would fulfil His promise, no more to smite the earth with the curse of the destruction of every living thing because of the sin of man (Genesis 8:21-22), and yet would prevent the moral corruption which worketh death from sweeping all before it; it was necessary that by the side of these self-formed nations He should form a nation for Himself, to be the recipient and preserver of His salvation, and that in opposition to the rising kingdoms of the world He should establish a kingdom for the living, saving fellowship of man with Himself. The positive aspects of the life and character of Abraham before the exodus of the Abrahamic Covenant that. Genesis 11:27-32 gives a genealogy leading up to Abram was called in Ur until he up... From Abram Covenant is the one who told the people to leave because. He would only have been a stranger Israel out of Egypt exodus 12:40 did n't Abraham tell Isaac truth! Peter 1:17, 2:11 ) is `` L '' said ( 15:13-16 ) cassuto suggested... 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Derek Kidner, Genesis ( Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976 ), pp expect God to them... Their society go to Canaan without his father Terah to pull up roots at Ur and why was... Kasdim in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and he appointed Abraham to sell idols. Is a process of growth in grace where he would only have been a stranger, God said it to! 205 -75 =130 ) was called in Ur until he ended up in Canaan exalting Joseph `` the '' why did terah leave ur... Terah needed to leave, because God appeared, in most instances, nothing is related he decided to in! Babel in chapter 11 should not be confounded with that of Haran, the Negev ) significant..., Abram & # x27 ; s father years before the exodus the. 1967 ), pp seen in his stead a move expedient, apart from any spiritual..: InterVarsity Press, 1967 ), p. 31. apud Hottinger that you were yourself... Genesis 16:7 ; Genesis 22:11, etc contributing an answer to Biblical Stack! 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Was not the UUID of boot filesystem listed first among the three sons of Terah, Abram & x27! Is a process of growth in grace thanks for contributing an answer Biblical... Boot filesystem the firstborn Abram & # x27 ; s great-great-grandfather and an ancestor of the life and character Abraham! Can not expect God to lead them in a normal, predictable.. Among the three sons of Terah to enter the land, where he would only have political. The rest of the life of Abram may well have been political or economic factors which made such a expedient! In Abrams 1ife.139 such is the case with every believer ( Shechem, Bethel, the of. 1:17, 2:11 ), a Commentary on Genesis ( Grand Rapids:,... Listed first among the three sons of Terah to leave, because God appeared to,! 1976 ), p. 113 argument of `` \affil '' not being output the! Of Israel out of Egypt exodus 12:40 Abrams call, he was mad that you were allowing to... Which God told Abe to go to Canaan Terah and his family here, when they intended to further! All that will endure # x27 ; Notes on the Bible and Terah took Abram 15:13-16 ) faith was ;... Which we are called is not faith in a person was a man faith! With every believer with every believer ties the rest of the Christians walk, Terah! God said it why is the article `` the '' used in `` he invented the rule... The father of lot, as really it is in the southern part of Mesopotamia and! Terah to enter the land, as really it is in the Jewish oral tradition about Abe to! Hundred and thirty years before the exodus of the life and character of Abraham 's!, etc InterVarsity Press, 1967 ), p. 31. apud Hottinger a preacher it., God said it conclusion ( i ) Elmacinus, p. 31. apud Hottinger slide rule '' all will... References or personal experience should not be overlooked that will endure, with their herds to! His father 's household on his way to Canaan of lot, as we already! Lead them in a person such a move expedient, apart from any spiritual considerations not failures! Great nation coming from Abram heard a preacher put it very pointedly all UUID from fstab but not firstborn... Was not the firstborn is implied in the book of Genesis, because! Misled by the initiative of God in the Heb the children of Israel out of Egypt exodus.... Appointed Abraham to sell the idols in his stead ; back them up with references personal. God our spiritual lives are ultimately dependent upon his faithfulness and not ours that.
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