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. If the city which Abram was told to leave was great, the home he left behind seems to have been less than godly. (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. Lucan. 1. 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. For neither in the New Testament nor in the Alex. In the light of all the objections which might be raised by Abram, such an appearance should not be unusual. The writer wished to stress here the positive aspects of the Christians walk, not his failures. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. I guess he was mad that you were allowing yourself to be misled by the other, false idols.". Abram told his father that Yahweh had instructed them to leave. Terah ends up dying in Haran. (n) Though the oracle of God came to Abram, yet the honour is given to Terah, because he was the father. They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Paddan Aram region. Did Abraham leave Haran before or after his father died? In the final analysis, that is all anyone can have. 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. ), or of "Elohim," and the "angel of Elohim" (Genesis 21:17; Genesis 31:11, etc. God, in His electing grace, chose Abram to follow Him, while he was going his own way. It is only when God wishes us to depart from the expected that we should look for guidance that is spectacular or unusual. 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. God called him to leave that city and to exchange his townhouse for a tent. Little of the culture, religion, or philosophy of the people of Ur was to be a part of what God planned to do with His people, Israel. The family were in the city of Haran for five years. In our best moments, our faith is vibrant and vital, but in the moments of testing, it is weak and wanting. Once in the land of Canaan, the route taken by Abram is noteworthy. The first time that God told this to Abe, it was God's way of provoking Abe to "get real" about Terah's idolatry. verse 6). God was going to make a new nation, not merely revise an existing one. I respect Abraham for not only leaving the security of his father's home, but also the familiarity of his father's faith. "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. Having said this, I do not wish to glorify Abrams faith either, for as we shall see, it was initially very weak. We should not find this discouraging, but consistent with our own reluctance to put our future on the line in active, aggressive, unquestioning faith. In Genesis 11, we read that Terah came from Ur of the Chaldeans. ), which were repeated throughout the whole of the Old Testament, and even occurred, though only in vision, in the case of the prophet Zechariah. in 1971. The sovereignty of God in salvation is beautifully illustrated in the call of Abram. vol. I see Terah took Abram, Lot & Sarai to go to Canaan, & died on route in Haran, seemingly before God spoke to Abram to leave his country. He alone offers man the righteousness necessary for eternal life. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). Genesis 2:5). 63-64. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. The Hebrew word for "served" can also mean to "work," hence the tradition that Terah was a craftsman who made idols. Conclusion Chapter 12 begins a new division in the book of Genesis. At the same time, it does not follow from this use of the expression Maleach Jehovah, that the (particular) angel of Jehovah was essentially one with God, or that Maleach Jehovah always has the same signification; for in Malachi 2:7 the priest is called Maleach Jehovah, i.e., the messenger of the Lord. Abram died at the ripe old age of 175 (25:7-8), a much shorter time than Shem (11:10-11) or Arpachshad (11:12-13). Nearly one-fourth of the book of Genesis is devoted to this mans life. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! 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). 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. 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). Those who first read the book of Genesis were about to take possession of the land which was promised Abram. 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. Do what God tells you to do in the most sensible way you know how. Outside the Land, it was given to Abraham only to hear the Divine voice (v. 1); but here, in the land destined to be specifically dedicated to the service of the Lord, he was also vouchsafed the privilege of a Divine vision. U. Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1964), II, p. 328. . 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). Technically, the covenant with Abram is not found in chapter 12, but in chapters 15 (verse 18) and 17 (verses 2,4,7,9,10,11,13,14,19,21) where the word covenant appears. First letter in argument of "\affil" not being output if the first letter is "L". Ur was a large and prosperous city-state in Mesopotamia (present-day southern Iraq). Here in chapter 12 the general features of the covenant are introduced. One year? It was both a very early and a very late outpost of Chaldean power. Genesis 12:1 is the only call by God to Abraham noted in scripture. We gather also that the Divine summons came to Abram in Ur (see Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:2), but we learn in Genesis 12:1 that his final destination was not then definitely told him. p. 282. 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. Much of Abrams first moves were neither purposeful nor pious, but rather were a more passive response to external forces. They sought blessing in the product of their own labors, rather than in the promise of God. He dare not become too attached to that which he cannot take with him. Answer Terah is known in the Bible as the father of Abram (known later as Abraham), who in turn received the covenant promise of God regarding the future birth of His Son, Jesus. But God had foretold that none need go with Abe except Abe's own household (which included his wife, and any 'employees' or 'servants' that Abe might have acquired). First, the emphasis of Hebrews 11 is on faith. Abram was, in our vernacular, no spring chicken when he left Haran for Canaan. (k) Ibid. He does not invest heavily in that which will not last. Barnes' Notes on the Bible And Terah took Abram. It could be that they left in obedience to the call of God, which we read more of in Genesis 12. Do not expect that God will indicate each turn in the road with a clearly marked sign. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran." We will examine these, first of all, for the purpose of obtaining a clear conception of the form in which the Angel of Jehovah appeared. 2. 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. Many reach to Charran, and yet fall short of Canaan; they are not far from the kingdom of God, and yet never come thither. So we know that Abraham told his father Terah to leave, because God appeared to Abraham, not Terah. 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. Abe passed God's first personal test. Is this inconsistent with the words of the writer to the Hebrews? Though proceeding by easy stages, the aged patriarch seems to have been exhausted by the length and the difficulty of the way. Abram would have been on social security for over ten years. 2: In Acts 7, verses 2 thru 4, Stephen states that God had called Abe prior to when the group had settled in the town called Haran. Broken down with fatigue, he halts for a season at Haran to recruit his wasted powers. Answer: Family Origin and Early History. 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. Ancient Mesopotamia was a region centered upon the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The death of Haran, his oldest son, loosened his attachment to the land of his birth. (The date that Abram left the city of Ur and other patriarchs' timelines can be read here. Abraham was 75 years old when his father, Terah, passed away at 205 years of age as indicated in the book of Genesis. (Note: The force of this difference cannot be set aside by the objection that the New Testament writers follow the usage of the Septuagint, where is rendered . Blessing would come through Abraham in several ways. How to delete all UUID from fstab but not the UUID of boot filesystem. Abrahams blessing was largely to be seen in his descendants. The final promise was that of blessingblessing for him, and blessing through him. Terah is identified as the person who arranged and led the family to embark on a mysterious journey to Canaan. 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.). The pluperfect tense (had said) is both grammatically legitimate and exegetically necessary. What is the best way to deprotonate a methyl group? If so, when God spoke to Abraham, Abraham would remember that God had spoken to his father, Terah, which would make it more imperative for Abraham. 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. So he may have found a blossoming trade in Haran. The beginning of Genesis 12:1 indicate that the call had already been given and the response was only now being recorded. 58-64. Judges 2:1). The difference is important. 10. sect. But it was not the lot of Terah to enter the land, where he would only have been a stranger. (4) The Christian walk is rooted in the reliability of the Word of God. That's why they, including Abe and his wife, settled in Haran: they settled there in order to allow their father to live out the rest of his very old life in peace and ease. 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. To our knowledge, he had no particular spiritual qualities which drew God to him. 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. 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). 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. Terah traveled 150 miles out of his way. Kharan, and was so called in Accadian times, in which language the word means road, being, according to Mr. Sayce, the key of the highway from the east to the west. 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