The early history consists of three stages, which are indicated by the three patriarchs, peculiarly so called, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and in the sons of Jacob the unity of the chosen family was expanded into the twelve immediate fathers of the nation. 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. (j) Ut supra. 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. Genesis 11:27-32 gives a genealogy leading up to Abram and Sarai, beginning with Terah, Abram's father. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran." Those who recognized the hand of God in Abram and his descendants would be blessed by contact with them. Ur was in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and was the starting point for Abraham's journey to Canaan. And in the land of Kenaan was Melkizedec, the king of Salem, and the priest of the Most High God. 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. Acts 7:2-4 supports this single call theory: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Terah had himself been betrayed into compliance with this form of impiety. 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). It tells us that verses 27-32 of chapter 11 are parenthetical,133 and not strictly in chronological order. Having called Abram, it was God Who providentially brought Abram to the point of leaving home and homeland and entering Canaan. Terah received instructions from God to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into the land of Canaan. That is my kind of hero. Does With(NoLock) help with query performance? The command of God to Abram is, in effect, a reversal of what man attempted at Babel. The heroes of the Bible are men with like passions (James 5:17) and feet of clay. It is there that the specific details of the covenant are spelled out. Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023. - Terah takes the lead in this emigration, as the patriarch of the family. Terah wanted to leave Ur because he was afraid a war would start. 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. Terah is identified as the person who arranged and led the family to embark on a mysterious journey to Canaan. The tent is thus the symbol of the pilgrim. Ur was in the southern part of Mesopotamia, and was the starting point for Abraham's journey to Canaan. 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. (o) -----------Miserando funere Crassus, Assyrias latio maculavit sanguine Carrhas. 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. l. 1. c. 6. sect. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. The first time that God told this to Abe, it was God's way of provoking Abe to "get real" about Terah's idolatry. It follows that he was born when Terah was one hundred and thirty years old, and consequently sixty years after Haran. (Antiqu. In our best moments, our faith is vibrant and vital, but in the moments of testing, it is weak and wanting. (p) Itinerarium, p. 60. God, in His electing grace, chose Abram to follow Him, while he was going his own way. Romans 9:6-13). Beyond this, Abram was destined to become a blessing to men of every nation. Pharsal. Those who first read the book of Genesis were about to take possession of the land which was promised Abram. We have already mentioned the significance of Psalm 127 in relation to the efforts of man at Babel. Men of all nations would be blessed by the Scriptures which, to a great extent, came through the instrumentality of the Jewish people. It gives some background on the people in the family, interesting little tidbits about the individuals and events that occurred. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). The death of Haran, his oldest son, loosened his attachment to the land of his birth. Personally I believe that there is some kind of missionary function being carried out by Abram. The faith to which we are called is not faith in a plan, but faith in a person. 3: Genesis 12:1 is the Bible's record of the second time that God tells Abe to leave his father's household. God is not nearly so concerned with geography as He is with godliness. As we turn our attention to Genesis chapter 12 let us do so with an eye to Abraham as an example of the walk of faith. This is why Genesis 12:1 says what it says. 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. It could be that they left in obedience to the call of God, which we read more of in Genesis 12. we get two critically different instances in which God told Abe to go to Canaan without his father's household. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. Ultimately, the whole world was blessed by the coming of the Messiah, who came to save men of every nation, not just the Jews: Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith that are sons of Abraham. People came to offer sacrifices to these idols, or to buy them, and Terah had a thriving business. 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. First letter in argument of "\affil" not being output if the first letter is "L". I do not find such people in the Bible. How to draw a truncated hexagonal tiling? Abe passed God's first personal test. For some reason, Terah and his family stopped short of Canaan, and remained in Haran. 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. Chapter 12 begins a new division in the book of Genesis. "Now these are the generations of Terah. 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. When Terah died, Abraham was free to set out from Haran on his way to Canaan. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). God called him in Ur, but Abram did not leave his fathers house or his relatives. So Terah had two reasons to leave the city of Ur of the Chaldees. But it was not the lot of Terah to enter the land, where he would only have been a stranger. 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. Did Abraham receive a call to leave Ur as alluded to in Acts 7:2-4? "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). p. 282. For the greater part of the temple furniture summed up in this passage, of which it is stated that Solomon made them of gold, was composed of pure gold; and if some of the things were merely covered with gold, the writer might easily apply the same expression to this, because he had already given a more minute account of their construction (e.g., Genesis 3:7). God was going to make a new nation, not merely revise an existing one. Terah left the city of Ur probably for two reasons: 1. (k) Ibid. This points to the fact that Ur may have been one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the Tigris-Euphrates area when Abraham emigrated northward to Haran. Schultz, Abraham, ZPEB, I, p. 22. He would have to take a roundabout route staying on "the fertile crescent," rather than taking a direct route across the desert. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. This chapter leaves them about mid-way between Ur and Canaan, where they dwelt till Terah's death. Faith is not developed by living life by some kind of map, but by using Gods Word as a compass, pointing us in the right direction, but challenging us to walk by faith and not by sight. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. Through all of his experiences he must come to see God as the origin of all that will endure. Stagers, Genesis, p . God has said that all men are sinners, deserving of, and destined to eternal punishment. Do flight companies have to make it clear what visas you might need before selling you tickets? But we neither regard this rendering of the psalm as in harmony with the context, nor assent to the assertion that with a double accusative, in the sense of making into anything, is ungrammatical.)<. Conclusion (Tomkins Studies on Times of Abraham, 55ff.). God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, the One Abram looked for in the future, to die on the cross to suffer the penalty for mans sin. Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. It is of interest to note that Islam holds Abram second in importance to Mohammed, with the Koran referring to Abraham 188 times.128. In the final analysis, that is all anyone can have. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. This land never belonged to Abram in his lifetime, even as God had said (15:13-16). What was Terah's son named? Christian faith grows. The giants of the faith seem to be sterling characters with no evident flaws, with machine-like discipline, and unfaltering faith. Why did Terah died in Haran? ), without any angelic form being visible in either case. Little wonder that men like Peter and not Paul, are our heroes, for we can see ourselves in them. Abraham was the tenth generation from Noah through Shem and was born 352 years after the Deluge, in 2018 B.C.E. 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. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran. Terah, their father, coordinated the gathering of his family to journey west to their destination ( Genesis 11:31 ). 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 no conflict here, since Haran was a CITY in the REGION known as Mesopotamia. 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. It was not in Haran, as a casual reading of Genesis 12 might incline us to believe, but in Ur. Judges 2:1). Beside this, we frequently read of appearances of the "angel of Jehovah" (Genesis 16:7; Genesis 22:11, etc. Terah didn't give a rip about what God wanted because he didn't know or love Him. Why do scholars think Abraham came from Ur in Mesopotamia? How to delete all UUID from fstab but not the UUID of boot filesystem. So far as we can tell, then, Terah was an idolater, like those of his days. How utterly irreconcilable this fact is with the opinion that the Angel of Jehovah was a created angel, is conclusively proved by Revelation 22:9, which is generally regarded as perfectly corresponding to the account of the "Angel of Jehovah" of the Old Testament. This would be a slow, arduous and dangerous journey. - 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. Lucan. 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. 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. The Chaldeans, no longer in existence,. No wonder God commanded Abram to leave his fathers house (Genesis 12:1)! - 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. It is difficult to believe that Abrams public act of worship was not noted and viewed with particular interest by the Canaanites. As the writer to the Hebrews put it, he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Terah died in Haran (Genesis 11:32), so Abraham was free to follow that call. Terah, Jewish literature records, was a craftsman who made idols. But why did they intend to go into the land of Canaan? As Abram subsequently continued this migration in simple dependance upon Gods guidance (Genesis 12:1), it was probably the Divine rather than the human purpose that is here expressed. 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. Abram would have been on social security for over ten years. 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). Genesis 21:16-21. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. The people of Haran served the same moon god as the people in Terah's former location, the southern Mesopotamian "city of Ur". "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. Cassuto has suggested that the places mentioned (Shechem, Bethel, the Negev) are significant. 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"). 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. Do what God tells you to do in the most sensible way you know how. Abram came from a pagan home. When Sarah died, he had to buy a portion of the land for a burial site (23:3ff.). 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. They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Paddan Aram region. 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 one sense, the command of God to Abram was very specific. I hope that's helpful Clive. God said it. verse 6). ), or of "Elohim," and the "angel of Elohim" (Genesis 21:17; Genesis 31:11, etc. 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). 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. Terah was a high priest of the idol worshippers. 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. Do not expect that God will indicate each turn in the road with a clearly marked sign. 5.) So Terah was finally convinced to believe that Shem's advice was right. Abram was called, that through him all the families of the earth might be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). 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. The force of these facts has been met by the assertion, that the ambassador perfectly represents the person of the sender; and evidence of this is adduced not only from Grecian literature, but from the Old Testament also, where the addresses of the prophets often glide imperceptibly into the words of Jehovah, whose instrument they are. (3) The Christians walk is a pilgrimage. Blessing would come through Abraham in several ways. Why did Terah want to leave Ur? Abram did not even know where he would settle. l. 1. v. 105. Charan was Lot's father so he lived to be at least a young man, but he died before his own father Terah did. The beginning of Genesis 12:1 indicate that the call had already been given and the response was only now being recorded. Genesis 11:31 tells us that Ter'ah took Abraham, Lot, and Sarai, and began the journey to Canaan, perhaps out of grief for the loss of his son Haran, but certainly before the call on Abraham. This is why, despite that Stephen says that God had called Abe the first time prior to when Abe left Ur to settle in Haran, the ending of Genesis 11 credits Terah for taking his household, including Abe, to go to Canaan. 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). When Terah died, Abraham was free to set out from Haran on his way to Canaan. The sovereignty of God in salvation is beautifully illustrated in the call of Abram. Moses tells us that Abram was 75 when he entered the land of Canaan. At least two things must be said in response to this question. 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. All that the Septuagint rendering proves, is that the translators supposed "the angel of the Lord" to be a created angel; but it by no means follows that their supposition is correct.). Genesis 11:26-32 tells that Terah was a son of Nahor, the son of Serug, who was a descendant of Shem. Barnes' Notes on the Bible And Terah took Abram. That is my query, Hi Carel, welcome to the BH site. All he had to rely upon was God, Who had revealed Himself to him. While the exact meaning of the expression, called upon the name of the Lord may not be known, worship is surely described. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there. Rather than thinking of a new land and a new life, most of us would have been thinking in terms of a rocking chair and a rest home. The Hebrew word for "served" can also mean to "work," hence the tradition that Terah was a craftsman who made idols. But as we look back upon it, we can see that God was leading all the way. Thank God our spiritual lives are ultimately dependent upon His faithfulness and not ours. And that brings us to the second reason. Haran.The Charran of Acts 7:4, that is, Carrhae in North-west Mesopotamia, about twenty geographical miles south-east of Edessa. Haran was in the north, where Terah, Abraham's father, had taken him after Terah's father died (Genesis 11:27-32). However, Abraham discouraged potential customers from buying the idols, explaining to them the futility of worshipping statues that were only fashioned that very day. He is promised a seed and when that seed is delayed, he must somehow see meaning in that delay and learn faith in God. 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. Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charran.(NIV). Not only did Terah worship idols, but he even operated a business selling deities. Theologically, Genesis chapter 12 is one of the key Old Testament passages, for it contains what has been called the Abrahamic Covenant. 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