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. Romans 9:6-13). (q) Travels, par. It is critical to a correct understanding of Bible prophecy. Little wonder that men like Peter and not Paul, are our heroes, for we can see ourselves in them. Thank God our spiritual lives are ultimately dependent upon His faithfulness and not ours. Haran.The Charran of Acts 7:4, that is, Carrhae in North-west Mesopotamia, about twenty geographical miles south-east of Edessa. One purpose of the genealogy of chapter 11 is that it informs us that men were living shorter lives, and having children younger. (Note: The only passage that could be adduced in support of this, viz., Psalm 104:4, does not prove that God makes natural objects, winds and flaming fire, into forms in which heavenly spirits appear, or that He creates spirits out of them. vol. ------------------------------------------------------------. 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. Terah may have told Abraham why he was leaving Ur and why he decided to settle in Haran. 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. Once, Terah needed to leave his store, and he appointed Abraham to sell the idols in his stead. p. 282. 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. l. 5. c. 24. The sovereignty of God in salvation is beautifully illustrated in the call of Abram. In the land of Uz, a Shemite, perhaps even at a later period, lived Job; and in the neighboring districts of Arabia were his several friends, all of whom acknowledged the true God. At least two things must be said in response to this question. Do you believe it? 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. But isnt that enough? 135 Haran, for example, in Assyrian (harranu) meant main road. Waltke, class notes, p. 14. (j) Ut supra. 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. Real blessing does not come from toil and agonizing hours of labor, but from the fruit of intimacy, namely children. When Sarah died, he had to buy a portion of the land for a burial site (23:3ff.). Much of Abrams blessing was to come in the form of his offspring, but there was also the blessing that would come in the form of the Messiah, who would bring salvation to Gods people. 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). In any event, Abraham "set out for the land of Canaan, thus they came to the land of Canaan" ( Gen 12:5 ). 3, app.). There are nearly 75 references to him in the New Testament. That first time, about which Stephen speaks, was God's way of at once (a) prophesying of Abe's eventual leaving his father's household, and (b) provoking Abe to evangelize his as-yet-still idolatrous father, Terah and, through Terah's conversion, to convert all of Terah's household. 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. God providentially led Terah to pull up roots at Ur and to move toward Canaan (11:31). While what was to be left behind was crystal clear, what lay ahead was distressingly devoid of detail: to the land which I will show you.. rev2023.3.1.43266. Is quantile regression a maximum likelihood method? Gordons view is discussed, but rejected by Howard F. Vos, Genesis and Archaeology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963), pp. Therefore, the failures are not mentioned. Abram was a man like you and me. Thus, he seems to have rejected Stephens words flatly. 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). . All of this should remind us of the objections and obstacles which must have been in the mind of Abram when the call of God came. Having said this, I do not wish to glorify Abrams faith either, for as we shall see, it was initially very weak. Stephen clarifies the time that Abram was first called of God. Consequently such passages as Psalm 34:7; Psalm 35:5-6, etc., where the angel of Jehovah is not more particularly described, or Numbers 20:16, where the general term angel is intentionally employed, or Acts 7:30; Galatians 3:19, and Hebrews 2:2, where the words are general and indefinite, furnish no evidence that the Angel of Jehovah, who proclaimed Himself in His appearances as one with God, was not in reality equal with God, unless we are to adopt as the rule for interpreting Scripture the inverted principle, that clear and definite statements are to be explained by those that are indefinite and obscure. to Harran, they settled there.(NIV). 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. And if we are honest with ourselves, that is just about where most of us are. 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 obstacles were largely overcome by the initiative of God in the early stages of the life of Abram. Secondly, consistent with this approach, the author does not stress the timing of Abrams obedience. d. What we do know, is that Terah NEVER LEFT Haran but died when the blessings were there . 133 Although it may appear from a superficial reading of the account in Genesis (11:31-12:1) that God called Abraham while in Haran, thereby contradicting Stephens account that God called Abraham in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, the two accounts can be harmonized by noting that Genesis 11:27-32 is a parenthetical account of Terah introduced by a waw disjunctive, and that Genesis 12:1, introduced by a waw consecutive, carries on the main narrative which was discontinued in Gen. 11:26. Bruce Waltke, Unpublished Class Notes, Dallas Theological Seminary, pp. 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. How to draw a truncated hexagonal tiling? Judges 2:1). They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Paddan Aram region. Many reach to Charran, and yet fall short of Canaan; they are not far from the kingdom of God, and yet never come thither. 14-15. Terah, Jewish literature records, was a craftsman who made idols. God said it, and that settles it, whether you believe it or not. I like that. Conclusion 135. 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. 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. 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. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations shall be blessed in you. So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer (Galatians 3:7-9). 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. Such will be the case as we can look back upon our lives from the vantage point of time. This was God's first direct test of Abe, and Abe passed with flying colors. Why did God punish Pharaoh for Abrams lie (Genesis 12:17)? The family were in the city of Haran for five years. Terah and his family had been chosen by God to establish His seed on earth. "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. (p) Itinerarium, p. 60. Still, there may have been some tradition in the family, or knowledge handed down from patriarchal times, which made them look upon Canaan as their land of hope; and the expedition of Amraphel, king of Shinar, and others against the south of Palestine, recorded in Genesis 14:1-16, and confirmed by our large present knowledge of these popular movements, shows that we must not assume that, far removed from one another as were Babylonia and Canaan, therefore they were lands mutually unknown. 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