The Call of Abram, Chapter 12, March 22nd 03/21/2010
The Call of Abram, Chapter 12 Acts 7: 2-3 “Stephen answered, ‘Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to Abraham, our ancestor, in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran. God said to Abraham, Leave your country and your relatives, and go to the land I will show you.’ So Abraham left the country of Chaldea and went to live in Haran.” After looking through maps and various readings, Abram left the land of Ur which is located on our Biblical maps in the Mesopotamia/Babylon area between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers after his ORIGINAL call from God. (Note: the Garden of Eden was possibly located between these two rivers!) The land of Ur was a wealthy, prosperous area that worshipped pagan gods. A huge ziggurat (remember the lesson on the Tower of Babel?) existed for the pagan worship practices. Once God called Abram, there were two possible traveling routes. One route went across the Arabian Desert and the other along the Euphrates. As you might recall Abram’s father, Terah, was traveling with him. As I contemplated this fact I reflected on travel arrangements Gary and I have designed in consideration of older parents. I would readily plan a trip by the Euphrates, even if it meant a longer journey, than escort my folks through the desert lands. I feel we must address Abram’s father, Terah (name means “wild goat” or “wanderer”). Was Terah a converted believer or not? All accounts I have been reading depict Terah as an idol maker and worshipper. That report is factual; however, did Terah’s heart change from idol worshipper to believer in God that enabled him to leave family and head out with his son, Abram? The latter part of Chapter 11, verse 31 reads that Terah “took his son Abram…” leading me to believe he was in favor of the travel plans and left of his own accord. Numerous articles are found on the internet from various religious groups explaining their various philosophies and ideas concerning Terah. I would like to believe Terah traded his idol worship for the One True God and if he was traveling in the camp with Abram I’m sure the practice of idol worship was unconceivable. Terah did not complete the trip to Canaan with Abram. Due to his age or probably tired of travel, Terah needed to rest. Abram did settle in the area of Haran (some translations spell this word Harran). Here the family stayed until after the death of Terah. It was then the Lord spoke to Abram again and reminded him that he needed to continue with God’s previously designated travel plans. It is in the first verses of Chapter 12 God first reveals the covenant blessing on Abram and his descendants. Just take a few moments to read this blessing God bestows on Abram’s seed: 1. I’ll bless you 2. I’ll bless others through you 3. I’ll make you a great nation 4. I’ll make you known/famous 5. I’ll bless people who bless you 6. I’ll curse people who curse you 7. I’ll bless ALL the people on earth through you I don’t know about you, but that’s a powerful blessing. So after a period of time that some refer to as “the wasted years in Haran” Abram, at age 75, picked up and carried on. Remember, Lot was among the group of participants headed to the land of promise. Lot’s father, Haran (these names surface as places as well as names) had already passed away and Abram took it upon himself as Lot’s uncle to provide for him. Now for the journey; Abram set out with his wife, Sarai (names have not been changed) and all their servants, animals and everything they personally owned and headed to Canaan. When they came to Shechem, scripture reads that the Lord appeared to Moses and verbalized, “To your offspring I will give this land.”Abram immediately honored the Lord by building an altar. From Shechem the family continued until they arrived at Bethel. If you have maps in the back of your Bible, look up the travels of Abram. (My NIV has a map entitled, “World of the Patriarchs” and you can follow this journey.) Here Abram called on the name of the Lord and built another altar. Difference in the two altars? Sometimes the Lord comes to us and speaks as He did at Shechem. However, there are times we need to praise and thank the Lord without verbally hearing from Him as Abram demonstrated at Bethel. Now for the crux of the lesson; verses 10-20 demonstrate once again man in his human mental capacity. Our little finite minds cannot comprehend the greatness of our God! After God explains this beautiful covenant promise, Abram doubts that God can pull it off. The tempter steps in and there is a famine. What to do? Well, there’s food in Egypt, so we’ll head in that direction. Ironically, when bad decisions are made scripture subtly adds the detail, “Abram went down to Egypt..” The operative word being “down”. That has always hinted to me that it wasn’t the best move, but God will get the glory. So Abram and company go “down” to Egypt and immediately conjure up a plan of deceit. We have all probably heard the story of passing off his wife, Sarai, as his sister since she was beautiful and Abram feared for his life if Pharaoh decided to add her to his harem and get rid of the husband. Bad move. Look at the consequences. 1. Abram got off the path God had chosen for him and his family (going “down” to Egypt). 2. Abram lied about Sarai’s identity (although history traces Sarai as a half-sister to Abram, she is officially Abram’s wife) 3. Sarai is taken into the Pharaoh’s palace as a concubine 4. Diseases are inflicted on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s sin 5. Abram and company are escorted out of the country Reflect…look back at the list of blessing….”I will curse those that curse you, I will bless all peoples on earth through you.” Did Abram not realize that his sin would bring consequences on all those surrounding him? Disease was inflicted upon Pharoah and his household and they were clueless regarding their erroneous actions. Was disease inflicted quickly before Pharoah had a chance to be with Sarai? I suspect so, but God had a plan and Abram needed to stick with God’s agenda. Father, we know in our human condition we aren’t deep thinkers at times. Please enhance our awareness to sin and eliminate anything from our decision making process that would harm our testimony and prevent glory being given to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Next week’s assignment: Please read Chapter 13 and answer the following questions as you study: 1. Operative word given in verse 1 of this chapter after all the troubles Abram has seen in Egypt. What do you suppose that word is? 2. What is going on between the herdsmen of Abram and those of Lot? What is the final solution to the problem? 3. What do you think about the solution? Was it fair? How was it determined? 4. What possible danger awaits Lot? Do you think Abram is aware of the danger? CommentsJan 03/21/2010 18:23
The map review is SO helpful Cookie - it helps so much to get a better visual of the extreme distances Abram travelled... and to then compare to a contemporary map to gain a better understanding.... Cookie 03/24/2010 08:00
Hey, Jan...nice to hear from you....yes, maps can be very beneficial to studying the Bible. This story just keeps getting better! Jan 03/28/2010 18:21
Cookie, I'm intrigued by question of the one operative word of Verse 1; is it "taking"? Abram, Sarai and Lot were taking everything - which sounds like quite a sizable treasure stash belonging to each Abram & Lot.... yet only Abram seems to be "giving" throughout this chapter. Giving the Glory to God with building altars and worshipping, giving Lot the choice of land, giving God honor by trusting that He would provide.... Cookie 03/29/2010 10:01
Jan, you bring some interesting facts to light...I love the word you chose..giving. There's no right or wrong answer, I will post my thoughts with the BLBS comments, but I truly love the way you thought about the word you chose and your explanation. I take pleasure learning from our participants! Leave a Reply | AuthorCome along and join the Bucket List Bible Study! Open to all who enjoy studying God's Word. ArchivesFebruary 2012 Categories |
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