†. Gen 12:3c . . And all the families of the earth shall bless
themselves by you.
Now we see coming into play the most important part of God's plan for
Abram. At the moment God made that promise, every other family on the
earth was just about totally involved in paganism. Even Terah, Abram's dad,
had sunk into it. Individual members of Shem's clan were apparently the
only ones who stayed in touch with the god of the Flood; and because of
that, they had a great future ahead. But the other clans didn't. They had no
future at all; just to live out their meaningless lives and die like a feral beast
--to die as human wildlife.
Through Abram, God perpetuated the knowledge of the True God. Peoples of
every language, and every ethnic, have benefited from Abram's association
with the Bible's God. Aren't you grateful to God for Moses, for Isaiah, for
David, for Solomon, for Esther, for Gideon, for Samson, for Ezra, and for the
cross of Jesus of Nazareth? Yes. Abram's existence has made all the
difference for many millions of us.
†. Gen 12:4a . . Abram went forth as the Lord had commanded him,
Although Abram didn't "went forth" exactly when God told him to; he finally
did; and that's what counts. Jonah didn't "went forth" when he was told to
go either, but God prepared a large fish to persuade him to stop fooling
around and get a move on; and he finally complied.
Repentance is essential to reverence. Lots of Bible heroes resisted at first
when asked to follow God, but later changed their minds and got with the
program. But please don't ever make a pretense at following God while
down in your heart you really don't. Insincerity is not a good thing to
practice with your maker.
†. Mtt 21:28-32 . .What do you think? There was a man who had two sons.
He went to the first and said: Son, go and work today in the vineyard. I will
not; he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father
went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered: I will, sir; but
he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?
The unreliable son led his father to believe he was willing to help out in the
fields; but in reality, his heart just wasn't in it.
†. Gen 12:4b . . and Lot went with him.
That was an err on Abram's part. He was told to leave his native land and to
leave his father's house. He wasn't supposed to take any relatives along with
him: and Lot wasn't a child; he was a grown man capable of operating a
ranch on his own so it's not like Abram would have abandoned Lot an
orphan.
†. Gen 12:4c . . Abram was seventy-five years old when he left
Haran.
That hardly seems like a sensible age to reinvent one's self and begin a new
life; but Abram was relatively young yet in his own day, and still had 100
years of life left to go. To give a perspective on just how long 100 years is:
from today in 2012 is two months after the Titanic saml, two years before
WW1, eleven years before Poncho Villa's demise, and eight years before the
18th Amendment-- horse and buggy were common in New York City, and
Annie Oakley and Wyatt Earp were still alive.
I was born in 1944. The average life expectancy of a man born that year is
roughly 62. Abram lived to the ripe old age of 175 (Gen 25:7-8). So, at the
time of his migration to Canaan, Abram was roughly the equivalent of me at
27.
Abram's wife Sarai was even perkier. She was nine years younger than
Abram (cf. Gen 17:1 and Gen 17:17). But Sarai only lived to 127; forty-eight
years less than her husband (Gen 23:1). The average life expectancy of a
woman born in 1944 is about 67 years. So Sarai would have been the
equivalent of 25 when they migrated to Canaqan had she survived to her
husband's ripe old age of 175. Precisely why Sarai's life was cut short is
unknown.
†. Gen 12:5 . . Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot,
and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they
had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan; and
they arrived there.
Another quantum leap: this one about two weeks worth.
I'm pretty sure Sarai anticipated this move. Abram had probably been
talking about it ever since God appeared to him in Ur so I seriously doubt it
disrupted her life like a bolt out of the blue.
From Haran (Haraan Turkey) it's well over 400 miles south to the West Bank
in Palestine. You can imagine the difficulty of making such a trip what with
no automobiles, no trains, no buses, no taxi cabs, no airplanes, no paved
surface highways, and no graded roads. It was all trails and dirt paths; and
all on foot, or on the back of an animal, or in a cart pulled by an animal.
People traveled like that for millennia before powered conveyances were
invented and became widespread. Practically all modern means of travel
were invented in the 20th century AD. In only just the last 120 years or so
of Man's existence has there been airplanes and horseless carriages. Man
went from the Wright Brothers to the moon in just sixty-six years. The
previous thousands of years before Karl Benz's production of gasoline
powered motorwagens; people were very slow moving, and travel was
arduous, inconvenient, and totally earth-bound.
It's significant that Abram wasn't required to dispose of his worldly goods in
order to follow God. Abram later became an exceedingly rich man and God
never once asked him to give it all away. Riches are bad only if they have
such a hold upon a person that they must compromise their integrity to
hang on to it. For that person, it's better to be poor. But it would be wrong
to impose poverty upon everyone because not everyone is consumed with
survival, avarice, and greed.
†. Gen 12:6 . . Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of
the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites
were in the land.
The Canaanites were Canaan's descendants-- Noah's bad-apple grandson.
The Canaanites probably didn't have complete control of the land at this
time: merely a presence, same as Abram. But they were definitely in
progress of getting control. By the time Joshua invaded, roughly four
hundred years later, Canaan's clan was pretty well rooted in Palestine.
Abram's welfare wasn't improved by coming out west to Canaan. His home
town Ur was a modern city with decent accommodations. But out on the
frontier, it was rugged. Palestine in that day was no Utopia. It was more like
the conditions which faced our own early day American pioneers and
settlers. There were communities scattered here and there, but for the most
part, it was wild, wooly, and untamed.
Abram, now paying attention to God, is going where he's told and moving in
all the right directions. The next two moves are preceded by altars; upon
which, we can safely assume, were offered the traditional Noahic burnt
offering. Altar sites were hot-spots; viz: locations for making wireless
contact with God; sort of like what the Temple at Jerusalem became in later
years.
†. Gen 12:7a . .The Lord appeared to Abram
Exactly how or in what form God appeared to Abram isn't specified. God's
appearances aren't always visual. Sometimes an appearance is merely an
audible voice; or a dream, an angel, a burning bush, a breeze, a column of
smoke, an eerie glow; or even a man walking up out of nowhere.
†. Gen 12:7b . . and said: I will assign this land to your heirs.
This is the very first instance of a Divine promise made to Abram regarding
ownership of Palestine; and it probably bounced right off his skull like a
sonar ping. But later on, God will repeat that promise again and again until it
finally sinks in. Repetition is, after all, a proven aid to learning and
memorization.
Cont.
/
themselves by you.
Now we see coming into play the most important part of God's plan for
Abram. At the moment God made that promise, every other family on the
earth was just about totally involved in paganism. Even Terah, Abram's dad,
had sunk into it. Individual members of Shem's clan were apparently the
only ones who stayed in touch with the god of the Flood; and because of
that, they had a great future ahead. But the other clans didn't. They had no
future at all; just to live out their meaningless lives and die like a feral beast
--to die as human wildlife.
Through Abram, God perpetuated the knowledge of the True God. Peoples of
every language, and every ethnic, have benefited from Abram's association
with the Bible's God. Aren't you grateful to God for Moses, for Isaiah, for
David, for Solomon, for Esther, for Gideon, for Samson, for Ezra, and for the
cross of Jesus of Nazareth? Yes. Abram's existence has made all the
difference for many millions of us.
†. Gen 12:4a . . Abram went forth as the Lord had commanded him,
Although Abram didn't "went forth" exactly when God told him to; he finally
did; and that's what counts. Jonah didn't "went forth" when he was told to
go either, but God prepared a large fish to persuade him to stop fooling
around and get a move on; and he finally complied.
Repentance is essential to reverence. Lots of Bible heroes resisted at first
when asked to follow God, but later changed their minds and got with the
program. But please don't ever make a pretense at following God while
down in your heart you really don't. Insincerity is not a good thing to
practice with your maker.
†. Mtt 21:28-32 . .What do you think? There was a man who had two sons.
He went to the first and said: Son, go and work today in the vineyard. I will
not; he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father
went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered: I will, sir; but
he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?
The unreliable son led his father to believe he was willing to help out in the
fields; but in reality, his heart just wasn't in it.
†. Gen 12:4b . . and Lot went with him.
That was an err on Abram's part. He was told to leave his native land and to
leave his father's house. He wasn't supposed to take any relatives along with
him: and Lot wasn't a child; he was a grown man capable of operating a
ranch on his own so it's not like Abram would have abandoned Lot an
orphan.
†. Gen 12:4c . . Abram was seventy-five years old when he left
Haran.
That hardly seems like a sensible age to reinvent one's self and begin a new
life; but Abram was relatively young yet in his own day, and still had 100
years of life left to go. To give a perspective on just how long 100 years is:
from today in 2012 is two months after the Titanic saml, two years before
WW1, eleven years before Poncho Villa's demise, and eight years before the
18th Amendment-- horse and buggy were common in New York City, and
Annie Oakley and Wyatt Earp were still alive.
I was born in 1944. The average life expectancy of a man born that year is
roughly 62. Abram lived to the ripe old age of 175 (Gen 25:7-8). So, at the
time of his migration to Canaan, Abram was roughly the equivalent of me at
27.
Abram's wife Sarai was even perkier. She was nine years younger than
Abram (cf. Gen 17:1 and Gen 17:17). But Sarai only lived to 127; forty-eight
years less than her husband (Gen 23:1). The average life expectancy of a
woman born in 1944 is about 67 years. So Sarai would have been the
equivalent of 25 when they migrated to Canaqan had she survived to her
husband's ripe old age of 175. Precisely why Sarai's life was cut short is
unknown.
†. Gen 12:5 . . Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot,
and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they
had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan; and
they arrived there.
Another quantum leap: this one about two weeks worth.
I'm pretty sure Sarai anticipated this move. Abram had probably been
talking about it ever since God appeared to him in Ur so I seriously doubt it
disrupted her life like a bolt out of the blue.
From Haran (Haraan Turkey) it's well over 400 miles south to the West Bank
in Palestine. You can imagine the difficulty of making such a trip what with
no automobiles, no trains, no buses, no taxi cabs, no airplanes, no paved
surface highways, and no graded roads. It was all trails and dirt paths; and
all on foot, or on the back of an animal, or in a cart pulled by an animal.
People traveled like that for millennia before powered conveyances were
invented and became widespread. Practically all modern means of travel
were invented in the 20th century AD. In only just the last 120 years or so
of Man's existence has there been airplanes and horseless carriages. Man
went from the Wright Brothers to the moon in just sixty-six years. The
previous thousands of years before Karl Benz's production of gasoline
powered motorwagens; people were very slow moving, and travel was
arduous, inconvenient, and totally earth-bound.
It's significant that Abram wasn't required to dispose of his worldly goods in
order to follow God. Abram later became an exceedingly rich man and God
never once asked him to give it all away. Riches are bad only if they have
such a hold upon a person that they must compromise their integrity to
hang on to it. For that person, it's better to be poor. But it would be wrong
to impose poverty upon everyone because not everyone is consumed with
survival, avarice, and greed.
†. Gen 12:6 . . Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of
the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites
were in the land.
The Canaanites were Canaan's descendants-- Noah's bad-apple grandson.
The Canaanites probably didn't have complete control of the land at this
time: merely a presence, same as Abram. But they were definitely in
progress of getting control. By the time Joshua invaded, roughly four
hundred years later, Canaan's clan was pretty well rooted in Palestine.
Abram's welfare wasn't improved by coming out west to Canaan. His home
town Ur was a modern city with decent accommodations. But out on the
frontier, it was rugged. Palestine in that day was no Utopia. It was more like
the conditions which faced our own early day American pioneers and
settlers. There were communities scattered here and there, but for the most
part, it was wild, wooly, and untamed.
Abram, now paying attention to God, is going where he's told and moving in
all the right directions. The next two moves are preceded by altars; upon
which, we can safely assume, were offered the traditional Noahic burnt
offering. Altar sites were hot-spots; viz: locations for making wireless
contact with God; sort of like what the Temple at Jerusalem became in later
years.
†. Gen 12:7a . .The Lord appeared to Abram
Exactly how or in what form God appeared to Abram isn't specified. God's
appearances aren't always visual. Sometimes an appearance is merely an
audible voice; or a dream, an angel, a burning bush, a breeze, a column of
smoke, an eerie glow; or even a man walking up out of nowhere.
†. Gen 12:7b . . and said: I will assign this land to your heirs.
This is the very first instance of a Divine promise made to Abram regarding
ownership of Palestine; and it probably bounced right off his skull like a
sonar ping. But later on, God will repeat that promise again and again until it
finally sinks in. Repetition is, after all, a proven aid to learning and
memorization.
Cont.
/
