†. Gen 12:7c-8 . . And he built an altar there to the Lord who had
appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of
Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the
east; and he built there an altar to the Lord and invoked the Lord by
name.
Eusebius Onomasticon, placed Bethel twelve Roman miles north from
Jerusalem, on the road to Neapolis. The site today is represented by the
modern town of Beitin, a village which stands on a knoll east of the road to
Nablus; roughly 2½ miles northeast of Ramallah El-Bira.
Ai hasn't really been pinpointed yet but is identified either with the modern
Haiyan, just south of the village Deir Dibwan or with a mound, El-Tell, to the
north.
This is only the second time in Scripture where it's said human beings called
upon God by a name. The first was Gen 4:26. What name might Abram have
used to invoke God? The name yhvh was well known by this time, and
Abram addressed God by it on numerous occasions. (e.g. Gen 13:4, 14:22,
15:8, 21:33, and 24:3)
God's demeanor towards Abram was sometimes that of an officer in wartime
who doesn't tell his troops in advance the location of their next bivouac.
Instead he orders them to march in a certain direction, only later telling
them when to stop and set up camp. So Abram went in the direction he was
commanded to go; not really knowing his destination or the why. For the
time being, Abram didn't need to know the why-- he only needed to know
which way.
Free now from the harmful influence of his own dad's pagan ways, Abram
revived the religion of his sacred ancestors and began calling upon God the
same way they did; and he got his travel orders that way too. Each time he
worshipped at the altars, God told him what to do, where to go next; and
sometimes even shared some personal data along with His big plans for
Abram's future. Abram was doing pretty much what Adam did in the garden;
meeting with God in the cool of the day; so to speak. Only Abram did it
differently because he was a sinful being, whereas, in the beginning, Adam
wasn't; so he didn't need an altar, at first.
†. Gen 12:9 . .Then Abram journeyed by stages toward the Negev.
"Negev" is from negeb (neh'-gheb) and means: to be parched; the south
(from its drought); specifically, the Negev or southern district of Judah;
occasionally Egypt (as south to Palestine). The Negev is generally considered
as beginning south of Dhahiriya; which is right in between Hevron and Be'ér
Sheva; and as stretching south in a series of rolling hills until the actual
wilderness begins, a distance of perhaps 70 miles.
To the east, the Negev is bounded by the Dead Sea and the Arabah, and to
the west the boundaries are generally Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. It's
a land of scanty springs and sparse rainfall. The character of its soil is a
transition from the fertility of Canaan to the wilderness of the desert
--essentially a pastoral land, where grazing is plentiful in the early months
and where camels and goats can survive, even through the long summer
drought.
Today, as through most periods of history, the Negev is a land for the
nomad rather than the settled inhabitant, although abundant ruins in many
spots testify to better physical conditions at some periods. The east and
west directions of the valleys, the general dryness, and the character of the
inhabitants, have always made it a more or less isolated region without
thoroughfare. The great routes pass along the coast to the west or up the
Arabah to the east. Against all who would lead an army up from the south,
this southern frontier of Judah presented a tough obstacle in the old days.
The Negev is slated for a make-over when the Jews return to their
homeland.
†. Isa 35:1-2 . .The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness
will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will
rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the
splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of The Lord, the
excellency of our God.
Lebanon's glory of old was timber; especially cedars (1Kng 4:33). Sharon
was known for its flowers (Song 2:1) and Carmel for its orchards (Isa 33:9).
How God will get timber, flowers, and orchards to flourish in the Negev
should be interesting.
†. Gen 12:10 . .There was a famine in the land, and Abram went
down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the
land.
Famines were usually the result of things like low humidity, lack of rain,
and/or plagues of insects and plant diseases.
Abram fully intended to return to Canaan just as soon as the famine ended.
The move to Egypt was a temporary expedient, rather than the result of
irrational panic. Famine might seem to some as an excuse for Abram to
return to Haran. But Abram wasn't retreating. His destiny did not lie in
Haran. It lay in Palestine-- period! --no going back.
I've heard more than one commentator say that Abram was out of God's will
when he left Canaan and moved to Egypt. It is really impossible to know
that for sure. Compare Gen 46:2-4 where God instructed Jacob to migrate to
Egypt during a severe famine. So, I'm inclined to give Abram the benefit of
the doubt. Back at Shechem, Abram began the practice of erecting altars
and calling on grandpa Noah's god. Each time he moved, he built a new
altar. And each time he did that, God gave him new travel orders. Since the
text doesn't suggest otherwise; it should be okay to assume Abram went
down to Egypt under the very same divine guidance as the other places he
moved to.
†. Gen 12:11 . . As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife
Sarai : I know what a beautiful woman you are.
Abram was about nine years older than Sarai; so she was over 66 years-old
when this event occurred because according to Gen 12:4, Abram was
seventy-five when they left Haran. Sarai was amazing. Even at 66+ years
she drew admiring glances.
Abram's acknowledgement of Sarai's beauty appears to have been
somewhat out of the ordinary; but that's no surprise. After a number of
years of marriage, it isn't uncommon for men to take their wives for
granted; and to stop taking notice of them after a while.
†. Gen 12:12 . . If the Egyptians see you, and think "She is his wife"
they will kill me and let you live.
Egypt had an active presence up in and around Canaan prior to Abram's day
and perhaps the conduct of their frontier consulates was somewhat less than
honorable at times. So of course the people of Canaan would quite naturally
assume all Egyptians were animals just like many people today assume tha
all Muslims are animals because of the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster.
That's called guilt by association; which is of course an invalid verdict.
During the US military's campaign to liberate the Pacific islands during world
war two, many of the Japanese soldiers, and their dependants, chose suicide
over surrender because their commanders had persuaded them to believe
that the Americans would not only torture them if captured, but also dine
upon their dead bodies like steak and eggs.
The suicides were not pretty. Some parents slit their own children's throats
and then held grenades to their own chests and blew themselves apart like
shattered dolls. Many chose to leap to their deaths from steep cliffs. Others
waded out into the surf and drowned themselves; and their children too. The
Americans used interpreters and loud speakers in a mostly futile effort to
encourage the people to come out of hiding and get some much needed
food, water, and medical treatment but precious few responded. Such is the
power of propaganda.
Cont.
/
appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of
Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the
east; and he built there an altar to the Lord and invoked the Lord by
name.
Eusebius Onomasticon, placed Bethel twelve Roman miles north from
Jerusalem, on the road to Neapolis. The site today is represented by the
modern town of Beitin, a village which stands on a knoll east of the road to
Nablus; roughly 2½ miles northeast of Ramallah El-Bira.
Ai hasn't really been pinpointed yet but is identified either with the modern
Haiyan, just south of the village Deir Dibwan or with a mound, El-Tell, to the
north.
This is only the second time in Scripture where it's said human beings called
upon God by a name. The first was Gen 4:26. What name might Abram have
used to invoke God? The name yhvh was well known by this time, and
Abram addressed God by it on numerous occasions. (e.g. Gen 13:4, 14:22,
15:8, 21:33, and 24:3)
God's demeanor towards Abram was sometimes that of an officer in wartime
who doesn't tell his troops in advance the location of their next bivouac.
Instead he orders them to march in a certain direction, only later telling
them when to stop and set up camp. So Abram went in the direction he was
commanded to go; not really knowing his destination or the why. For the
time being, Abram didn't need to know the why-- he only needed to know
which way.
Free now from the harmful influence of his own dad's pagan ways, Abram
revived the religion of his sacred ancestors and began calling upon God the
same way they did; and he got his travel orders that way too. Each time he
worshipped at the altars, God told him what to do, where to go next; and
sometimes even shared some personal data along with His big plans for
Abram's future. Abram was doing pretty much what Adam did in the garden;
meeting with God in the cool of the day; so to speak. Only Abram did it
differently because he was a sinful being, whereas, in the beginning, Adam
wasn't; so he didn't need an altar, at first.
†. Gen 12:9 . .Then Abram journeyed by stages toward the Negev.
"Negev" is from negeb (neh'-gheb) and means: to be parched; the south
(from its drought); specifically, the Negev or southern district of Judah;
occasionally Egypt (as south to Palestine). The Negev is generally considered
as beginning south of Dhahiriya; which is right in between Hevron and Be'ér
Sheva; and as stretching south in a series of rolling hills until the actual
wilderness begins, a distance of perhaps 70 miles.
To the east, the Negev is bounded by the Dead Sea and the Arabah, and to
the west the boundaries are generally Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. It's
a land of scanty springs and sparse rainfall. The character of its soil is a
transition from the fertility of Canaan to the wilderness of the desert
--essentially a pastoral land, where grazing is plentiful in the early months
and where camels and goats can survive, even through the long summer
drought.
Today, as through most periods of history, the Negev is a land for the
nomad rather than the settled inhabitant, although abundant ruins in many
spots testify to better physical conditions at some periods. The east and
west directions of the valleys, the general dryness, and the character of the
inhabitants, have always made it a more or less isolated region without
thoroughfare. The great routes pass along the coast to the west or up the
Arabah to the east. Against all who would lead an army up from the south,
this southern frontier of Judah presented a tough obstacle in the old days.
The Negev is slated for a make-over when the Jews return to their
homeland.
†. Isa 35:1-2 . .The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness
will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will
rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the
splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of The Lord, the
excellency of our God.
Lebanon's glory of old was timber; especially cedars (1Kng 4:33). Sharon
was known for its flowers (Song 2:1) and Carmel for its orchards (Isa 33:9).
How God will get timber, flowers, and orchards to flourish in the Negev
should be interesting.
†. Gen 12:10 . .There was a famine in the land, and Abram went
down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the
land.
Famines were usually the result of things like low humidity, lack of rain,
and/or plagues of insects and plant diseases.
Abram fully intended to return to Canaan just as soon as the famine ended.
The move to Egypt was a temporary expedient, rather than the result of
irrational panic. Famine might seem to some as an excuse for Abram to
return to Haran. But Abram wasn't retreating. His destiny did not lie in
Haran. It lay in Palestine-- period! --no going back.
I've heard more than one commentator say that Abram was out of God's will
when he left Canaan and moved to Egypt. It is really impossible to know
that for sure. Compare Gen 46:2-4 where God instructed Jacob to migrate to
Egypt during a severe famine. So, I'm inclined to give Abram the benefit of
the doubt. Back at Shechem, Abram began the practice of erecting altars
and calling on grandpa Noah's god. Each time he moved, he built a new
altar. And each time he did that, God gave him new travel orders. Since the
text doesn't suggest otherwise; it should be okay to assume Abram went
down to Egypt under the very same divine guidance as the other places he
moved to.
†. Gen 12:11 . . As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife
Sarai : I know what a beautiful woman you are.
Abram was about nine years older than Sarai; so she was over 66 years-old
when this event occurred because according to Gen 12:4, Abram was
seventy-five when they left Haran. Sarai was amazing. Even at 66+ years
she drew admiring glances.
Abram's acknowledgement of Sarai's beauty appears to have been
somewhat out of the ordinary; but that's no surprise. After a number of
years of marriage, it isn't uncommon for men to take their wives for
granted; and to stop taking notice of them after a while.
†. Gen 12:12 . . If the Egyptians see you, and think "She is his wife"
they will kill me and let you live.
Egypt had an active presence up in and around Canaan prior to Abram's day
and perhaps the conduct of their frontier consulates was somewhat less than
honorable at times. So of course the people of Canaan would quite naturally
assume all Egyptians were animals just like many people today assume tha
all Muslims are animals because of the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster.
That's called guilt by association; which is of course an invalid verdict.
During the US military's campaign to liberate the Pacific islands during world
war two, many of the Japanese soldiers, and their dependants, chose suicide
over surrender because their commanders had persuaded them to believe
that the Americans would not only torture them if captured, but also dine
upon their dead bodies like steak and eggs.
The suicides were not pretty. Some parents slit their own children's throats
and then held grenades to their own chests and blew themselves apart like
shattered dolls. Many chose to leap to their deaths from steep cliffs. Others
waded out into the surf and drowned themselves; and their children too. The
Americans used interpreters and loud speakers in a mostly futile effort to
encourage the people to come out of hiding and get some much needed
food, water, and medical treatment but precious few responded. Such is the
power of propaganda.
Cont.
/
