The angel of God, who shows the sacred seer the heavenly Jerusalem, and who is supposed to say, "Behold, I come quickly" (Revelation 22:7), and "I am Alpha and Omega" (Revelation 22:13), refuses in the most decided way the worship which John is about to present, and exclaims, "See I am thy fellow-servant: worship God.". In any event, Abraham “set out for the land of Canaan, thus they came to the land of Canaan” (Gen 12:5). 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). But the opinion of the early Church has been vindicated most thoroughly by Hengstenberg in his Christology.). 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. He started out in … - Thus, walking in faith, the patriarchs were types of faith for all the families that should spring from them, and be blessed through them, and ancestors of a nation which God had resolved to form according to the election of His grace. Scripture gives no definitive indication. Terah and family leaving Ur. 176. by Ray. Josephus says this, "Now Terah hating Chaldea, on account of his mourning for Haran (his son), they all removed to Haran." Terah took him out of Ur (Genesis ch.11). Terah is the one who told the people to leave Ur Kasdim in the book of Genesis, not Abram. Terah may have told Abraham why he was leaving Ur and why he decided to settle in Haran. But they end up in Haran instead. 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. Sarah was originally names Sarai. Haran is never mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. Abraham's father, died in Haran. Terah must have had a very high level of motivation to leave cosmopolitan Ur for uncivilized Canaan. " And in the land of Kenaan was Melkizedec, the king of Salem, and the priest of the Most High God. Notice where he was moving to – Canaan. 5.) And the guidance vouchsafed had for its object the calling forth of faith in response to the promise, which should maintain itself amidst all the changes of this earthly life. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. In other cases He revealed Himself merely by calling and speaking from heaven, without those who heard His voice perceiving any form at all; e.g., to Hagar, in Genesis 21:17., and to Abraham, Genesis 22:11. Why did Terah take his whole family with him? (A 205-year Marduk is the 780-day calendar of Mars in 208 years of 360-day. Filial piety, no doubt, kept Abram watching over the last days of his venerable parents, who probably still cling to the fond hope of reaching the land of his adoption. It could be that they left in obedience to the call of God, which we read more of in Genesis 12. This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Besides, Abram and Sarai were no doubt especially dear to him, and he did not wish to lose their society. This is where Terah died at age 205. 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. Terah's son Abram had an encounter with God, who directed him to take the entire family, leave Ur, and move to the land of Canaan. Life Span. (Note: In the old Jewish synagogue the Angel of Jehovah was regarded as the Shechinah, the indwelling of God in the world, i.e., the only Mediator between God and the world, who bears in the Jewish theology the name Metatron. Terah passed away in Haran at the age of 205 years. Terah the Idol Worshipper. So Let’s look at this. Aben Ezra suggests, that the agreeableness of the place to Terah caused him to continue there; but it is very probable he was seized with a disease which obliged them to stay here, and of which he died. Abraham overcame the pain of such separation and followed the word with faith (Gen 12:4). Terah and his family went to another city in Mesopotamia—Haran. Hence, it follows that Isaac, his seed, was born thirty years after the call of Abram. What exactly was the nature of the opportunity we are not told. It is quite possible that God made the three promises to Abraham’s father Terah first, but he failed the test by remaining in Haran. Why did Terah decide to leave Ur-his home city? Abram was called out of Ur to go to a land he did not know according to Acts 7:2. Let’s say God did call to Terah. Scripture provides few details of Terah’s life.1 He wasborn in the year 1878 from Creation (1883 BCE) to his father Nahor, who waseighth in line from Noah. David saw Him by the threshing-floor of Araunah, standing between heaven and earth, with the sword drawn in His hand and stretched out over Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 21:16); and He appeared to Zechariah in a vision as a rider upon a red horse (Zechariah 1:9.). Balaam He met in a human or angelic form, with a drawn sword in His hand (Numbers 22:22-23). Why did Terah leave Ur of the Chaldees with his family? Wis. 13-15). 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. Terah coordinated the trip and planned to accompany Abram to his destination. 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. (p) Itinerarium, p. 60. Terah, Jewish literature records, was a craftsman who made idols. First, what would motivate Terah to uproot his family and leave the great city of Ur to travel 1,000 miles to the land of Canaan? Terah received instructions from God to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into the land of Canaan. And that brings us to the second reason. Terah's son was named Abram Terah and his family went to another city in Mesopotamia—Haran. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Since Abram was unwilling or unable to leave his father’s … We must confine ourselves to the passages in which "the Angel of Jehovah" is actually referred to. With the choice of Abram and revelation of God to man assumed a select character, inasmuch as God manifested Himself henceforth to Abram and his posterity alone as the author of salvation and the guide to true life; whilst other nations were left to follow their own course according to the powers conferred upon them, in order that they might learn that in their way, and without fellowship with the living God, it was impossible to find peace to the soul, and the true blessedness of life (cf. We can’t be sure, but we do know that Haran was a major center of worship for the Moon God—as Ur was. version of the Old is ἄγγελος κυρίου used as a proper name; it is a simple appellative, as is apparent from the fact that in every instance, in which further reference is made to an angel who has appeared, he is called ὀ ἄγγελος, with or without κυρίου. This account records Terah as the first to set out to Canaan with Abram and his family from Ur of the Chaldeans to settle in Canaan (vs. 31-32). Terah set out for Canaan but stopped in the city of Haran along the way, where he died. They were to travel to the land of Canaan , and establish this as the beginning of a new nation. 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. The name must not be confounded with that of Haran, the father of Lot, as really it is in the Heb. Terah wanted to leave Ur because he was afraid a war would start. 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. For the essential unity of the Angel of Jehovah with Jehovah Himself follows indisputably from the following facts. It seems likely, because that would explain his reason for leaving his extended family and the prosperous city of Ur to travel to a land he did not know. This does not matter! The journey probably took months. Verse 31. For the election of God was not restricted to the separation of Abram from the family of Shem, to be the father of the nation which was destined to be the vehicle of salvation; it was also manifest in the exclusion of Ishmael, whom Abram had begotten by the will of man, through Hagar the handmaid of his wife, for the purpose of securing the promised seed, and in the new life imparted to the womb of the barren Sarai, and her consequent conception and birth of Isaac, the son of promise. God commanded Terah to leave Ur of Chaldees for the land of Canaan in Genesis 11:31. b. Genesis 2:5). l. 5. c. 24. Of this long period his seed was to be a stranger in a land that was not theirs for four hundred years Genesis 15:13. The Call of Abram He finally came to the promised land of Canaan, but he would only be a pilgrim there, pitching his tent at the famous locations mentioned in Scripture. vol. Terah, may have decided to go to Canaan because of “Opportunity”! The surroundings were comfortable in the civilised city of Ur, so Terah may have been reluctant to leave. Terah's son was named Abram. Why did they leave Ur? The question arises, therefore, whether the angel of Jehovah, or of God, was God Himself in one particular phase of His self-manifestation, or a created angel of whom God made use as the organ of His self-revelation. (Antiqu. Terah was worshipping many gods at that time so it’s possible that he thought this was one of those many gods. From Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. After Terah had passed away, God called Abram to continue the journey to Canaan. (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. ''What detained Terah and his family here, when they intended to go further, is not said. - And Terah took - an act of pure human volition on the part of Terah (Kalisch); under the guidance of God's ordinary providence (Keil); but more probably, as Abram was called in Ur (vide infra), prompted by a knowledge of his son's call, and a desire to participate in his son's inheritance (Lange) - Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his … Perhaps when he told his father, Terah, that the One true God had called him, his father took the reins and led them out of Ur. Why did we need to know about Terah leaving Ur to … Genesis 16, where He is mentioned for the first time, contains no distinct statement as to His shape, but produces on the whole the impression that He appeared to Hagar in a human form, or one resembling that of man; since it was not till after His departure that she drew the inference from His words, that Jehovah had spoken with her. And later in the story Rachel, Terah's great-great-granddaughter, does seem keen to hold on to the Teraphim (household idols) as if they were a family heirloom (Gen 31:19). But this exclusiveness contained from the very first the germ of universalism. - On the other hand, the objection is raised, that ἄγγελος κυρίου in the New Testament, which is confessedly the Greek rendering of יהוה מלאך, 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. Why a 2nd time? This explanation of the order of events is confirmed by the statement of Stephen: "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran. And lastly, it appeared still more manifestly in the twin sons born by Rebekah to Isaac, of whom the first-born, Esau, was rejected, and the younger, Jacob, chosen to be the heir of the promise; and this choice, which was announced before their birth, was maintained in spite of Isaac's plans, or that Jacob, and not Esau, received the blessing of the promise. Abram told his father that Yahweh had instructed them to leave. 24. For some reason, Terah and his family stopped short of Canaan, and remained in Haran. Ur was the great metropolis of its time, so why leave it. Hence, Abram is placed first in the list of Terah's sons, simply on account of his personal pre-eminence as the father of the faithful and the ancestor of the promised seed; he and his brother Nahor are both much younger than Haran, are married only after his death, and one of them to his grown-up daughter Milkah; and he and his nephew Lot are meet companions in age as well as in spirit. Gen 11:31-32 Terah and his family decide to move from Ur and follow the River Euphrates upstream for about 600 miles / 950km to Haran (see 1 on Map 38). Perhaps he became sick. Hist. Jasher says AmarPal wanted to throw Abram in the same furnace as Haran. 4 Why did they stop? As both Ur and Haran were known to be centers of moon worship, it was perhaps considered too risky by Terah to make the entire journey to … ), or of "Elohim," and the "angel of Elohim" (Genesis 21:17; Genesis 31:11, etc. Terah's son Abram had an encounter with God, who directed him to take the entire family, leave Ur, and move to the land of Canaan. The revelations consisted almost exclusively of promises; and so far as these promises were fulfilled in the lives of the patriarchs, the fulfilments themselves were predictions and pledges of the ultimate and complete fulfilment, reserved for a distant, or for the most remote futurity. 5 Maybe, Abraham could not get his father, Terah, to leave this famous center of … Lucan. It probably is not the same reason that motivates Abraham’s subsequent decision to leave Haran. 27 This is the account of Terah.. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. ), without any angelic form being visible in either case. 31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. Stephen informs us in Acts 7:2 “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. After Haran’s death, Terah uprooted his family from their home in Ur of the Chaldeans and set out for the land of Canaan. The family were in the city of Haran for five years. l. 1. c. 6. sect. Why did we need to know about Terah leaving Ur to go to Canaan, but stopping in Haran? The following is an excerpt from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Hebrews 11. 1. The Koran and Jewish tradition suggest the following reason for Abraham's departure from Ur: King Nimrod of Ur (or Babylon) tried to have young Abraham burned alive for … And that brings us to the second reason. So he may have found a blossoming trade in Haran. (i) Elmacinus, p. 31. apud Hottinger. The inhabitants also of Ur had fallen into polytheism, or, if we may so speak, allotheism, the worship of other gods. If the Book of Jasher has any validity, Terah left Ur with Abram, because Nimrod was seeking the life of Abram, who was seeking refuge from Noah and Shem at the time. Once, Terah needed to leave his store, and he appointed Abraham to sell the idols in his stead. 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. (n) Though the oracle of God came to Abram, yet the honour is given to Terah, because he was the father. 4 Why did they stop? Genesis 11:28-31 identifies Abraham’s original hometown as “Ur of the Chaldees,” or “Ur of the Chaldeans.” Sometime during Abraham’s adult life, probably while he was already about seventy years old, his father Terah moved the family clan to the city of Haran in northern Syria as the first step in a planned migration to the land of Canaan. What was Terah's son named? Get your calculator out.) 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. Other strong answers to consider: "I quit my job because my supervisor retired. Though proceeding by easy stages, the aged patriarch seems to have been exhausted by the length and the difficulty of the way. It doesn’t say God called Terah to move to Canaan, but that was where He wanted Abram to be. But as soon as Abram had gone to Canaan, in obedience to the call of God, Jehovah appeared to him there (Genesis 12:7). Terah: Abram’s Father (11:27-32) Like Noah, Terah also had three sons, Abram being one of them. It is quite possible that God made the three promises to Abraham’s father Terah first, but he failed the test by remaining in Haran. 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