A STUDY IN GENESIS
We are stepping into chapter 12, and God is about to work something incredible. However, the foundation for chapter 12 actually starts in chapter 11. Let’s look at Abram and Sarai, an old couple with no children no prospects of future through children and how God was about to change that. Genesis 11:27-32 “This [is] the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife [was] Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.”
Let’s break this down. We see that Terah has three sons named Abram his oldest, next came Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot who we will examine more of later. Something unique happens here that I believe is missed in most Bible studies. In this time period, in a list of genealogy you would do the oldest child to the youngest. We can assume that Abram is the oldest followed by Nahor and Haran. When it comes to wives, Abram and Nahor would have been first to have wives, Terah would have made sure of that due to their order of birth. But why is Haran the first to have a child? While the scripture does not tell us, I believe based on a holistic approach of examining scripture and the times they lived in, we can infer a few hints. Abram and Nahor were most likely not the most attractive suitors. I do not mean physically, but if names have any significance which I believe the Bible clearly indicates they do, Nahor means “snorer.” Abram’s name means “exalted father.” Now if you are a single lady and a man’s name means exalted father and the guy is close to his family, you might be wondering if this gentlemen caller is truly going to be devoted to you or the family name. Nahor stays in Ur but Abram is getting ready to leave to a new country. Now I know some might say I am looking too much into this with a modern view, but in the end, Abram and Nahor are not married when Haran has a a son born to him named Lot. This is the key that we need to see, it is here that something tragic happens that causes Abram and Nahor to quickly get wives when it was apparent this was not on their list of priorities.
Terah watches his son Haran die in front of himself. For many who watch a loved one pass away, it can be hard to move forward. One way many who have lost move on is by literally moving somewhere new to help change their personal environment. After the death of Haran, Terah wants to leave. We do not know a lot about Terah, but scripture does give us some clues into Abram’s early family. Terah was actively in their lives; when Terah wants to move, his grown children could have said no, but they didn’t. Terah is a family man through and through, Nahor his son is named after his grandfather. There was a support network within the family that Abram valued. I believe this is why later on Abram has issues with pushing away his son Ishmael, Genesis 21:10-11 “So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!” 11 This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son.” Nevertheless, Terah wants to leave, Abram and Nahor quickly find wives and Abram moves northwest from Ur which is south of Baghdad and they go to the land of Haran, which is in modern day Turkey.
It is here that Abram realizes that his chosen wife has an issue, Sari cannot conceive. This family has lost loved ones, moved to a new land and now find out they cannot have a future generation from one of the sons. Without knowing the future, Abram’s life must have looked like a short blimp in the world. For Satan, this would have been the last person on earth, he would have assumed God would choose to become the father of many nations.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL