Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And 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 Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you."
(Genesis 11:27-12:1)
Abraham was not just called by God to the promised land. He was chased there!
I was struck by that after reading Genesis 11 on a day when I dealt with a death claim at work for a father who had recently lost his daughter. The worst death claims to me are those where a parent is dealing with their children's death.
Terah is having a merry old time in Ur when one of his three sons dies in his presence. Another son is finding it impossible to have children. Perhaps he is thinking that this is not such a good place to live after all. He decides to emigrate and find a better life. Nahor is doing alright so he decides to stay put, but the rest of the clan follow.
Nicely settled in their new home in Heran, Terah is quite happy and the family acquire lots of people and possessions (12:5). But then Terah dies and there is nothing forcing the rest of the family to stay. Perhaps, if they head further west, life will be even better.
It was still doubtless by faith that Abram decided decided to head God's call. Nevertheless God made it easier by burning some bridges as he went.
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