Abraham Chosen By God

Before the flood, there had been steady turning away from God by the people until finally only Noahwas trying to do what was right.  After the flood, at Babel, the people had begun to turn away and rebel against God.  Just as one branch of Seth’s family had continued to serve God when all the rest turned away, one branch or Shem’s family were more focused on serving God than the rest, although the spread of wickedness was much more restrained than it had been before the flood. 

In Seth’s family, there was one man, Enoch, who stood out especially as serving God even more than the others.  Genesis 5:21-24 tells us, “And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” 

After the flood, there was one man, Abraham, who walked much more closely with God than the others in Shem’s family and Genesis 12:1-25:10 tells the relevant parts of the story.  Genesis 11:26-32 gives us some background information.   “And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.   Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.  And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.  And Abram and Nahor took them 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.   But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.  And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.”

Originally Abraham’s family had come from Ur, southeast of Babel.  After the death of his oldest son, they moved northward along the Euphrates river, originally intending to go to Canaan, but started a city in Syria named after his son Haran.  After his father’s death, Abraham left Haran to finish the trip into Canaan, according to  Acts 7:2-4.  “…The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.  Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.” 

Genesis 12:1-4 describes Abraham’s leaving Haran.  “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”  When he left Haran, Abraham did not know where he was going, but just followed God according to Hebrews 11:8.  “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” 

Based on these verses, Abraham had to be at least sixty years younger than his brother Nahor, since the eldest was born when Terah was seventy and Abraham was only seventy five when he left Haran after Terah’s death at two hundred five.  Lot could have easily been thirty.  This is important because it proves we cannot simply add up the years a man lived to set dates for exactly when these different events happened, contrary to what many have attempted to do.   Understanding this makes it far easier to reconcile the biblical account with historical records. 

Many today teach that the Old Testament teachings are not relevant in our day.  Galatians 3:7-9 tells us. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.   And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.    So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”  Literally he is saying that our salvation is based on the promises God made to Abraham, making them very important to us today.