The following is a summary of what my children and I learned on Ancient History about Abraham:
Abraham's father Terah was from the line of Noah's son Shem. The name "Terah" was associated with the moon, "yareah" and thus the moon god. Terah did not have any children until he was 70 years old. He had 3 sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran. Terah's son Haran died early leaving behind his own son, Lot, who was Abram's cousin. Sarai was the daughter of one of Terah's many wives. Abram later married Sarai who was his half-sister. Intermarriage between family members was very common in those days. Extended families were closer-knit than they are today; husbands often had many wives which meant that half-brothers and half-sisters often grew together; language barrier was common with people outside the family group. There were cultural and religious differences outside the circle of family members. Abram's father, Terah was an idol worshiper and an idol merchant. We read of this in Joshua 24:2, "And Joshua said to all the people, thus says the LORD , the God of Israel, from ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods." Abram did not learn about the One True God from his father. The Sumerian of Ur believed that their purpose on earth was to serve their gods. They considered their kings to be gods. They made human sacrifices when a king died. This was their final worship service to their god-king. This system made the death of a king a terribly sad occasion.
Abram received a call from God about leaving his hometown Ur and set out to Haran, "Now the LORD said to Abram, go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so shall you be a blessing; and and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you ALL the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:1-4; Acts 7:2-4. It must have been difficult for Abram to leave behind everything that he owned and knew to build a new home in an unknown and unsettled country. When God called Abram to leave his country, his people and his father, He didn't tell Abram where he was going. The following are 7 elements of God's call to Abram:
1. "I will make you into a great nation." From Abram's seed would come a great nation.
2. "and I will bless you." Abram was going to enjoy material prosperity.
3. "I will make your name great." Abraham's name would be renowned beyond his lifetime.
4. "and you will be a blessing." God was going to bless Abraham and his seed.
5. "I will bless those who bless you." God was going to bless those who blessed Abraham and his seed.
6. "and whoever curses you I will curse." God was going to punish those who cursed Abraham and his seed.
7. "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." It was through Abraham's seed that God was going to provide a future blessing to all, the Messiah.
Abram's amazing faith is a great example to us. He obeyed God by taking his family and his brother's son Lot and set off to an unknown land. It was at Shechem that God suddenly appeared to him promising him all of the land around him. There he built an altar for the Lord as worship. It took a lot of faith for Abram to do what God told him to do. He did so believing God's promises, "Then he believed in the LORD, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:8-12.
Luci
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