Abraham's (Abram) family line from Adam:
Adam and Eve had 2 sons, Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel and Eve believed that Seth (her 3rd born son) was given to her by God as a replacement for Abel.
From Seth came 8 sons, the last being Noah. Noah had 3 sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Shem's line, down 8 generations, produced Terah, the father of Abraham.
How long did these people live?
Adam: 930 years
Seth: 912 years
Noah: 950 years
Shem: 600 years
Terah: 205 years
Abraham: 175 years
When Abraham was born, Noah was 892 years old and Shem was 390.
Abraham was 58 when Noah died and 110 when Shem died.
Abraham was born in the year 1813 BCE in the city of Ur in Babylonia.
Once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and Ur is now well inland, south of the Euphrates on its right bank (bottom right).
Let me put Ur into perspective regarding size. Don't laugh at the terrible art work I did! Ur was 2,600 feet from NE to SW, that is the same as .49 miles. The city, from NW to SE was 3,900 feet or .74 miles. SMALL place! (I know these measurements don't equal a perfect square but you get the idea!)
Now that you know where we are starting off and have a good visual going, here are some facts about Abraham's life.
Terah-Abraham's father believed in many gods (polytheistic). He had 3 sons, Abraham, Nahor and Haran. About 10 years after Abraham was born, Terah had a daughter, Sarai (Sarah),by his second wife, so she was the half sister to Abraham. Sarai and Abraham married. So Terah's daughter was also his daughter in law. Yeah, I know what you are thinking! However, this was not uncommon at the time, in fact, throughout much of history, especially with royalty, this was strongly encouraged. If you kept marriages within the family, the throne/kingdom would never leave the family. Make sense?
Terah was an idol worshiper. Definition of idolatry:
1: the worship of a physical object as a god 2. immoderate attachment or devotion to something
He was also the chief officer to King Nimrod (haha...I know...the name!) Basically the right hand man.
Getting a bit more scattered now...Who was Nimrod and where did he come from?
Remember Noah's son Ham, Ham was definitely not the first 2 of the most important of the sons. Ham had a son named Cush and from Cush came Nimrod. So clearly, not the one that should have been king or been anywhere close. Nimrod's followers grew in numbers b/c he was strong, sly, tricky and a great hunter. He became the king of Babylon and later, expanded his empire greatly.
As was to be expected, Nimrod did not feel very secure on his throne. He feared that one day there would appear a descendant of Noah's heir and successor,Shem and would claim the throne. He was determined to have no challenger. Some of Shem's descendants had already been forced to leave that land and build their own cities and empires. There was only one prominent member of the Semitic family left in his country. He was Terah, the son of Nahor. Terah was the eighth generation removed, in a direct line of descendants from Shem. But Nimrod had nothing to fear from Terah, his most loyal and trusted servant. Terah had long before betrayed his family, and had become a follower of Nimrod. All of his ancestors were still living, including Shem himself, but Terah left his ancestral home and became attached to Nimrod. Terah, who should have been the master and Nimrod his slave, became the slave of Nimrod. Like the other people in that country, Terah believed that Nimrod received his kingdom as a gift from the "gods," and was himself a "god." Terah was prepared to serve Nimrod with all his heart. Indeed, he proved himself a very loyal and useful servant. Nimrod entrusted into his hands the command of his armies and made Terah the highest minister in his land.
Terah was short of nothing but a wife. So he found himself a wife, whose name was Amathlai. They looked forward to raising a large family, but they were not blessed with any children. The years flew by, and Terah still had no son. His father was only twenty-nine years old when he, Terah, was born. But Terah was getting closer to seventy than to thirty, and yet there was no son! He prayed to Nimrod and to his idols to bless him with a son, but his prayers were not answered. Little did he know that Nimrod felt happy about Terah's misfortune. For although Nimrod had nothing to fear from Terah, he could not be sure if Terah's sons would be as loyal to him as their father. Therefore, he was inwardly very pleased that his servant Terah had no children, and probably would never have any. But he could not be, sure, and Nimrod was not taking chances. He ordered his stargazers and astrologers to watch the sky for any sign of the appearance of a possible rival.
One night the star-gazers noticed , a new star rising in the East. Every night it grew brighter. They informed Nimrod.
Nimrod called together his magicians and astrologers. They all agreed that it meant that a new baby was to be born who might challenge Nimrod's power. It was decided that in order to prevent this, all new-born baby-boys would have to die, starting from the king's own palace, down to the humblest slave's hut.
And who was to be put in charge of this important task? Why, Terah, of course, the king's most trusted servant.
Terah sent out his men to round up all expectant mothers. The king's palace was turned into a gigantic maternity ward. A lucky mother gave birth to a girl, and then they were both sent home, laden with gifts. But if the baby happened to be a boy, he was put to death without mercy.
One night, Nimrod's star-gazers watching that new star, saw it grow very bright and suddenly dart across the sky, first in one direction then in another, west, east, north and south, swallowing up all other stars in its path.
Nimrod was with his star-gazers on the roof of his palace, and saw the strange display in the sky with his own eyes. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
"There can be only one explanation. A son was born tonight who would challenge the king's power, and the father is none other than Terah."
"Terah?!" Nimrod roared. "My own trusted servant?"
Nimrod had never given a thought to Terah as becoming a father at the age of seventy. However, if he did become a father, he would surely be glad to offer his first-born son to his king and god! Nimrod dispatched a messenger to Terah at once, ordering him to appear together with his newly born son.
That night Terah and his wife Amathlai had indeed become the happy parents of a baby boy, who brought a great light and radiance into their home. Terah had hoped it would be a girl, and he would have no terrible decision to make. Now he could not think of giving up this lovely baby, born to him at his old age after such longing. He had managed to keep his wife's expectancy a secret. None of his servants knew about the birth of his son. There was a secret passage leading from his palace to a cave in the field. He took the baby to that cave and left it there. As he was returning to the palace, past the servants' quarters, he suddenly heard the cry of a baby. What good fortune! Terah cried. It so happened that one of his servants had given birth to a boy about the same time as his own son was born. Terah took the baby and put him in silk swaddling and handed him to his wife to nurse. Just then the king's messenger arrived.
When Terah with the baby in his arms appeared before Nimrod, Terah declared: "I was just about to bring my son to you, when your messenger came."
Nimrod thought it was mighty loyal of Terah to give up his only son, born to him in his old age. Nimrod did not know that this was not Terah's son, but rather, that of a servant.
For three years little Abraham remained in the cave, where he did not know day from night. Then he came out of the cave and saw the bright sun in the sky, and thought that it was God, who had created the heaven and the earth, and him, too. But in the evening the sun went down, and the moon rose in the sky, surrounded by myriads of stars. "This must be God," Abraham decided. But the moon, too, disappeared, and the sun reappeared, and Abraham decided that there must be a God Who rules over the sun and the moon and the stars, and the whole world.
And so, from the age of three years and on, Abraham knew that there was only one God, and he was resolved to pray to Him and worship Him alone.
A little more insight into King Nimrod. His kingdom stretched to the city of Babel (otherwise known as Babylon. (Dead center to the left a bit)
Because Nimrod believed in many gods, he was rebellious to THE God. The tower of Babel was built as a sign of this rebellion. The tower was meant to reach the heavens so they could be equal to God. God's punishment for that arrogance: Gen. 11
Genesis 11
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a]they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Loved making that connection! Have I lost you yet? I hope not!
Abraham lived in the cave until he was 10 years old. Then he went to live with Noah and Shem, where he studied and learned to serve God. Nimrod had long forgotten about the amazing appearance of the bright star and Terah was still by his side, helping him with his affairs and Nimrod knowing no difference. As Terah continued his worshiping of idols, Abraham continued to grow in his faith and tried to tell his father about God. Terah was hearing none of it.
One day, Abram took an axe and destroyed all his father’s idols. Only the largest remained intact. When Terah saw his idols shattered and scattered all over the floor, he accused Abram. But Abram said that the largest of the idols had killed all the others in a fight over an offering brought to them. Terah exclaimed that such a thing was impossible, since idols could not quarrel or fight. Then he realized that his son tricked him into admitting that the idols made of stone and wood could not even move, and he became very angry. Forgetting that he had long ago deceived Nimrod by substituting another child for Abram, he went to the king and reported his son’s irreverence towards the gods.
Nimrod threw Abraham in prison and condemned him to death by fire. Abraham spoke out again the king and his idols and made known his faith in the Lord. As the son of Shem, Prince Shem, many people gathered to watch Abraham burn. He was tied up and thrown in a furnace. Because God was with him, nothing but the rope that bound him, burned. For 3 days and nights, Abraham walked among the flames with not a single hair burned. Nimrod allowed him to come out of the furnace and showered him with gifts and sent him home. Nimrod last many followers to Abraham after that event and Abraham preached to all his new followers about God.
Abraham went on to marry Sarai (Her name later changed by God to Sarah). Name changes were common when a covenant was formed with God. Refresher: Sarai was Abraham's half sister. I guess getting her father's blessing wasn't an issue! ;)
covenant: conditional promises made to humanity by God
Abraham and Sarah lived with Terah until Nimrod sent for Abraham again, this time with plans to secretly kill him. Abraham found out before and escaped to Noah's home, where he had lived as a young child.
Finishing up....stick with me!
Together, Abraham, Terah, Sarah, and Terah's grandson Lot set out from Ur to go to the land of Canaan, But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Gen. 11:31
Abraham's journey.
Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.
Genesis 12:1-9
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years oldwhen he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Ok, so, that went.....interestingly! I truly hope that made sense and pieced together a few things. I will work on not being so scattered in the next one...and seriously...the next one is BY FAR my favorite! These were just pieces of info I have picked up through many sources that have helped me to make sense of what I'm reading. I overly check things to make sure I'm getting them as accurate as I possibly can. Please know that I'm learning this too and excited to share it all with anybody that wants to listen!
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