Genesis Part 022
At the end of Genesis 11, we find that from Noah’s son Shem, comes the final line of Nahor – Terah – Abram. We are told that Shem seems to follow God (Gen 9:26 – “Blessed by the LORD, the God of Shem…”).
Genesis 11:28 tells us that their native land was Ur. Ur was in the southern part of Babylonia. Already by this time, counterfeit religion had filled the land. In Babylonia, they had national gods, local city gods, even family/clan gods. Pagan worship filled their culture.
John Gill’s commentary brings out the following from Josephus on this verse:
“Josephus (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 5.) says, that Haran died among the Chaldeans, in a city called Ur of the Chaldees, where, he adds, his grave is shown to this day: the Jews (Shalshalet, fol. 2. 1, 2. Jarchi in loc.) have a fable concerning the death of Haran; they say that Terah was not only an idolater, but a maker and seller of images; and that one day going abroad, he left his son Abraham in the shop to sell them, who, during his father's absence, broke them all to pieces, except one; upon which, when Terah returned and found what was done, he had him before Nimrod, who ordered him to be cast into a burning furnace, and he should see whether the God he worshipped would come and save him; and while he was in it, they asked his brother Haran in whom he believed? he answered, if Abraham overcomes, he would believe in his God, but if not, in Nimrod; wherefore they cast him into the furnace, and he was burnt; and with respect to this it is said, "and Haran died before the face of Terah his father"; but Abraham came out safe before the eyes of them all.”
Again, this is non-Biblical material, but it is interesting to read.
In Genesis 11:30 we see the first usage of the word “barren.” It is interesting to note how often God allowed major women of the Bible to be barren. Some examples are Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah (Samuel’s mother) and the wife of Manoah (Samson’s mother). What did each of them learn from this time of barrenness? In the right timing for each of them, God allowed them to have children that were integral to His great plan. This can be encouragement for those experiencing similar struggles currently.
Unfortunately, not a lot is known about Terah. We know from Joshua 24:2 that he worshiped other gods and that God took Abraham out of that culture to work with him.
Since his father Terah worshipped other gods, where did Abraham learn about the true God and what was right? Did Abraham have a relationship with Noah and Shem? Shem would have been about 390 years old and Noah about 892 years old when Abraham was born. Noah would have died when Abraham was about 58 years old. According to Jewish literature (Midrash) they had a relationship, but we have no way of proving this one way or another. These writings contain stories of how Terah was the Chief officer to Nimrod and was the high priest of the idol worshipers. There is no way to know for sure, but we clearly know Terah served other gods and the True God called Abraham out of this.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
