Abraham's Life Journey (1): Ur, Haran, Shechem
Abraham's Life Journey • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Big idea: Christians do not arrive at heaven through their eyes, but their ears.
Outline
Introduction
Ur of the Chaldeans
Haran
Shechem
Conclusion
Scripture reading: Gen. 12:1-7
Scripture reading: Gen. 12:1-7
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. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Introduction
They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
Back in the 1500s, the Protestant Reformers rejected the core claims of the Catholic church. They rejected the infallibility of the pope, the unquestionable authority of the church teachings, and the idea that one can earn salvation by means of good works. And we can summarize the Reformation doctrine in four words: justification by faith alone. There is nothing, no thing, no good work or act of charity, that contributes to our salvation. It is only faith alone. But true faith is never alone. Unless it’s a deathbed conversion like the thief on the cross, true faith always leaves behind a trail of godliness and godly deeds. They don’t contribute to our salvation, but they evidence it.
For the next couple of weeks, we’re going to look at the life of Abraham. His life was full of ups and downs, but he never stopped trusting in God. Abraham shows us what it means to be justified by faith. Our goal, therefore, is to use Abraham’s life as a roadmap for our own Christian journey. We are different people, but God is the same God. And if our faith is the same as Abraham’s, then the evidence of our faith, that is, our works and our choices will look similar to Abraham’s.
Now, if we were to sum up Abraham’s life, it would be in the numbers 7 and 10 because of the seven covenants God made with him throughout his lifetime, and the ten places where Abraham lived.
Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen. 11:27-30).
Haran (Gen. 11:31).
Shechem (Gen. 12:4-7).
Between Bethel and Ai (Gen. 12:8-9).
Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20).
Between Bethel and Ai (Gen. 13:1-17).
Hebron (Gen. 13:18 – 19:38).
Gerar (Gen. 20:1 – 21:24)
Beersheba (Gen. 21:25)
Hebron (Gen. 23:1 – 25:10). Where Abraham died and was buried in the Cave of Machpelah.
And we can divide Abraham’s life into three periods.
Age 1-75: Abraham’s life in Ur, Haran, and Shechem.
Age 75-100: Abraham’s life in Canaan until Isaac’s birth.
Age 100-175: Abraham’s life as the father of Isaac.
So that being said, let’s look at the first period of his life’s journey, in which he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, Haran, and Shechem.
Ur of the Chaldeans
Ur of the Chaldeans
This is the starting place of Abraham’s story.
Now these are the generations of Terah. 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.
Now the Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about Abraham’s life in Ur except that it was a place of idolatry.
And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
While living in a place of idolatry, Abraham’s family served other gods. But God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, out from the place of idolatry.
Acts 7:2-3 “And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’”
And that’s where we started off too. That’s what makes Ur of the Chaldeans so similar to the world we’re living in. There are so many different ideas, philosophies and religions, that we can even pick and choose the one we like, and in the end we serve ourselves. We become our own god. But in the same way God called Abraham out of Ur, God has called us out of idolatry, out of self-serving delusion, and into the truth.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
Haran
Haran
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.
From this passage we can see that Abraham and his family were supposed to go to the land of Canaan from Ur of the Chaldeans. God called Abraham to go to Canaan, and since the journey was so long, they made a stopover at Haran. But the thing about Haran is that it was a place of comfort and riches. We know this because historically that is what happens when your city is blessed to be in the middle of everything.
It’s like how you describe the unfamiliar places in Singapore. Where’s Tengah? About 30mins west of Orchard. Where’s Sembawang? About 30mins north of Orchard. Where’s Ur of the Chaldeans? About a 15-hour drive southeast of Haran.
And what we see is that this stopover at Haran goes from a day to a week, a week to a month, a month to a season and then to a full year. And somewhere along the line, they stopped shopping for supplies and started shopping for houses.
In the end, Abraham’s father Terah dies in Haran. His story ends without him arriving at the promised land.
Here’s a really quick calculation for us to get the full picture.
Terah has Abraham when he’s 70 years old.
When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Abraham leaves Haran at 75 years old.
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
So what this means is that when Abraham left Haran, Terah was 145 years old. And Terah dies in Haran at 205 years old.
The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
So what’s going on is that Abraham goes to his father Terah one day and says, ‘Dad, God called us to go to Canaan.’ And Terah says, ‘Okay, we’ll go next month. I promise. Let me settle my accounts.’ And a month passes by and Abraham goes to him again, and Terah says, ‘Next month, I promise.’ And it got so bad to the point that God had to call Abraham a second time, and this time God says to leave Terah behind.
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.
See, Terah was only 145 years old when God called Abraham, and he would live on for 60 more years, but Acts 7:4 says that Abraham only left after Terah died.
Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.
The word ‘died’ here is apothnesko, which generally means ‘to die’. But what’s going on is that the author of the book of Acts talking spiritually.
Terah’s name means to stay or to delay. And Terah kept delaying and delaying, to the point that he was spiritually dead. Even Jesus talks about people like this.
Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Shechem
Shechem
Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Abraham’s now on his way to Canaan. He’s left his father behind, and he’s only got his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot. However, upon arriving in Canaan, God doesn’t appear immediately. And so Abraham continues to wander deeper and deeper into the land. And he sees two mountains.
There’s Mt. Gerizim on the right, and Mt. Ebal on the left. Abraham passes between these two mountains in a place called Shechem, and there God appears to him and promises to give him the land.
So what does this tell us? This tells us that Abraham’s obedience was a step-by-step obedience. Abraham didn’t know where to go, only where to leave. He didn’t know where God wanted him to arrive, only that God commanded him to depart.
Abraham lived by faith and not by sight. He didn’t know whether God would keep his end of the promise, but he trusted God anyway and obeyed God’s commands. He didn’t see the journey ahead of him and then decide whether it was worth it. His journey of faith was only step by step, and day by day.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
See, God didn’t show him the whole plan ahead of time. If God showed him the whole plan, that’s not a command. That’s a proposal. It’s like a CEO doing a business pitch to a group of potential investors. If God shows the whole plan upfront, then Abraham’s obedience is not based on faith but on opinion: ‘I think your plan’s pretty good, so I’m happy go along.’ God didn’t do that with Abraham, and He’s not doing that with us either. Abraham signed a blank cheque.
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
To sum it up, Abraham did not find Canaan with his eyes, but with his ears. May we follow Abraham in our faith in and obedience to God’s Word.
I’d now like to conclude.
Conclusion
Conclusion
This first period of Abraham’s life shows us three things that Abraham left behind.
He left behind the place of idolatry
He left behind anything or anyone that caused him to delay in obeying God’s Word
He left behind his opinion of God’s Word and humbly obeyed day by day
When you’re guiding a blind person, you don’t tell them what’s a hundred metres ahead. You tell them what’s right in front of them. ‘Watch out for that step.’ ‘There’s a door in front of you.’ And the blind person has to trust your every word in order to reach their destination. Abraham’s journey of faith was like this. God led him step-by-step, day-by-day. God’s leading us too like this.
Abraham obeyed God’s Word and left behind the comfort and security of his father’s house to an unknown land full of dangers.
Jesus left His Father’s house to come to the earth, full of danger, in obedience to God the Father.
I pray that as children of Abraham, we leave behind our comfort or anything that delays us from obeying God’s Word, and humbly follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. And when we humbly obey God like this, the Bible promises that we will arrive in the promised land of the Kingdom of God.