There are many benefits to being born a younger into a family. If you have been born younger than your many brothers and sisters, you know the benefits of being younger. First of all, parents usually give a little more affection to their younger children than others. Again, the younger children are given various exemptions for the responsibility of maintaining discipline. However, this does not seem to be a very useful thing when growing up; but in childhood it seems to be a special advantage. But the most valuable benefit we get from being younger in the family is the opportunity to see adults and learn from their example. By looking at them, we get various benefits in deciding what we will accept or reject in our life. Time of growing up, I didn’t realize that they were examples to me. Yet seeing all the mistakes they make, we try to keep ourselves away from all those mistakes; Again all the right steps they take, we try to learn from them ourselves.
As
Christians we are 2,000 years away from the cross. Therefore, we too have the
opportunity to receive instruction and help from our former Christians. On the
one hand we are younger brothers and sisters in relationships with our former
believers; hence, we can learn from their example in making various decisions
in our lives. In Hebrews 12.1 it is said, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Before
ordering us to forsake all burdens and simple obstacles, we have already
mentioned the existence of various believers. We can say, if we do not want to
fall into our faith-life easily, then we should take lessons and help from the
lives of our former believers.
In
Hebrews chapter 11, mentions the names of the ancestors of our faith, the word
spoken before almost every one of them is "by
faith." The ancestors of all these beliefs of ours were not perfect
though; yet they patiently ran to the place in front of them. This applies to
all of us contemporary Christians. Although we cannot live our faith perfectly,
we can learn from our faith's ancestors - by avoiding their mistakes and
following their right decisions. The same thing is said at 1 Corinthians 10:11 "All
these things happened to them in parables, and were written for our sake."
Again, Romans 15.4 says, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that
through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they
provide we might have hope."
The
names mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 are very important to us. But the most
important person among them when it comes to following the faith is Abraham. Because, in the pages of the Old Testament or the
New Testament we find Abraham's words. After reading Romans chapter 4,
Galatians chapter 3, James chapter 2, or Hebrews chapter 11 we are forced to
conclude that "Abraham was a believer in God." He is called a hero
of God-faith but not much is said. Despite being a hero of faith Abraham, He
did something wrong; we will learn from the many mistakes and right decisions
in Abraham's life.
Of
the 50 chapters in the book of Genesis, 13 contain the words of Abraham. We
will look at the life of Abraham from Genesis as well as other books of the
Bible and learn from his life the essential lessons of our lives.
Although
the genealogy of Shem mentioned in Genesis 11.10-26 mentions Terah in verses
24-26, the genealogy of Terah is given again in verses 27-32. Because, he has a
special significance as the father of Abraham and the story of Abraham started
from his father. Terah gave birth to three sons - Abram, Nahor and Haran. This is where Abraham is first mentioned.
However, first his name was "Abram",
then God gave him the name "Abraham"
(17.5). In mentioning the names of the sons, although Abram's name is mentioned
first, Abram was not Terah's eldest son. Because, verse 26 says that Terah gave
birth to his first child at the age of 70.
But when Terah died in Haran at the age of 205 (11.32), when Abram was 75
(12.4). That is, Abraham was born when Terah was 130 years old (205-75). So we
can realized that Abraham was the youngest of Terah's three sons.
In
verse 28, the place of birth of the sons of Terah is mentioned - Ur of the land
of Chaldea. This place is located southeast of Babylon on the Persian Gulf.
Earlier it was thought that Ur was a primitive city where there was no light of
civilization. So Abraham was considered by many to be an uneducated and
ignorant man living in a mud-walled house. But various archaeological
discoveries have corrected this misconception. From the various ruins of Ur, it
is known that this city was rich in great wealth and culture. There was a
library and a university here. This city was a worshiper of the moon god. It is
clear from Joshua 24.2 that Abraham
and his ancestors were worshipers of other gods. This fact is evident from the
names of their wives - "Sari"
is the name of a consort of the moon god, and "Milka" is the name of the daughter of the moon god. Of
course, it is not true that Abraham and his ancestors worshiped only the moon.
In addition to the moon gods, they worshiped many other gods and goddesses, all
of whom had idols. That is, Abraham's family was as polytheistic as the
ordinary Hindu family.
Haran was the first of three sons to die; among
his children are Lot, Milcah, and Iscar. In verses 29-30, the marriage of
Terah's other two sons - Nahor and Abram - is mentioned. Nahor married Milka,
the daughter of his brother Haran; And Abram married Sarai. Again, in verse
20:12, Abraham said of Sarai, “She is my sister, and this is true; for she
is my father's daughter, and not my mother's daughter, after she became my
wife.” That is, Terah had multiple marriages and Sarai was Abraham's
half-sister. Abraham saw his father Terah marry more than one, so when Sarai
asked Hagar to marry (16.3), then it did not seem unusual to Abraham.
In verses 31 and 32, we see Abram and his wife
Sarai and Lot begin their journey from Ur to Terah in the land of Canaan. This
journey, however, did not take them to their destination, Canaan. The journey
stops at Haran between Ur and Canaan, as Terah settled here and later died at
the age of 205.
The question we naturally ask here is, why did
Terah leave Ur and set out for Canaan? Stephen's testimony before the
Sanhedrin, filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts
7.2-4 says that Abraham received a call and promise from the God of glory
when he lived in Mesopotamia or Chaldea before settling in Haran. We do not
know how the God of glory appeared to Abram in Ur. However, it is clear that
God himself took the first initiative to take Abraham to Canaan. This is true
for everyone in human history. We may think that we are looking for God, but in
reality this desire to seek God is given to us by God Himself. It can be
compared to coming to the river bank and pulling the anchor rope. We may feel
that we are dragging the land to us; but in reality we are moving towards the
land. The God of glory appeared to Abram, a worshiper of the moon and other
gods, in a land full of idols. We will see next Sunday the command and promise
that God gave him through this vision.
God called Abraham because his purpose was to make
a family by a man and his wife, and to make a nation out of that family. But
this is not the end, because, through that nation, God will bless all the other
nations of the world (12.1-3; 18.18). But the one whom God chose to accomplish
this purpose was foolish in human intellect and thought. Because, Sari was
barren (11.30). But our way and God's way are not the same (Isaiah 55: 8-9). In
1 Corinthians 1.27-29 it is said, "God chose the weak things of the
world, that the mighty things might put all men to shame ... so that no one may boast before him."
Presumably,
after receiving a vision of God in Ur, Abram told his family about the vision.
Although Terah did not receive that call directly from God, he heard the call
from his son Abram and left Ur, although he failed to reach Canaan. Hearing
God's call to Abram, he realized that he could not offer a life that would
satisfy his heart. So he started the journey with Abram, but could not finish.
Even today we see many people who started their journey from Ur but failed to
take it to Canaan, stopped at Haran, died there. Many have left the world and
joined the church. They have found a new religion in their lives, they live a
moral life and perform religious rites. They were very religious but they were
not born again - they did not enter Canaan - they did not get a taste of new
life in Christ. Many years of Abraham's life were lost for his father Terah.
Even then also, Abraham did not fully believe in God. Where are you now Ur?
Haran? Canaan?
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