We usually leap into the story of Abram in Genesis 12, however, he’s introduced in Genesis 11:27-32. There, at the end of the list of descendants of Shem, following the scattering at Babel, we are introduced to Terah, the almost Patriarch.
Terah has three children, Abram, Nahor and Haran, mirroring Noah’s three sons and Cain, Abel and Seth. Haran dies and this seems to prompt a life changing moment. Terah decided to leave the cradle of civilisation and the metropolitan grandeur of ancient Ur and set out with his family to Cannan.
Only, they don’t make it all the way there. For some reason, they end up stopping when they get to a place called Harran, just north of Canaan. It’s here that Terah eventually dies. Why doesn’t he go all the way to Canaan? Was it that this was his own initiative and he hadn’t heard word from God? Was it that he had heard God call him but only partially obeyed? Was the discovery that Sarai was barren significant? Did this discourage the migrants in their faith or cause them to wait in the hope that something would happen?
For whatever reason, the journey was interrupted. We might want to think here about how our plans can end up on pause, interrupted. Sometimes this is because we get distracted or discouraged but sometimes it is because we need to wait for God’s timing. In fact, if God is sovereign then even when it is because of our own failings, we can see God’s timing at work. We may want to think about what we do with these interruptions and delays. Do we allow God to use them?
Primarily though, the overarching theme her eis about how God has a plan to fulfil his promise of a saviour. Part of that plan is that Abram would end up in Canaan. It looks like that plan has been thwarted but God will not be blocked. He will accomplish his promise.
Faithroots 