|
The Bible Says
"And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Caldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there" (Genesis 11:11NKJB).
"An important metropolis of the ancient world, Ur was located on the Euphrates River in lower Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq. Several centuries before Abraham lived there as a boy, and grew up there as a young man, this place was a very important city under the 2nd and 3rd Dynasties of Ur, an important line of kings. But the glory of the city was suddenly destroyed in the period from c. 1960-1830 B.C. Foreigners stormed down from the surrounding hills and took the reigning king, Ibi-Sin, a captive and reduced the capital city of Ur to ruins. So complete was the eclipse of the city that it lay buried in oblivion for centuries until, like Ninevah, it was resurrected in modern times by the work of the archaeologist."
-- The Open Bible, page 1230. Ur was a bustling city. Abram may have been intrigued as a small boy, but now the glamour was gone. Everybody was trying to keep up with the Jones. People were back-biting, trying to get even, pushing and pulling every which way and Abram was fed up with the entire rat race. He wanted to get out! It reminds me of a song we old-timers sang when we were young:
God then appeared to him again and changed his name to Abraham. Although he was 99 years old and without an heir, God assured him that he would become the father of "many nations." Through Isaac his only heir he became the father of Israel and eventually David and the promised Messiah Jesus. Through his other wives Hagar and Ketura, together with the two sons of Lot he became father of the Arab world. God promised him that his off-springs would be as the dust of the earth, without number (Genesis 13:16). Were then, these earthly kingdoms his primary goal in life? No. One of his principle reasons for leaving Ur was that those people, including his own relatives, were all idol worshippers and he was determined to serve the One and only true God Jehovah. Not once did he or the two generations that followed him (Isaac and Jacob) revert to idol worship. What then was his goal? His fondest dream was not to establish an earthly kingdom, although Israel was extremely important to him: his utmost goal was heaven, the Pearly Gates, and the heavenly mansions waiting for him! "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:8-10 NKJB).
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26-29 NKJB).
Eric Barker spent more than 50 years in Portugal preaching the gospel. During World War II, it was no longer safe to stay in Portugal, so he sent his family to England. Later he stood before his congregation and said, "I just received word that all my family have arrived safely home!" He had just learned that the ship had been torpedoed and all his family had drowned. Rather than grieve over his loss, he rejoiced that all were ready to meet God, and therefore, were now home in Heaven!
(Our Daily Bread, May 1981. |