Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

THE PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH 12:4, 5
worth),’ There is no improbability in the supposition that
the call was repeated, And this supposition would not only
reconcile the words of Stephen and Moses, but may explain
the fifth verse: ‘And they went forth to go into the land
of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came.’
Abram had left his home in obedience to the original call
of God, but had not reached the land in which he was to
dwell. Now, upon the second call, he ,not only sets forth,
but continues in his migrations until he reaches Canaan,
to which he was directed.”
The fact that stands out here, the one especially to be
remembered, is that Abrain went first from Ur to Haran,
diad theme to Caizaaiz. Special mention is made of the fact
that in both departures (first from Ur, and then from
Haran) Abram was accompanied by his wife Sarai and his
nephew Lot. In mentioning Sarai the foundation is laid
for the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Promise (Covenant)
in the progressive revelation of the Messianic genealogy
and its ultimate consummation in Christ Jesus, Messiah
Himself, and (2) for other subsequent events of secular
history, as, for example, the never-ending conflict between
the progeny of Isaac and that of Ishmael (Gen. 16:7-14),,
a conflict that still rages today. In mentioning Lot, the
foundation is laid for the subsequent accounts of (1) the
theophany vouchsafed Abraham in the vicinity of Hebron,
(2) the subsequent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
(chs. 18, 19), and (3) the incestuous origin of the Moabites
and Ammonites (19:30-38).
We are told that men bound from Ur to Haran would
set out before the coming of the nine dry months “which
would strip every blade of grass from the land.” The
distance was some 600 miles. Some writers think that
Terah and his clan followed the west bank of the Euphrates.
Hence when they passed through Central Mesopotamia,
they would have seen the walls and towers of Babylon on
the other side of the river, including the famous eight-
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