Follow

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

FOLLOW

Gen 11:10-32

 

10 This is the account of Shem.

Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no children. 31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

NIV

Once again, we are going to jump past some of the verses in chapter 11 because they are just the lineage of each man, at what age they had the next in line, and how long they lived. We did notice, however, that each had their sons earlier in life and lived a shorter number of years, starting with Shem living 500 years, to the father of Terah living only 119 years. However, the point is that through the line of Shem we get to Abram, from whom his grandson, Jacob, will be the father of the tribe of Israel. But first we must visit with Abram for some time and find some truths for our lives through his life. Abram lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, as did his father Terah. It was Terah who took his son Abram and his grandson Lot and Abram's wife Sarai and set out to go to Canaan, except they did not get there; instead, they settled in Haran. This is the place where God called Abram to leave his father's household and go where he would show him. What do we learn from this narrative? We notice that Abram followed his father's decision to leave Ur and go to the land of Canaan. Abram was already a married man, which should have meant He would have left his father and mother and been united with his wife as they became one flesh, just as God said when he made Adam and Eve. So then why did Abram stay with and follow his father to Haran? Was it out of respect for his father that he followed? Abram was not a man of God; at least we are not told he even knew the God of creation, but rather lived in a pagan city with pagan gods. But this does show us that he respected his father, Terah, enough to submit to his leadership and travel the path to another place. Yet, there is the possibility that this is more like the true reason Abram went with his father to set out for Canaan. This was God's divine plan. Here is where he would call Abram to follow his divine lead. Here is where Abram would become a son of God, so to speak. God always had a divine plan and purpose for Abram, and that also means God has a divine plan and purpose for each of us. At this point in Abram's life, he followed his earthly father, but he will follow his Heavenly Father. Jesus calls us to follow him. Let us follow where he leads.