DownshoreDrift

A neat thing about yesterday's Bible reading that I never saw before:  In Genesis11:26-12:9, Terah took his whole family, including Abram and Sarai to Canaan.  They had set out to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they stopped there and that is where Terah died. Haran means a dried up place, a place of desolation. Canaan means to humiliate or humble. Haran was a great commercial center because it was the center of three trade routes and connected with the Tigris and the Euphrates. Perhaps Terah, after setting out with his family and his son Abram who had heard God's call (Gen. 12:1 - "The Lord HAD said to Abram . . ."), decided to stay in Haran where there was a commercial enterprise. Perhaps it seemed good to him. At any rate, it was a place of desolation and there he died. His son moved on into the promised land. This parallels the first generation dying off before the Israelites could cease wandering and enter the Promised Land. How often do we take up camp in a place that seems comfortable and do not go on with God where He is calling us? How often do we stop in the place of desolation that seems affluent but only leads to death, instead of going on to the place of humility, which is actually our promised land because, "God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time" 1 Peter 5:5,6. When we keep journeying to the place where God will show us, even though we have to leave things behind, we humble ourselves and allow Him to lift us up.

This happens over and over again in Abram's life as he give Sarai away on two different  occasions.  But, God sees the end of our days and kept revealing Himself to Abram. By the end of his life, he was willing to even sacrifice Isaac, knowing that God can raise the dead. Perhaps I make too much of the Haran-Canaan comparison, but it is very interesting.