Day 26 Devotion – The Call of Abram

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 Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. Genesis 11:31-32

Picture 1: Haran is in northern Mesopotamia. Notice that they did not cut strait across to Canaan. There are several explanations for this. One is they were avoiding the most treacherous desert. Another is they were avoiding robbers by staying on well traveled roads. It is also possible they had family connections in Haran and stayed there for a while.

The city of Ur is one of the most famous cities of the ancient world and famous archaeological digs because it is one of the oldest ever discovered. It was located close to the Persian Gulf not far from modern day Baghdad. This was the hometown of Abram. We are told he left there with his father Terah and they resettled in Haran. Haran was the name of a region as well as a specific town. Also notice that one of Terah’s sons was named Haran so don’t confuse the place with the person. Haran was in upper Mesopotamia in what is modern day northern Iraq or Iran. It is northeast of Israel.

So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Genesis 12:4-5

Picture 2: Map showing that Shechem is north of Jerusalem. This is the first campsite mentioned for Abram as he entered Canaan.

The land of Canaan was the ancient name for modern day Israel. This same area is also called Palestine which comes from a later people group called the Philistines. Obviously the modern day Palestinians derive their name from this word. At this point in the story Israel doesn’t exist yet so it was known as Canaan. Remember, Canaan was the son of Ham, one of the three sons of Noah and Abram is a descendant of Shem. We are then told that Abraham camped at a place called Shechem, which is north of Jerusalem.

Picture 3: Ruins of the city of Ur. Notice the Ziggurat in the background.