ABRAHAM BIBLE STUDY

So, you're back to find out what happened after God mixed up everyone's language and scattered the people after the Tower of Babel incident huh? Good ... I missed ya. Let's go see what occurred next.

The descendants of Shem are spreading out through Persia, Arabia, and Syria. At the same time, the descendants of Ham are spreading out in Canaan, Egypt and Africa. And the descendants of Japheth are spreading northward through what is now Turkey.  So each of Noah's sons took their families and went different ways. Did you know that your family tree traces back to one of these three sons? If your family is from anywhere in Europe, you are from Japheth and if your family is from the Middle East, you are from Shem and if they are from Africa and Egypt area ... You are from Ham. Pretty cool huh?

Now in the ninth generation of Shem's descendants, a man named Abram was born.  His family was from a land called Ur of the Chaldees which is about 150 miles southeast of Babylon which is now called Iraq.

Abram's wife was Sarai and she was barren and had never had a child. Abram also had a brother who died and was survived by a son, Abram's nephew, named Lot. Abram's dad took Abram, Sarai, and Lot and intended to move to Canaan, but when they came to Haran, which is a couple hundred miles north of Canaan, they settled there.

Abram was just an ordinary person. He wasn't famous for anything that we know of up to this point in his life. But one day when Abram was 75 years old, the Lord came to him and told him to leave his father's house and go to a special land that He would show him.

Put yourself in Abram's sandals for a moment. We're not talking about scheduling the movers to come and pack while you fill out the address change form at the post office, then hop on a plane with the family and meet the movers at your new home. We're talking about gathering up the tent, the flocks, the herds, the camels, food, clothing, furniture, and any other possessions you may own and hiking it hundreds of miles across unfamiliar territory. By the way, there are no restaurants, rest areas with vending machines or other amenities on the way, and you don't even know where the destination is. All you know is this invisible God said, "Go unto a land that I will show thee."

Well, God added a couple of HUGE blessings along with the deal. He said that He would make a great nation out of Abram which meant that he was saying that Abram would have children despite his wife being barren and He would make his name great and that he would be a blessing. And for the icing on the cake, God said, And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

This is great news for a 75 year old man who has no children! See, in those times, having many children was very important to people who were godly, because it was God's commandment to "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth." Not to mention having someone to carry on YOUR bloodline. At either rate it was a request from God which took loads of faith to take you and your family across the wilderness into the unknown. But Abram did, and God honored him for his faith.

Before we go on through the adventures of Abram, let's see if you've been putting this all together. God created mankind and chooses certain individuals for special callings. He calls them His peculiar treasure. He chose Adam, Enoch, Noah and Abraham so far and chooses many more throughout history. Be sure to come back for more Daily Bread to find out what happens along Abram's journey into the wilderness of faith.