Observations on Genesis: Abram and Sarai, 1
We first meet both Abram and Sarai in Genesis 11:26: "When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.... And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah." And the starkness of 11:30: "Now Sarai was barren; she had no child."
We also know from 11:31-32 that Terah and his household had begun the trek from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan, but settled down in Haran, which is where Abram is when the account in Genesis 12 begins.
As I have thought about this astonishing call, I wonder how prompt my obedience would have been. Abram's appears to have been immediate: "So Abram went, as the LORD had told him..." (12:4a). Abram's obedience was already established, then, so when we see him taking Isaac, it wasn't the first time he'd done as God commanded in unprecedented circumstances.
Then there is Sarai. She'd already left her people when she married. Now she would leave the only other stable life she's known to strike out in obedience to her husband and his God. I can't think that it was easy to see to it that everyone and everything was organized for a journey of that nature. Granted, she probably was able to delegate many of the details, but that would take significant planning too.
We don't know from the account in Genesis 12 how long it took. In one verse we learn that they set out to go to the land of Canaan, and the same verse mentions when they came to the land of Canaan.
Abram didn't have the responsibility for only his wife and his possessions, but also for his nephew Lot and his belongings. One could expect that this was in keeping with cultural practice then. It would lead to some interesting developments later in the story.
We know that Abram trusted the LORD, but we also see an instance of a lack of faith in Genesis 12:10-20. Here we see Abram taking matters into his own hands and Sarai going along with him--acting in unbelief.
We first meet both Abram and Sarai in Genesis 11:26: "When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.... And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah." And the starkness of 11:30: "Now Sarai was barren; she had no child."
We also know from 11:31-32 that Terah and his household had begun the trek from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan, but settled down in Haran, which is where Abram is when the account in Genesis 12 begins.
As I have thought about this astonishing call, I wonder how prompt my obedience would have been. Abram's appears to have been immediate: "So Abram went, as the LORD had told him..." (12:4a). Abram's obedience was already established, then, so when we see him taking Isaac, it wasn't the first time he'd done as God commanded in unprecedented circumstances.
Then there is Sarai. She'd already left her people when she married. Now she would leave the only other stable life she's known to strike out in obedience to her husband and his God. I can't think that it was easy to see to it that everyone and everything was organized for a journey of that nature. Granted, she probably was able to delegate many of the details, but that would take significant planning too.
We don't know from the account in Genesis 12 how long it took. In one verse we learn that they set out to go to the land of Canaan, and the same verse mentions when they came to the land of Canaan.
Abram didn't have the responsibility for only his wife and his possessions, but also for his nephew Lot and his belongings. One could expect that this was in keeping with cultural practice then. It would lead to some interesting developments later in the story.
We know that Abram trusted the LORD, but we also see an instance of a lack of faith in Genesis 12:10-20. Here we see Abram taking matters into his own hands and Sarai going along with him--acting in unbelief.
posted by Ebeth | 3:26 PM
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