Although the genealogy of Terah’s family line in Genesis 11:27–32 appears to conclude the primeval history of creation (Genesis 1–11), it is actually the beginning of the patriarchal history of the Israelites (Genesis 12–50). It is also the beginning of a new story that God will write for the entire human race. Abraham, Terah’s son, who was first known as Abram, will become the focus of the next few chapters of Genesis as God’s chosen man through whom a new people, the Israelites, would emerge.

From the garden of Eden to the tower of Babel, we have seen the spread of sin, with the escalation of its power and influence with each succeeding story. But we have also seen the spread of grace, with God intervening each time with a further unfolding of His plan to save and restore humanity. Abram represents the latest stage of God’s plan. By creating a unique people group through Abram who are to live under His guidance, God will show the rest of the world the way back to a relationship with Him. Today’s passage gives us some background to Abram, the founder of Israel and father of the faithful. It offers some interesting things to note:

First, Abram was a Mesopotamian. It’s hard for many of us to imagine the founding father of Israel as anything other than a Jew, but that’s not how he began. Abram was born in southern Mesopotamia, in “Ur of the Chaldeans” (Genesis 11:28, 31), around 2000 BC. Excavations of this area show evidence that this area was part of the most advanced civilisation of the time.

Second, Abram was a worshipper of idols at the start (Joshua 24:2). He was probably a worshipper of the moon, as Ur of the Chaldeans and Harran were among the greatest centres of moon worship in the ancient world. Several names mentioned in Genesis 11:27–32 are believed by some scholars to be related to the moon: “Terah” likely means “lunar month”, “Sarai” comes from Sarattu, a name of the wife of the moon god Sin, and “Milcah” is related to Malkattu, the daughter of Sin.¹

Third, Abram’s wife Sarai was unable to conceive (11:30). This would become a source of tension in the story of Abram—because everything about God’s promise to Abram would hinge on Sarai having a son.

Fourth, God would call Abram to leave Ur and go to Canaan (Genesis 15:7; Acts 7:2–3). But the journey had begun under Terah; it had been abandoned when they got to Harran in upper Mesopotamia (Genesis 11:31).

For this new stage in God’s salvation plan to work, it required action on the part of both Abram and God. Abram would have to trust God enough to leave Harran and the security of a settled life, for the uncertainties of a nomadic lifestyle. God would have to perform a miracle to enable Sarai to conceive, and another miracle for Abram’s descendants to take the land of Canaan, a land occupied for centuries by powerful nations.

The rest of Genesis (12–50) will tell the amazing story of how all this will work out—how the simple faith of Abram and the awesome power of God will combine to make a new beginning. The history of the world will lead to the coming of Jesus Christ, the greatest descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), through whom God can say with finality: “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5).

¹ Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1990), 363.