Leaving Ur of the Chaldees

2023-07-17

And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. (Acts 7:2-4)

Abraham originally heard his call from God in Ur of the Chaldees, not Haran. In Ur of the Chaldees, regardless of whether this is the same place as Ur, was in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization. This likely was a far wealthier place than where he was headed. He worshipped other gods there. “And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods” (Joshua 24:2).

It was here, not in Haran, where Abraham heard the call from God to leave. A lot of his extended family left with him, but they did not all go with him to Canaan. Only Lot his nephew went with him.

Abraham knew that obeying God was to leave everything from his past behind, which is why he would not allow his son Isaac to go there. “And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again” (Genesis 24:8). Jacob did not heed the same advice.

Abraham left everything he knew, which included his family, his religion, his home, his way of life, to a very different way that the Lord was showing him. It was more than just a new place; everything was going to change, and nothing was going to be the same.