Abram, according to God's Word, is a descendant of Shem from whom the lineage descends through Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Peley, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and Terah (Gen. 10:21-32; 11:10-26). In the days of Peleg the earth was divided; this means the con­fusion of tongues took place when the tower of Babel was built.

How the descendants of Shem in general, and Abram's family especially, have spread to the different locations where we find them later on, is hidden from us. Scripture shows us that Terah and his family were living in Ur of the Chaldees (11:28). This is most likely the same region which we call Iraq, where the allied forces have fought against the troops of Sadam Hussein. Many archeological excavations confirm this. Even some parts of the old­est city of the earth, Ur, have been damaged in that war.

This was a very fruitful land and shortly after the flood people had set­tled there (Gen. 11:2). Babylon is a low-lying plain between the River Euphrates and the Tigris. This plain is inundated by these rivers, which makes the land very fruitful. It is the same with the Nile River in Egypt.

The circumstances in the land of Babel were favorable for advancing to a higher development. In His providence God caused in this country a certain prosperity to be established and a development of civilization which has become of great influence upon the whole human race. This is only a little information about Ur, which could be largely expanded. If you want to know more, an encyclopedia is a good source.

But the inhabitants of Babylon did not serve God. They were an idolatrous people who worshipped many gods. Especially, they deified the forces of nature. They formed gods for themselves by personifying the signs in the heaven, in the sky, and in the water. Also the powers that were in man, beast, and plant were their gods. They had important and unimportant gods. But they thought that all their gods existed as long as the powers of nature continued to exist.

In this natural religion the worship of the celestial bodies was the most important of all. Number one was the worship of the sun, but also the moon and the stars were worshipped. In the history of Israel, during the reign of Ahab, the names of Baal and Astarte were well-known. They are the same gods; the male god is the sun and the goddess is the moon. It was a nature-religion which led to shameful fornica­tion. We could write much more about the idolatrous behavior of the inhabitants of Ur, but you can now understand that they did not serve the living God.

Was there in the Oriental world of Abraham's days nothing left of the pure knowledge of God? We may not deny there was yet something left. Think only of Melchizedek who was king of Salem, the later Jerusalem, and priest of the most High God, possessor of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19). In the epistle to the Hebrews his name is also mentioned. On the ground of God's Word we may say that Melchizedek had knowledge of the living God. Some think also that there was some knowledge of God in the king of Gerar, but this is not very clear (Gen. 20).

"How was it in the life of Abram himself?" some of you will ask, because he is the person of whom we will be speaking in these articles, D.V. Then we should keep in mind what Noah has said a few hundred years before: "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem" (9:26). In general, the knowledge of God among the Shemites was very limited. Still it is possible that among certain of Shem's descendants this knowledge was preserved more than in others. Some conclude this from the next verse: "God shall en­large Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem" (9:27). Must we take the word "tents" in general or does it have a special meaning? Some think it points to the life of the nomads, but not to the settled inhabitants in the cities of Babel.

It is plausible that especially among the nomads the knowledge of the living God was preserved longer. The inheritance of true religion must be safer in a shepherd's tent than in a city with its many temptations, humanly speaking. This has been visible during all ages. Often prosperity drives away from the Lord: "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked" (Deut. 32:15a). In another place the Lord says: "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people" (Zeph. 3:12a). This tells us that the simple are often favored by the Lord. When God works in the heart of a boy or a girl, then by the administration of the Holy Spirit he/she becomes poor and needy. By nature we like the opposite; we like to be rich and increased with goods with nothing lacking in our life.

In those days also, the knowledge of God's Word was preserved to a certain extent. The preservation of God's Word is a great privilege because faith is by the hearing of the Word. It is possible that in the tents of the nomads God and His service was yet spoken of. They knew He was the Creator of the heaven and earth.

Are there also times that we speak with each other about God and His service, young people? It is nice when we can do this in Bible study; this increases our knowledge. But are you doing this also in your family circle and with your friends? Or are you ashamed to speak about these things? Do we take time to read the Bible? Once we have to give an account to God as to how we have spent the precious time of grace which we have received. None of us reach the age of Abram anymore; therefore seek the Lord early in life.

We should remember when we become lax in the use of the means of grace that losing the knowledge of God quickly follows. We see it in the practice of daily life. If a father and mother are only "half-Christians," their children will follow in their footsteps most of the time. Therefore, young friend, don't neglect private reading of the Bible and other good books. And if we don't pray any longer, then it goes backwards very fast. It will not take very long and we shall become a prey of Satan in one way or the other.

I don't have to mention that the application must come from the Holy Spirit; but we are responsible, as rational creatures, to use the means which the Lord has given us. And there is the promise as Isaiah may say in chapter 55:10, 11: "For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my Word be…" From this we can learn that it is so important to have the Word of God, as it is called the "seed" of regeneration. Abram did have some knowledge of the God of heaven and earth as we will see.

It is well known that Abram was called the "Hebrew" (14:13), which is derived from Heber, the great-grandson of Shem. In God's Word the sons of Heber received a place of honor. Now we conclude from Holy Scripture that in this family of Abram the knowledge and the service of God was not purely preserved, but it was not completely lost. This will become clearer when we hope to discuss the calling of Abram the next time, D.V.

We can conclude this also when later on Abram sends his servant Eliezer to Mesopotamia to seek a wife for Isaac. He could not take a woman who served the idols (24:3; 27:46; 28:2). When Abram says this to his servant, is this not at the same time a warning for us, young people? We don't have the same laws as the Israelites, but God's Word warns us not to be yoked together with unbelievers. Time and again the church is confronted with the problem of mixed marriages: one is willing to attend the church services; the other does not attend, or very seldom. Especially with the high rate of divorce in our days and the press speaking so freely about these things, you can understand that the church problem can be a reason to separate, which happens quite often.

Therefore we strongly advise the youth of the congregation to seek unity in religious life. The Lord asks from us that He may receive the highest place every day of the week, but especially on Sunday: "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Prov. 3:6).

Before we speak about Abram himself, we have tried to give a little back­ground information of the world in his days. Abram is called a patriarch; also Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons carry this name. "Patriarch" is a Greek word which is formed from "pater," meaning father, and "arche," meaning head – hence, "head-father" or head of the family.

The second world went further and further away from God and the Lord left them over to themselves. But He separated Abram to make a covenant with him and gave special promises to him. Once, the Christ would be born out of his loins. Then the wall of partition would be taken down, the good tidings would spread all over the world, and God's elect would come from all over.

The time from Abram to Christ is called the particularistic period, because grace was limited to only one nation, with a few exceptions. On the day of Pentecost the language barrier began to be taken away. One day, however, all God's people will speak one language to the glory of God. Will we be one of them? Then we must also be called as Abram was called. This was not only an outward calling, but it went deeper under the operation of the Holy Spirit. This we need also!

Abram lived in Ur. It was a very rich city with much business, but at the same time it was a very poor city. Do you know why? Because the knowledge of the true God had nearly disappeared. Ur had everything that pleased the eye and they lived like Passion in the well-known book of Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress. That boy sought instant satisfaction at the time, but he had no time nor desire for the matters of eternity. He was the opposite of Patience who thought of the future and had learned that the pleasures of time are temporal, but what the Lord works in the heart of man is eternal. It is an everlasting good.

If the Lord had not been first in the life of Abram, he would have continued to live in this nice city of Ur or in its neighborhood. So it is with us also. The Lord must call us. Of this we hope to write a little bit more the next time, D.V.

Questions for Bible Study⤒🔗

1. We stated that Abram was born about 2000 years after creation. Seth was born in 1518 B.C. Prove from Genesis 11:1-26 that this is a true statement.
2. Discuss the religious life in Ur and which gods were served.
3. There were yet remnants of the service of the living God. How do we know? (Joshua 24; Hebrews 7)
4. Show that the names of some of our days are pointing back to Babylonian astrology.
5. Tell something about the daily life in Ur when Abram lived there.