A Journey through the Bible with Tiglath

2. Continuing through Genesis

Our journey this month begins in the city of Ur in the southeast of present-day

Iraq between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, near to the head of the Persian

Gulf. In this city lived a man named Abram, one of the sons of Terah. The

name Abram means 'High Father'; later God changes his name to Abraham

which means 'Father of a Multitude'.

Abram and his tribe, together with his nephew Lot and his tribe, left Ur and

journeyed north-westward to a place named Haran where they settled for a

while. Then in Chapter 12 a momentous event takes place. God instructs

Abram to go to a country which He will show him and He will make him the

founder of a great nation.

So Abram and Lot set out around the Fertile Crescent towards the land of

Canaan. At this point in the story there is a famine and Abram and all his

people go down into Egypt. Read in Chapter 12 verses 10-20 how Abram

saved his own life and why they were all thrown out of Egypt.

In Chapter 13 they are back in Canaan. Abram and his nephew Lot find they

cannot live together so Abram generously invited Lot to choose where he

wished to live. Lot chose the Jordan Valley. There is an exciting episode in

Chapter 14 where Abram has to rescue Lot from his enemies.

In Chapter 15 God confirms his Covenant with Abram. We can think of a

Covenant as a kind of treaty or a promise. God took Abram outside and

invited him to count the stars, if he could. 'So many', God said, 'shall your

descendants be.'

Next month we shall, I hope, progress somewhat quicker on our journey. It

has been important to establish the provenance of the Jewish people in

Chapters 12 to 15.

If you wish to read on, Chapter 16 gives an insight into the custom of using a

handmaid as surrogate in those days, if a wife was childless, and in Chapter

17 Abram's name is changed. I hope, by now, many of you are getting into

the habit of reading a portion of Scripture every day.

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