Don't Settle in Haran

Long before Abraham (Abram) was called by God to leave his country and go to a land he would show him, his father, Terah, had already left his country in the Ur of the Chaldeans and was on his way to Canaan; the land that would eventually become the Promised Land for Abraham. Terah’s desire to move towards Canaan hints us something very interesting. Although there is a legend that speaks of Terah being the idol worshiper, or rather, an idol trader, the Bible speaks the opposite of this legend. A simple reading of the accounts in Genesis 11 and 24, gives us reasons to believe that the legend of Terah being an idol trader could have been the figment of human imagination.

Rather, Terah’s move towards the west may have been a move towards the reticent knowledge of God they had up until that time after the human expansion away from the very place of God’s creative activity on earth. But for some reasons, Terah stopped short of fulfilling his journey and settled in Haran where he died. Uprooted from the birthplace and left as an orphan in a foreign land after the death of his father, Abraham, as the elder brother, had to take care of the household in Haran.

It is at this time God specifically calls Abraham to leave Haran and complete the journey his father had undertaken many years before. Abraham was getting used to Haran’s lifestyle and being apprehensive of the unknown land of Canaan, may have been thinking making Haran his home for the rest of his life. Therefore, God had to meet him personally and assure him of the plan that lay behind his father’s move towards the west. Terah had begun well but could not complete what he began. But God was merciful to him and called his son Abraham to complete the task. But to complete this task, it would take God’s divine covenant of blessing and protection so that Abraham could complete what his father had begun; God would complete what he began in the lives of Terah and Abraham.

So, instead of making Terah an idolater, I would rather like to see him as a man who had the knowledge of God and was overcome by the godlessness of the society he was in. He wanted to move towards a place where he could continue to seek this God. Yet, he failed. Maybe the thought of moving too far away from his familiarity was very scary to him. Such a fear may have also affected Abraham and therefore, God had to personally assure Abraham of his presence and protection.

Are you afraid to finish what you had begun? Maybe when you started, you heard the voice of God and you were full of zeal and passion but now, the zeal is gone and passion is tempered by many adverse circumstances. Maybe when you began, when you heard the voice of God, you were young. But now, you have spent many of your years on earth and have begun to see the waning of your passions for what you thought was the most important thing in life. Maybe you have made too many mistakes and find it hard to imagine that God is still interested in your life.

My friend, this God that Abraham heard is an amazing God. We get old, but he never gets old. We change but he never changes. We lose zeal and passions in life but he never does. We become weak and discouraged but he never does. The God who called you to do something when you were young, healthy, happy, holy (as you thought) and righteous is still the same God. You may end of not completing your journey not because God has changed, but because you have changed and failed to see that this God never changes his attitude towards you. Maybe you think you have already disqualified yourself from this call of God by your sins. But that is your personal feeling. Facts remain; God is still in love with you as he was when you started. God is still interested in finishing what you began. Look at what God says through Isaiah in 54:9-10 “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. 10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” 

God makes this promise to his people after Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is the chapter that talks about what Christ has done for us on the Cross. It is as if Christ has absorbed the wrath of God on the Cross completely and therefore, God can now show compassion to those who are in Christ for eternity regardless of their personal unrighteousness. In fact, God is expressing this love to the whole of humanity; the thing that makes the difference is the Cross of Christ. Those who chose to come under the shadow of the Cross of Christ; they will never again see the angry face of God. But those who refuse to come under the shadow of the Cross of Christ will not be able to see the loving face of God forever because only in the Cross the wrath of God is diverted from the sinful human beings.

Therefore, my friend, are you weary of your journey of life? Are you burdened by the mistakes you have made over the years? Have you come under the burden of adverse circumstances in your life? Are you depressed knowing that you might not fulfill what you began? Look to Christ; especially to the Cross of Christ. God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Christ’s love for you is as fresh as it was when you first experienced it. So, Just like Abraham, pick up your bags and start heading towards where God had called you to go. You will accomplish what God had begun in your life, even if it takes your descendants. But don’t settle in Haran, go for the Promised Land!