The Church in the Days of Terah, Genesis 11:27-12:9

Terah’s lineage

Shem, it is said, “was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood,” (Gen 11:10). If you add up the years to each birth date, that means that Terah was born about 220 years after the flood. In the middle of this, just before the birth of Peleg 101 years after the flood, was the scattering of the people at the tower of Babel event.

What had happened during those 100 years? Most of the descendants of Noah had obviously become worldly people, interested in making names for themselves and desiring to be wealthy and powerful. They evidently out-numbered or out-influenced the godly line from Shem to Eber.

Eber, by the way, is the reason we call the Jews “Hebrews.” Eber was evidently a godly man who attempted to right the ship of state, even though he was only about 34 years old at the time of the scattering at the tower of Babel. The fact that this name for the people of God persisted in church history is a testimony to Eber’s godliness and activity. We will probably one day marvel at the heroism of Eber when we have a more detailed description of it.

I would have liked to dwell at length on this subject this evening, but we don’t have enough information to expand on it. Be aware, though, that in this lineage of Terah was a godly people who stood out against a background of wickedness. Terah, as we learn elsewhere, was leaving the “gods on the other side of the flood” (Jos 24:14).

Terah’s call

Gen 11:27 says, “Now these are the generations of Terah.” We have not read a heading like that since the description of Shem’s immediate descendants. We have a like statement in the case of Adam (Gen 5:1), in the case of Noah (Gen 6:9; 10:1), and of Shem (Gen 11:10). It becomes common after this to announce Abraham’s descendants (even Ishmael and Esau), but there are a number of generations between Shem and Terah that are not called out like this.

This is not to say that they were ungodly people. We think quite otherwise, noting that Eber was among those for whom this heading was not provided.

I think the heading indicates something special about Terah. In fact, we can see that this is the case. Gen 11:31 says that Terah took Abram and Lot out of Ur of the Chaldees for the specific purpose of going into the land of Canaan.

Terah makes a long journey toward Canaan. Note that early travelers could not go through the Arabian desert. They had to go around. Terah goes maybe 800 miles toward Cannaan and stops at Haran. Terah followed the Lord’s direction a long way, but did not ultimately fulfill the call.

Terah’s trials

Haran, Terah’s son, dies early in life before his father leaves Ur (Gen 11:28). Terah seems to have grieved deeply over the death of his son. It is probably Terah that named the place Haran, after his son, to which they first go.

Notice that Abraham and Nahor (Nahor, Jr., Terah’s son, not Terah’s father) take wives of near kin, probably indicating that they were outcasts from the rest of the population, or at least that they did not regard the rest of the population as a place fit to provide wives for them. Nahor’s wife was his niece, Milcah (Gen 11:29; 24:24). Abraham’s wife, Sarai, was his stepsister (Gen 20:12).

There is a religious split in Terah’s family. Nahor does not go to Haran, at least immediately. He is evidently still a believer. It was from Nahor’s family that Abraham later obtains a wife for Isaac, but Nahor does not go with his father to Haran, or with Abraham to Canaan, and we might regard him as one who would not fully follow the Lord. Later, his family seems to be found in Padan-aram near Haran (Gen 25:20). Notice the difference in the way Jacob and Laban swear. After living with Laban for many years, Jacob was not content to swear by the God of Laban, or even of the God of Laban’s fathers. Laban extends the swearing to the God of Abraham, but Jacob doesn’t even accept that, believing that Laban probably doesn’t know the God of Abraham.

Terah does not die until after the birth of Isaac, so he did have an opportunity to join Abraham in Canaan. Unless it was because of infirmity, which is a possibility, he seems to have become willing to follow the Lord only to a certain extent himself. Sometimes our zeal will wane as we become older. We must beware of this tendency.

It's true that very few are numbered with Caleb: Numbers 14:24, “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” We tend not to follow God fully, and to our disappointment, that seems to have been the case with Terah.

We should take warning from the life of this otherwise good man and not let our trials impede us in our service to God. Our job is to overcome and obey regardless of the trials.

In summary

Terah was one of the godly line from Noah to Abraham. He had a great religious pedigree and great faith of his own. God used him to begin the journey of God’s people to the land of Canaan. He persevered in spite of great trials—the death of a son, a case of religious laxity within his family, and ostracism by the culture around him.

Nonetheless, he seems to have eventually grown weary in well-doing. If God called him to go to Canaan, we must suppose that God gave him the means to accomplish the task. But Terah stops short. He grows tired or discouraged or fearful, and maybe eventually infirm. God is patient with Terah for a time, but eventually he confers his blessing and call upon Abraham, which is what we will consider next time I lead the prayer meeting meditation.

The message for us is to persevere and continue to trust in God to overcome our weaknesses. Even great men can fail, how much more prone to failure are we? That’s why we must not rely on ourselves but on God, on whom we will now call upon together in prayer.