Introduction to the Generations of Shem

Apologies for not being in the studio live today as we had a cult event in California yesterday – but I will be back live next week – Lord willing. If there is anyone in the studio, “hello,” and if not then hello to those who are watching from the cult.love website.

Let's Pray Song Silence

The Rehearsal of Shem's Generations

Alright, so the confounding at Babel has happened and that group was scattered and now we come to Moses rehearsing for us the generations of Shem. You may notice that some of the same genealogies are repeated as we had last week before our study of Babel and there is a reason for this which we will discuss. But let’s first read what Moses has to give us beginning at verse 10 of chapter 11.

Genesis 11.10-12.5
July 31 2022 (pre-recorded and aired in my absence)

Biblical Genealogies: A Closer Look

Genesis 11:10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: 13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: 17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Alright, back to verse 10.

10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

Some suggest that the genealogy we are reading is the genealogy of what they call, “the holy family,” as it started with Noah then to Shem and we will soon see to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, David, Solomon, and all the great progenitors of the promised Messiah.

I want to say that a careful examination of the Scriptural chronology, in light of both the Hebrew text, the Samaritan, the Septuagint, Josephus, and some of those men who have attempted to fix it, proves it somewhat faulty. There is no way around it really. Some insights and conjectures are made but the bottom line is biblical genealogies are anything but perfect. But onward.

11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

Challenges in Scriptural Genealogies

Just to say it, there is some conflict between this accounting and the Septuagint which is in conflict with 1st Chronicles 1:1-28

I got nothing. (verse 13)

13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived four and…

Genealogies and Their Significance

thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

And I have nothing to say up to this point. I’m sure these were some really great people bt now, at verse 24 we read:

24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Importance of Abram's Position

Notice the order of the names of Terah’s sons – Haran was certainly the eldest son and he appears to have been born when Terah was about seventy years of age, and his birth was followed in with the birth of Nahor, a second son, and then a youngest son, whose name was Abram. But we note that Abram is named first in verse 26! Some suppose that Abram was the oldest because of this but remember, this is a record of the history of what God did to reconcile the world to himself and by way of import and dignity Abram was listed first.

We have already seen an example of this in Genesis 5:32, where Noah is represented as having Shem, Ham, and Japheth in that order but Shem was actually the youngest of the three. According to Genesis 11:32 Terah, Abrams father, died when he was two hundred and five years old, and Abram departed from the land called Haran when seventy-five years old, according to Genesis 12:4 – this accounting presents a problem too which we will get to shortly.

But numerically this account cannot be fixed with mathematic calculations so we must admit that the order of rank was not based on age or reality but on the importance to what the scripture wanted us to know about the person placed first – in this case, Abram. And Moses adds at verse 27

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

Extra-Biblical Accounts and Their Insights

A non-biblical writing, called the Midrash Aggadah, tells us that Terah’s son Haran died on ACCOUNT of his father and not just before. In harmony with that Midrash account, there is also a tale about Terah going to Nimrod (there’s that name again) and complaining about his son Abram who had crushed Terah’s idols.

In reaction to this Nimrod, the mighty hunter, is said to have cast Abram into a fiery furnace, which caused his brother Haran to say: “If Abram is victorious, I am on his side, and if Nimrod is victorious, I am on his side.” When Abram was saved from this fire, they asked Haran, “Whose side are you on?” and Haran said, “I am on Abram’s side!” And so, they cast him into the fiery furnace and he was burned alive.

Fire sacrifices appear to have played a role in that period and place of Abram’s father and seems to be part of his paganism. More on that too in a minute. How much truth is there in these accounts we cannot say. But the scripture does say that Haran did in fact die before his father Terah – that we can trust as fact.

If the extra-biblical stories are true, then Abram was an iconoclast before the call of God that we have recorded – and even survived punishment for such – which is an interesting aside but gives some insight into why God called Abram in the first place.

29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

Some teach that Sarai and Iscah are the same person under two different names; but Iscah is expressly said to be the daughter of Haran, and Sarai is said to he the daughter of Terah, so she

The Journey of Abram and Family

was, in fact, Abram’s half-sister. Apparently marrying half-sisters was common at that time and produced genetically normal children. One thing tradition suggests and the biblical account supports is that Saria was a real looker, I mean truly beautiful. But you can’t have everything as verse 30 provides us with a fact we are all aware of now.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

And this fact, of course, sets us up for what will soon be promised to Abram by God.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

So, Terah and Abram and Lot and Sarai left from Ur of the Chaldees, and went into the land of Canaan, the land inhabited by the one who was cursed by Noah. And they came to a place called Haran (ironically the same pronoun name of Terah’s deceased son) and they dwelled there. Chaldea is sometimes understood as comprising the whole of Babylonia; at other times, that province towards Arabia Desert, called in scripture The land of the Chaldeans. The capital of this place was Babylon, called in Isaiah 13:19, The beauty of the Chaldees' excellency. Ur appears to have been a city in Chaldea of some considerable consequence at that time but where it was actually situated is not well understood.

Idolatry and Worship in Ur

But here is the connection to Terah and idolatry. Ur signifies fire, and from it there is the idea that the pagan worship practiced there included burning things – including people like Abram and his deceased brother. The learned are almost unanimously of opinion that the ancient inhabitants of this region were “ignicolists” which is a big word for “fire-worshippers,” and in that this sort of worship probably originated there; and in honor of this element, which was a symbol of the Supreme Being, the whole country, or a particular city in it, might have had the name Ur. The land of the Chaldees that Moses mentioned here did not exist in the time of Abram but was named such by the time Moses wrote – something that may happen more frequently in scripture than we might believe.

According to Genesis 22:22 Chesed was the son of Nahor, who was the son of Terah and from Chesed descended the Chasdim, whose language was the same as that of the Amorites according to Daniel 1:4; 2:4. These people called Chasdim or the Chaldeans, in the Septuagint, Vulgate, and all later versions, later settled south of the Euphrates. According to Daniel 2:10 those who dwelt in Ur were either “priests or astronomers,” and in those positions practices idolatry, (according to Joshua 24:2-15). Because they were so addicted to astronomy, and probably to judicial astrology, all astrologers were, in process of time, known as Chaldeans, which is what we see in Daniel 2:2-5.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

The Challenge of Chronology

Not to make things too complicated, but this passage, and what is to follow in the fourth verse of chapter 12, make for a difficult chronology. Let me see if I can explain it the way our better scholars do. Verse 32 says that Terah died in Haran at 205 years of age. This happened after Abram had left Haran and had come to the land of Canaan where he had been for over sixty years, as it says in chapter 12:4: “And Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.” However, if Terah was seventy years old when Abram was born, then Terah would have been one hundred and forty-five years old when Abram left Haran.

Accordingly, because Terah lived to be 205, that chronology suggests that he had many years of life left. So why then, does scripture describe Terah’s deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. before Abram’s departure and not after? This might sound like a stretch to some but it is believed that this was done so that people would not accuse Abram of abandoning his dad, saying: “Abram did not fulfill [the commandment of] honoring his father, because he left him in his old age and went away.” So, it seems that the scripture refers to Terah as dead, for the wicked, even in their lifetime, are called dead in scripture whereas the righteous,

Living and Dead in Faith

Even in their death, are called the living – and 2nd Samuel 23:20 is an example of that. And remember in accordance with this attitude, Jesus said to those living in his day but not by faith, “let the dead bury the dead.” It’s a fascinating concept but spiritually speaking, anyone not possessing the indwelling of the spirit, or who are not seekers or true worshippers are considered “the dead” in scripture. Ironically, the dead in the life we live here are often the ones claiming to really be alive and really living, while Christians, who are truly alive, are directed to “die daily.”

What a paradox, eh? But we don’t understand living in literal physical ways as believers but spiritually, and so we might conclude that the only way to genuinely define alive is when someone is spiritually awakened and the only way to truly see people as dead is if they are not. And so we share and shine the Light I hopes that the dead will somehow see and hear and come to real life abiding which continues on above.

Abraham's Calling

How was Terah then, Abrah’s father, called dead? He was an idolator, and God called Abram to come out from that place and for Abram to become the father of faith, (for it is by faith and in faith and through faith, while we are in this realm, that people can truly be considered alive) he had to leave his fleshly dad. Okay – on to chapter 12 where the story of Abram begins to thicken up and we read:

1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

The Debate on Abram's Departure

Alright back to verse 1 where we read:

1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

There is great debate between scholars here on this departure. Some believe that Abram had two distinct calls in his early life (even though he was seventy-five) and others see him as having one. At the conclusion of the preceding chapter, we find Terah and all his family leaving Ur of the Chaldees, in order to go to Canaan or a place called Haran which may have simply been a road leading to Canaan. This appears to be in response to some sort of Divine command – one which Terah the idolator even obeyed. Then while at this place called Haran, God repeats his call to Abram, and orders him to proceed to Canaan, leaving his Father and the rest behind.

Two Call Theory

The basis for the two-call theory is not based in the Old Testament (for it only describes one) but comes when reading Acts 7:2-4 where Stephan says (in his witness before becoming the first Christian martyr):

Act 7:2 Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
4 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.

Therefore, it appears that God had called Abram (before he came to Haran or Charran) to depart the first time. And then the SECOND CALL is recorded only in this chapter of Genesis where we read: "The Lord said (not HAD said) unto Abram, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto THE LAND, Urah HA-arets, which…

Abram’s Journey of Faith

I will show thee."

We also see in the two-call-out theory that Abram left his former life behind in what we might see as “stages,” which is more appropriate to the natural order of things for humans in my opinion, and so I embrace the two call approach over the single call because this is often how God works in our lives. First we hear, come out of what you believe. And then once we leave, he commands us to come out even further from what we do.

In Abram's first departure, he left with his father and family and land. In the second departure, he left the father and most of the rest, taking only Lot, his nephew, and wife Sarai. I tend to see God’s call on the lives of those who are His as a continual directive to depart as He progressively removes us further and further away from the things of this world and the things of our flesh – all toward a destination unseen or known (but accepted in faith).

Again, at first, he says, leave the general ways of our flesh and come to Him. Then once we are in and of Him, He will continue on with orders to depart from this thing or that thing until we are closer and closer to where He dwells in Spirit and truth. These are gentle commands, of the Spirit, and often take time and frequently take suffering. And each departure requires a dedication to the things of the Spirit in addition to a renunciation of the things of the flesh.

The Process of Sanctification

His grace has us along the way, but there is what appears to be a constant invitation in the life of His children to move on, to move away from, and a move toward, Him. A general word to describe this process is “sanctification.” And the key to the principle model we get in the story of Abram is that he “heeded the call” (by faith) and did as he was told – leaving his father while not knowing beforehand his destination but trusting implicitly to the Divine guidance. Notice that Abram’s response was to act, move, take action according to the command in faith.

It seems that Abram’s brother Nahor went with Terah and Abram as far as Padan-Aram, in Mesopotamia, and settled there, even so much that the place they landed would later be called, Nahor's city (which we see in Genesis 24:10, 15 and 25:20). We have seen, in these first 12 chapters of Genesis, some profound progression of God bringing forth His will to save the world. From Adam to Abram’s call, there have been more than 2000 years, and what I take from this is the amazingly succinct manner in which the holy writ comes across all as a means to tell the story of God’s hand in redeeming the world from sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. and death.

1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

A Call of Faith

Notice that in the midst of all the genealogies and the names of all the offspring of Noah’s sons that we get to this place where God simmers 2000 years of creation, the Fall, murder, sons of God mating with daughters of man, the rising up of a horrific culture, the calling of one man, Noah, to build an ark and gather animals, the flood, the replenishing of the earth, (again) more sin, new curses, new cultures of paganism, Nimrod and dark societies trying to do their own will (yet again) by creating their own religion of brick and mortar, to another single individual, named Abram, being called and God who say (listen):

1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

And even though God will establish a great nation out from Abram, in the end this is the picture and type of what it will all amount to – God calling individuals – one at a time – like he called Adam, Noah, and now Abram – to either do His will, and follow His directions, individually – or not.

All of it, up to this point and on out to the Book of RevelationA symbolic prophecy fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not a prediction of future global events., is based on faith; of people

The Walk of Faith

Choosing to look to God and to trust in His directives and orders and commands – or not. Those who do, will live and be made alive. Those who do not, will remain dead – like Terah, like those who wouldn’t receive Jesus, like those of this world who live by their own will and reject His every invitation, and like those who exist outside His presence – still walking about but dead – because the only real definition in the universe of life and living comes by and through Him. Faith in His son. Period.

Note that God does not tell Abram what land it is! He tells him that he would show it to him and so we have yet another pictured-principle from this encounter with Abram – “we walk by faith and not by sight.” Speaking of Father Abram, the writer of Hebrews says the following in the Hall of Fame of faith chapter 11, which to me spiritualizes Abram’s experience as he says

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Seeking God's City

And so is the call of all seeking for God and His city above – we are invited and we go – not knowing what is before us, not knowing the location of our destination. We sojourn in the land, trusting in the walk and looking for a city that has foundations above, in the heavens, which was builded and made by God for those who seek him in spirit and truth. All of it in and by faith – which is the only way that we can please the maker of that city.

In verse 2 God says

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

The Promise to Abram

Interestingly, we just read of the people of Babel wanting to make a name for themselves which is an ambition people have had since the world began and continues on today. There is nothing wrong with the desire, apparently, as God himself declares that He will make Abram’s name great. But the difference is who makes the name great and why or for what reason the name is being made great.

It seems that if we want to have a great name the goal is to allow God to use and make our name useful to him and his purposes and not based in ego or fleshly popularity. We have no indication of why God chose Abram except for the extra-biblical story of him being cast in the fire by Nimrod, but we do know God chose Him and chose to do with him what He commanded. Interestingly the name that God would make great would be the name God would give him – changing Abram, which means, “a high father,” to Abraham, which means, “the father of a multitude.” God adds

3 And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curseth you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.

There is a lot that we could say about this passage relative to the Nation of Israel, which would flow out from Abraham literally and then spiritually but the fact of the matter is this verse is fulfilled in the Messiah who would spring from his loins and line, through whom God would bless all the families of the earth via his sacrifice for sin, tasting death for each one of us, believer and not, and reconciling the entire human race to the Father, then giving all the opportunity to become Sons and Daughters.

The blessing flowing from the Messiah would be meted out dependent on faith in him but all the earth's families would receive blessings from and through him and this Messiah would come through the line of father Abraham.

Verse 4

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

I love that line, So Abram departed, AS THE LORD HAD SPOKEN TO HIM.

Grab the principle folks – its going on in

Abram's Journey of Faith

Our lives as we speak. Father Abram, a man of faith, acted by virtue of trusting in God not knowing the result. And when he spoke to him, he moved.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Some believe that the line, “and all the souls that they had gathered,” “and all the souls that they had gotten in Haran” to mean servants or people they had converted from paganism to lives of faith. But it obviously does not mean children bore as Aram and Sarai had no children at this point.

The Origin of Abram's Faith

How or where did Abram’s faith originate? Could he have known the story of Adam and Noah? Or been touched by the Spirit? Could be. We aren’t really told.

“They went forth to go into the land of Canaan” – which was a good land, but it was possessed by a bad people, the descendants of Canaan, son of Ham whom Noah cursed.

Leviticus 18:25 tells us that they were to be expelled from this land promised to Abram here because of their iniquities, which is a picture and type of the Kingdom and those allowed in and those expelled out.

A Model of Faith

Abram is the model figure though for seeking the kingdom, pursuing it under the directives of God, and entering into it. The Old Testament types and pictures of this kingdom and entering into it are plentiful and so I won’t belabor them here.

Just know that the principles of this story are plain, God will invite, and we will choose to receive the invitation in faith, and to go – leaving behind the things of our former lives, and embarking on a journey of faith until we get to that city built by God for those who love him.

Or not.

Let’s pray.

And I will see you all next week, live here at the studio, God willing.