Gen 11:31 | KingComments | STEP | shows that Terah, Abram’s father, takes the initiative to leave for Canaan. God, however, did not appear to Terah, but to Abram in Ur of the Chaldeans: “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME INTO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’ Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, [God] had him move to this country in which you are now living” ( ). God has ordered Abram to leave his family and go to Canaan. It seems that family ties are still too strong to respond fully to God’s call. That this is so, seems to be confirmed by the stay of Abram in Haran. That is still not Canaan. Abram goes to Canaan, when his father Terah died in Haran. Only then he is free to go. We must all learn this lesson. When it comes to the voice of the Lord in our lives, family ties should not prevent us from obeying that voice. Then we must get away from it, learn to apply death to it, so that these bonds do not prevent us from going the way the Lord wants us to go. The Lord Jesus says: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” ( ).

‏ Genesis 11:31

Terah and Abram

Gen 11:31 shows that Terah, Abram’s father, takes the initiative to leave for Canaan. God, however, did not appear to Terah, but to Abram in Ur of the Chaldeans: “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME INTO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’ Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, [God] had him move to this country in which you are now living” (Acts 7:2-4).

God has ordered Abram to leave his family and go to Canaan. It seems that family ties are still too strong to respond fully to God’s call. That this is so, seems to be confirmed by the stay of Abram in Haran. That is still not Canaan. Abram goes to Canaan, when his father Terah died in Haran. Only then he is free to go.

We must all learn this lesson. When it comes to the voice of the Lord in our lives, family ties should not prevent us from obeying that voice. Then we must get away from it, learn to apply death to it, so that these bonds do not prevent us from going the way the Lord wants us to go. The Lord Jesus says: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Lk 14:26).