Challenges To The Journey Of Faith-1

CHALLENGES To The VENTURE/JOURNEY Of FAITH-I—

Genesis 11:26—12:9

Attention:

The food in China can be a challenge for newcomers. One example is that chicken is often served "cleaver style," leaving the meat & bones chopped up together, making it difficult to eat.

Years ago, I went with a group of newcomers to a nice hotel to eat some hamburgers & normal Western food. One lady in our group, Marie, wanted to eat chicken without needing to spit out the bones, so she ordered "boneless chicken."

The waiter, whose English was quite good, could not imagine what Marie wanted. She was very insistent, saying, "I want boneless chicken. Chicken with no bones!"

After more confusion & more insisting, the waiter finally said he understood, wrote something down, & returned to the kitchen.

After about 15 minutes, our orders started coming out to the table. Marie’s food was the last to arrive, & when the poor waiter placed her dish in front of her, we all laughed out loud. It was a plate of fried eggs.

The waiter ventured forth in faith despite the challenges.

We all face challenges to our journey of faith.

Need:

Genesis records Abram’s encounter with YaHoWeH/the LORD/God & his resultant/subsequent actions of faith.

Personal encounters with God call us to venture forth & journey by faith.

What are some challenges to a journey of faith?

12 challenges in the venture/journey of faith.

1—A challenge to our journey of faith lies in...

Our HOME(11:26-32)

Explanation: (11:26-32)

Ideally...Home is the place where we are most comfortable.

We entertain pleasant memories of...Home.

When we are away we want to return...Home.

Our roots are at...Home

We are loved at...Home.

Some spend their entire lives pining for...Home.

Some are never nurtured away from ...Home.

However, we all mature realizing that God intends every generation to become...Home.

:26—“Now Terah lived seventy years, & begot Abram, Nahor, & Haran.”

The genealogical line of Terah is given specific attention in verses :27-32ff. Its purpose is to bring the reader to Abram.

Serug[11:20-23], Nahor[11:22-25], & Terah[11:24-26; :27-32] all “have counterparts in northern Mesopotamian place names”—Victor Hamilton

Obviously Terah’s son “Nahor” was named after his grandfather Nahor(11:22-25).

“Haran” is a place name as well as a person. The earliest records of Harran come from the Ebla Tablets, c. 2300 BCE. Modern(2013) Harran is located near the town of Akçakale, Turkey on the north-central border of Syria. Archaeological ruins date its site.— ‘Haran (biblical place) in Wikipedia

“Abram”—Mrba Ab-rawm’—Abram = "Exalted father." Strong—High father. (See Gen. 17:1-7).

“Nahor”—rwxn Nachowr’—Nahor = "Snorting"

“Haran”—Nrh Haw-rawn’—Haran = "Mountaineer." “Name of the place to which Abraham migrated from Ur of the Chaldees & where the descendants of his brother Nahor established themselves. ; probably located in Mesopotamia, in Padanaram, the cultivated district at the foot of the hills between the Khabour & the Euphrates below Mt. Masius.”

:27—“This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, & Haran. Haran begot Lot.”

What follows focuses further upon the generations of Terah. What follows(:28ff.) is considered a hdlwt tow-led-aw’, “genealogy” or a record of descent/people & events from which someone or some event arises.

As stated earlier(11:26), Terah fathered Abram, Nahor(grandson of the Nahor of 11:22-25 ) & Haran.

“Terah, for example, Abram’s father, if you put the numbers together, was 128 years old when Noah died. So Noah was alive for 128 years of Terah’s life. He had a firsthand eyewitness who survived the flood. In fact, Noah died probably two years before Abram was born.”—John MacArthur

Haran fathered a son by the name of “Lot.”

Haran also fathered two girls whose names were “Milcah” & “Iscah”(:29).

Terah’s background was evidently pagan...

Josh. 24:1-2, 15—“Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem & called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, & for their officers; & they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham & the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; & they served other gods.”.....““And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me & my house, we will serve the LORD.””

Scholars believe that Terah’s name may be associated with worship of a moon god & there is archaeological evidence of such a culture in both Ur & Harran.

Thereby, Abram, Nahor & Haran, were born into a pagan family.

“Abram’s background was no hindrance to the purposes of God.”—Alistair Begg

:28—“And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.”