Lina Dahlan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Dari file lama:
Ibrahim as berasal dari Babilonia.
.
Pokoknya Abraham bukan nenek moyang etnis Melayu dan penduduk Nusantara. Ini
dongeng suku suku Semit, Yahudi dan Arab.
The Calling of Abram - His Arrival in Canaan, and Temporary Removal to Egypt
(GENESIS 11:27-13:4)
WITH Abram an entirely new period may be said to begin. He was to be the
ancestor of a new race in whom the Divine promises were to be preserved, and
through whom they would finally be realized. It seemed, therefore, necessary
that, when Abram was called, he should forsake his old home, his family, his
country, and his people. Not to speak of the dangers which otherwise would have
beset his vocation, a new beginning required that he should be cut off from all
that was "behind." Had he remained in Ur of the Chaldees, he would at best only
have been a new link in the old chain. Besides, the special dealings of God,
and Abram's faith and patience, as manifested in his obedience to the Divine
command, were intended to qualify him for being the head of the new order of
things, "the father of all who believe." Lastly, it was intended that the
history of Abram, as that of his seed after him, should prepare the way for the
great truths of the Gospel, and exhibit as in a figure
the history of all who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hitherto, God had only interposed, as in the flood, and at the confounding of
tongues, to arrest the attempts of man against His purposes of mercy. But when
God called Abram, He personally and actively interfered, and this time in
mercy, not in judgment. The whole history of Abram may be arranged into four
stages, each commencing with a personal revelation of Jehovah. The first, when
the patriarch was called to his work and mission; (Genesis 12-14) the second,
when he received the promise of an heir, and the covenant was made with him;
(Genesis 15, 16) the third, when that covenant was established in the change of
his name from Abram to Abraham, and in circumcision as the sign and seal of the
covenant; (Genesis 17-21) the fourth, when his faith was tried, proved, and
perfected in the offering up of Isaac. (Genesis 22-25:11) These are, so to
speak, the high points in Abram's history, which the patriarch successively
climbed, and to which all the other events of his life
may be regarded as the ascent.
Descending the genealogy of Shem, Abram stands tenth among "the fathers"
after the flood. He was a son - apparently the third and youngest - of Terah,
the others being Haran and Nahor. The family, or perhaps more correctly the
tribe or clan of Terah, resided in Chaldea, which is the southern part of
Babylonia. "Ur of the Chaldees," as recently again discovered,* was one of the
oldest, if not the most ancient, among the cities of Chaldea. It lies about six
miles away from the river Euphrates, and, curious to relate, is at present
somewhere near one hundred and twenty-five miles from the Persian Gulf, though
it is supposed, that at one time it was actually washed by its waters, the
difference being accounted for by the rapid deposit of what becomes soil, or of
alluvium, as it is called. Thus Abram must in his youth have stood by the
seashore, and seen the sand innumerable, to which his posterity in after ages
was likened. Another figure, under which his posterity is
described, must have been equally familiar to his mind. It is well known that
the brilliancy of a starlit sky in the East, and especially where Abram dwelt,
far exceeds anything which we witness in our latitudes. Possibly this may have
first led in those regions to the worship of the heavenly bodies. And Abram
must have been the more attracted to their contemplation, as the city in which
he dwelt was "wholly given" to that idolatry; for the real site of Ur has been
ascertained from the circumstance that the bricks still found there bear the
very name of Hur on them. Now this word points to Hurki, the ancient moon-god,
and Ur of the Chaldees was the great "Moon-city," the very center of the
Chaldean moon-worship! The most remarkable ruins of that city are those of the
old moon-temple of Ur, which from the name on the bricks are computed to date
from the year 2000 before Christ. Thus bricks that are thirty-eight centuries
old have now been brought forward to bear witness to
the old city of Abraham, and to the tremendous change that must have passed
over him when, in faith upon the Divine word, he obeyed its command.
* See the article Ur, in Smith's Bible Dictionary. The view previously
adopted, which finds Ur in quite a different district, is evidently erroneous.
Jewish tradition has one or two varying accounts to show how Abram was
converted from the surrounding idolatry, and what persecutions he had to suffer
in consequence. Scripture does not indulge our fancy with such matters; but,
true to its uniform purpose, only relates what belongs to the history of the
kingdom of God. We learn, however, from Joshua 24:2, 14, 15, that the family of
Terah had "in old time, on the other side of the flood," or of Euphrates,
"served other gods;" and we can readily understand what influence their
surroundings must, in the circumstances, have exercised upon them. It was out
of this city of Ur that God called Abram. Previously to this, Haran, Abram's
eldest brother, had died. We read, that "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." The words
which we have italicized leave no room for doubt, that the first call of God
had come to Abram long before the death of Terah, and when the clan were still
at Ur. (Comp. Acts 7:2) From the circumstance that Haran is afterwards called
"the city of Nahor," (Genesis 24:10; comp. 27:43) we gather that Nahor,
Abraham's brother, and his family had also settled there, though perhaps at a
later period, and without relinquishing their idolatry. It is a remarkable
confirmation of the scriptural account, that, though this district belongs to
Mesopotamia, and not to Chaldea, its inhabitants are known to have for a long
time retained the peculiar Chaldean language and worship. Haran has preserved
its original name, and at the time of the Romans was one of the great
battle-fields on which that power sustained a defeat from the Parthians.
The journey from Ur, in the far south, had been long, wearisome, and
dangerous; and the fruitful plains around Haran must have held out special
inducements for a pastoral tribe to settle. But when the Divine command came,
Abram was "not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." Perhaps the arrival and
settlement of Nahor and his family, bringing with them their idolatrous
associations, may have formed an additional incentive for departing. And so
far, God had in His providence made it easier for Abram to leave, since his
father Terah had died in Haran, at the age of two hundred and five years. The
second call of Jehovah to Abram, as given in Genesis 12:1-3, consisted of a
fourfold command, and a fourfold promise. The command was quite definite in
its terms: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee;" leaving it, however, as yet
undecided which was to be the place of his final settlement. This
uncertainty must have been an additional and, in the circumstances, a very
serious difficulty in the way of Abram's obedience. But the word of promise
reassured him. It should be distinctly marked, that on this, as on every other
occasion in Abram's life, his faith determined his obedience. Accordingly, we
read, "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." (Hebrews 11:8) The promise upon which he trusted assured to
him these four things: "I will make of thee a great nation;" "I will bless
thee," with this addition (in ver. 3), "and thou shalt be a blessing, and I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee;" "I will make
thy name great ;" and, lastly, "In thee shall all families of the earth be
blessed."
When we examine these promises more closely, we at once perceive how they
must have formed yet another trial of Abram's faith; since he was not only
going, a stranger into a strange land, but was at the time wholly childless.
The promise that he was to "be a blessing," implied that blessing would, so to
speak, be identified with him; so that happiness or evil would flow from the
relationship in which men would place themselves towards Abram. On the other
hand, from the peculiar terms "them that bless thee," in the plural, and "him
that curseth thee," in the singular, we gather that the Divine purpose of mercy
embraced many, "of all nations, kindreds, and tongues." Lastly, the great
promise, "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed," went far beyond
the personal assurance, "I will make thy name great." It resumed and made more
definite the previous promises of final deliverance, by fixing upon Abram as
the spring whence the blessing was to flow. Viewed in this
light, all mankind appear as only so many families, but of one and the same
father; and which were to be again united in a common blessing in and through
Abram. Repeated again and again in the history of Abram, this promise contained
already at the outset the whole fullness of the Divine purpose of mercy in the
salvation of men. Thus was the prediction to be fulfilled: "God shall enlarge
Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem," as is shown by St. Peter in
Acts 3:25, and by St. Paul in Galatians 3:8, 14.
Abram was seventy-five years old "when he departed out of Haran," accompanied
by Lot and his family. Putting aside the various traditions which describe his
prolonged stay at Damascus, and his supposed rule there, we learn from
Scripture that Abram entered the land of promise, as many years afterwards his
grandson Jacob returned to it, leaving on his right the majestic Lebanon, and
on his left the pastures of Gilead and the mountain-forests of Bashan. Straight
on he passed over hills and through valleys, till he reached the delicious
plain of Moreh, or rather the spreading terebinth-tree of Moreh, in the valley
of Sichem. Travelers have spoken in the most enthusiastic terms of this vale.
"All at once," writes Professor Robinson, "the ground sinks down to a valley
running towards the west, with a soil of rich, black vegetable mold. Here a
scene of luxuriant and almost unparalleled verdure burst upon our view. The
whole valley was filled with gardens of vegetables, and
orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by several fountains, which burst
forth in various parts, and flow westward in refreshing streams. It came upon
us suddenly, like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with
it in all Palestine." Another traveler * says: "Here there are no wild
thickets; yet there is always verdure, always shade, - not of the oak, the
terebinth, or the garoub-tree, but of the olive-grove, so soft in color, so
picturesque in form, that for its sake we can willingly dispense with all other
wood." Such was the first resting-place of Abram in the land of promise, in
the plain, or rather in the wood of Moreh, which probably derived its name from
the Canaanitish proprietor of the district. For, as shown by the remark of the
sacred writer, "and the Canaanite was then in the land," the country was not
tenantless, but occupied by a hostile race; and if Abram was to enter on its
possession, it must once more be by faith in the promises.
* Van de Velde.
Here it was that Jehovah actually "appeared" unto Abram, under some visible
form or other; and now for the first time in sight of the Canaanite was the
promise conveyed, "unto thy seed will I give this land." It is added that Abram
"there builded an altar unto Jehovah who appeared unto him." Thus, the soil on
which Jehovah had been seen, and which He had just promised to Abram, was
consecrated unto the Lord; and Abram's faith, publicly professed in the strange
land, grasped Jehovah's promise, solemnly given.
From Shechem, Abram removed, probably for the sake of pasturage, southwards
to a mountain on the east of Bethel, pitching his tent between Bethel and Ai.
This district is, in the words of Robinson, "still one of the finest tracts for
pasturage in the whole land." In the glowing language of Dean Stanley: "We here
stand on the highest of a succession of eminences, . . . its topmost summit
resting, as it were, on the rocky slopes below, and distinguished from them by
the olive-grove, which clusters over its broad surface above. From this height,
thus offering a natural base for the patriarchal altar, and a fitting shade for
the patriarchal tent, Abram and Lot must be conceived as taking the wide survey
of the country . . such as can be enjoyed from no other point in the
neighborhood." What met their astonished gaze from this point will be described
in the following chapter. Meantime, we note that here, also, Abram "builded an
altar unto Jehovah;" and, though He does not seem
to have visibly appeared unto him, yet the patriarch called upon the name of
Jehovah. After a residence, probably of some time, Abram continued his journey,
"going on still toward the south," - a pilgrim and a stranger "in the land of
promise;" his possession of it only marked by the altars which he left on his
track.
A fresh trial now awaited the faith of Abram. Strong as it always proved in
what concerned the kingdom of God, it failed again and again in matters
personal to himself. A famine was desolating the land, and, as is still the
case with the Bedouin tribes under similar circumstances, Abram and his family
"went down into Egypt," which has at all times been the granary of other
nations. It does not become us to speculate whether this removal was lawful,
without previous special directions from God; but we know that it exposed him
to the greatest danger. As we must not underrate the difficulties of the
patriarchs, so neither must we overrate their faith and their strength. Abram
"was a man of like passions with us," and of like weaknesses. When God spoke to
him he believed, and when he believed then he obeyed. But God had said nothing
as yet to him, directly, about Sarai; and, in the absence of any special
direction, he seems to have taken the matter into his own hands, after
the manner of those times and countries. From Genesis 20:13 we learn that when
he first set out from his father's house, an agreement had been made between
the two, that Sarai was to pass as his sister, because, as he said, "the fear
of God" was not among the nations with whom they would be brought in contact;
and they might slay Abram for his wife's sake.* The deceit - for such it
really was - seemed scarcely such in their eyes, since Sarai was so closely
related to her husband that she might almost be called his sister. In short, as
we all too oftentimes do, it was deception, commencing with self-deception; and
though what he said might be true in the letter, it was false in the spirit of
it. But we must not imagine that Abram was so heartless as to endanger his wife
for the sake of his own safety. On the contrary, it seemed the readiest means
of guarding her honor also; since, if she were looked upon as the sister of a
mighty chief, her hand would be sought, and
certain formalities have to be gone through, which would give Abram time to
escape with his wife. This is not said in apology, but in explanation of the
matter.
* There is in the British Museum an ancient Egyptian "papyrus," which,
although of somewhat later date than that of Abram, proves that his fears, on
entering Egypt, were at least not groundless. It relates how a Pharaoh, on the
advice of his counselors, sent armies to take away a man's wife by force, and
then to murder her husband.
Ancient Egyptian monuments here again remarkably confirm the scriptural
narrative. They prove that the immigration of distinguished foreigners, with
their families and dependents, was by no means uncommon. One of them, dating
from the time of Abram, represents the arrival of such a "clan," and their
presentation and kindly reception by Pharaoh. Their name, appearance, and dress
show them to be a pastoral tribe of Semitic origin.* Another ancient tablet
records how such foreigner attained the highest dignities in the land. So far,
then, Abram would meet with a ready welcome. But his device was in vain, and
Sarai "was taken into the house of Pharaoh." As the future brother-in-law of
the king, Abram now rapidly acquired possessions and wealth. These presents
Abram could, of course, not refuse, though they increased his guilt, as well as
his remorse and sense of shame. But he had committed himself too deeply to
retrace his steps; and the want of faith, which had at the first
given rise to his fears, may have gone on increasing. Abram had given up for a
time the promised land, and he was now in danger of losing also the yet greater
promise. But Jehovah did not, like Abram, deny her who was to be the mother of
the promised seed. He visited "Pharaoh and his house with great plagues," which
by-and-by led to their ascertaining the true state of the case - possibly from
Sarai herself. Upon this the king summoned Abram, and addressed him in words of
reproach, which Abram must have the more keenly felt that they came from an
idolater. Their justice the patriarch acknowledged by his silence. Yet the
interposition of God on behalf of Abram induced Pharaoh to send him away with
all his possessions intact; and, as the wording of the Hebrew text implies,
honorably accompanied to the boundary of the land.
* Another curious coincidence is, that the name of this "chief" is abshah,
"father of land" which reminds us of Abraham, the "father of a multitude." The
whole bearing of the Egyptian monuments on the narratives of the Bible will be
fully discussed in the next volume.
It is a true remark, made by a German writer, that while the occurrence of a
famine in Canaan was intended to teach Abram that even in the promised land
nourishment depended on the blessing of the Lord, - in a manner teaching him
beforehand this petition, "Give us this day our daily bread," - his experience
in Egypt would also show him that in conflict with the world fleshly wisdom
availed nothing, and that help came only from Him who "suffered no man to do
them wrong: yea, He reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not Mine
anointed, and do My prophets no harm," (Psalm 105:14, 15) thus, as it were,
conveying to Abram's mind these two other petitions: "Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil." And so Abram once more returned to
Bethel, "unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning; unto the
place of the altar which he had made at the first: and there Abram called on
the name of Jehovah." In one respect this incident is typical of what
afterwards befell the children of Israel. Like him, they went into Egypt on
account of a famine; and, like him, they left it
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