More on the story about Abraham

[Guest guest]

In the previously mentioned Genesis where God as a pillar of fire

appears to Abraham, this is 4from where the Abrahamic Covenants

came. The promises from God and that are included in the covenant

are as follows:

* A great nation was to come out of Abraham, namely, the nation of

Israel (Genesis 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 17:1-2, 7; 22:17b)

* Abraham was promised a land -- specifically, the Land of Canaan

(Genesis 12:1, 7; 13:14-15, 17; 15:17-21; 17:8). Later we learn that

the privilege of Abraham's descendants, the Jewish people, for

living in their land under God's blessing is conditioned upon their

obedience (see, for example, Deuteronomy 28-29).

* Abraham himself was to be greatly blessed (12:2b; 15:6; 22:15-17a)

* Abraham's name would be great (12:2c)

* Abraham will be a blessing to others (12:2d)

* Those who bless will be blessed (12:3a)

* The one who curses will be cursed (12:3b)

* In Abraham all the earth will ultimately be blessed, a promise of

Gentile blessing (12:3c; 22:18)

* Abraham would receive a son through his wife (15:1-4; 17:16-

21)

* His descendants would undergo the Egyptian bondage (15:13-14)

* Other nations as well as Israel would come forth from Abraham

(17:3-4, 6; the Arab states are some of these nations)

* His name was to be changed from Abram to Abraham (17:5)

* Sarai's name was to be changed to (17:15)

And just to take balance some of the religious discussion here,

let's talk about Abraham's hometown of Ur, referred to as Tell al-

Muqayyar in modern day terms.

It is located in southern Iraq, about 210 miles southeast of

Baghdad.

The ruins of Ur were discovered and excavated in 1854-55 by British

consul J.E. , and British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley

directed the most extensive excavations at Ur from 1922 to 1934 for

the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania.

In Abraham's day, Ur was one of the wealthiest city in Mesopotamia.

It had a complex system of government and a well-developed system of

commerce with trade routes joined Ur with other great towns to the

north and the south.

Reading and writing was known to nearly everyone in Ur (i.e. based

on the fact that the excavations found receipts and contracts).

Schools trained people for religious, commercial, and governmental

work. The curriculum included mathematics, language, geography,

botany, and drawing. Again, evidence of this was found by

archeologists.

The city had streets, a drain system, two-story houses, a great

temple tower (called a ziggurat), and there is other evidence of a

highly developed civilization.

Ur was sustained by a healthy agricultural system based on

irrigation ditches from the river bank, stone ploughshares, and

flint sickles. With this technology the Babylonians grew two crops

each season.

So, Abraham came from a pretty cool town IMHO. :-D

Raven

Co-Adminsitrator