Abraham

Terah was born in the line of Shem and was likely among the people scattered at the tower of Babel (see Noah to Abraham family chart). Yahweh drew Abram, Terah’s son, out of the scattering to begin restoring the image of Yahweh in him. Yahweh took him from one of the judged nations and made him into a new nation that would belong to Yahweh. This was Yahweh’s act of grace and redemption in the midst of the sin and judgment at the tower of Babel.

When Yahweh came to him, Abram was living in the city of Ur, worshiping the Babylonian gods (Josh. 24:2). What would make Abram abandon all his gods and follow after this new and unknown god into a foreign land? First, in the ancient Near East one’s worth was found in the ability to have children. The fact that Abram and Sarai at such an old age could not have children would have been viewed as a judgment from the gods for some sin that they had committed. This may have caused them to be rejected by many in the community. Second, the gods used people and only blessed those who had somehow proven themselves or earned the blessing. For Yahweh to even talk to Abram, let alone offer him a promise of children and protection if he would only follow Him, would have been completely foreign to anything Abram had ever experienced.