A glance at the map shows that Terah and his family journeyed about 600 miles with

Abram to get to Haran, but the map also reveals another thing, the route never took them

across the river Euphrates. Even though 600 miles separated them from Ur of the

Chaldees they were not separated from all that Chaldea meant to God. Haran was famous

not only as a frontier town of the Babylonian Empire, but for the worship of the self-same

god that made Ur of the Chaldess famous too. Terah was not a Hebrew, he never passed

over. It will be remembered that Pharaoh was willing to let Israel go and worship the

Lord "in the land", but neither Terah nor Pharaoh had the "Hebrew" spirit. Before the

record is given of Abram's departure from Haran, there is recorded the great promise

made by the God of glory, introducing into the page of Scripture the purpose of election,

so far as nations are concerned. The Scripture are very exact, and we are never likely to

believe them too implicitly; if we compare Gen. 12: 1 with Acts 7: 2-4, we shall find

that Stephen makes an omission of one term. He tells us that the God of glory called

Abraham from his country and kindred, but he does not say, "and from thy father's

house". Abraham's action, therefore, in allowing his father and relatives to accompany

him as far as Haran was quite within the command he had received. Upon the death of

his father the added words, "and from thy father's house", make up the full statement,

and "so Abram departed, AS the Lord had spoken unto him". Nature's ties were no

longer to hold him, a second separation must now be made. How kindly the Lord leads

on! Still further and deeper trials of faith await Abram, but he is not tried above that

which he is able.

The Lord in Gen. 12: 1-3 makes the first of a series of eight covenants with

Abraham. In this first covenant we have a promise, every item of it, as we shall see,

being personal to Abraham.

This great covenant is divided into related groups of promise, as follows:--