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"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee."
The third movement is given in Gen. 13: 14, 15:--
"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now
thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and
eastward, and westward: For all the land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed for ever."
The fourth and crowning movement is given in Gen. 22: 11-18:--
"Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son from Me . . . . . in blessing I will bless thee . . . . . because thou hast obeyed my
voice."
The old man.
It is very evident when we compare Acts 7: 2, 3 with Gen. 12: 1 that the Lord
spoke to Abram twice. Gen. 12: adds to Acts 7: by saying not only "country" and
"kindred", but "thy father's house". In the first movement, instead of leaving his father's
house, we find Terah, his father, accompanying Abram.
"And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his
daughter-in-law, his sons Abram's wife; and they went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to
go into the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran, and dwelt there" (Gen. 11: 31).
Here Abram is seen leaving his native land, and Stephen declares that "he came out of
the land of the Chaldeans", but we feel a little uneasy about the presence of Terah and
Lot in the face of the command "from thy kindred". Notice the failure also in the effort
suggested in the words:--
"And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran, and
dwelt there."
If the map is consulted it will be seen that Abram and Terah made a journey of some
600 miles, but when they stayed at Haran they were still on the wrong side of the
Euphrates. The whole story is repeated at the time of the Exodus. Nothing but a "three
days' journey" could satisfy the command of God, and Pharaoh, it will be remembered,
tried to play the part of Terah by suggesting first that Israel should worship God "in the
land", and then, this being rejected, that Israel should go "not very far off", anything
except that which set forth resurrection ground. In spite of the 600 miles' journey,
Abram was no nearer entering the inheritance. He must cross the river. He must become
"Abram the Hebrew", the one who crossed over. This, however, could not take place
while Terah lived. Stephen's words echo the doctrine of Rom. 6: when he said, "When