From Shem to Abraham

Genesis 11:10-32

Today we are finishing our study of Genesis 1-11. Remember that Genesis has two main parts. Genesis 1-11 are primeval history. They tell the story of God and mankind in the world God had created. There we read about creation; the first humans, Adam and Eve; about Cain and Abel; about the descendants of Cain and Seth; about Noah and the flood; about Babel and the scattering of the nations.

The second part is Genesis 12-50 which gives the protohistory of the people of Israel. It focuses on the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Moses uses a wide-angle lens in Genesis 1-11 to portray God’s relationship with all mankind. But starting in Genesis 12 he zooms in on one man, Abraham, and his family. Our passage today in Genesis 11:10-32 serves as a bridge from the first part of Genesis to the second part.

As we close out this first part of Genesis I think it would be good to remind ourselves of what we have learned so far. The Book of Genesis opens with God creating the heavens, the earth, and all living things. He creates human beings in His own image, blesses them, and appoints them to rule the earth as His representatives over the earth. God rests in the goodness of what He has created.

God plants a garden in Eden and places Adam and Eve there. God provides abundantly for them and gives one prohibition: Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die.

Instead of trusting God, the woman listens to the voice of a serpent. The man and woman both eat the forbidden fruit, seeking to know good and evil for themselves and to become like God. Thus, sin and its consequences are introduced into the world, yet God promises that the seed of the woman would come to crush the serpent’s head, a first promise of redemption. God graciously clothes Adam and Eve and drives them from the garden.

Adam and Eve have children and humanity proliferates across the earth. As men multiply, spiritual evil multiplies as well. Cain murders righteous Abel. Cain and his line turn away from the Lord. Through Seth God preserves a righteous line who call on the name of the Lord. But violence, corruption, and death characterize the sons of Adam. God decides to destroy wicked mankind by flooding the earth, but by grace He saves Noah and his family. God makes a covenant with Noah promising never to flood the earth again. However, Noah also ends up naked and ashamed, bringing a curse on his grandson Canaan.

Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth begin to repopulate the earth. But instead of filling the earth as God commissioned, humanity comes together to exalt themselves at Babel. In response, God confuses their language and scatters them across the earth into their various lands, languages, families and nations.

I want to be sure you understand that a story is unfolding in Genesis, and it is the story of our creation, fall and redemption. It’s the story of the Almighty God who created a good world with humanity as vice-regents over the earth. It’s the story of human rebellion against God. It’s the story of sin and judgment, of grace and promise. Someone has said that history is actually “His story”—God’s story—because He is sovereignly moving men and nations according to His purposes. The Lord is working out His eternal plan of the kingdom of God through the lives of people.

Our text today is in two sections. Genesis 11:10-26 is the genealogy of Shem. It begins with the familiar תּוֹלְדוֹת tôlḏôṯ expression that marks the 10 divisions of Genesis. The second section begins the tôlḏôṯ, the genealogy or the generations, of Terah. You may be thinking, “Oh no, not another genealogy!” But listen, with every genealogy there is a message for us. God had promised an offspring of Eve to crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). Every genealogy intends for us to anticipate the coming of the promised seed. Where and when will He come?

Our text today gives us the lineage from Noah’s son Shem to the important biblical figure, Abram, whose name God will later change to Abraham (Gen. 17:5). Besides God Himself, Abraham is the central figure of Genesis. In fact, he is one of the most important figures in the Bible. While the first 11 chapters in Genesis cover the period from the Garden to Abram (at least 2,000 years and at least 20 generations), Moses devotes 14 chapters to the life of Abraham. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament present Abraham as the father of all believers (Rom. 4:16). Abraham’s name appears 294 times in the Bible (Abram 57; Abraham 237). Abraham is the prime example in the New Testament of salvation by grace through faith (Rom. 4; Gal. 3; Heb. 11; James 2). More verses are devoted to Abraham in the faith chapter of Hebrews 11 than any other Old Testament figure (Heb. 11:8-19). God often refers to Himself as the God of Abraham (Gen. 28:13; Exo. 3:6). Abraham is called the friend of God (2 Chr. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; Jam. 2:23). He stands as the father of the Jewish nation, directly in the ancestry of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:1). He is at the very heart of the chain of redemption. He even holds an important place in heaven, which Jesus referred to as “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). Abraham would impact every nation on earth (Gen. 12:3).

So this transition passage moves us forward in God’s plan to save the world through His Son Jesus Christ. First we have,

1. The Book of Shem (Gen. 11:10-26)

¹⁰ This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. ¹¹ After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. ¹² Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. ¹³ After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. ¹⁴ Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. ¹⁵ After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. ¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. ¹⁷ After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. ¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. ¹⁹ After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. ²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. ²¹ After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. ²² Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. ²³ After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. ²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. ²⁵ After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. ²⁶ Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

This genealogy of Shem reminds us of the genealogy of Adam’s son Seth in Genesis 5. It has some significant similarities and a few differences to note. In Genesis 5 Moses showed 10 generations from Adam’s son Seth to Noah. Here also in Genesis 11 we also have 10 generations from Noah’s son Shem to Abram. Both genealogies tell the age of each father when his son was born and how long he lived after. Both genealogies report that they had other “sons and daughters.” Both genealogies end with a set of three sons: Noah, the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Terah, the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

There are two noticeable differences though between Genesis 5 and Genesis 11. One is that Genesis 5 has the repeated refrain “and he died.” It stressed that death prevailed in the human race because of sin. Genesis 11 does not have this tag line, stressing instead the transmission of God’s promise from father to son.

The second difference we notice is the shrinking lifespans of the patriarchs after the flood. Shem lives 600 years. His son Arphaxad only 438. Peleg lives 239 years, only about half of his father Eber. As we get to the end of the genealogy Nahor, the father of Terah only lives 148 years. With a few exceptions, the lifespan of most men will decrease until as Moses writes in Psalm 90 the average lifespan in his time is 70 or 80 (Psa. 90:10) even though Moses himself lives longer. Men became fathers earlier, but lived shorter lives. The long-term effects of man’s sin begin to diminish his longevity.

This genealogy shows us how God is narrowing His focus among the nations of the world. In Genesis 9:26 Noah blessed “the LORD, The God of Shem” and thus, the line of Shem becomes the one through which God would bring blessing to the world. Of Shem’s five sons (Gen. 10:22), God chose Arphaxad. Then in each succeeding generation God chose one son out of all the “sons and daughters” (Gen. 11:11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25). In each generation God chose one to carry the line from Noah through Shem to Abraham and eventually to Christ. God’s choice lies behind the history.

Next we see,

2. The Book of Terah (Gen. 11:27-32)

²⁷ This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. ²⁸ And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. ³⁰ But Sarai was barren; she had no child. ³¹ And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³² So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 11:27 begins the sixth tôlḏôṯ section of Genesis. It will run to Genesis 25:11, a long section—all about God and Abraham. These few verses at the end of Genesis 11 give us a little background for Abram and set the stage for his life of faith.

Genesis 11:26 says that after Terah was 70 years old he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Like with Noah’s sons, this may not be their birth order. Moses probably lists Abram first because he is the most prominent—the rest of Genesis will be about him and his family. This verse also probably does not mean that these three sons were all born at the same time (triplets). There are some difficulties in determining the chronology here, but in Genesis 11:32 it says that Terah died at the age of 205 in Haran. Abram was 75 when he left Haran (Gen. 12:4) after his father Terah died (Acts 7:4). That would mean that Terah was 130 when Abram was born. The difficulty with this time-line is that later, Abraham is surprised to learn that he will be a father at 100, which is hard to understand if his own father had been 130 at Abraham’s birth. But perhaps with the shortening life spans, Abraham knew at 100 that he was pushing the limit for fathering a child, and his wife Sarah was certainly well past childbearing age.

These verses not only introduce Abram, but also Nahor’s family and Abram’s nephew Lot who will appear again later in the narrative of Genesis. Moses also introduces Nahor’s wife Milcah and Abram’s wife Sarai (later changed to Sarah, Gen. 17:15). And we learn something about Sarai that will be crucial to the faith story of Abram, “But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Gen. 11:30).

This passage tells us something about the migration of Abram’s family which sets the stage for him going to dwell in the promised land of Canaan. Genesis 11:31 says, “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.” Ur is in the lower Mesopotamian valley near the Persian Gulf. Haran is about 600 miles northwest of Ur upstream on the Euphrates River. Here it doesn’t say why they left Ur to go to Canaan, but Genesis 12 tells us the reason. Genesis 12:1 tells us, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.’” God’s call came to Abram instructing him to go to a land that God would show him. That land would be Canaan.

When did Abram first hear God’s call? In Ur or in Haran? Here, the New Testament helps us. Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit testified (Acts 7:2-4):

² And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, ³ “and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.”

God’s call came to Abram while he was in the land of the Chaldeans. That is why Abram’s family left Ur to travel to Canaan. Ur is in the land of the Chaldeans which is another name for Babylonia. The culture of Ur, like Babel and other Mesopotamian cities, was pagan, the worshiped false gods. Amazing how quickly people abandoned the true God! Shem, whose God was the Lord, was still alive at this time, yet most people, even many of his own descendants, had turned away from the Lord. Terah’s family was no exception. Joshua, speaking to the Israelites after they were in the promised land, said (Joshua 24:2),

And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.’”

Abram came from a pagan family who served other gods. Several of the names in this family point to the moon-god (Terah, Laban, Sarai, Milcah). Archeology has shown that both Ur and Haran (possibly named after Abram’s dead brother) were centers of moon worship. Years later, when Abram’s grandson Jacob went back to Abram’s relatives in Haran, they were still worshipping idols.

We don’t know why they stopped in Haran and settled there first instead of going on to where God had called Abram to go. Did they hesitate? Did they get caught up in the life of Haran? Was Abram disobedient to God for a time? We don’t know for sure. It is interesting that the name Terah means “station or delay”. What we do know is that Abram stayed with his father in Haran until Terah died. It was then that Abram and Sarai left Haran for Canaan together with his nephew Lot. Evidently, Terah was a roadblock between Abram and his doing the will of God. Not until his father died was Abram ready to move on in the things of God. In Luke 9 Jesus once called a man saying, “Follow Me,” but the man answered, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-60). Is there anything or anyone causing you to delay in obeying God’s call?

Why did God call Abram? God’s choice never depends on human merit. God didn’t look down from heaven and say, “There’s a good man; I’ll choose him.” Rather, God chooses and calls sinners to Himself. Abram was a sinner from a family of idol worshipers. God chose Abram for the same reason He chooses anyone: because of His grace.

Abram’s history shows us that God has His hand on a life even before the person is aware of it. God places each person in a particular family. Sometimes, even though that family serves idols, God will take one member and use him or her to turn the family and even whole nations toward God for generations afterward. Every person who has been used of God will testify that it is God’s choice of them that has made all the difference. Jeremiah the prophet said that God knew him, consecrated him, and appointed him before he was formed in the womb (Jer. 1:5). Paul said that God set him apart even from his mother’s womb (Gal. 1:15). By nature they all were sinners. But by God’s grace, they were chosen to know Him and serve Him. By grace they responded in faith and obedience to God’s call.

Conclusion

Have you responded to God’s call? In Acts 2 Peter preached Jesus to the crowd in Jerusalem saying,

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know– ²³ Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ²⁴ whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. … Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:22-24, 36).

After Peter preached the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the people “were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37). Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39).

The Apostle Peter commands us, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10). How can we do this? First, have you repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the prime evidence that God has called you. Then, to your faith Peter urges you to supply various godly character qualities (2 Pet. 1:5-9). In other words, growth in godliness by knowing and obeying God’s word will help you to be more certain about God’s calling and choosing you (2 Pet. 1:11). Are you growing in obedience to God’s call on your life?

This morning we will close our service by observing the Lord’s Supper. We do this as an act of worship to God. We do it to remember what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross to save us from sin. We do it in obedience to the Lord. We do it looking forward to the consummation of the kingdom of God when Christ returns.

If you have truly repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a child of God, called and chosen by Him. This meal is for you. If you have not trusted in Christ, is God calling you to do that today? Obey His call, repent of your sin, trust in Christ right now.