Genesis 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them 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 Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Our text gives us the summary of events that would be detailed further in chapter 12. The origins of the nation of Israel are found here. We are reminded again that Terah had three sons and that his son Haran died before he did. Prior to Haran’s death, he had a son named Lot. Lot would be known for his apostasy. Abram would be known as the father of a new and great nation — Israel.
We read that Abram began his life in Ur of the Chaldees. As is usual, Abram, who knew the fear of God somewhat, did not live among other God-fearing people. God would raise up the nation of Israel to be a God-fearing nation, but they soon chose to defy that. There has always been a remnant of God-fearing Jews since God established them as a nation.
In the New Testament time, God set aside the nation of Israel as the vehicle through which He would make His name known, and established local churches. In this dispensation, Christians find their fellowship in their local church. Oftentimes we live among ungodly neighbours and towns. The true Biblical local church is a necessary place for saints to be able to gather to be taught and to learn to serve the Lord.
Back in our text we read that Abram and Nahor took themselves wives. Abram’s wife was Sarai, and Nahor took Milcah to wife. Milcah, we find, was the daughter of Haran. Thus we see that Nahor married his cousin. This was still allowed at this time. Eventually God would set limits to close marriages. We learn as well that Abram married his half sister.
We find as well that Sarai was barren. Abram and Sarai had no children at this time. Terah took his son Abram and his wife and his grandson Lot, and they left Ur and headed toward the land of Canaan. They came as far as to Haran and there Terah died. In chapter 12 we read that God told Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldees and that included leaving his family. He was to go to a new land that God would show him.
It appears that Abram was reluctant to leave his family and thus God needed to separate him from them in a different way. His father would die and his nephew Lot would need to separate as well because their herdsmen were not getting along.
Biblical separation is an important Bible doctrine. Biblical separation is necessary to protect the saint from the pollution of the ungodly. True saints are not that strong. God is powerful, but sadly, those who are saved do not follow very closely to God. The temptations of this world are quite powerful. They are not more powerful than God, but we, those who are saved, often allow them to take precedence. We need limited involvement with the world so that we do not get drawn into the world’s philosophy.
This week an interesting event took place in the U.S. capital. Apparently every state has the opportunity to place two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. North Carolina decided to replace a statue they had there of a former governor — Charles Aycock, with a seven foot tall statue of Billy Graham. On the statue, there are two Bible verses: one of John 3:16 and another of John 14:6. Those two verses are very good verses. They explain the love of God and they also explain the only way to God. Many “evangelicals” will likely be quite pleased with this statue placed in such a prominent place. It is true that God’s Word is powerful, regardless of where it is. The concern with this statue is the elevation of a man far above what he should have. The greater concern is that Billy Graham was one of the greatest tools the devil has had to tear down the Biblical walls of separation that God has established. Truth and error cannot mix. As John 14:6 rightly declares:
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
That verse is on this statue, but Billy Graham did not believe that verse. He was a prime builder of the “one world church” of the last days. He sent many people back to the Catholic religion and to her many daughters. Rather than being a glory to God, his statue in that prominent place will be used to promote end times apostasy.
Rather than get upset by reading the above words, true born again Christians need to warn other saints of the danger of rejecting Biblical separation. Thousands of people have trusted in the message of Billy Graham and are in torment today because they did exactly what he told them to do. He told them to go to the church of their choice. He told his many “counsellors” to encourage those who came forward in his “crusades” to get reconnected with their religion, whatever that might be. There are many, many people today who believe the heresy of the “universal church” on earth. They see no major difference between the many denominations. They have their preference, but they believe that all will lead their followers to Christ and to heaven. Most of those people are not interested in any true Bible study that exposes the heresy of this thinking. Their pride will not allow them to take the Bible seriously.
God showed the importance of separation in the Garden of Eden. Adam failed to appreciate that fact and he became a sinner due to his rejection of that fact. Abram was told to leave Ur of the Chaldees, along with leaving his extended family. He was to take his wife Sarai and follow God to the land where He wanted to establish him as a nation. Abram was reluctant to do that and God did not leave him in that state. God worked to bring Biblical separation into place there. It took the faithfulness of God to bring that about. Abram, later Abraham, needed to listen to God and obey Him. The same has been true throughout history. It is not enough to make a verbal claim. It is also not enough to make a humanistic attempt at godliness.
Biblical separation is not just a concept to be pondered. It is a command of God that is essential to knowing the truth and to proclaiming the truth. Those who are truly born again, have the love of God in them. It is the love of God that motivates the true saint to obey Him. As with Abram, we fail God often, but those who are truly like Abram/Abraham, will grow and God will show that His way is right, not man’s compromised way.
This is a necessary truth that every reader needs to grasp and grow in. There is a grave danger of being a stumblingblock to others. True saints are concerned about this and they want to remove any stumblingblock.
Pastor Bartel
