Who Was Abraham
Article III
Love is a powerful thing, and there is no earthly love
stronger than that of a parent for their child.
Even though Abram’s father, Terah, had sworn his life and
allegiance to King Nimrod, he formulated a plan to protect his newborn son,
Abram, from the king. Nimrod, the powerful ruler of Babylon was the son of
Kush, who was the son of Ham. Ham’s rebellion against God and his disrespect
for his father, Noah, landed him in the position of being the least favored of
Noah’s sons. Because of this, Nimrod suspected that his power-grab and
declaration of kingship might one day be threatened by a descendant of Shem,
one of Noah’s other sons. Whether or not Shem was the firstborn is debatable.
It appears, however, that he was the favored son.
Nimrod’s priests warned him of the possibility of such an
heir arriving on the scene, their prophecies precipitated, most likely, by
their knowledge of Abram’s father, Terah, being a descendant of Shem. Should
Terah have a son, his firstborn might well turn out to be such a threat. When
Nimrod’s astrologers noticed a new and bright star rising in the east, they
took that as a sign that a descendant of Shem had indeed been born.
In response to his priest’s warnings, Nimrod decided that
all newborn boys would have to be put to death.
With a bit of bad timing, after years of trying, Terah, at
the age of seventy, had recently become a potential father. His wife, Amathlai,
was pregnant and about to give birth, a fact that she and Terah had managed to
hide from the king. When Amathlai gave birth to Abram, Terah secreted his new
son out of town and hid him in a cave. As it turned out, one of Terah’s
servants also gave birth to a boy that night. Grasping the dark opportunity,
Terah took the servant child and when the king’s messengers arrived, he passed
the baby off as his own and turned the boy over to the king.
Abram lived in the cave until he was ten years old. What
happened after that?
More to come in the next post.
As always, feel free to comment or offer additional
information.
Abraham as a young adult
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