Abraham, Friend of
God
Lesson 9
1
After leaving Ur, Abram’s
first stop was Haran.
2
3
4
What do we know about
Haran?
❖
Abram stay there until his father, Terah, died.
❖
When Abram left Haran, Nahor (Abram’s brother) and his
family, along with their family idols, remained in Haran.
❖
While at Haran, Abram and Sarai led others to worship
and to serve the true God, and these people left Haran
with them.
❖
Haran is close to the city of Nahor (Gen. 24:10), where
Abraham’s servant returned to find a wife for Isaac.
5
Haran
6
B Evershed/flickr
Haran
7
B Evershed/flickr
B Evershed/flickr
Haran, Beehive Houses
8
Abram then traveled to
Shechem, where he camped
under the oaks of Moreh,
between Mount Ebal and
Mount Gerizim, in a wide
grassy valley that had olive
groves and gushing springs.
9
10
But to Abram a heavy
shadow rested upon the
wooded hill and fruitful plain,
for the Canaanite was in the
land.
11
There were open-air groves
with altars for false gods and
places for human sacrifices.
Abram, however, clung to
God’s promise, but he had
distressful forebodings as he
pitched his tent. (See PP 128.)
12
13
And wherever he pitched his
tent, close beside it he set up an
altar and called everyone within
his encampment to the morning
and evening sacrifice. His
example was in sharp contrast
to the Canaanitish worship of
idols, and some of the
Canaanites began to worship
the true God.
14
15
In addition to the oaks, the wide valley, the olive
groves, the gushing springs, and the mountains,
what else do we know about Shechem?
❖ The
bones of Joseph were buried there.
❖ Jacob’s
well, beside which Jesus spoke to the
Samaritan woman, was in Shechem.
❖ Joseph’s
brothers took their father’s flocks to
Shechem, and it was there that Joseph went
to find them, but they had already left
Shechem for Dothan. (It was at Dothan that
the brothers captured Joseph and threw him
in a pit.)
16
❖ Jacob
took all the strange gods of his
household and all of the earrings of his
household and hid them under an oak in
Shechem.
❖ Abimelech
was made king in Shechem,
and when Jotham was told about it, he
climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and
addressed the Shechemites.
17
Shechem lay in the
center, beside Mt.
Gerizim (the southern
mountain) and directly
opposite Mt. Ebal.
18
At the time of the conquest of Canaan,
it became a city of refuge, and it was
there that Joshua gathered all the
tribes for a renewal of the covenant
just before his death.
19
When Abimelech made himself
king over Israel, he had his capital
at Shechem, and when the city
rebelled against him, it was
destroyed and sown with salt
(Judges 9:22-45). The city was
later rebuilt as Jeroboam’s capital
(1 Kings 12:25).
20
Shechem was in a narrow valley
that runs east and west between
Mt. Ebal on the north (3080 feet
high) and Mt. Gerizim on the south
(2890 feet high). The elevation of
Shechem itself was 1800 feet.
21
Sheche
m
22
Copper Kettle/flickr
dview.us/flickr
Mt. Ebal at Shechem
23
upyernoz/flickr
Mt. Gerizim at Shechem
24
Shechem is often associated today
with Nablus, a city in the West Bank,
a geographic area on the west bank
of the Jordan River (about 26 miles
east of Tel Aviv, Israel, and 39 miles
north of Jerusalem) which Israel
invaded and captured from Jordan
during the Six-Day War in 1967 and
over which it continues to maintain
control.
25
26
Guillaume Paumier_Wikipedia Commons, CC-BY-3.0
Anna Frodesiak/Wikipedia
Nablus, with Mt. Gerizim in background
27
Nablus is predominately an
Islamic city. In Abram’s time,
Shechem was a Canaanite city.
Who were the Canaanites?
28
The idol-worshipping inhabitants of
the land of Canaan were called
Canaanites, and according to Genesis
10:6, they were the descendants of
Canaan, one of the sons of Ham.
(SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 8, p.
169)
29
Where was the land of Canaan?
30
Biblical Canaan is the
whole country west of the
Jordan, from Gaza and the
Dead Sea in the south to
various points north.
31
32
Emmanuelm/wikipedia
33
Briangott_en.wikipedia and Slashme_en.wikipedia.png
It is not known when the descendants
of Canaan moved into the land of
Palestine, but they were there by the
time Abram arrived, and they were in
possession of the largest and
strongest cities in the country until
dispossessed by the Israelites.
34
The Canaanites were
descendants of Ham, the son of
Noah, but they were not
worshippers of the God of Noah.
Nimrod was also a son of Ham.
From whom did Abram descend?
(Shem)
35
How many Canaanites were there?
36
We don’t know, but they had many
neighbors:
And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart,
and go up hence, thou and the people which
thou hast brought up out of the land of
Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying,
Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an
angel before thee; and I will drive out the
Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and
the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
(Exodus 33:1, 2)
37
38
Oldtidens_Israel_&_Judea.svg_wikipedia.png
The Canaanites served
other gods.
39
The chief gods of the Canaanites were El,
Baal, Anath, Asherah, Dagon, Hadad, some of
which are mentioned in the Bible. These gods
were worshipped in temples, a number of
which have been excavated, and in open-air
sanctuaries (called “high-places” in the Bible). .
..
The idolatrous religious rites were connected
with gross immorality . . . The sacrificial system
was similar to that of the Hebrews, but besides
clean animals, unclean beasts and sometimes
human beings, especially children, were
offered on Canaanite altars. (SDA Bible
Commentary, vol. 8, p. 171, paraphrased)
40
41
mharrsch/flickr
The Canaanites . . .
❖
offered children in sacrifices to Molech.
❖
had strong cities with high walls (Jericho was one of
them).
❖
had abandoned themselves to the foulest and most
debasing heathenism. (PP 492)
❖
owned the Cave of Machpelah which Abraham bought.
❖
were idolators.
❖
battled Joshua at Bethhoron, when the sun stood still.
42
❖
were without natural affection, idolators, adulterers,
murderers, and abominable by every corrupt thought and
revolting practice. (PP 688)
❖
were cruel and licentious. (MH 280)
❖
had filled up their measure of iniquity.
❖
lived only to blaspheme heaven and to defile the earth.
❖
of Hazor were led by Sisera at one time.
43
❖
held communion with evil spirits (PP 688).
❖
had neighbors of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the
Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
❖
were idolators, and Abraham would not allow Isaac to
have a Canaanite wife.
❖
were wives of Esau.
44
45
Ian W Scott/flickr
46
mharrsch/flickr
When the Israelites once decided to attack
the Canaanites against God’s command,
this is what happened:
47
The Canaanites had heard of the mysterious power
that seemed to be guarding this people, and of the
wonders wrought in their behalf; and they now
summoned a strong force to repel the invaders [the
Israelites]. The attacking army [the Israelities] had
no leader. No prayer was offered that God would
give them the victory. They set forth with the
desperate purpose to reverse their fate or to die in
battle. Though untrained in war, they were a vast
multitude of armed men, and they hoped by a
sudden and fierce assault to bear down all
opposition. They presumptuously challenged the foe
that had not dared to attack them. (RH, November
5, 1903)
48
The Canaanites had stationed themselves
upon a rocky tableland reached only by
difficult passes and a steep and dangerous
ascent. The immense numbers of the
Hebrews could only render their defeat more
terrible. They slowly threaded the mountain
paths, exposed to the deadly missiles of their
enemies above. (Ibid.)
49
Massive rocks came thundering down,
marking their path with the blood of the
slain. Those who reached the summit,
exhausted with their ascent, were
fiercely repulsed, and driven back with
great loss. The field of carnage was
strewn with the bodies of the dead. The
army of Israel was utterly defeated.
Destruction and death was the result of
that rebellious experiment. (Ibid.)
50
That first defeat of Israel, by inspiring the
Canaanites with courage and resolution, had
greatly increased the difficulties of the
conquest. Nothing remained for Israel but to
fall back from the face of their victorious foes,
into the wilderness, knowing that here must
be the grave of a whole generation. (Ibid.)
51
God knew the dangers to which his
people would be exposed. Satan
would work through those corrupt
idolaters to destroy Israel, and
temptation would address them with all
the grace of manner and fascination of
art.
52
Few realize the power of Satan to ensnare
and lead astray. Even in the days of Israel it
had been for thousands of years his
constant study to make the way to
destruction easy and inviting.
53
In this hellish work the great adversary
employs numberless co-laborers to
attract unwary feet away from God,
away from Heaven. In view of all these
allurements in the wrong direction, the
Lord carefully instructed his people how
to conduct themselves in order to resist
temptation. (ST, January 13, 1881 par.
14)
54
The apparent severity of God’s dealings with
the Canaanites did not, as many suppose,
proceed from harshness or cruelty. The love of
God is beyond our comprehension; it is high as
the heavens, and broad as the universe. Every
soul whom he has created is precious in his
sight,-- so precious that he gave his only
begotten Son to die for that lost, perishing
sinner. When men shall manifest toward their
fellow-creatures a love superior to this, then
they may talk of compassion where God has
exercised severity. (ST, January 13, 1881 par.
15)
55
The children of Israel had learned
by their own bitter experience that the
first step taken in departing from God
makes the next step more easy, while
the way to return becomes as difficult
as are the ice-clad mountain steeps to
the benumbed traveler.
56
It seemed a small matter to our first
parents to do only one little act
which God had forbidden,--to take
from the forbidden tree the fruit so
attractive to the eye and pleasant to
the taste; but by this one act they
forfeited their allegiance to God, the
great lawgiver, and opened the
flood-gates of misery to the world.
57
God alone can measure the evils
which may result from one wrong
step,--evils which at the critical
moment the tempted soul does not
consider. The only safeguard for
frail, erring man is to obey, without
hesitation or argument, the
expressed will of God, regardless of
all promise of pleasure or profit as
the reward of sin. When God
speaks, it is enough. (ST, January
13, 1881 par. 16)
58
The generation that
succeeded Joshua were directed
to carry forward the work which
he had left unfinished; but they
did not obey the divine command
to utterly destroy the heathen.
59
Some of the tribes made war on
the Canaanites, but failing to
receive the help which they
should have had from their
brethren, they became weary of
the conflict, and spared their
most dangerous enemies.
60
Frequent intercourse soon
removed all fear of danger;
and now the Israelites took
another step in
transgression, by connecting
themselves in marriage with
the heathen.
61
When this was done, the
difficulties of the situation
were greatly increased. It was
no easy matter to make war
with relatives, and to extirpate
or banish their own kindred.
(ST, June 2, 1881 par. 3)
62
By their disregard of
God’s command, the
Israelites had woven for
themselves a net in which
their feet were soon
entangled.
63
Ere long, many of the
Hebrews were induced to
attend heathen festivals.
Lascivious songs and
licentious indulgence, formed
a prominent part in the
idolatrous worship.
64
Exposed to these
contaminating influences, the
Israel of God steadily became
corrupted. In imitation of the
gods of the heathen, images
were made to represent
Jehovah, and thus idolatry
spread like a plague throughout
the land. {ST, June 2, 1881
par. 4}
65
The Israelites, having again
separated themselves from God
by idolatry, were grievously
oppressed by these enemies. The
property and even the lives of the
people were in constant danger.
66
Hence the villages and lonely
dwellings were deserted, and the
people congregated in the walled
cities. The high-roads were
unoccupied, and the people went
from place to place by
unfrequented by-ways.
67
At the places for drawing water,
many were robbed and even
murdered, and to add to their
distress, the Israelites were
unarmed. Among forty thousand
men, not a sword or a spear could
be found. (ST, June 16, 1881 par.
3)
68
But, Abraham was “the
friend of God” and set us a
worthy example. His was a
life of prayer.
69
70
When his tent was removed, the altar
remained, and when roving Canaanites
who had received instruction from Abram
came upon one of these altars, they
repaired it and there worshiped the living
God.
71
72
The Song of Moses
Deuteronomy 32:1-43
73
Moses, just prior to his death, not only
rehearsed to Israel the important events in
their history, but at the command of God he
embodied them in sacred verse. . . . The
people of Israel were required to commit to
memory this poetic history, and to teach it to
their children and their children’s children. It
was to be chanted by the congregation when
assembled for worship, and to be repeated
by the people as they went in and out about
their daily duties.
74
This song was not only historical, but
prophetic. It recounted the wonderful
dealings of God with his people in
the past, and also foreshadowed the
great events of the future, the final
victory of the faithful when Christ
shall appear the second time in
power and glory. (ST, May 26, 1881
par. 12)
75
It was the imperative duty of parents to so impress these
words upon the susceptible minds of their children, that they
might never be forgotten. “Put it in their mouths, that this
song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I
sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey;
and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen
fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and
provoke me, and break my covenant. And it shall come to
pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that
this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall
not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know
their imagination which they go about, even now, before I
have brought them into the land which I sware.” {ST, May
26, 1881 par. 13}
76
The condition of society today is the same as when God
presented before Israel the abominations of the heathen;
and the same warnings are necessary to the remnant
people. Spiritualism is advancing through the land in
triumph. “The spirits of devils working miracles” are going
“forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
Men are seeking unto them that have familiar spirits; but the
people of God cannot in any sense follow the practices of
the world. They must keep the commandments of the Lord.
The line of separation must be distinctly marked between
the obedient and the disobedient. There must be open and
avowed enmity between the church and the serpent,
between her seed and his seed. {ST, August 26, 1889 par.
7}
77
God is slow to anger. He gave the wicked nations a time of
probation that they might become acquainted with Him and His
character. According to the light given was their condemnation
for refusing to receive the light and choosing their own ways
rather than God’s ways. God gave the reason why He did not at
once dispossess the Canaanites. The iniquity of the Amorites
was not full. Through their iniquity they were gradually bringing
themselves to the point where God’s forbearance could no
longer be exercised and they would be exterminated. Until the
point was reached and their iniquity was full, the vengeance of
God would be delayed. All nations had a period of probation.
Those who made void God’s law would advance from one
degree of wickedness to another. Children would inherit the
rebellious spirit of their parents and do worse than their fathers
before them until God’s wrath would fall upon them. The
punishment was not less because deferred (MS 58, 1900).
(2BC 1005.6)
78