Today we begin our look at Abram, who is the son of Terah, who is a descendant of Noah's son Shem.
"This is the account of Terah's family line. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot." (Genesis 11:27) Lot, the nephew of Abram, is going to become part of a significant Bible event later on.
"While his father was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth." (Genesis 11:28) Terah outlives his son Haran. Some of you may know this type of heartbreak. Lifespans have greatly decreased since the flood and here we see a man dying in what was probably the prime of his life.
"Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah." (Genesis 11:29) Nahor married his niece. Early on in the Bible we often find close relatives marrying each other. Later in the Bible we will find this practice forbidden by God in Leviticus 18. It is believed by many scholars and geneticists that the longer man lived on earth, the more corrupted his DNA became. The farther man lived from the dawn of time, the more frequently mutations cropped up. This means that the closer two people are related to each other, the more likely they are to carry the same genetic mutations. When these two people produce offspring together, their shared genealogy increases the chance that their children will be born with disabilities and inherited diseases. Prior to the flood, and in the first several hundred years following the flood, the Lord didn't forbid man to marry a close relative because there weren't yet enough mutations in man's DNA to pass along to offspring.
We will learn in Genesis 20 that Abram's wife Sarai is actually his half-sister. His father Terah lived a total of 205 years and may have outlived his first wife. He probably married again and had more children by a second wife. One of these children became Abram's wife. It's possible Terah had more that one wife at a time, but that practice hasn't yet become very common in the Old Testament. So far I believe the only time we've seen a man with two wives was when Lamech (the great-great-great grandson of Cain) had two wives in Genesis 4.
Abram and his wife were unable to have children. "Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive." (Genesis 11:38) This infertility is going to affect everything about their life together and about the decisions they make and about their faith in God. Any of you who have struggled with infertility can relate to how this disappointment colored everything in this couple's life together. But their many years of disappointment and struggle are going to result in one of the greatest miracles of the Bible. The Lord is going to grant them a child once Sarai is so far past the age of childbearing that no one can help giving glory to God for the miraculous birth of a much-wanted child---a child who will be the ancestor of the Messiah.
No one, including Abram and Sarai, believed it was still possible for them to have a natural, biological child together. But nothing is impossible for God! I've been in some situations that looked impossible. A good outcome was impossible by man's standards. Defeat and disappointment and heartbreak seemed certain. I thought so and so did everyone around me. But God stepped in. But God moved mountains. But God made a way where previously there was no way. So don't ever count yourself down and out. If a miraculous turnaround of your circumstances depended solely on human effort, then it might be impossible. But the God who spoke light into darkness and who created everything out of nothing is still as powerful today as He ever was. He never changes. He will "make a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland". (Isaiah 43:19)
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