- Acts 7:2-4 And Stephen said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him,‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 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.
I personally believe they ended up settling in Haran because it reminded them of their deceased loved one whose name was Haran. Abraham's father, brother, their offspring as well as Haran's children all moved to Haran... even though the Lord had told Abraham to get away from them. I think Abraham's father did not agree with Abraham leaving them, especially since he had already lost one son. The book of Genesis states that Terah (Abraham's father) took his son and and daughter-in-law and nephew Lot and went with them from Ur to go to the land of Canaan but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
When his father Terah died, the Lord spoke to Abraham again telling him to "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you."
I asked the Lord what was the reason for telling Abraham to get away from his relatives. Believe it or not, His answer is still relevant today.
- Gen 12:1-4 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. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
I asked the Lord what was the reason for telling Abraham to get away from his relatives. Believe it or not, His answer is still relevant today.
When Jesus' ministry began, His first miracle was to turn water into wine. He had healed many people. He had cast out a legion of unclean spirits out of a man. And He had raised a little girl from the dead. Then He went back to his hometown of Nazareth. They recognized Jesus as the carpenter's son and Mary's oldest boy and the brother of James, Joses, Simon and Judas. He grew up with these people and they knew Him. When God began to use Jesus, the people that were familiar with Him were offended by His gifts and His wisdom. The Bible says He was only able to do a few miracles in Nazareth because of their unbelief. After all the success He had been having outside of His hometown, He was hindered from doing these same miracles in the presence of the ones that knew Him well. The power was there, they just couldn't access it because they saw him for who He had been, not for who He had become.
Jesus told His disciples that a prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown and among his own family. So when God decided that He wanted to use Abraham, He had to get him away from those that knew him into another country.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove