Nadene Goldfoot
Life was bustling down at the mouth of the Euphrates River in the city of Ur. Ur was first excavated in the 19th century, and restored by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s (Reuters). Here, people believe in many gods, being polytheistic. Abram's father was an idol-maker with a thriving business.
Ur is always spoken of as Ur of the Chaldees which could mean the Cassites. It was an ancient Babylonian city. It had once had a highly-civilized society in Abraham's day if you can accept human sacrifice as being a civilized act.
The story of Abraham shows that he has cast aside human sacrifice by being stopped from sacrificing his son, Isaac by G-d, and that should put an end to it with his future descendants, at least.
The Chaldeans or Chaldea people, in Hebrew: the Kasdim, were a Semitic tribe which migrated to southern Babylonia and adopted the ancient Babylonian culture. They gradually gained supremacy over the native inhabitants and gave their name to the entire area. Attempts were made, initially under Merodavh-Baladan, to overthrow Assyria, and they finally succeeded in the 7th century BCE, under Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar, who established an empire extending from Assyria to the Egyptian border. This was conquered by the Persians in 539 BCE. The fame of the Chaldeans as astrologers made the terms synonymous long after their empire had vanished.
So Ur was a part of the Chaldeen people. Abram spoke Hebrew, called an Ivrim, (Hebrew), meaning from the other side of the Euphrates River. Supposedly they were the only people speaking Hebrew, they found, as they moved into Canaan and met with the others.
Terah, Abram's father, was an idol-maker. His workshop was full of idols ready to sell. Abram, when a teenager, accidently knocked over his father's largest and most expensive idol. When his father returned, he saw the pieces on the floor and asked Abram what had happened. Abram quickly said that the idol nearest to it had knocked it over in an argument. Terah roared that Abram knew better; they were just clay shaped by him, and couldn't think or act. Abram then decided that it was time to leave for Canaan if he was ever to escape a people believing in idol worship. G-d had been guiding Abram in his thinking. At this point, Abram became a monotheistic believer- feeling one G-d alone was the shaper of the universe.
How Abram later came to the point again of being ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, is a surprise. As it happened, one day when Isaac was a boy, God came to Abraham and told him to sacrifice Isaac on Mt. Moriah. Though he loved his son dearly, he did not hesitate to obey the Lord. The very next day, Abraham saddled his donkey and began the journey, with Isaac, two servants, and wood for the sacrifice.
As they neared the mountain, Abraham instructed the servants to stay behind, while he and Isaac ascended. Genesis 22:7-8 describes the conversation between father and son as they climbed the mountain: This was why it happened. Abraham was told by G-d to do this. No idol was involved, so he was ready to do the impossible, take his son's life. As it was, when he lifted his head, he spotted a ram to use instead. An angel had spoken to him from heaven. This showed he was god-fearing. G-d had only originally asked Abram to bring Isaac up the mountain with him and be prepared as an offering. He never said to "slaughter him."
Abram was 86 years of age when Ishmael was born to Hagar. Thirteen years later, when Abram was 99 years of age, God declared Abram's new name: "Abraham" – "a father of many nations". Abraham then received the instructions for the covenant of the pieces, of which circumcision was to be the sign.
This all happened as the culmination of 10 trials that Abraham had to go through during his life.
1. Abram hid for 13 years from king Nimrod who wanted to kill him. Nimrod was of Cushite origin, a mighty hunter and king of Babylon, Erech, Accad, etc. Assyria was known as "the land of Nimrod."
2. Nimrod threw him into a burning furnace.-found in a non-biblical book of Jasher, referred to in bible but never accepted.
3. He was commanded by G-d to leave his family and homeland of Ur.
4. A famine forced him to leave Canaan.
5. Pharaoh's officials kidnap his wife/niece, Sarah. Truthfully, Sarah was the niece of Abraham, so didn't lie much saying she was his sister. It was a little white lie to keep Abram from being killed.
6. Abram went to war against kings to rescue Lot. He must have had the where-with-all of a general. He did a lot of fighting.
7. He's told by G-d that his descendants will suffer under 4 kingdoms. 8. He's also told to circumcise himself and Ishmael-son by Hagar. 9. He's also told to banish Hagar and Ishmael from the tribe. 10. Commanded by G-d to offer Isaac on the altar. Abraham is revered by the Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Resource:
Tanakh, (Genesis 22: 7-8)
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham#:~:text=Ishmael%20was%20born.-,Sarah,was%20to%20be%20the%20sign.
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