GOD BEGINS a new phase of His plan to redeem humanity in this week’s study, as Abram is called from his homeland to journey south into Canaan.
We explain again why Abram was not from Ur in Sumer, but from a town near modern Sanliurfa in southeastern Turkey. As you can see by the map to the right (click to enlarge), travelling to Canaan by way of Harran makes no sense. And beyond that, there are other cultural reasons that point to Abram’s northern Mesopotamian origins.
We also discuss the significance of two of the key sites in the early years of Abram’s life in Canaan. Shechem was a city sacred to the ancient Amorite god Resheph, the plague-god and gatekeeper to the underworld known in the time of Jesus as Apollo, and Sodom, which we’ll explore in more detail in a few weeks, was very possibly the center of a cult devoted to Baal-Peor—which may have been another incarnation of that fallen angel.
Articles you might find interesting:
- “Why the Midrash Has Abraham Thrown into Nimrod’s Furnace” — Back story on the origin of the story that Nimrod threw Abraham into a fiery furnace.
- “Abraham and the Merchants of Ura” by Cyrus H. Gordon, the article that gives the scholarly evidence for Abraham’s northern origins
- “Abraham’s Real Roots” — Derek’s article for All Pro Pastors, which summarizes the arguments against putting Abraham’s home town in southeast.
To find out more about the evidence for identifying Tall el-Hammam in Jordan as ancient Sodom, log on to www.DigSodom.com, and listen to Derek’s interview with Dr. Phillip Silvia, part of the archaeological team excavating at Tall el-Hammam.
NOTE: The dates of our next tour of Israel has been changed from March 25–April 3, 2025 to the fall of 2025. Firm dates will be announced shortly.
The tour features our Iron and Myth panelists Doug Van Dorn and Dr. Judd Burton, along with author/adventurer Timothy Alberino! For more information, log on to GilbertHouse.org/travel.
Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, click here for the Old Testament studies to date, and click here for our studies of the Book of 1 Enoch to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.
Thank you for your sharing of the word. I anxiously await each week. God bless💞💞💞
Thank you for your teachings on Unraveling revelations. A friend gave me the website that I hadn’t really intended to watch because I was so busy but found due to the social distancing and staying indoors that I had a lot of free time on my hands. I’ve been watching them over and over again. I always wondered how God gave Moses the first 5 books of the Bible all in a divine revelation…never thinking he had any kind of background in the pagan worship. I’m truly grateful to learn truth.