I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 12-15.

Last year when I read this passage I commented about the fact that Abraham’s father left Ur on his way to Canaan, but never got further than Haran.  When I did so I began exploring the idea of looking at the Genesis accounts as  true from a secular perspective.  One might wonder what led Terah to leave Ur, and Abraham some years later to leave Haran.  As I noted then, the Epic of Gilgamesh, which contains an account very similar to the account of Noah and the Flood, appeared in Ur about the time that Terah and Abraham left that city.  If those ruling Ur had begun using a retelling of the Flood story to consolidate their power (which appears to have been at least one of the purposes of the Epic of Gilgamesh), they would have made life very uncomfortable for anyone believing the original story.

I find several aspects of today’s passage interesting.  Today I want to look at the major changes in Abram’s fortune over the course of today’s passage.  Early on, when Abraham went to Egypt he was worried that the rulers there would have him killed so that they could take his wife.  Later, when the king of Elam, who was powerful enough to demand tribute from most of the cities in the area, sacked Sodom and took Lot captive, Abraham put together an alliance, tracked down the forces of the King of Elam, freed the captives and captured the loot which Elam’s forces had acquired.  At this point, Abram was wealthy enough and powerful enough to be a player in world affairs.  Certainly part of Abram’s ability to accomplish this came from the fact that he was a nomad and did not have to protect a specific location from attack.