22. The Chosen Language of Promise!

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22. The Chosen Language of Promise!

“Leave your country,

your people and your father’s household

and go to the land I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

Meanwhile, after the flood of Noah ended, the descendants of Noah who lived on the land experienced significant changes in the Earth’s environment, which was no longer the same as before the flood. One of the major changes was that as generations passed, their lifespans gradually decreased.

Name	Age	Remarks	Name	Age	Remarks
Adam	930		Shem	600
Seth	912		Arphaxad	438
Enosh	905		Shelah	433
Kenan	910		Eber	474
Mahalalel	895		Peleg	239
Jared	960		Reu	239
Enoch	365	Ascended	Serug	230
Methuselah	969		Nahor	146
Lamech	770		Terah	275	Average 340
Noah	950		Abraham	275
			Isaac	180
			Jacob	147
			Joseph	110
Average	910	Before Noah	Average	178	After Noah

While the descendants of faith through Joktan were diligently heading east, the descendants of Shem after Peleg were still living in the region of Ur, where their ancestors had descended from Mount Ararat, for about ten generations based on the firstborn. And that place was also the site of the Garden of Eden, which God created when He made the heavens and the earth, and it had always been a place of abundance from then until now. It was such a good environment to live in. The reason why it was so abundant was that geographically, it was connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, forming a crescent-shaped fertile land. Mesopotamia, in Greek, means “land between two rivers,” and in Hebrew, it means “Aram of the two rivers,” referring to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The richness of their lives can also be seen through the structure of their houses. The houses here were traditionally two stories high, with rooms on the lower floor arranged around a central courtyard, and stairs leading to the second floor. The city was equipped with efficient and elegant sewage systems made of baked pottery, and temples were scattered throughout. Although Ur was not the capital of Sumer, it was a center of overseas trade due to its access to the Persian Gulf through rivers and canals. It was still important both religiously and commercially, and they already had cuneiform writing, enjoying a civilization that could use written language.

In such a highly developed and sophisticated city of culture and c

ommerce, Abraham spent his youth receiving an excellent education as the son of a wealthy citizen. Abraham grew up in such abundance. Among the gods worshipped by the people living in the region of Ur, the most representative was the goddess Inanna. This goddess, adorned with a crescent moon decoration on her head, was believed to bring abundant rain and good harvests when she sweated in excitement. During the period of worshipping Inanna in spring, public places often became sites of open promiscuity, and all the priests in the temples were female, with complete sexual openness. This goddess Inanna was called Ashtoreth in the region of Canaan, Ishtar in Assyria and Babylonia, Aphrodite in Greece, and eventually Venus in Rome.

Moreover, Abraham’s father Terah was an idol worshipper in Ur (Joshua 24:2) and a maker and seller of idols, so Abraham naturally became accustomed to the polytheistic religious life of Ur. However, despite this, Abraham, by God’s grace, did not succumb to the influences of the surrounding paganism and was conscious of the one true God, thirsting for absolute truth. One day, God’s call came to Abraham, and he, thirsting for truth, obeyed the word and moved to Haran.

Haran, now in Syria, was revealed through archaeological discoveries to have had a highly developed civilization in the past, proven by records showing it was a civilization several hundred years ahead of Sumer. The name of the country that built this civilization was also discovered, called Ebla. Thus, this region came to be known as the Ebla civilization. Analysis of records inscribed on clay tablets excavated here revealed that the name of the king who founded the Ebla civilization was Eber, and the name of the god they worshipped was Yah. This is considered the oldest archaeological record of the name Yahweh God.

Since 1974, 17,000 tablets related to Ebla have been discovered here, and the significance of the Ebla tablets in biblical studies cannot be overlooked. This is because biblical critics claimed that the time of Moses was before the invention of writing. However, the Ebla tablets, which existed in the region where Moses lived, contain records of laws and customs from over a thousand years before Moses was born, disproving such claims as mere hypotheses.

Particularly, the laws recorded on these tablets show similar forms to the regulations in Deuteronomy, disproving the claim that the legal structure of Deuteronomy was written later than other books. Another important fact revealed by the Ebla tablets is the evidence of Genesis 14.

“In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).” (Genesis 14:1-2).

Genesis 14 was once considered an unbelievable story, with the tale of Abraham defeating Chedorlaomer and the five kings of the cities being regarded as a mere story. However, the Ebla tablets record the names of the five countries in the same order as in Genesis, along with the customs and dates of the regions where these countries existed, proving the accuracy of Genesis 14.

In Genesis 10:21, there is a genealogy hinting at the great civilization of Ebla in Haran, stating, “Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.” The origin of the term “Hebrew” comes from this name “Eber.” The term “Hebrew” ultimately originates from Noah’s son Shem, Shem’s son Arphaxad, Arphaxad’s son Shelah, and Shelah’s son Eber. This Eber established a great civilization, which was called Ebla. This was the state of the true Semitic people, but after the stronger state of Sumer under King Sargon destroyed Ebla, the ancestors of Abraham were also taken away.

Later, one of the astonishing facts discovered on the cuneiform clay tablets recorded by the Sumerians was the record of Gilgamesh. The epic written by the Sumerian chieftain Gilgamesh contains a story almost identical to the biblical story of Noah’s flood. This shows that the Sumerian civilization emerged after the flood, as the record of the flood appears in the earliest records of human civilization. The etymology of the word Sumer comes from “Semer,” meaning “the land of Shem,” who held the birthright among Noah’s sons.

While Terah was making and selling idols in such Chaldean Ur, God called Abraham, and Abraham obeyed, traveling with his father Terah’s family (Nahor) to Haran. During this journey, Terah passed away in the ancient city of Haran, the capital of the brilliant country of Ebla founded by his ancestor Eber, and Abraham buried his father Terah there. As they were delayed, God’s voice again commanded him to go to Canaan. In Abraham’s time, leaving one’s homeland, relatives, and father’s house was practically impossible. This was because it was a kinship-based society where one’s safety and livelihood were protected within the kinship. Leaving the kinship alone to an unknown foreign land meant losing competitiveness and making it difficult to protect oneself from invasions or harm. Moreover, the destination was not a specific place but an unknown world.

In both the past and present, most of the older generation dislike changes to their way of life due to discomfort and fear. They prefer to live comfortably and stably in a familiar place and manner. When things change, they have to invest their body and mind to adapt, and the discomfort from not being able to do so easily makes them seek peace through familiarity.

This is a common sentiment among most people, but God left Abraham in an unknown world without a precisely determined destination by saying, “Go to the place I will show you!” It was truly unreasonable to ask this of Abraham, who was already 75 years old and not at an age to enjoy challenges and conquests. Moreover, his brother Nahor and his family wanted to stay in their hometown (Haran). Nevertheless, when Abraham obeyed God’s command and set out for Canaan again, only his wife Sarah and Lot, the son of Haran who had died long ago, accompanied him.

The trials and sacrifices demanded of Abraham were by no means light. This was because his homeland and kin were strong ties that bound him to his hometown. However, Abraham absolutely obeyed God’s call and did not question the promised land. He did not wonder whether the land was fertile, the climate was suitable for health, or whether the region provided a pleasant environment and many opportunities to accumulate wealth. For Abraham, the happiest place was where God wanted him to be. Abraham already owned numerous flocks and herds that could be considered wealth in the East, and he had many servants and retainers around him. He was leaving the land of his ancestors, taking with him “all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran” (Genesis 12:5), never intending to return.

God gave Abraham a great reward for his obedience. It was none other than making Abraham the source of blessings. The source of blessings! Blessings would start from Abraham, blessings would come to the places he went, and those he blessed would be blessed. How wonderful and happy is that? So Abraham set out on a journey that was like an adventure. This was truly a great adventure or a great faith, believing in God’s word and promise. Abraham believed in God’s word and followed it. The evidence was that he built altars and gave glory to God wherever he went.

However, a problem arose for Abraham. When he arrived in Canaan, there was a famine, making it difficult to obtain food, and thus he faced hardships in his living environment. Abraham had no choice but to leave Canaan and flee to Egypt. This was a disaster caused by the disruption of the environment due to sin, and because of this temporary phenomenon, Abraham left the place God had directed him to and felt fear of the foreign land.

Especially since Abraham’s wife Sarah was a beautiful woman, he feared that the Egyptians might kill him to take her. So Abraham suggested to his wife to say that she was his sister. As Abraham thought, when they arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarah was indeed a beautiful woman, and the news eventually reached Pharaoh. When Pharaoh saw Sarah, he found her very beautiful and gave Abraham sheep, cattle, male and female servants, donkeys, and camels as gifts. This was in exchange for taking Abraham’s wife as his concubine.

However, God protected Abraham as promised, bringing great plagues upon Pharaoh and his household. When Pharaoh realized that the cause of the plagues was because of Abraham’s wife, he summoned Abraham and questioned him about why he had deceived him by saying she was his sister, and then returned his wife to him. Pharaoh then proclaimed to his people that no one should harm Abraham and protected his property and everything he had.

During this journey, Abraham naturally encountered various languages and cultures. Through all these experiences and processes, Abraham truly established himself as the patriarch of Canaan, and no one could despise Abraham, who became the source of blessings as promised by God.

“Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed

you can count them.” Then he said to him,

“So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5).

Despite God’s promise, Abraham had a long-standing concern. He was over 75 years old and still had no son to carry on his family line and inherit all his property. So Abraham reluctantly chose Eliezer of Damascus, one of his servants, to be his heir.

Abraham’s wife Sarah, unable to bear children, suggested that Abraham have a child through her maidservant Hagar. Abraham, reluctantly agreeing to Sarah’s suggestion, slept with Hagar, who then conceived. When Hagar became pregnant, she began to despise Sarah, leading Sarah to complain to Abraham and insist that he resolve the issue. Abraham confirmed Sarah’s position as his wife, and Sarah mistreated Hagar, who fled into the wilderness.

God met Hagar and advised her to return and submit to Sarah, promising to greatly increase her descendants so that they would be too numerous to count. God also instructed her to name her son Ishmael. This was a consequence of Abraham’s actions, despite God’s promise to give him a son, and Abraham had to bear the results of his actions. In other words, while God loved Abraham, He also loved Hagar and her son Ishmael equally.

Just as the principle that individuals must bear the consequences of their actions operates in the world, Abraham’s desire for descendants led to the emergence of a long-standing rival who would bring suffering and constant conflict to his descendants. Linguistically, Ishmael’s descendants formed a new nation with a distinct language, contributing to the development of the Arabic civilization, which had unique numbers and language, creating another linguistic system with significant impact.

Through this process of error, Abraham eventually had Isaac, the promised son, who then had Jacob. These three generations became ancestors remembered for both their physical and spiritual descendants, serving as examples of faith for their descendants to follow in their lives.