answersLogoWhite

0

Abraham was obeying the command of God (Genesis ch.12:1).

I think that a more pointed question could actually be, "Why did God tell Abraham to move from Ur to Canaan?" This kind of journey was fraught with danger and inconvenience, and Abraham was no longer young (he was in his seventies), so why did God do this to him?

  1. This was one of the ten tests which our traditions record (Mishna, Avot ch.5) as Abraham having been tested by God. He succeeded in every one of the tests, which got progressively more difficult.

  2. God was demonstrating that His blessing overcomes even seemingly insurmountable obstacles. He promised that Abraham would thrive (Genesis 12:2) despite the dictates of circumstance, and that is exactly what happened (Genesis 13:2).

  3. Ur was an urban metropolis and a bastion of ingrained idolatry, with its self-styled "divine" kings who had their soldiers crush any dissension in a manner reminiscent of the Soviets. God was preparing the stage of history for the spreading of Abraham's teachings; and Ur was not the best place for that.

(This is more fully explained in: Abraham's biography)

The people of Canaan seemed more open to change. They had tens of city-states with no single emperor and Abraham could journey from one region of the land to another (Genesis 12:6-9), gradually gathering an ever-larger entourage of disciples, until he was eventually held with great honor even by the general populace (Genesis 23:6).

  1. Terah (Abraham's father) remained an idolater. Part of God's command to leave Harran (to which Terah had already relocated the family) meant leaving Terah (Genesis 12:1). Others (such as Abraham's brother Nahor) held Abraham in contempt for leaving his aged father, but God was in effect saying that the urgency of abandoning idolatry outweighed everything else. Had Abraham remained with Terah (or taken him to Canaan), it would have been misinterpreted as being complacent with Terah's idolatry. Nahor and his children, who remained with Terah, never did accept Abraham's belief in One God.

  2. Canaan (Israel) was and is a holy land. That is why Adam and Eve (Chava) chose to be buried there (in Hebron); and Abraham secured a gravesite adjacent to theirs.

User Avatar

Orry Peery

Lvl 3
4y ago

What else can I help you with?

Related Questions

Why Abraham did Abraham move his people to canaan?

when Abraham made a cvenant god said move your people to the promised land[Canaan]and obey me so Abraham moved there and they wosrhip him [monotheism]


The covenant between God and Abraham was to move to what land?

To the land of Canaan.


Where did god tell Abraham and Sarah to travel?

to the Promised Land, Canaan.


What did God command Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia And what did Abraham do?

God told him to "go to the land that I (God) shall tell you," and Abraham journeyed to Canaan (Present-day Israel) and lived there (Genesis ch.12).


When Abraham moved to Canaan why is this event significant in the development of Judaism?

1) It was important that he left Terah and Terah's idolatrous influence. 2) It was in Canaan that Abraham made a covenant with God.3) It was in Canaan that Abraham and Sarah had their son Isaac and raised him, ensuring the continuation of their traditions.See also:More about Abraham


Where did God send Abraham?

To Canaan But.... The Hebrew Bible says that God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave his homeland and resettle in a new land. According to the Hebrew Bible, when he arrived in this new land, Canaan(KAY nuhn), God told Abraham: "The whole land of Canaan ... I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."


In the covenant with God Abraham is moved to what land?

Canaan.


What region was offered to Abraham in his covenant with God?

Canaan


How did god reward Abraham for his faith?

Abraham gave absolutley nothing. You cannot return God's grace, nothing, not even your life, is big enough. Abraham got clost by giving God his heart.


For what reason did Abraham leave Canaan?

because he was told by god


Why did god tell Abraham to move?

Genesis 12:4-5New International Version (NIV) 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.


Is Canaan a holy Christian city?

Canaan was the land that God promised Abraham long before the start of Christianity.