Bible Studies

---

This study is to trace the early pre-history of the Hebrews, starting with Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans(Ara. “Ur Kasidim”), and how fire became a frequent representation of deity (God).

Joshua 24: 2
Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River [Euphrates] and worshipped other gods.’”

Acts 7:2b
The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran [Turkey]. So he left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.

Genesis 11: 2, 4a, 5
As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar [Mesopotamia??] and settled there. They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens. . .” But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.

Genesis 11: 27a, 28
Terah became the father of Abram (Abraham), Nahor, and Haran. While his father was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans.

NOTE: According to Holman’s Bible Dictionary (p. 1640), during the third dynasty Ur was the most prosperous and highly developed city in the region at that time. Archaeological evidence has uncovered remains of a three-staged pyramidal structure [‘ziggurat’] which is probably the famed Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11: 36
They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

NOTE:
Certain tools would have been required for stone masonry but to make bricks required kindling a fire in an oven to harden the clay blocks. Also, just as interesting is the place name for ‘Ur’ means “fire oven/”

Now let’s look at some Biblical text regarding how God is revealed to the Hebrews/Israelites:

Exodus 3: 1b, 2a
Moses led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb the mountain of God. There the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from a bush.

Exodus 19: 18
Mount Sinai [Horeb] was covered with smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire.

Exodus 40: 38a
So the cloud [“Shekinah”] of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night.

Leviticus 9: 24
Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offerings and the fat portions on the altar.
Deuteronomy 4: 24a
For the LORD is a consuming fire.

Exodus 20: 4
You shall not make for yourself any graven image in the form of anything in heaven above, the earth beneath, or in the waters below.

FINAL THOUGHT:
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines graven image as an object of worship carved out of wood or stone. A statue representing cannot be constructed out of materials but a drawing can be used to symbolize it, I suppose. The evidence is circumstantial and conjecture at best to prove that the patriarchs, starting with Abraham being introduced to God [the LORD] in the ‘fire oven’ city of Ur and then the deity becoming representative of Israel’s national God under Moses, and ultimately as the Creator of the Universe.


Robert Randle
776 Commerce St Apt B11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 29, 2015
[email protected]

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE AS A MEMBER OR VISITOR