(2) Leaves Charran. Being free from his filial duties, Abraham, now 75 years of age, received a second and !Lore pointed call to pursue his destination: 'Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land which I will shew thee' (Gen. xii:t). The difference of the two calls is obvious; in the former the land is in definite, being designed only for a temporary resi dence; in the :atter it is definite, intimating a permanent abode. A third condition was also an nexed to the latter call, that he should separate from his father's house, and leave his brother Nahor's family behind him in Charran. This must have intimated to him that the Divine call was personal to himself, and required that he should be isolated not only from his nation, but from his family. He, however, took with him his nephew Lot, whom, having no children of his own, he appears to have regarded as his heir, and then went forth 'not knowing whither he went' (Heb. xi :8), but trusting implicitly to the Divine guid ance. And it seems to have been the intention of Him by whom he had been called, to open gradually to him the high destinies which awaited him and his race, as we perceive that every suc cessive communication with which he was fa vored rendered more sure and definite to him the objects for which he had been called from the land of his birth. (See UR; HARAN.) (3) Reaches Canaan. No particulars of the journey are given. Abraham arrived in the land of Canaan, which he found occupied by the Ca naanites in a large number of small independent communities, which cultivated the districts around their several towns. The country was, however, but thinly peopled; and, as in the more recent times of its depopulation, it afforded ample pas ture grounds for the wandering pastors. One of that class Abraham must have appeared in their eyes. In Mesopotamia the family had been pas toral, but dwelling in towns and houses, and send ing out the flocks and herds under the care of shepherds. But the migratory life to which Abraham had now been called compelled him to take to the tent-dwelling as well as the pastoral life, and the usages which his subsequent history indicates are therefore found to present a con dition of manners and habits analogous to that which still exists among the nomade pastoral or Bedouin tribes of southwestern Asia.
The rich pastures in that part of the country tempted Abraham to form his first encampment in the vale of Moreh, which lies between the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim. Here the strong faith which had brought the childless man thus far from his home was rewarded by the grand promise: 'I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing ; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed' (Gen. xii :2, 3). It was further promised that to his posterity should be given the rich heri tage of that beautiful country into which he had come (v. 7). It will be seen that this important promise consisted of two parts, the one temporal, the other spiritual. The temporal was the prom ise of posterity, that he should be blessed himself, and be the founder of a great nation ; the spiritual, that he should be the chosen ancestor of the Re deemer, who had been of old obscurely predicted (Gen. hi :r5), and thereby become the means of
blessing all the families of the earth. The im plied condition on his part was, that he should publicly profess the worship of the true God in this more tolerant land; and accordingly 'he built there an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." He soon after removed to the district be tween Bethel and Ai, where he also built an altar to that Jehovah whom the world was then hastening to forget (Gen. xii :8).
(4) In Egypt. His farther removal tended southward, until at length a famine in Pales tine compelled him to withdraw into Egypt, where corn abounded. Here his apprehen sion that the beauty of his wife Sarai might bring him into danger with the dusky Egyp tians overcame his faith and rectitude, and he gave out that she was his sister (Gen. xii : 11-13). As he had feared, the beauty of the fair stranger excited the admiration of the Egyptians, and at length reached the ears of the king, who forthwith exercised his regal right of calling her to his harem, and to this Abraham, appearing as only her brother, was obliged to submit (Gen.
xii :is, 16). As, however, the king had no in tention of acting harshly in the exercise of his privilege, he loaded Abraham with valuable gifts, suited to his condition, being chiefly in slaves and cattle. These presents could not have been refused by him without an insult which, under all the cir cumstances, the king did not deserve. A griev ous disease inflicted on Pharaoh and his house hold relieved Sarai from her danger, by revealing to the king that she was a married woman; on which he sent for Abraham, and, after rebuking him for his conduct, restored his wife to him and recommended him to withdraw from the country (Gen. xii :r7-2o).
(5) Return to Canaan. He accordingly re turned to the land of Canaan, ,nuch richer than when he left it 'in cattle, in silver, and in gold' (Gen. xiii :1, 2).
Lot also had much increased his possessions; and soon after their return to their previous sta tion near Bethel, the disputes between their re spective shepherds about water and pasturage soon taught them that they had better separate (Gen. xii :7, 8). The recent promise of posterity to Abraham himself, although his wife had been accounted barren, probably tended also in some degree to weaken the tie by which the uncle and nephew had hitherto been united. The subject was broached by Abraham, who generously con ceded to Lot the choice of pasture grounds. Lot chose the well-watered plain in which Sodom and other towns were situated and removed thither (Gen. xiii :II, 12). (See Lar.) Thus was ac complished the dissolution of a connection which had been formed before the promise of children was given, and the disruption of which appears to have been necessary for that complete isolation of the coming race which the Divine purpose re quired. Immediately afterward the patriarch was cheered and encouraged by a more distinct and formal reiteration of the promises which had been previously made to him, of the occupation of the land in which he lived by a posterity numerous as the dust (Gen. xiii :r...1-17). Not long after he removed to the pleasant valley of Mamre, in the neighborhood of Hebron (then called Arba), and pitched his tent under a terebinth tree (Gen.