Good evening. We're coming to you from a remote area near Siverek. However, our story begins approximately 720 miles southeast from here in the ancient town of Ur (in what is now southern Iraq). Avraham (Abraham), then 75 years' old, and his wife Sarai, left their large estate in Ur with Abraham's father Terah and nephew Lot and settled near Siverek (in what is now southern Turkey). When asked why he left Ur, Abraham said that he made a covenant with God.
a covenant with God? Tell us about it.
Abraham said that God came to him in a vision. Abraham told God that he and Sarai were childless. God said that even though he and Sarai were very old, that Sarai would have a son. God told Abraham that his descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky.
After sunset Abraham fell into a deep sleep. God told Abraham that his descendants will reside as aliens in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed for four hundred years. God said that eventually Abraham's descendants will return to this land and occupy it as their own. Then there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch that passed between the split animals signifying God's covenant with Abraham.
For more on Abraham, his remarkable story and his descendants, see the book of Genesis, beginning with chapter 11.
Good night from Siverek, Turkey.
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