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One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram's wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran's child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there.

Genesis 11:28

Abraham is one of the towering figures of scripture. His story occupies 12 chapters in the first book of the Bible. He is considered the “Father of Faith” and is regarded as the prototype of the kind of person whose actions provoke divine favor. Chief among those actions was the decision that Abraham made to leave his hometown in the Ur of Chaldees and relocate to Canaan based on a promise from God. He believed God, and his faith made history. His examples casts a long shadow across the landscape of human history.

But whereas Abraham’s journey in scripture is 12 chapters, his father’s journey is summarized in a few verses. We are informed that Abraham’s father Terah was also headed to Canaan, but stopped in Haran. This is one of those sentences in scriptures (and they are abundant) that is packed with so much insight that it causes headaches.

Allow me to briefly digress. I recently attended an event with my oldest son Malachi that featured several eloquent speakers. Since he is a former debating champion, afterwards I asked him to evaluate each speaker. Malachi said he thoroughly enjoyed one of the speakers because his “word to content” ratio was high. Translation: he said a lot using a few words. In Latin they call it multo in parvum: (much in little). Implication: the others folks used a lot of words, but didn’t say much. Well, I thought of my son’s comment when I read of how the scripture summarized the life of Abraham’s father: he was headed was headed to Canaan, but stopped in Haran. That’s saying a whole lot by saying a little.

A few verses earlier we are informed that one of Terah’s sons was named Haran, and he died while Terah was still living in the Ur of The Chaldees. So consider the facts:

• Terah had 3 children: Abraham, Nahor and Haran

• Terah was living in the Ur of the Chaldees

• Haran died in the Ur of the Chaldees

• Terah decided to relocate to Canaan

• Terah never made it to Canaan and settled in a place called Haran

So….the place where he settled shared the name of his dead son.

Whoa….double yikes…sheesh. #that’s crazy.

The word Haran in Hebrew means “a dry and parched place,” usually as the result of something being burned.

Haran is the place where Inspiration dries up

Haran is the place where hope dries up

Haran is the place where we stop dreaming and stop reaching.

Haran wasn’t where he wanted to go. Haran is where Terah settled. And I think that every person meets their Haran: the place where you are tempted to settle for a different destination than the one you originally desired.

Why did Terah stop? Was it fear? Was it weariness? Was it sadness? We do not know. What I do is that all of us will reach our Haran, and be confronted with the seduction of settling for less that what we originally desired. Haran is a city with one of the largest populations on earth, filled with citizens who stopped short and decided to settle.

If it sounds like I am judging Terah, let me quickly say that I most certainly am not. In an earlier season of my life I may have, but I have a much greater appreciation now of how hard life’s journey is. I remember once asking a friend about the whereabouts of one of our classmates. I had not seem him and was wondering why it seemed as though he had disappeared. I kept asking “what happened?” After a long silence, my friend finally responded with a sigh. He said:: life happened.”

And yes, life happens. Children die. Jobs are lost. Homes are foreclosed. Sickness interrupts our routines. Hearts are broken. Relationships end. Mistakes are made. And before long, our Haran seems sufficient.

I am not juding Terah. In fact, I am glad that his story is the Bible. The scriptures acknowledge Terah, but they do not focus on him. The reason is not hard to figure out. God would prefer that we follow Abraham’s example. It’s harder. But it’s better.

Fight the good fight of Faith.