6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said.
Sometimes we need to make a complete break with our past. That is what Abraham wants for his son Isaac. Abraham is getting ready to die and he knows it. He wants to make sure that his son does not marry one of the local girls. Abraham recognizes that they are not a good influence on him. They do not follow the Lord. Their culture does not support the purposes of God. They will lead him toward disobedience. It is not that Abraham is a racial snob or something. It is that Abraham has now lived among them for years. He has watched them interact and he knows their character, both as individuals and as a culture. And those values do not line up with the will of God. So Abraham goes back to his roots. He is sending his servant to get a wife for his son from this own people, some 1100 miles away. He knows the culture and character of his clan. Some cultures are more conducive to being a Jesus-follower than others. Our western culture is drifting further and further into blind materialist idealism. The last election demonstrated that. We just want to believe the fairy tale. Don’t confuse me with the facts! Make me feel good. Give me what I want. But Abraham also knows that his past, his family has some down sides. One of them deals with the promise of God. Abraham knows that God’s promise is connected to the land he currently lives in, not the land he used to live in. God called him out of that land. He doesn’t want his son going back there and getting comfortable and miss out on the will of God. It would be easy to go back to relatives and fall in love with a girl, get comfortable and settle down. Abraham knows that is not God’s will. If Isaac were to return, God’s will would not be accomplished through him. God’s will is not often connected with a physical place, but it is in this instance. Palestine was central to God’s plan during that period of time. Isaac needed to be in Palestine, not in Ur. Home was good for a visit, but not for a return journey. The older I get the more I know that I can’t “go home.” Not only does “home” not exist, but God has not called me to return, but to go forward. We all have to make a break with our past. We still have connections, but we can never truly go back.
The Arnold Journey 