Abraham’s Journey: Myth, Migration, or Mandate—Whose History Is It Anyway?
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rightaway
 March 26 2025
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    The first real migration story we hear of appears in Genesis, when Abram's family leaves Ur of the Chaldeans and migrates towards Canaan.  The story has an abrupt ending in Chapter 11, when it states that they reached Haran and settled there instead.  

    Take a look at the map at the disparity between where they were going and where they settled.  They should have gone Southwest; instead, they went northwest for three months.  It was quite a long journey, and they completed it on foot.  The best-case scenario is three months, considering the amount of livestock they took with them.   It could have been longer, but the narrative doesn't tell us.  

    A false teaching exists that states God told him to leave Ur. The story goes that since the message to leave came from God, Abram’s migration was fundamentally different from what we see today. 

    The problem with that claim is that it isn’t true.  Read Genesis 11:31-32. Abram immigrates, and there are ZIPPO references to God telling him to do that.  Read it seven times if you need to; get mad at your pastor for telling you something different.  It doesn't change the truth.  The family left without God's prompting. 

    The distances here are not insignificant.  If you look at the journeys that God’s people travel, this is the longest one of them all.  It is longer than the Exodus.  The distance in the first story is between 1,050 and 1,240 miles (per Grok) versus Moses's journey in the Exodus from Egypt to the River Jordan (310-375 miles).  Even accounting for variables (e.g., specific starting points in Egypt or detours), the Mesopotamian journey’s vast scope dwarfs the shorter Sinai-Canaan trek.

    Ponder the nature of migration with this new context.  There was no burning bush or voice from God telling him when, where, or why.  The dude’s father, Terah, just “knew” it was time to go.  He had to cross a desert with a lot of terrifying conditions on a route he knew nothing about.  And, in the middle of the journey, when they were way off course, they gave up and “settled there.”  They stopped their journey for reasons unknown. 

    Then, magic happens.  God began to speak to Abram, telling him to leave Haran and go to a place that He would show him.  From that moment forward, your bible teaching is probably accurate.  God eventually creates a covenant with Abram, gives him a new name, and it is off to the races.  However, going rogue and migrating without God's prompting returns!  Bad news strikes Canaan after he arrives there, and he leaves to go to Egypt.  Again, God didn’t tell him to do that; he departed for Egypt on his own.  Once he gets there, God intervenes with plagues, revealing the truth, and Pharaoh spits them out of Egypt like bad mouthwash. 

    For nearly all, the US is the Canaan of their immigration journey. Foreigners embark on a long and uncertain journey with the goal of reaching the US. Despite what the media convinces us to believe, most people who arrive become contributing members of society and follow our rules. My grandparents all were. 

    As a personal addition and a disclaimer, I know illegal immigrants.  As they share their stories and videos from their journey with me, I see parallels between their sadness and what is recorded in scripture.  In the bible, some get to Haran and stop, even though that isn’t their destination. They make homes there and start a new life.  I heard a tale and watched several videos of a group of eight men attempting to travel overland from Brazil to the USA, but one of them gave up and stayed in Panama.  Hearing that reminded me of Abram’s father, Terah, the initiator of the first immigration story in the Bible.  He died in Haran, just like Moses died, before reaching Canaan.  It seems like a theme of a treacherous route is what we should learn from. The act of moving to another country can be fraught with danger and death.    Isn’t that a mirror image of what happens at the borders in Italy for inbound vessels and gang/cartel members as they reach the Arizona border?

    I see connections.  Immigrants come to the US, and sometimes they can’t articulate the reason, as Abram’s family did when they left UR.  All they know is that they must leave their birthplace if they want to have a life.  Some, along the way, give up.  Some hear from God, and they overcome adversity to reach the Promised Land, watching their seeds grow into a great community.  America is comprised of multi-generational towns that would not exist without the courageous immigrants who founded them. 

    As a final piece of Biblical history to add to the conversation about immigration, I will refer to the story of Ruth and Boaz. When Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, she was a foreigner in a precarious position—poor, widowed, and without local ties beyond Naomi. Seeking to support them, she went to glean in the fields, a practice allowed under Mosaic Law (Leviticus 19:9-10) where the poor could collect leftover crops. She ended up in Boaz’s field by chance (Ruth 2:3). It sounds like something that might happen today for a Mexican farm worker crossing over from Texas.

    Boaz’s treatment of the immigrant was extraordinary—far exceeding basic charity. As an immigrant, Ruth could have been ignored or exploited, but Boaz offered safety, abundance, and ultimately a new identity as his wife and the great-grandmother of King David. His actions reflect a personal generosity and adherence to God’s laws, which favor the vulnerable (Deuteronomy 24:19-21), making Ruth’s story a standout example of immigrant acceptance in the biblical narrative.

    I am not a fan of open borders or illegal immigration.  However, for those who cross and work hard, I am a fan of Boaz.

     

     

    immigration illegal immigration boaz ruth abram abraham jeff gaura abraham's journey history of immigration
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