Pearl of Great Price Commentary - Abarham 2

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
               CHAPTER 2

Abraham leaves Ur to go to Canaan—Jehovah appears to him at Haran—All gospel blessings are promised to his seed, and through his seed to all—He goes to Canaan, and on to Egypt.

Famine in the Land of Ur
1 NOW the Lord God caused the afamine to wax sore in the land of Ur, insomuch that bHaran, my brother, died; but cTerah, my father, yet lived in the land of Ur, of the Chaldees.
2 And it came to pass that I, Abraham, took aSarai to wife, and bNehor, my brother, took Milcah to wife, who was the cdaughter of Haran.

  2a Heb. 11:21
   b Gen. 47:31
 3a 1 Ne. 1:14; 2 Ne. 9:46;
      3 Ne. 4:32; D&C 76:106-107;
      D&C 87:6; Moses 2:1;
      JS-H 1:29; A of F 11
   b D&C 107:54; Abr. 2:6
   c Gen 28:19; Gen. 35:6;
      Josh. 18:13
 4a TG Seed of Abraham
   b TG Promised Land
   c Gen 17:8; Abr. 2:6;
 5a JST Gen. 48:5-11
   b TG Israel, Joseph, People of
   c Deut 3:13

Get Thee Out of Thy Country (Ur)
3 Now the Lord had asaid unto me: Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee.
4 Therefore I left the land of aUr, of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and I took Lot, my brother's son, and his wife, and Sarai my wife; and also my bfather followed after me, unto the land which we denominated Haran.
5 And the famine abated; and my father tarried in Haran and dwelt there, as there were many flocks in Haran; and my father turned again unto his aidolatry, therefore he continued in Haran.

 2a Heb. 11:21
   b Gen. 47:31
 3a 1 Ne. 1:14; 2 Ne. 9:46;
      3 Ne. 4:32; D&C 76:106-107;
      D&C 87:6; Moses 2:1;
      JS-H 1:29; A of F 11
   b D&C 107:54; Abr. 2:6
   c Gen 28:19; Gen. 35:6;
      Josh. 18:13
 4a TG Seed of Abraham
   b TG Promised Land
   c Gen 17:8; Abr. 2:6;
 5a JST Gen. 48:5-11
   b TG Israel, Joseph, People of
   c Deut 3:13

In Haran
6 But I, Abraham, and Lot, my brother's son, prayed unto the Lord, and the aLord appeared unto me, and said unto me: Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a bminister to bear my cname in a strange dland which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice.
7 For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in aheaven; the earth is my bfootstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my cchariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.

My Name Is Jehovah
8 My aname is Jehovaha, and I bknow the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.
9 And I will make of thee a great anation, and I will bbless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and cPriesthood unto all nations;

I Was Not Known to Them 
When the Lord spake unto Moses He stated, 'I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.' This is not a complete nor a correct statement as it stands without clarification. In truth when God Almighty did first appear unto Abraham he did not know His name. But the Lord introduced Himself unto Abraham and then told him His name to be Jehovah. Thus the completion of the truth would have added, that ' ... by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them, therefore I had to introduce myself unto them (him).' It has been a long time traditional practice of the Hebrews to not speak the holy name of God, JEHOVAH, aloud. If this was the case then Abraham would have not related the name JEHOVAH to Isaac or Isaac to Jacob in spoken form, But certainly the Lord had revealed his name JEHOVAH to Abraham for Abraham called the place where he offered up Isaac as a sacrifice by the name Jehovah-jireh, meaning 'The Lord will provide'(Genesis 22:14). Thus it is proved that Abraham did know the name of God Almighty to be Jehovah. And it does appear that Abraham was first given the name of God to be Johovah while he was still in the land of Haran when the Lord appeared unto him there and introduced himself to Abraham by the name Jehovah. 		 8a My name is Jehovah At one point the Jewish Bible reports that Abraham did not know the name of God to be Jehovah (Exodus 6:3). Of course that is incorrect for the Jewish Bible also states that at one point Abraham named the sites of his sacrifice of Isaac by the name of Jehovah-jireh, meaning 'The Lord will provide' (Genesis 22:14). This is the site near upon the Plains of Moreh or Moriah (See Bible Dictionary Moriah).
10 And I will abless them through thy name; for as many as receive this bGospel shall be called after thy cname, and shall be accounted thy dseed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their efather;
11 And I will abless them that bless thee, and bcurse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy cseed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this dright shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.

12 Now, after the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has asought thee earnestly; now I have found thee;
13 Thou didst send thine angel to adeliver me from the gods of Elkenah, and I will do well to hearken unto thy voice, therefore let thy servant rise up and depart in peace.

At Age 62, Abraham Leaves Haran
14 So I, Abraham, departed as the Lord had said unto me, and Lot with me; and I, Abraham, was asixty and two years old when I departed out of Haran.
15 And I took Sarai, whom I took to wife when I was in Ur, in Chaldea, and Lot, my brother's son, and all our substance that we had gathered, and the souls that we had awon in Haran, and came forth in the way to the land of Canaan, and dwelt in tents as we came on our way;
16 Therefore, aeternity was our covering and our brock and our salvation, as we journeyed from Haran by the way of cJershon, to come to the land of Canaan.

Sechem; In the Plains of Moreh
17 Now I, Abraham, built an aaltar in the land of Jershon, and made an offering unto the Lord, and prayed that the bfamine might be turned away from my father's house, that they might not perish.
18 And then we passed from Jershon through the land unto the place of Sechem; it was situated in the plains of Moreha, and we had already come into the borders of the land of the aCanaanites, and I offered bsacrifice there in the plains of Moreha, and called on the Lord devoutly, because we had already come into the land of this idolatrous nation.
19 And the Lord aappeared unto me in answer to my prayers, and said unto me: Unto thy seed will I give this bland.

 18a Sechem; it was situated in the plains of Moreh [Moriah] The land of Sechem or Shechem plays significant rolls in the history of the Hebrews. Here Abraham offers sacrifice unto the Lord and is told that this land was that land to be given him. He later returns unto the Plains of Moreh or Moriah and upon one of the two near hills or mountains Abraham does proceed to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice unto the Lord. It is here that the Samaritans conclude that the Mountain of the Lord and the House of the Lord was to be as stipulated by the women which the Saviour meets and speaks to at the Well of Jacob.
 18b I offered sacrifice there in the plains of Moreh It is significant that Abraham upon entering the land which is to be the promised land, first offers his sacrifice upon one of the raised mounts of the Plain of Moreh. The Lord here confirms this to Abraham to be that land promised him and his seed. Later at this same site Abraham, as called upon by God, does proceed to offer up his seed Isaac as a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord. Of course the Lord stops Abraham and provides a sheep caught in a bush in place of Isaac. Therefore Abraham gives the name to this site to be Jehovah-jireh meaning 'The Lord will provide' (Genesis 22:14). That event was to teach Abraham that in Adam all die and it is by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, that all are made alive. Abraham learned much concerning the sacrifice of the Father of His Son and the willingness of the Son to so submit to his Father's will as Isaac could have been upwards of 27 years old and if not a willing sacrifice could have easily over powered his father Abraham at the age of 127 years of age. This 'binding' of the souls of Abrham and Isaac together inthe meaning and purpose of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God is called Akedah or 'The Binding' in the traditions of Israel. And this 'binding' has various implied meanings. The commitment of Jehovah and the Father were bound in the Covenant that this sacrifice for the redemption of man would be made. There was no other way. Isaac of course willing allowed his aged father Abraham to bind him for the sacrifice. Abraham, knew full well what it meant to be so bound as a human sacrifice as he had once so been bound in the wickedness of corrupt religion upon the altar of Ur to be sacrificed by the contrivance of the wicked priest and his father, likely for the purpose and in response to have the famine on the land relieved that the people might live. There the angel of the Lord intervened as he would also so intervene at the parallel sacrifice of Isaac. Yes Isaac and Abraham learned and shared much in respect to the event and all that it represented, paralleled and meant. And they would have become 'bound together' in spirit and understanding, and with their souls one unto another relative to God the Father and His Atoning Sacrifical Lamb, the Son of the Father.

Mountain on the East of Bethel
20 And I, Abraham, arose from the place of the altar which I had built unto the Lord, and removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of aBethel, and pitched my tent there, Bethel on the west, and bHai on the east; and there I built another caltar unto the Lord, and dcalled again upon the name of the Lord.
21 And I, Abraham, journeyed, going on still towards the southa; and there was a continuation of a famine in the land; and I, Abraham, concluded to go down into Egypt, to sojourn there, for the famine became very grievous.

The Famine Was Grievious 
With our own understanding of the 'Great Apostasy' and the famine during the 'darkages' of man, having lost the true Gospel of Christ from the time of the death and pursecution of Christ and His Apostles unto the time of the restoration, we should be able to apprciated what it is to have a period of famine from the hearing of the word of God. Just such a 'spiritual famine' had settled in after the days of Noah. Only pocket of the true faith remained. Melchizedek and his people who like Enoch would be translated, and Abraham. The world as a whole during the days of Abraham had fallen into corrupt religion and a 'famine' not only for the want of food, but that of finding and hearing the true word of God, the truth Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the most part the worship of God and religion had fallen into a state of corrupt pagan worship both in actions and in the lose of authority. The understanding of the Sacrifice of the Son of God had turned into various forms of human sacrifice. And in Egypt where they did pattern themselves after the true religion, the failed to have the proper priesthood authority. Thus all thier acts, though a parallel simbulance of the true ordinances of God, were but an unauthorized mockery of them. Yet like Joseph Smith and the Masons, who had preserved a form of the temple ceremony, Abraham was taken by the hand of the Lord, for the famine (spiritual and physical) in the land, down south into Egypt to observe what still remained in tact of the various ordiances of the Egyptian cult. 		 21a I, Abraham, journeyed, going on still towards the south Because there was a famine in the land from Haran and throughout the land of Canaan, Abraham of necessity continued on south to the land of Egypt. On the one hand, while Egypt was the land of 'corrupt religion' in that they did not have right to the 'priesthood', it was Egypt which still was constructed in the 'true image' of the 'true religion'. There was much to be learned by Abraham concerning the ordinances of the Egyptians which like the Masonic ceremonies in Joseph Smith's day did parallel the ordinance of the temple. The Egyptians like tha Masons had retained much of the truth of the ordinances of God, but neither had the true power of God. They were 'vain' ordinances. But like Joseph Smith's learning and understanding from the Masons, Abraham would also gain learning and understanding from the Egyptians as 'Pharaoh' and the religion of the Egyptians was in the 'image of the true religion' but without the authority of it.
Further, Abraham was the dispensation head of his day and along with Adam, Noah and Moses, he was one of the portrayed and significant 'horsemen' of the first four 1000 years and the first four seals of the seven seals of the Book of Revelation which speaks of the trading of wheat in response to the famine (Revelation 6:5-6) and though the colors of the horses have been corrupted and crossed the vision of Zechariah so states of the third dispensation head(s) did 'go forth toward the south country' meaning Egypt (Zechariah 6:6). From Abraham to Joseph the traveling to the 'south country', Egypt, would be the means of yielding salvation, from the aquiring the knowledge and understanding of the ordiances of spiritural salvation to the actual obtaining of temporal salvation and preservation in relief from the famine both of the 'word of God' as well as the famine for the want of 'food'.

Concerning Thy Wife Sarai
22 And it came to pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord asaid unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon;
23 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will say—She is his wife; and they will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this wise:
24 Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.
25 And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the Lord had said unto me—Therefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my asister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee.