Obedience to the LORD

<= = = Well hello Mr. Comfort, I didn't expect you to be here today, don't you get New Year's Day off? Anyway, I thought the LORD said leave your relatives.

So did I! Hang on to that thought, failure to follow the LORD's instructions and bringing Lot will come back to haunt Abram more than once.

Traveling through Canaan, Lebanon, Gaza, the Jordan River Valley, as well as modern Israel and the Palestinian Territories, they came to a place near Shechem, one of the oldest settlements in Canaan, located about 50 miles north of Jerusalem in narrow valley between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal. Shechem had incredible importance back in the day because it was near the intersection of the north to south and also east to west trade routes. At this time it was not as built up as it is today and Abram, ever the outdoor guy, set up camp beside the oak at Moreh.
Abram, soon moved his campsite away from the oak at Moreh to a hill the locals called RamAphek. It turns out the pagan Canaanites practiced their fertility rites under the trees and the oak was a favorite. One night they were making so much of a racket, that Abram stuck his head out of his tent. Being from Ur, he thought he had seen it all, but no . . .

<= = = But no what? What did he see Mr. Storyteller?

Well, Master Cohen, it turns out there is such a thing as TMI, ever hear the term? It stands for Too Much Information and you are still too young to know such things.

<= = = Please, my father wants me to know about other cultures

As we say, the Canaanites, are a lusty tribal people that used organized base camp style hunting and gathering with a culture of pre-pottery style farming that practiced animal domestication. I will share a Tweet Abram sent, hopefully 140 characters will not get me into trouble.

AbrahamWanderer LOL, Wild fertility party going on, backwards though, it's the guys not wearing the clothes, what a ripoff

The Canaanites were not the greatest warriors to ever ride across the earth, but they were tribal, an offense against one was an offense against all. They descended from Noah's grandson, Canaan who was cursed by Noah to serve.

<= = = Whatcha mean cursed by Noah to serve?

Not entirely sure myself. You remember Noah, the guy with the Ark when God flooded the earth before the ice age, right? Well, afterwards, Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. One night he had too much to drink and passed out on the bed with no clothes on. Ham, one of Noah's sons, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. The other two sons, Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, walked backward into the tent, and covered their father's naked body, being careful not to look.
When Noah woke up from his drunken stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done and he cursed the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham: "A curse on the Canaanites! May they be the lowest of servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth."

<= = = That doesn't make any sense!

Look, let me make this plain for you, don't stare at naked guys, can we get agreement on that? OK. Now, back to Abram.