AbrahamWanderer Forward

This is a work of fiction that can be used as a Bible study. When scriptures are quoted, they will be in Courier font with the address and translation so you can verify they are accurate. Otherwise if they are paraphrased I might have added a bit of color.

The artwork is also an exploration into Biblical Surrealism. During the first pass through writing and illustrating I added works to a moodboard, (--p 9984nj9 on MidJourney) and in later works, there are the first hints of a distinctive style. It will be interesting to see how that goes. 

I am not Jewish, but when I was in college a lady came up to me in the dining hall and said, "You look like a nice boy." I replied, "I am a nice boy." And so I got recruited to teach pottery at Camp Airy a Jewish boys summer camp and that proved to be quite a cultural education. And I have been blessed to be associated with a few cybersecurity startups based in Tel Aviv. I was curious to learn more. A friend once told me, if you want to learn a subject, either take it at the graduate level or write a book about it. Maybe a blog will do? 

The plot in a nutshell; a teacher, John Comfort has been hired to tutor young Alan Cohen about the patriarchs as well as encourage and guide him to complete his D'var Torah, an essay that will be part of his Bar Mitzvah. We will begin with  Abram/Abraham's boyhood in Ur and sprinkle in a couple Midrashim that apply as we work through the Patriarchs. 

I undertook this work because my wife and I taught the fifth grade Sunday School class at Lacey Presbyterian Church for a couple years and both curriculum we used was woefully lacking, so we had to craft our own. The students wanted to be challenged. Many of them, from churched families, had heard all the stories before, so at the superficial level, the material was boring.

While presenting the material in a way faithful to the Bible, I have endeavored to put a unique spin on the material, open up new insights, and teach a bit about the customs and mindset of G-d's chosen people while learning for myself. After I complete the text, I hope to come back and add some activities.

I hope you enjoy.

Stephen Northcutt, October 24, 2026

Noah brought three sons into the ark

Hello Alan Cohen, my name is John Comfort, I'm here to be a tutor to prepare you for your Bar Mitzvah."

< = = = I'm already learning my Torah reading in Hebrew school and how did you get in here anyway?

Mr Comfort calmly answered, "I know the code to your smartlock, your father has been asking for someone to teach the story of how Judaism came to be. Feel free to call him."

< = = = That's OK, I'll talk to him when he gets home from work. I don't need to pay you or anything, do I?

"Not a problem, I'm a graduate of the first one's free school of business. Shall we get started?"

"Young Master Cohen, I'm sure you know the story of the flood. Perhaps you have wondered if God warned the world they needed to change their evil ways. There is a Jewish Midrash that asserts He gave mankind a chance to change; but they would not. At the very least the act of building an ark, a teivah, should have gotten Noah's neighbors curious. Regardless, the flood came, the ark did its job, the waters receded, the ark came to rest on dry land. The next major milestone in the journey to help humanity reconcile with God will be the calling of Abraham, and we get there via the sons of Noah.

Noah brought three sons, (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), into the ark along with their wives. Japheth is my favorite as from him come the mariners. Ham, AKA Canaan, is the bad boy. But Shem is the prize winner as Abram is descended from his line.

"Abram's forefathers lived long lives compared to people today, Eber lived 430 years; can you imagine? "

 24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he had become the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. 26When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

31 And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran. Genesis 11: 24 - 32 BSB

To recap: Terah, Abram's father decides to leave Ur and move to Haran, an inland city in modern day Turkey, taking Lot, his grandson, Abram and his wife Sarai with him. 

Activities:

Parade of patriarchs, the names of some of the people we discussed are below, number their generations. 1 for the oldest, (the patriarch that came first). For instance:

____ Cain

____ Adam

____ Enoch would be

__2__ Cain

__1__ Adam

__3__ Enoch

++++++++++++++++++++

____ Nahor

____ Abram

____ Terah

____ Milcah

Coloring pages aspect ratio is for 11" x 8.5"

God speaks to Abram

 Hello Master Cohen, today we will look at the calling of Abram. from time to time. But let's finish the backstory. According to Jewish tradition, Abram was the son of an idol maker, Terah.

Abram did not thrive as salesboy in daddy's idol shop, he loved being outdoors and had a successful sidegig with livestock. At this point the entourage that traveled from Ur to Haran was over 50 people including all the family and servants and the sheep, goat and camel count was over a thousand. And he had his trophy wife, Sara. Then, "it" happened.

Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. Genesis 12:1 BSB

< = = = Wait, hold the phone. The LORD spoke to Abram? How? And how did he know it was G-d? What about: "I do whatever the voices in my head tell me to do syndrome?"

John Comfort responded calmly, "This is a different epoch in time. In those days people and God talked and it sounded like conversational speech. And the instructions Abram receives come directly from God, no worries about false prophets in this case. And God has more to tell Abram!"

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2,3 BSB

"Now, to be sure, God blessed Noah and his sons with the be fruitful and multiply blessing, but this is different, it is directly to Abram and is specific about what God is going to do. Here is something to ponder:

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4 ESV

Their mindset was to make themselves great. In blessing Abram, God says He will make Abram's name great. Now Master Cohen, what are the promises you see in these two verses?"

< = = = G-d will make Abram into a great nation, He will bless him, He will make Abram's name great, He will bless those that bless Abram, He will curse those that curse Abram, all the families of earth will be blessed through Abram.

"So, what's the bottom line? asked Mr. Comfort?

< = = = Jackpot! How Abram won the biggest lottery in the history of the world is way above my pay grade, but he did and it's a win all the way around, we are blessed through him.

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. Genesis 12:4,5 BSB

< = = = Lot? Didn't G-d direct Abram to leave his kindred behind?

John nodded, "And we will see consequences in the coming years, in fact, starting with our next lesson. Let's call it for today."

Activities

Order the promises: ( 1 - 7)

____ make your name great

____ bless those who bless you

____ I will bless you

____ curse those who curse you

____ make you into a great nation,

____ you will be a blessing

__7__ all the families of the earth

will be blessed through you

(Aspect ratio suitable for 8.5" x 11")

Road Trip to Canaan (Genesis 12)

Good afternoon Master Cohen, did you have a fine day?

<= = = I did sir, I ate too much for lunch and took a nap, but I feel great now.

That seems to be the consensus in America on how to celebrate; eat too much and take a nap. Do you know you can spot a group of Americans visiting the Holy Land from a hundred yards away, most of the group will be overweight, even the kids. Anyway, today we have a journey in the direction of Canaan to talk about.

The journey from Haran to Canaan was about 483 kilometers, (300 miles for USA readers), headed south along the Great Sea. The exciting part of the journey was fording the Euphrates river with his animals and the people they had collected in Haran.

< = = = What does fording a river entail?

John nodded, "There were very few bridges in those days, so you have to cross the river on foot, or mounted on a horse, or camel. The Euphrates is one of the longest rivers in West Asia. Fording points are generally chosen to be low bank to low bank, as opposed to high bank, a cliff or steep hill. Fording points were often strategically important for military and economic reasons.

Abram thoroughly enjoyed being out of the city, his herds were prospering and Lot wasn't a bad shepherd either. Sarai seemed perfectly happy to go camping with him when they took their flocks to pasture and even though they still did not have children, they were a close couple. 

4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Genesis 12: 4 - 6 NLT

In due time, they reached the Canaan border. Abram was a bit surprised to learn the land was dominated by the offspring of Ham, including Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, Hamathites, Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Rephaites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and more.

<= = = These are nations?

Much more like tribes, or clans mostly, though there are kingdoms with functional government with Egypt as the most advanced. As time marches forward they will become more like nations with kings. And they were not concerned about marrying in their own people group, it was more geographic than cultural, or religious. To be sure, there would be disagreements between clans, but that was hardly a reason not to have sexual relations with members of the opposing clan. Marriage could be a bit complicated in the event of war, best to move out of the area and settle elsewhere. 

<= = = What is the oak of Moreh?

I was hoping you would ask that Master Cohen. First, it is best read oaks of Moreh, or even terebinths of Moreh, it is unlikely there was only one. The terebinth tree comes up multiple times in the Bible, more than 25 times depending on your translation. It might also be called the turpentine-tree, or if you prefer to be precise, Pistacia terebinthus. They grew all around that area, but the grove at Moreh is an example of a thin place. That is a place where the spiritual world is close, or the barriers are thinner, and spiritual encounters are much more likely to occur. We will have an example of that in our next lesson.

< = = = Was it a thin, or spiritual place before Abram arrived?

"Yes," John Comfort replied, "throughout history, people have built places of worship in spiritual places, pagan and Godfearing. When one takes control, it is very common to build right on top of the former religion's foundation. And this is a good place to stop for the day."

Activities

Reading comprehension:

1) The distance from Haran to Canaan is about:

a) 75 miles

b) 200 miles

c) 300 miles

d) 500 miles

2) The biggest challenge of the trip was:

a) Defending from wild animals

b) Fording the Euphrates river

c) Heat stroke and Heat exhaustion

d) Forging for food

3 What is the primary difference between a clan and a kingdom?

a) Clans have tartans, kingdoms do not

b) Clans reject anyone less related than 4th cousins

c) Clans do not have chariots

d) Clans are led by one of two people, kingdoms have governments

The LORD Appears to Abram

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.a” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7 NLT

The relationship between Abram and God is about to get deeper, first the LORD spoke to Abram, now He, The LORD of the Universe shows up in person! The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I am going to give this land to your offspring." Not such good news for the Canaanites, but futures trading in the seed of Abram went up like a rocket.

And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the LORD's visit. He piled rocks to contain a fire and prepared to slaughter an animal from his herd. When ever you see the word altar in the old Testament, it is taken from the word slaughter or slaughter place. There was already an existing altar by the oak of Moreh, a giant tree thought to have spiritual power by the Canaanites, but Abram built a new untainted altar for his sacrifice by hand. He chose a fine sheep from his herd and pet it for a few minutes, calming it, Abram had an uncanny gift with animals. Then in a flash, he cut its throat with a flint knife and snapped its neck, a painless and panickless death, instant. Then he placed it on the fire. Abram offered a pouring of wineskin and after the animal was consumed by the fire, Abram tossed in incense of myrrh, a reddish-brown resinous material, dried sap of a Commiphora myrrha, imported from Yemen and worth a hundred days wages. Sometimes incense was added after a sacrifice hoping the aroma would be pleasing to God.

<= = = That is so barbaric, you are telling me that they worshipped G-d by killing animals, that is so wrong. And it is unhygienic; lucky Abram didn't start Sheep Flu from blood contact

We all come from very barbaric roots and to those roots some of us are returning. You are passed that age Master Cohen, but the Canaanites even sacrificed babies and young children, I have seen the altar at Megiddo myself. 

The point is not the animal ( or whatever you sacrifice, people also did fruit, wheat and so forth ), it was the heart attitude. Abram's gift was that he recognized the voice of God, he handled an appearance of God and he has a pretty good track record of obeying God.

8 After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped the LORD. 9 Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev. Genesis 12:8,9 NLT

In any case, after the sacrifice was complete, Abram mustered his camp and after that, Abram traveled southward and set up camp in the hill country between Bethel, which means House of God, a strategic town on the north south route of travel through the hill county on the west and Ai, a quaint craft and artist colony that barely qualifies to be called a city on the east. Abram liked the place, it was the highest point, which is good from a military perspective, Abram's tribe was about a thousand fold at this point. It also was and still is a fabulous view, a classic Mauka (mountain) and Makai (sea) double hitter. Abram could look south to Salem, now Jerusalem. You can see into the Jordan valley, and on a clear day, you can make out the Mediterranean.

 Abram had a lot to think about. His generation knew for sure God existed, it had only been ten generations since the flood, they had the oral tradition or oral history and everyone was very clear, don't make God angry! However, God had been fairly silent since the flood, in fact the whole Tower of Babel thing had been done with stealth like a team of Navy Seals silently inserting into a remote region of Afghanistan, completing their mission and leaving with no one ever knowing they were there.

However God had both spoken to Abram and He had also appeared. And God had made an unconditional offer, "I am going to give this land to your offspring." Abram liked the land, it was arid to be sure, but there weren't too many people, Ur had always been a bit confining. Abram took a road trip to the area around Bethel and Ai to see some of his future inheritance. This was an auspicious day.

There, near Bethel, Abram built another altar and worshiped the LORD. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Palestine region to Negev.

<==== So Abram is starting to develop a religious practice. But his thousand person tribe is massively outgunned by all those ites you mentioned. How can he possibly believe he has a chance to take the land?

A great question Master Cohen. I read a midrash once that stated "For Abraham is have a crucial role in giving us our faith, he had to first receive faith, a gift from G-d." Many lessons from now we will unpack the proof of the truth of that statement. But for now, you either can, or cannot, believe with God, all things are possible.

Pretend You're My Sister

10 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.” Genesis 12: 10 - 13 NLT

Sarai may have been 65ish, but she looked like Kim Basinger in brunette and olive skin.

< = = = First place, that is a lie, second place I thought Abram was blessed by G-d to inherit all that real estate he had been touring.

Actually, Master Cohen, it is Abram's heirs that will inherit the land. Which gets us right back to faith as he is aging and has no heirs. Now about the lie, I realize this will open a can of worms, but Sarai is actually his half sister. Might was well get used to this, remember Milcha? As God establishes the line of the patriarchs they are going to marry from a very small gene pool well at least until Jacob goes wild. And Sarai, as you will see, is a quite a woman, she isn't just a looker.

< = = = What a minute, I am still not buying, doesn't this pretend you are my sister stuff indicated Abram doesn't really trust G-d?

Well, if you want to feel you are correct, you can read any commentator, especially Christian commentators and they all pile on Abram about this. However, he did not have a Torah to study. Abram knows what about God? After the flood God was silent, or so we must assume from reading the scriptures, for ten generations. And please allow me to point out Master Cohen, that if Abram's seed was to become like the stars, as numerous as the dust, Abram might have been trying to help out by not becoming dead. If I may share a simple rule of thumb, if you hear someone talking about religion and judging someone in the Word of God, Rabbi, Pastor, matters not, if they are judging, ask yourself if you would be willing to be judged by their standard. But I digress and we must finish this portion of your lesson. Abram is going to Egypt.

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. Some histories claim Abram tried to sneak her in to the country in a trunk, others say she rode boldly, shoulders back. In any and every case what is certain is that when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. This was a tumultuous time in the history of Egypt, the Pharaoh was not Egyptian, a coup had occurred and a non-Egyptian Semitic people (descended from Noah's son Shem) known as the Hyksos seized power. The Semitic peoples would one day become the Hebrews, Arabs and Akkadians.

Pharaoh treated Abram well for Sarai's sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. However, Pharaoh's intentions were not entirely altruistic. Sarai was, even at 65, a world class hottie. Pharaoh definitely wanted to go to bed with her. At first there were little things that stopped him, but one characteristic of a Pharaoh had a resolved will, a track record of getting what he wanted despite obstacles. Wimps did not become Pharaoh's and he wanted to mix his gene pool with hers as well and of course he wanted the pleasure of disrobing and bedding the most beautiful woman in the world, who can blame him?

But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. Pharaoh was no dummy and he had a strong sense of the spiritual world. Something was definitely wrong here.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Abram stood quietly, intentionally not saying "Because you would have killed me and taken her". Pharaoh then said, "Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!"

Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. Thus with God's help, Abram plundered Egypt. He came in a famine and left even more wealthy than when he entered, more animals, more servants. One servant in particular to introduce is Hagar, she will show up later. She was Pharaoh's own daughter. He saw the mark of destiny on Sarai and Abram and decided, it is better for my daughter to serve as a slave to Sarai, than a Mistress in a lesser house. Pharaoh was a wise and cunning man.

Abram's plunder of Egypt will not be the last time this happens when God's anointed travels down south. When you see Egypt in the Bible it often has two meanings, one is the country that just solved their Swine Flu (which was renamed to H1N1even though it really did come from pigs), problem by ordering all 300 thousand pigs in the country to be put to death. The leaders of Egypt have always been/will always be very focused, very determined men and in the case of Cleopatra, women. The other meaning of Egypt in the Bible is a spiritual and philosophical concept. Egypt is a place of food, of wealth, a great army, a place many Biblical leaders go into, but is sometimes hard to leave, in fact there is a risk of captivity and death. Egypt shows up in the Bible many times so it is probably very important spiritually, though probably not in the positive sense

Abram and Lot Split Up

They left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev--Abram with his wife and Lot and all that they owned, for Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. Then they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where they had camped before.

Lot, who had been orphaned when his father Haran was killed, was traveling with Abram and he was also very wealthy with sheep, cattle, and many tents In fact, the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together, such a nice problem to have. There were too many animals for the available pastureland. So an argument broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land. Then Abram talked it over with Lot. "This arguing between our herdsmen has got to stop," he said. "After all, we are close relatives! And it would not be a good idea for the locals to think there was division between the two, they had accumulated much wealth and much wealth makes you a target.

Abram said, "I'll tell you what we'll do. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want that area over there, then I'll stay here. If you want to stay in this area, then I'll move on to another place."

Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD or the beautiful land of Egypt. Lot chose that land for himself--the Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram.

< = = = I thought it was a desert?

Much of the land is. This is eleven generations after the great flood, so there was more water then than today. And the Dead Sea probably wasn't dead yet, it would have been full of fresh water with the flood, and will be hundreds of years till the salt can build up due to evaporation.

So while Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom, among the cities of the plain.