The Prodigal Son

In The Legends of the Jews Abraham's ancestor Reu prophesied when Serug his son was born, "From this child he shall be born in the fourth generation that shall set his dwelling over the highest, and he shall be called perfect and spotless, and shall be the father of nations, and his covenant shall not be dissolved, and his seed shall be multiplied forever."

There were stories of Nimrod attempting to prevent Abraham's birth by causing midwives to abort male children and even kill them as infants. Abraham survived miraculously. Later the counselors and princes speak to Nimrod of Abraham as a child, "Our king and our god! Wherefore art thou in fear by reason of a little child? There are myriad upon myriad of princes in thy realm, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and overseers without number. Let the pettiest of the princes go and fetch the boy and put him in prison."

1 Samuel 8:12-18 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and [will set them] to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.... And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

Men were worshipping other men as gods and paying them homage and giving them power. This is not such a foreign idea in modern thinking when you realize the worship is simply homage and allegiance and a god is simply one with the power to judge.

This power corrupted the leaders who oppressed the people. The idols were objects that represented authority. They often identified what house or authority you were under the protection of by the symbol of the god you displayed.. They were used like gang colors in the cities today. If you have the colors or idols of a group you are protected by that group. Nimrod was an appointor of gods and King and Apotheos of the civil powers of the State. Abraham would not worship , pay homage or give allegiance to Nimrod or show respect for the graven images that represented his authority and the authorities of his princes.

This is really not any different than modern governments who establish themselves from the top down. Governments of men have always used those under them to exercise authority over each other. Kings, presidents and political leaders see themselves as the fountain head of justice for their subject citizenry supplanting God as gods and god makers. They even call themselves lawmakers and sovereign. Abraham offered something in opposition to this type of government.

1 Samuel 8:11-12 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint [them] for himself, for his chariots, and [to be] his horsemen; and [some] shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and [will set them] to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

Samuel warned those who turned away from what Moses had taught. Jesus expressed the same precepts as Abraham when he ordered his Apostles not to be like the princes of the gentiles who exercise authority one over the other. It appears that men have returned again to the mire of his own making, disregarding the words of Jesus and the prophets, while proclaiming themselves Christian and believers.

There are many stories about Abraham which are not included in the Christian Bible. Abraham is reported to have said to his father and mother in Babylon, "Ye serve a man of your own kind, and you pay worship to an image of Nimrod."

Abram had separated himself from the Asuras in India, then with his father he left Ur and finally from Haran and his own family. That City State had been established by his own Father Terah and named after his executed brother. Though he had expatriated from family and the civil power of his people, he had continued to tithe to the righteous king of peace. According to the ana ittishu, or Family Laws, the righteous king was the eldest generator of the family. Abraham remained righteous in his honor to his generator, e.g. righteous in his generations. He became Abraham after he refused to take even a shoe latch of the spoils of the City State Sodom and was blessed by the righteous king of peace for his faithfulness to the ways of God the Father.

Genesis 14:23 That I will not [take] from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that [is] thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

Generations

The generations of Abraham were Shem, begat Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram who became Abraham. Amongst all the descendants of Shem there were many that disagreed who should be the eldest and rightful heir to the blessings of Shem. Shem was rightful king as elder of the family of man and according to Bible chronologists, Shem was still around when Abraham expatriated from his Father and the City State mentality. Shem was a righteous man of peace and since his Father and mother were dead he was sui juris and rightful King according to the family laws. He had produced many heirs but none who seemed worthy to be chosen to receive the blessing of his royal office.

Genesis 14:1819 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

The Code

Abraham went it alone. Or did he? He was able to muster 300 armed men from his own household and was often traveling with a large contingency of people. What was his system of Government? There is no doubt that his fame and respect was known throughout the world and even his servants were honored and respected. How did he manage to keep order and manage the daily ministration to these people? What system of order did he teach?

The codification of law at Ur had replaced the ana ittishu which was the ancient equivalent of our modern "words and phrases" and was a part of an ancient system preserving the "Sumerian Family Laws."

Such codes made provisions that clarified the customs of marriage, adoption, liability and property, as well as obligations to neighbors, penalties for false accusations and rules for hiring laborers as slaves for a period of time (employment). The importance of a code was that law was no longer a matter of words and phrases or maxims of wisdom, but had become an earthly command of compliance from a central authority. It had accompanying penalties and punishment and the power of enforcement by a new lawgiver. Law was no longer in the hands of God or his people but in the hands of the ruling elite.

When the Code of Hammurabi appeared, the "king is already the source of justice; the judges are strictly supervised, and appeal to the king is allowed."¹

Over four thousand years ago in the kingdom of Ur there were systematic methods and specified rules in courts of record. They settled, "disputes arising out of sales, inheritance, gifts, or divorce." There were different kinds of courts with different jurisdictional authority. "When the claim had been 'in the king's name' and rebutted, the case was settled by an oath either taken by one of the parties or by a witness." ²

You could be executed for helping a slave escape a brutal master, or for not accepting the authority of the princes and gods appointed by the king over you as a person or a member of your family.

Genesis 11:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

Haran did not just die, he was executed as a result of some presumed infraction of the codified laws. The word died is from [twm] muwth which means "to die, kill, have one executed... to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct)... to kill, put to death, dispatch".

Genesis 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

The word took is a strong word. It is from laqach meaning "take possession of". The ancient stories tell us that he was executed for the crime of defiling the authority of the gods of the city. Abraham had done it but he was miraculously saved. Haran did not fair so well lacking faith and true conviction.

Terah took possession of his family and exited the jurisdiction of Ur. By this we see that neither the Father or the individuals of the family had possession of themselves before they left. They were persons or souls of the state. Terah, Haran, Nahor and Abram were persons within the city walls and under its authority. Terah had learned some of a lesson which cost him the life of his son, Haran. He detested the controlling authority exercised by others but he was not willing to let go of that power over men and trust in God alone.

Study, History, City, Canaan, Abram, Family, Moses, Sin, Levites, Joshua, Corban, Factions, Essene, Bread.

¹ En Brit V II p. 862 '57.

² En Brit V. II p. 862 '57.