There’s some confusion around when Abraham was actually called by God. If you read the narrative in Genesis 11 and 12, you can see why. He leaves Ur with his father Terah and his father’s household and makes for Harran. There, at the end of Genesis 11, they settle together in a strange land far away from home.

But then, at the beginning of Genesis 12, it seems God called Abraham from there, from Harran, and instructed him to leave his land and his people to go to an uncertain place. God promises blessing, and significantly too: the root word “bless” is used five times in two verses. But the place Abraham is going is left unspecified; there’s no clear direction for him, caught somewhere between God’s call and God’s promise.

He journeys on, south and west, until he comes to Shechem and stands in the shade of a great tree—the oak of Moreh, the oak of teacher, the oak of teaching. Has he come here to learn something? Is he here to be taught? God appears to him and makes another promise: “To your seed I will give this land.” Abraham, who is still Abram, will not experience this blessing for himself. But he stands in the shade of the great tree, and God promises to bless his seed. As he squints up toward the tree and stacks stone on stone, maybe it’s a picture, a small glimpse of what this promise holds.

There is more to go and more to come. Abram pulls up his tent stakes and sets them down again, this time in the hills between Bethel and Ai. Here again he builds an altar, but what is important about this place? He’s caught between Bethel and Ai, between the “house of God” (Bethel) and a “heap of ruins” (Ai). And here, for the first time in Abram’s story, he calls on the name of the Lord.

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Imagine an ancient Jewish scribe hunched over a piece of papyrus. He makes each mark deliberately and intentionally because any mistake would mean a mistake in the word of God. That cannot happen. Imagine him carving each Hebrew figure into the papyrus and wondering why it’s there and what it means, and imagine that he’s entrenched in Genesis 12. No word goes unnoticed. Each place name packed with meaning. Every word tests his faith. He comes to this part of Abram’s story, where Abram pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai. These are not just place names to him—they have meaning, they signify something, they tell a story all their own. He knows that here, between the house of God and a heap of ruins, Abram calls on the name of the Lord.

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Here, somewhere between the house of God, where God’s presence dwells, and a heap of ruins. Call on the name of the Lord.

Brad Zwiers

Brad Zwiers (’12) graduated from Calvin College in 2012 and Western Theological Seminary in 2015. He will not be graduating from any more schools. He often stares at books he wishes he could read but knows he will not finish and goes for long walks with his wife, Gwyn. Sometimes he plays basketball and always he follows the greatest sporting club in the world, Liverpool F.C.

1 Comment

Eesh on March 23, 2024 at 6:32 am

Good day

Thank you for this article. There is a scripture: “to understand proverbs and parables…”

In your article the location between Bethel and Ai you interpreted as the “House of God and heap of ruins.”

I usualy find myself calling on God when I am in a similar situation. If I may share an experience. I had a dream in May 2010. In my dream I saw a man who looked like my father standing on a heap of ruins. When I looked around the whole place was in ruins and there was fire burning everywhere like an aftermath. I was a young boy and there was a decree to remove the junk from the old world and dispose it onto the last truck leaving. I saw this green puppet lying amongst the ruins and picked it up; however I threw it right back and walked on. As the last truck was leaving, my conscience bothered me so I ran back to pick up the puppet and jumped onto the back of the truck to dispose of it. Afterward I woke.

My life changed so much after this and I continually ended up between two worlds; worship and ignorance. In 2013 I travelled to Israel, Palestine and Jordan on my ever seeking quest to understand my calling but as a JW it was a dangerous mission. The more I exerted myself in worship the more ruin I experienced in my life. The only stable element was my household that remained even until now.

I belief that the organisation I am part of will soon be crushed to ruins. You can imagine the drama when I delivered this message to the hierarchy in 2013. It was in the form a a parable; the image of Nebuchadnezzar.

The Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron and Mixed Clay represented the 5 Dynasties of JW which included, Russell, Rutherford, Knorr, JW Governing Body and lastly the Helpers of GB.

I even went so far as to give understanding to the 7 lineage of presidents of Watchtower Society depicted by the Wild Beast with 7 heads and Ten Horns. The current president Ciranko is the 8th head and last head according to my limited understanding when the beast is on its final stage before ruin. I also gave thought that the JW Dynasty might be an eighth king since their influence is worldwide and view themselves as higher than all authority on earth alongside the general understanding of the seven world powers since Nebuchadnezzar. The horns are the last GB members installed since 1992 when the Helpers were installed. As stated there will be a horn replacing 3 horns in its place. One horn already was replaced recently and I am observing the scenery on stage.

My son loves soccer too; Real Madrid…

Thank you for your article about Bethel and Ai. It is better for me to be wrong as man and God be right about proverbs and parables…
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