Go Forth

I am in the process of reading Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses, a book that is about exactly what the title implies. The author, with some help from local guides, archaeologists, and historians, attempts to visit the modern day locations of where historic/significant events occur in the Pentateuch. I've always had a constant curiosity with the backgrounds and developments of faith traditions, and have spent much of this curiosity in reading primarily on Christianity and Buddhism, with some light Islam and Judaism. Recently, I decided to expand some of my ventures into Judaism, thus leading to this book.

Anyway, it begins with the story of Abraham (or Abram). In particular, Genesis 12:1 begins with the command from God, "Go forth."

From the local expert...

'Do you want to know the real difference between here and the Promised Land?' Avner asked, not waiting for a reply. 'There are no rivers. There are no floods. Canaan was settled. It had some rain. But the water wasn't predictable, or plentiful. In saying lech l'cha''--go forth--'God changed the history of the world. He gave Abraham the power of fertility, the power to create a great nation, which up to now had belonged only to the rivers: the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile. From now on, people - not water - would control the world. People who believed in God.'

Civilization at the time was very much limited to Mesopotamia (Tigris, Euphrates) and Egypt (Nile). Water is essential. What faith Abraham had to display to leave behind the one thing that was known to create great nations and support civilization, and trust a voice and its command.

Trusting the unknown over the known.

Go forth.