Where did Abraham come from before the land of promise?

Les explains that the Jewish nation was not yet on the scene when Abraham lived. Abraham was a Syrian by birth, and he had two brothers up in Syria, including Haran. Although by his call and covenant promises Abraham becomes the father of the Hebrew nation, his blood did not change; he remained genetically a Syrian. Scripture considers Abraham the father of the Jewish race and the first Jew, but genetically Isaac would be the first son of promise and the first real Jew by birth. Abraham by birth was Syrian, and he came out of Ur of the Chaldees, then came down into the land of promise. Paul later uses Abraham as an ideal example of a man who was justified, showing that justification means the same thing back then as it does today.