Abraham : From the Bible
The following is a narrative description on the life and times of
one of the most powerful characters in the Old Testament.
Abraham was indeed a man of God in a time where few men believed
in the One true God. Through many triumphs and errors, he always
returned to God to lead him back to his calling. His dedication
resulted in great promises from God that were eventually
fulfilled and affect each of our lives today. His story is our
story.
Abraham was a native of Chaldea, and a ninth generation
descendant of Shem, the son of Noah. He was born on the southern
tip of the Tigris and Uuphrates rivers in the city of Ur around
2161BC.1 Before his name was changed to Abraham, his name was
Abram. When Abram was about seventy years of age he moved with
his family to live in Haran. The reason he moved was because
"The God of glory appeared to our father Abram when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, "Depart
from your country and your relatives, and come into the land
that I will show you."
While in Haran, Abram's father died and God spoke to him again
saying, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and
from your father's house, to the land which I will show you." 3
He obeyed and left Haran with his brother Nahor's family and his
Nephew Lot without really knowing where he was going. At this
time, God did not reveal to him he was going to Canaan. God only
told him "the land which I will show you." 4 When he did arrive
in Canaan, he camped in the plains of Moreh, between the
mountains of Ebal and Cerizim. It was here he was given the
second promise from God that his seed would possess this land.
Abram built "an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him"
5 He then moved to the mountainous district between Bethel and
Ai. Here, he built another altar to Jehovah.
Throughout the story of Abram, he consistently went back to
Bethel to make amends with God. All of God's children should
have a similar alter they should go to when praising God. This
could be the front of your church, but should be in public. 6
Archeo logy has since proved that Bethel is the modern village of
Baytin. 7 When in this area, a famine struck forcing Abram to
move southward toward Egypt. God talked to Abram on the mountain
East of Bethel where he built an alter unto the Lord. Each
person should have their own personal alter to go before God,
this should also be done in public.
When he did get to Egypt, Abram told his first recorded lie.
Because his wife Sarah was beautiful, he feared she would lusted
by after the Egyptians and endanger his life. He also knew the
Pharaoh was also concerned of Abram's presence along with other
Hyksos in the region. 8 Abram persuaded Sarah to pass herself
off as his sister. This lie could probably be considered a
lighter shade of gray considering Sarah was his half sister,
having the same father but a different mother. 9 When the
Egyptians saw how beautiful she was, they took her to Pharaoh's
harem. As a consequence, God plagued Pharaoh & his house. When
the Pharaoh found out Sarah was Abram's wife, he sent him and his
clan out of Egypt to fend for themselves in the famished land.
Because Abram told this lie, God allowed this to happen. Abram
went out of Egypt and returned to Bethel the second time to call
on the name of the Lord. While in Bethel, both Lot's and Abram's
livestock could not be supported by the land, and strife began
between their herdsmen. Abram gave Lot his first choice of where
he wanted to settle. Instead of choosing the unknown territory
toward Canaan, Lot chose the easy way out and went East to Jordan
near the populated city of Sodom. The motif of scripture for
this story is simple. Abram gave more than he took. He let Lot
take what he wanted and left it to God to bless him with what was
left. Lot's mistake was he stopped growing in God's faith and
stagnated. He soon found out that everything is not as it seem
s. If one only takes, but does not give, it soon gets them into
trouble. On the other hand, Abram was rewarded with a third
blessing for his faith. God reiterated His promise to give him
the land of Canaan and a posterity as numerous as the dust of the
earth. So Abram moved his clan and camped near Hebron where he
built another altar to Jehovah.
In the mean time, Lot got himself in the middle of a war between
rivaling Babylonian kings in the area. As a result, the kings of
Sodom and Gomorrah fell and their cities were spoiled. Lot and
his goods were also carried off. When Abram heard of this, he
immediately armed his dependents, 318 men, and some of his
neighbors. They overtook and defeated the kings at Dan, near the
springs of Jordan. To accomplish this, Abram must have been a
military genius. After Abram freed Lot, you would think he would
have learnt his lesson, but he returned with his family to live
in Sodom.
When Abram was returning, the king of Sodom came out to meet him
at the King's Valley along with Melchizedek, king of Salem and
"priest of the most high God." 10 Melchizedek brought him bread
and wine, and blessed him by saying, "Blessed
be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine
enemies into thy hand." 11 Hebrew tradition says that
Melchizedek was Shem, son of Noah and survivor of the flood This
tradidion believes he was still alive at the time and the earth's
oldest living man. Others think that Melchizedek was an Angel or
the Messiah himself. 12 In return, Abram presented Melchizedek a
tenth of all he had. This is the first mention of tithing, and
is still used as a guideline today. The king of Sodom attempted
to give Abram the spoils of the war, but he refused. Abram told
the king, "I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, maker of
heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-
thong or your, lest you should say, "I have made Abram rich." I
will take nothing but what the young men have eaten." 13
After this episode, The Lord rewarded Abram for his faithfulness
and came to him in a vision. God said, "Fear not, Abram, I am
thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." 14 In response,
Abram asked how this could be since he did not have any children.
God proceeded to encourage Abram through a distinct and detailed
repetition of former promises He had made and by a solemn
covenant contracted between himself and God. God told him his
seed should be as numerous as the stars of heaven, that his
posterity should grow up into a nation under foreign bondage, and
that after four hundred years they should come up and possess the
land in which he sojourned.
After living in Canaan for ten years, Sarai went to Abram and
said, " The Lord has prevented me from bearing children." 15 As
she was seventy-five years of age, she followed contemporary
custom and allowed Abram to impregnate Hagar, 16
her Egyptian handmaid. After this, Sarai got jealous of Hargar
and told Abram that Hargar was looking at her with contempt.
Abram told Sarai that Hargar was under her authority, and she
could to with her as she pleased. Sarai subsequently dealt so
harshly with Hagar that she fled. But an angel of the Lord
appeared to her in the wilderness and convinced her to return to
Sarai and submit herself to her. The angel told her she was
pregnant and would give birth to a son who would greatly multiply
her descendants. The angel told her to call the name of this
child Ishmael.
Thirteen years later, when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared
to him and changed his name from Abram to Abraham and Sarai to
Sarah. In a token to consummate the covenant, God commanded that
Abraham, all males of his tribe and male descendants of his be
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Abraham of Chaldea
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