|
Abraham |
|
We all know that there are consequences to any action we take.
What we do can set into motion a series of events that may continue long
after we’re gone. Unfortunately, when we are making a decision, most of
us think only of the immediate consequences. These are often misleading
because they are short-lived.
Abraham had a choice to make. His decision was between setting out with his family and belongings for parts unknown or staying right where he was. He had to decide between the security of what he already had and the uncertainty of traveling under God’s direction. All he had to go on was God’s promise to guide and bless him. Abraham could hardly have been expected to visualize how much of the future was resting on his decision of whether to go or stay, but his obedience affected the history of the world. His decision to follow God set into motion the development of the nation that God would eventually use as his own when he visited earth himself. When Jesus Christ came to earth, God’s promise was fulfilled; through Abraham the entire world was blessed. You probably don’t know the long-term effects of most decisions you make. But shouldn’t the fact that there will be long-term results cause you to think carefully and seek God’s guidance as you make choices and take action today? 1- Strengths and accomplishments
2- Weakness and mistake
4- Lessons from his life
5- Vital statistics
6- Key verse "And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith" (Genesis 15:6). Abraham’s story is told in Genesis 11—25. He is also mentioned in Exodus 2:24; Matthew 1:1, 2; Luke 3:34; Acts 7:2–8; Romans 4; Galatians 3; Hebrews 2, 6, 7, 11.
|
|
(1) Abraham Son of Terah and grandson of Nahor, the seventh descendant from Shem. His name was at first ABRAM, ‘father of elevation;’ but was altered by God into ABRAHAM, ‘father of a multitude.’ In this name (Abraham) the blessing of the Gentiles is secured by God. The family dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and were idolaters, #Jos 24:2. Abraham was the first to receive a definite call from God to leave not only the idolatrous nation to which his ancestors belonged, but to leave his kindred and his father’s house and to go into a land that God would shew him. God would bless him and make him a blessing, and bless all who blessed him and would curse all who cursed him. #Ge 12:1-3. He thus became the depositary of God’s promise and blessing. Abraham at first only partially obeyed the call: he left Ur and went to dwell at Haran, in Mesopotamia (Charran in #Ac 7:4), but with his father and kindred; and did not enter Canaan until the death of his father. When in the land God promised that unto his seed He would give the land. Abraham built an altar, and called upon the name of Jehovah. A famine occurring in the land Abraham went to sojourn in Egypt, and for want of faith he called Sarai his sister and she was taken into the house of Pharaoh, but the Lord protected her, and Abraham with his wife was sent away with a rebuke. When near Bethel he could again call on the name of the Lord. He had now become so rich in cattle that disputes arose between his herdmen and those of Lot, and Abraham asked Lot to choose where he would sojourn, if he went to the right Abraham would go to the left; and they separated. Again Jehovah declared that as far as Abraham’s eye could reach in all directions the land should belong to his seed. The next recorded event is that Lot was taken prisoner and carried to the north. Abraham pursued the enemy and recovered all. He refused to take even a thread of the spoil from the king of Sodom: he would not be made rich from such a source; but he was blessed by Melchisedec, king of Salem, the priest of the most high God, who brought forth bread and wine: to whom Abraham gave tenths of all. God now revealed Himself to Abraham as His shield and exceeding great reward. When Abraham lamented to God that he had no son, God declared that he should have a son, and that his seed should be as the stars of the heaven for multitude. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. This is the first time that faith is spoken of. Still he asked whereby should he know that his seed should possess the land, and was told to take a heifer, a she goat, and a ram, all of three years old, a turtle dove and a young pigeon. These he divided in the midst, except the birds, and laid them one against another. When the sun went down a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the pieces: type of the fire that consumes the dross, and a light for the path. The same day God made a covenant with Abraham that to his seed should the land be given from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates: cf. #Jer 34:18,19: it had been ratified in death, a type of Christ. When Abraham had fallen into a deep sleep, he was informed that his seed should be in a strange land, and be afflicted 400 years. #Ge 15 Abraham had believed that God would give him a son, but now he waits not God’s time, and at Sarai’s suggestion he associates with Hagar, a bondmaid, and Ishmael is born, Ge 16—a figure of the law, that is, man’s attempt to possess the blessing by his own effort. God now reveals Himself to Abraham as ‘the almighty God,’ a name which signifies that all resource is in God Himself. ‘God talked with him,’ and made a covenant with him according to that name. It is now that his name is changed from Abram, because he was to be a father of many nations. Abraham was to walk before the Almighty God and be perfect, and was to keep the covenant by having all the males circumcised (a figure of no confidence in the flesh), which he at once put into practice. Sarai’s name was altered to Sarah, for she was to be a princess, and should have a son. Abraham entertained three visitors: on two leaving him the third is spoken of as the Lord who asks, "shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do?" According to #Joh 15:14,15, this gives the key to Abraham being called "the friend of God." #2Ch 20:7 Isa 41:8 Jas 2:23. God opened His mind to him, and Abraham was emboldened to plead for the righteous in Sodom. Abraham’s faith again fails him and at Gerar he once more calls Sarah his sister, which might have led to sin had not God protected her, and Abraham is again rebuked. Isaac is born, and conflict ensues between that which is a type of the flesh and the Spirit: Hagar and her son Ishmael are cast out. #Ge 21: cf. #Ga 4:22-31. God then tried the faith of Abraham by telling him to offer up his son Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed, and, but for the intervention of the angel of the Lord, would have killed his son, believing "that God was able to raise him up even from the dead." After the death and resurrection in figure of Isaac, the unconditional promise is confirmed to Abraham that in his seed—which is Christ—should all the nations of the earth be blessed. #Ge 22:18 Ga 3:14,18. If any are Christ’s, they are Abrahanms seed, and heirs according to promise. Ver. 29. The promise is sure to all the seed, "not only to that which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." #Ro 4:16. Abraham was by faith so much a stranger that, {#Heb 11:9} on the death of Sarah, he had to buy a piece of ground of the children of Heth, to secure a sepulchre in the land. #Ge 23 He was so careful that Isaac should not marry one of the daughters of the Canaanites that he sent his servant (Eliezer perhaps) to his own kindred to seek a bride for Isaac, being convinced that God would send His angel and prosper the mission, which resulted in Rebecca being the wife of Isaac. #Ge 24. Abraham had another wife, Keturah, and concubines by whom he had sons; but to these he gave gifts and sent them eastward, so that Isaac and his seed might peacefully dwell in the promised land. Abraham died at the age of 175, and was buried with Sarah. The history of Abraham in Genesis divides itself into three parts. a, Chap. xii.-xiv., his public walk and testimony, as called of God. b, Chap. xv.-xxi., his private and domestic history with God, illustrating the growth of soul, &c. c, Chap. xxii.-xxv, give in type a prophetical outline of events: namely, the sacrifice of Christ; the setting aside of Israel for a time; the call of the bride; and the final settlement of the nations in blessing in the end of the days. The nation of Israel was descended from Abraham, and we know how zealously they contended for the relationship, though alas, they had not and have not the same faith. Still the land was given to them, and when God’s set time comes they will surely be brought back to their ‘fatherland’ and after trial and discipline will be blessed therein. Abraham being the father of Ishmael and the other sons sent into the East it is not to be wondered at that he is a personage of universal fame in that immense quarter of the world, and that there are numerous traditions concerning him. It can hardly be doubted that their relationship to Abraham will yet be found in their favour during the millennium when the promise that his seed should be ‘as the sand of the sea shore’ will have its fulfilment. To the Christian the life of this patriarch is worthy of the deepest attention, in view of the varied manifestations whereby God revealed Himself to him, whether in the formation of his character under those manifestations, or in the Christian’s connections with him in the way of faith, or with respect to the unconditional promises made to him as to the possession of the land of Palestine both in the past and in the future. (2) Abraham Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named #Ge 11:27 before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred in his native country of Chaldea. He then, with his father and his family and household, quitted the city of Ur, in which he had hitherto dwelt, and went some 300 miles north to Haran, where he abode fifteen years. The cause of his migration was a call from God #Ac 7:2-4 There is no mention of this first call in the Old Testament; it is implied, however, in #Ge 12:1ff. While they tarried at Haran, Terah died at the age of 205 years. Abram now received a second and more definite call, accompanied by a promise from God #Ge 12:1,2 whereupon he took his departure, taking his nephew Lot with him, "not knowing whither he went" #Heb 11:8 He trusted implicitly to the guidance of Him who had called him. Abram now, with a large household of probably a thousand souls, entered on a migratory life, and dwelt in tents. Passing along the valley of the Jabbok, in the land of Canaan, he formed his first encampment at Sichem #Ge 12:6 in the vale or oak-grove of Moreh, between Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south. Here he received the great promise, "I will make of thee a great nation," etc. #Ge 12:2,3,7 This promise comprehended not only temporal but also spiritual blessings. It implied that he was the chosen ancestor of the great Deliverer whose coming had been long ago predicted #Ge 3:15 Soon after this, for some reason not mentioned, he removed his tent to the mountain district between Bethel, then called Luz, and Ai, towns about two miles apart, where he built an altar to "Jehovah." He again moved into the southern tract of Palestine, called by the Hebrews the Negeb; and was at length, on account of a famine, compelled to go down into Egypt. This took place in the time of the Hyksos, a Semitic race which now held the Egyptians in bondage. Here occurred that case of deception on the part of Abram which exposed him to the rebuke of Pharaoh #Ge 12:18 Sarai was restored to him; and Pharaoh loaded him with presents, recommending him to withdraw from the country. He returned to Canaan richer than when he left it, "in cattle, in silver, and in gold" #Ge 12:8-13:2 Comp. #Ps 105:13, 14 The whole party then moved northward, and returned to their previous station near Bethel. Here disputes arose between Lot’s shepherds and those of Abram about water and pasturage. Abram generously gave Lot his choice of the pasture-ground. Comp. #1Co 6:7 He chose the well-watered plain in which Sodom was situated, and removed thither; and thus the uncle and nephew were separated. Immediately after this Abram was cheered by a repetition of the promises already made to him, and then removed to the plain or "oak-grove" of Mamre, which is in Hebron. He finally settled here, pitching his tent under a famous oak or terebinth tree, called "the oak of Mamre" #Ge 13:18 This was his third resting-place in the land. Some fourteen years before this, while Abram was still in Chaldea, Palestine had been invaded by Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, who brought under tribute to him the five cities in the plain to which Lot had removed. This tribute was felt by the inhabitants of these cities to be a heavy burden, and after twelve years they revolted. This brought upon them the vengeance of Chedorlaomer, who had in league with him four other kings. He ravaged the whole country, plundering the towns, and carrying the inhabitants away as slaves. Among those thus treated was Lot. Hearing of the disaster that had fallen on his nephew, Abram immediately gathered from his own household a band of 318 armed men, and being joined by the Amoritish chiefs Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol, he pursued after Chedorlaomer, and overtook him near the springs of the Jordan. They attacked and routed his army, and pursued it over the range of Anti-Libanus as far as to Hobah, near Damascus, and then returned, bringing back all the spoils that had been carried away. Returning by way of Salem, i.e., Jerusalem, the king of that place, Melchizedek, came forth to meet them with refreshments. To him Abram presented a tenth of the spoils, in recognition of his character as a priest of the most high God #Ge 14:18-20 In a recently discovered tablet, dated in the reign of the grandfather of Amraphel #Ge 14:1 one of the witnesses is called "the Amorite, the son of Abiramu," or Abram. Having returned to his home at Mamre, the promises already made to him by God were repeated and enlarged #Ge 13:14 "The word of the Lord" (an expression occurring here for the first time) "came to him" #Ge 15:1 He now understood better the future that lay before the nation that was to spring from him. Sarai, now seventy-five years old, in her impatience, persuaded Abram to take Hagar, her Egyptian maid, as a concubine, intending that whatever child might be born should be reckoned as her own. Ishmael was accordingly thus brought up, and was regarded as the heir of these promises #Ge 16:1ff. When Ishmael was thirteen years old, God again revealed yet more explicitly and fully his gracious purpose; and in token of the sure fulfilment of that purpose the patriarch’s name was now changed from Abram to Abraham #Ge 17:4,5 and the rite of circumcision was instituted as a sign of the covenant. It was then announced that the heir to these covenant promises would be the son of Sarai, though she was now ninety years old; and it was directed that his name should be Isaac. At the same time, in commemoration of the promises, Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah. On that memorable day of God’s thus revealing his design, Abraham and his son Ishmael and all the males of his house were circumcised #Ge 17:1ff. Three months after this, as Abraham sat in his tent door, he saw three men approaching. They accepted his proffered hospitality, and, seated under an oak-tree, partook of the fare which Abraham and Sarah provided. One of the three visitants was none other than the Lord, and the other two were angels in the guise of men. The Lord renewed on this occasion his promise of a son by Sarah, who was rebuked for her unbelief. Abraham accompanied the three as they proceeded on their journey. The two angels went on toward Sodom; while the Lord tarried behind and talked with Abraham, making known to him the destruction that was about to fall on that guilty city. The patriarch interceded earnestly in behalf of the doomed city. But as not even ten righteous persons were found in it, for whose sake the city would have been spared, the threatened destruction fell upon it; and early next morning Abraham saw the smoke of the fire that consumed it as the "smoke of a furnace" #Ge 19:1-28 After fifteen years’ residence at Mamre, Abraham moved southward, and pitched his tent among the Philistines, near to Gerar. Here occurred that sad instance of prevarication on his part in his relation to Abimelech the King #Ge 20:1ff. See Easton on ABIMELECH 40 Soon after this event, the patriarch left the vicinity of Gerar, and moved down the fertile valley about 25 miles to Beer-sheba. It was probably here that Isaac was born, Abraham being now an hundred years old. A feeling of jealousy now arose between Sarah and Hagar, whose son, Ishmael, was no longer to be regarded as Abraham’s heir. Sarah insisted that both Hagar and her son should be sent away. This was done, although it was a hard trial to Abraham #Ge 21:12 At this point there is a blank in the patriarch’s history of perhaps twenty-five years. These years of peace and happiness were spent at Beer-sheba. The next time we see him his faith is put to a severe test by the command that suddenly came to him to go and offer up Isaac, the heir of all the promises, as a sacrifice on one of the mountains of Moriah. His faith stood the test #Heb 11:17-19 He proceeded in a spirit of unhesitating obedience to carry out the command; and when about to slay his son, whom he had laid on the altar, his uplifted hand was arrested by the angel of Jehovah, and a ram, which was entangled in a thicket near at hand, was seized and offered in his stead. From this circumstance that place was called Jehovah-jireh, i.e., "The Lord will provide." The promises made to Abraham were again confirmed (and this was the last recorded word of God to the patriarch); and he descended the mount with his son, and returned to his home at Beer-sheba #Ge 22:19 where he resided for some years, and then moved northward to Hebron. Some years after this Sarah died at Hebron, being 127 years old. Abraham acquired now the needful possession of a burying-place, the cave of Machpelah, by purchase from the owner of it, Ephron the Hittite #Ge 23:1ff. and there he buried Sarah. His next care was to provide a wife for Isaac, and for this purpose he sent his steward, Eliezer, to Haran (or Charran,) #Ac 7:2 where his brother Nahor and his family resided #Ge 11:31 The result was that Rebekah, the daughter of Nahor’s son Bethuel, became the wife of Isaac #Ge 24:1ff. Abraham then himself took to wife Keturah, who became the mother of six sons, whose descendants were afterwards known as the "children of the east" #Jud 6:3 and later as "Saracens." At length all his wanderings came to an end. At the age of 175 years, 100 years after he had first entered the land of Canaan, he died, and was buried in the old family burying-place at Machpelah #Ge 25:7-10 The history of Abraham made a wide and deep impression on the ancient world, and references to it are interwoven in the religious traditions of almost all Eastern nations. He is called "the friend of God" #Jas 2:23 "faithful Abraham" #Ga 3:9 "the father of us all" #Ro 4:16 |