Biblical Date: 2091BC
In Mesopotamia, 2091 BC, God visited Abraham and promised that He would give him a new land, make for him a great nation with many descendants, and bless him and his families. He then said to Abraham, “Go out [now] from your country and from your relatives, and come to the land I will show you”. (Acts 7:3)
Abraham was a man of deep faith and did as God asked. He took his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot and their families, and left Ur, a prosperous city.
They arrived in Canaan, Abraham’s future heritage, but to avoid famine they continued onward to Egypt. Although Abraham feared Egypt’s Pharaoh and lied to him about his beautiful wife saying she was his sister, God continued to protect them.
When they left Egypt to return to Canaan, Abraham and Lot, now wealthy, agreed to part company. Lot chose the fertile plain of the Jordan valley while Abraham accepted the less rich lands of the west. When God saw Abraham’s unselfish act, He promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the particles of dust on the earth.
God also promised Abraham and his troubled wife Sarah, that despite their old age they would have a son. Although Sarah waited, she did not conceive so, she gave Hagar, her servant woman, to Abraham to bear him a Son. Abraham accepted and they called their son, Ishmael.
However, Ishmael was not the Son God promised and He spoke to Abraham again and reiterated his promise that Sarah would bear a son whom they were to call Isaac. (Genesis 12.1-18.15)
Thought
God is patient and especially merciful; He never leaves us despite our sinful ways!
Reflection
Lord Jesus, as I face this new day, fill me with your wisdom; teach me the joy of your peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. Amen.
Prayer: Perseverance (John Henry Newman)
O Lord,
support us all the day long of this troublous life,
until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes,
and the busy world is hushed,
and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.
Then, Lord, in thy mercy,
grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest,
and peace at the last. Amen.
Top Questions:
Who were Abraham’s family?
He was a descendant of Noah, the son of Terah. He lived in Ur of Chaldees and at 75yrs, married Sarah. At 100yrs, they had a son, as promised by God, whom they named Isaac. However, before Isaac was conceived, Sarah gave Hagar their maidservant to Abraham and she also bore him a son, Ishmael; at the time, he was 86yrs. After Sarah’s death, Abraham married Keturah and she bore him six more sons. Abraham died at the age of 175yrs. (Genesis 25:7)
What was God’s entire promise to Abraham?
God made a Covenant with Abraham saying:
“Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
Did Abraham do as God asked?
Yes, he trusted God entirely. He travelled with his people from Ur to Egypt and back to God’s promised land in a long and arduous journey that lasted 105yrs, from the day he departed until the day he died.
God also tested Abraham’s faith by asking for his son, Isaac, in sacrifice. As Abraham “took a knife to slaughter his son,” God stopped him saying, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him… for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” (Genesis 22)
How important is Abraham to today’s religions?
Abraham is a unifying Patriarch to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, a monotheist. He is greatly revered by all as the founder of their beliefs; one God, the same God.