ABRAHAM, THE STORY FROM GENESIS

ABRAHAM

This story can be found in Genesis 11 – 22

This story starts only 292 years after the flood. Abram was several
generations after Noah, yet Noah was a big influence in Abram’s life. Remember, Noah lived 350 years after the flood, so Abram was about 58 years-old when Noah died. Noah saw the people of the world turn evil against God once again, even after the world had to be destroyed because of great wickedness.

Abram’s father worshipped idols. There is even evidence that he
may have actually worked for the very wicked Nimrod, leaving his son to be raised by Noah. Abram learned about God from Noah.

Seventeen years after Noah died God told Abram to depart out of
the country and go to a new place that God would lead him in. We do not know why God told Abram to do this, except maybe to get away from all the wickedness around him and from his own family who were idol worshippers. Nevertheless, the Bible says that Abram took his wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, and departed. Abram was 75 years-old at the time.

Promises Made to Abraham

God told Abram that He would make a great nation from him and would bless him greatly, but Abram and Sarai did not have any children. How would God keep His promise that a great nation would come from Abram if he didn’t have any children? God told him, “All the land that you see will belong to your grandchildren for years to come. Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - north, south, east, and west; for all the land you see I will give to your descendants forever.” “Descendants” are grandchildren, and great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren! Abram believed God; he just did not know
yet how God would work it out.

Eventually, Abram’s servants and Lot’s servants started fighting
over the watering holes and the pastures. God told Abram to separate from Lot. Abram told Lot to choose where he would like to go. Lot chose the best of the land and moved away from his uncle. Lot chose to live in the city of Sodom, a very wicked town.

Melchizedek

The city of Sodom came under attack by a wicked king. Lot and his
family were among those taken captive. When Abram heard about it, he gathered his servants and went to rescue his nephew. After Abram brought Lot and all his possessions back, he paid a tithe to God for all he had taken. Abram met with Melchizedek, King of Salem, the priest of the Most High God. Melchizedek was actually God Himself, who was made visible for Abraham to see. Salem means “peace,” so Melchizedek was the King of Peace. Abram gave Him the tithe. We also are to pay a tithe to God. We do that by paying a tenth of our money to God’s church. Tithe means “a tenth.”

God again told Abraham that He would bless him, but Abram said,
“But You have given me no children. There is no one to inherit all these things.” But God assured him that he would have an heir.
God took him outside at night and said, “Look toward heaven and
count the stars, if you are able. That is how many your descendents will be.”

Hagar

Abram and Sarai became a bit impatient, not understanding how God would fulfill His promise. Sarai gave her handmaiden to Abram to have children with. She was an Egyptian woman named Hagar. After Hagar became pregnant, Sarai became jealous and despised her. The contention was strong between the two women. Abram told Sarai to do with Hagar as she wished. Sarai dealt harshly with her, and Hagar fled from her presence.

A messenger of the Lord found Hagar beside a well. He asked her,
“Where have you come from and where are you going?”
“I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress, Sarai,” Hagar
answered. The angel told her to go back to Sarai and submit herself
before her. The angel revealed to her that she would have a son and
should call his name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” He said he
would be a wild man who fights with everyone. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. Abram was 86 years-old.

Thirteen years later, when Abram was 99 years-old, the Lord appeared to him again and said, “I am Almighty God (El Shaddai). Walk before Me and be blameless.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked to him saying, “My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but you shall be called Abraham, which means ‘father of a multitude.’ I will make nations from you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendents after you for an everlasting covenant.” A covenant is an agreement between two people, like a promise. When God makes a covenant or promise to you, it is absolute!

Then God said, “As for your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but
Sarah, which means ‘princess.’” God told Abraham that a son would be born to him. Abraham said, “Will a son be born to me? I’m 99 years-old and Sarah is 90 years old.”

Sodom and Gomorrah

Then the Lord appeared to him again. Abraham looked up and saw
three men coming. However, they were not really men; they were God and two angels that were with Him. Abraham bowed low to them and asked if they would please stay and eat with him. Abraham told Sarah to quickly make a nice meal for the guests. God told Abraham that Sarah would become pregnant soon and have a son. Sarah was listening from the tent. She began to laugh to herself because she knew she was too old to have children. The Lord asked her why she laughed. Sarah denied it because she was afraid, but God said to her, “No, but you did laugh.” God knew she had laughed to herself. Remember, God even knows our thoughts.

The Lord and the two angels rose to leave. God said, “Because the cry from Sodom is so great, I will go down and see that city.” The two angels began their journey to Sodom, but the Lord stayed back with Abraham. Abraham asked God, “Would you destroy the righteous in Sodom along with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous in the city, would You spare it for the 50?”

The Lord said, “If I find in Sodom 50 righteous, then I will spare all
the place for their sakes.”

Abraham then asked, “What if You find 45 righteous? Would You
spare the city?”

God answered, “Yes, for 45 righteous I will spare the city.” Abraham kept asking God about finding less and less righteous.
Finally, Abraham said, “Let not the Lord be angry and I will speak
just once more. Suppose ten should be found there?”
The Lord said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten people.” Then the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham went his way.

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening. They appeared as
regular men, so no one knew they were angels of God. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the ground. Lot invited them to spend the night at his house, but the angels said that they would just sleep in the open town square. Lot strongly protested, “No, you must come home with me.” He knew it was a wicked city and the men would not be safe there. The two angels went to Lot’s house for the night. That night bad men tried to break into their house. Just as God had said, it was a very evil place. The angels struck the bad men with blindness. The city was so evil that not even ten righteous people could be found there.

The angels told Lot, “Is anyone else here? Your sons-in-law, your
sons, your daughters, and whomever else you have in the city - take
them out of this place. God has sent us to destroy it because of the
great sins of this city.”

Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who married his daughters and said, “Get up and get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law, he seemed to be joking.

When morning had dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying,
“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here and
go. Hurry or you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.” Lot lingered until the angels took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the two daughters and brought them out of the city. The angels urged them, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you! Escape to the mountain or you will be destroyed!”

Lot said, “No, not the mountains. Let me escape to another city
called Zoar.”

The angel said, “Hurry then and escape there. For I cannot do any-
thing until you arrive there.”

The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the
Lord rained fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah. He overthrew those
wicked cities and all the people in them. While running, Lot’s wife
turned and looked back, ignoring the warning not to do so, and she became a pillar of salt, which is like a statue made out of salt! She should have obeyed the angel and not turned around, but she was not happy about coming out of Sodom. She liked living there among her friends and family. She could not understand why God had to destroy it. She had become so accustomed to the evil that she did not recognize how bad it really was.

Early the next morning, Abraham went upon the hill where he had
stood the day before with God. He could tell by the smoke coming from Sodom and Gomorrah that not even ten righteous were found in those cities. For Abraham’s sake, God had saved his nephew, Lot, and his two daughters.

Isaac, the promised son

Finally, 392 years after the flood, Sarah and Abraham had a son. He
was named Isaac, which means “laughter” because Sarah had laughed when she found out she was going to have a baby. Abraham and Sarah were very happy parents. Sarah was 90 years-old and Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born.

Ishmael, Abraham’s son with Hagar, was 13 years-old when Isaac
was born. Strife between Sarah and Hagar grew even worse when both women wanted Abraham’s attention for their own sons. Finally, Sarah told Abraham, “Cast out the slave woman and her son. For the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son, Isaac.” This greatly displeased Abraham, but God told him to listen to Sarah and send them away. He would make a nation of Ishmael too because, after all, he was also Abraham’s son. He would not have the blessing that Isaac would have, but he would still be a large nation. Today, the descendents of Ishmael are the Arab people. We are the children of Isaac.

Abraham packed bread and water and gave it to Hager and sent
her and Ishmael away. She wandered in the wilderness until all her food and water were gone. She placed Ishmael under some shrubs and went a little distance from him. She did not want to see him die. She prayed to God and cried. God heard her and an angel answered, “Don’t fear, Hagar. God has heard you and will take care of you.” Hagar lifted her head and saw a well of water. God saved Hagar and her son. Ishmael became an archer, which means he was skilled with a bow and arrow. He grew up and married an Egyptian woman.

God Tests Abraham

Abraham loved Isaac more than he loved even himself, but God was
about to test Abraham. Though God knew Abraham, He still needed to do this in order to test his love to make Abraham stronger and also, so these things could be written for us - as an example.
God called to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”

He said, “Abraham, take your son, Isaac, whom you love, to the
land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountain that I will show you.”

Back in the days before Jesus Christ became our sacrifice, people
had to sacrifice and kill animals to pay for their sins. They would take a goat, lamb, or bull and cut its throat and let it bleed to death. They would then burn the animal on a pile of sticks or an altar. When we sin there is a penalty that can only be paid by shed blood. Now, we do not have to sacrifice animals because Jesus paid that penalty for us. Some very evil people in Abraham’s day would sacrifice their own children to their gods. They would kill them and burn them, but God never wants us to do anything like this. Yet here, He was telling Abraham to do exactly this. Abraham must have been a bit confused at such an order from God, but he did not question God or argue with Him.

The next day, Abraham rose early and saddled his donkey. He did
not delay in obeying God. He must have agonized at knowing that he was going to kill his son, whom he loved more than anything. He did not tell Isaac why they were going out. He just told him that they were going to sacrifice to God. They gathered sticks for the offering and set out on the journey where God had told them to go. For three long days they went to the place God had told Abraham to go. For three days and nights Abraham thought about what he was told to do. At any time Abraham could have said, “Let’s turn around and go back. I just can’t do this. It’s too much to ask of me. I love my son too much.

Why has God asked me to do something so awful? I just can’t do it. It’s not right.” But Abraham did not do that. He kept focused on what God told him to do. He trusted God. He may not have understood why he had to sacrifice his son, but he understood he had to obey God.

Abraham had not told Isaac or the two servants with them that he
intended to kill Isaac. On the third day, they reached the place God had told them to go. Abraham told the two servants to stay behind while he and Isaac went ahead to sacrifice to God. Isaac asked him, “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering, Father?”

Abraham answered him, “My son, God will provide for Himself the
lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
Abraham built an altar and tied Isaac up and laid him on the altar.
Isaac must have been scared, but he trusted his father, whom he knew loved him. Abraham trusted his Father, whom He knew loved him. Abraham took the knife and was about to kill Isaac without hesitation, but God stopped him, “Abraham. Abraham.”
He answered, “Here I am.”

To Abraham’s great relief, God said, “Do not kill the lad, for now I
know that you fear God, since you have not even withheld your beloved son from Me.”

God knew now that Abraham would obey Him. He knew that
Abraham had faith and trusted Him. Abraham proved that he loved God more than anything else, including his son. This was written for us as an example that we should put God first, just as Abraham did. God said, “Now I know you, Abraham.” God knew this would be the hardest thing Abraham was ever asked to do. If he was willing to obey in this, then God knew Abraham would always obey Him in everything else.

Abraham looked and there was a goat caught in the bushes. He
took the goat and sacrificed it on the altar. He and Isaac gave thanks to God. They were both very joyful.

They went back down the mountain and joined the two servants
and went home together very happy. Abraham became known as the “father of the faithful” because he had great faith and trust in God.

QUESTIONS:
1. Who helped raise Abraham and taught him about God?

2. How old was Abraham when Noah died?

3. Seventeen years after Noah died, what did God tell Abraham to do?

4. Who was Abraham’s nephew?

5. What were the two cities destroyed for their wickedness? God said He would save the cities if there were how many righteous people there? Were there?

6. What happened to Lot’s wife? Why?

7. What was Abraham’s and Sarah’s name before God changed it? What does Abraham mean? What does Sarah mean?

8. Sarah could not have children because she was too old, so who did she give to Abraham to have children with? What was the name of their son? What does his name mean?

9. What did Sarah do when she heard she would have a son? How old was Sarah? How old was Abraham? What does Isaac mean? Why was she to name the baby Isaac?

10. What happened to Hagar and Ishmael?

11. How did God test Abraham’s faith?

12. How long was the journey?

13. What was Abraham suppose to do to Isaac? Did God stop him just before he could?

14. Why is Abraham known as the “father of the faithful”?