Abraham: Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named
(Genesis 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
(Acts 7:2-4) There
is no mention of this first call in the Old Testament; it is implied,
however, in
(Genesis 12:1)ff 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
(Genesis 12:1,2) whereupon he took his
departure, taking his nephew Lot with him, "not knowing whither he
went"
(Hebrews 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
(Genesis 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.
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 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"
(Genesis 12:8-13:2) Comp.
(Psalms 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.
(1 Corinthians 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"
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 14:18-20) In a recently discovered
tablet, dated in the reign of the grandfather of Amraphel
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 13:14) "The word of the
Lord" (an expression occurring here for the first time) "came to him"
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 16:1)ff 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
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 17:1)ff 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"
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 20:1)ff
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
(Genesis 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
(Hebrews 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
(Genesis 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
(Genesis 23:1)ff
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,)
(Acts 7:2) where his brother Nahor and his family
resided
(Genesis 11:31) The result was that Rebekah, the daughter of
Nahor's son Bethuel, became the wife of Isaac
(Genesis 24:1)ff
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"
(Judges 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
(Genesis 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"
(James 2:23) "faithful Abraham"
(Galatians 3:9) "the father of us
all"
(Romans 4:16)
