Abraham set the course of his life by faith, setting an example for us to follow. God asked Abraham to go on a journey with him. A journey that would lead him to his destiny, promising Abraham he would make him into a great nation, make his name great, and bless all the peoples on earth through him (Genesis 12:2-3).
Full Answer
Abraham was the first of the Hebrew patriarchs and a figure revered by the three great monotheistic religions— Judaism , Christianity, and Islam. According to the biblical account, Abraham was called by God to leave his country and his people and journey to an undesignated land, where he became the founder of a new nation.
Abraham is pictured with various characteristics: a righteous man, with wholehearted commitment to God; a man of peace (in settling a boundary dispute with his nephew Lot), compassionate (he argues and bargains with God to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah ), and hospitable (he welcomes three visiting angels);
There are singular personalities in the history of the world who change the course of civilization. The primary example of such a person is Abraham. He changed the way the world thought about itself, life and especially the Creator. That is why his name, in Hebrew, means, “Father of Numerous Nations.” He is the father of civilization as we know it.
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Christians, Muslims and Jews all look to the patriarch Abraham as the father of their faiths, but these religions draw very different conclusions from his biography.
This lesson explores the stories that ancient Israelites told about Abraham, their great patriarch.
This lesson explores the original impact these stories were intended to have on the nation of Israel as they followed Moses toward the Promised Land.
This lesson concentrates on responsible ways to draw modern applications from the chapters in Genesis that speak of Abraham.
He was born in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq and Iran. His father Terach was a merchant who sold idols. Selling idols was big business in those days. There was a different one for every mood, temperament and personality.
Abraham married Sarah, who was a great person in her own right. Even without Abraham she would have been a tremendous force to reckon with in the world. God told Abraham to listen to Sarah, because, Tradition has it, she was greater in prophecy than Abraham was.
Finally, when Abraham was seventy years old he had a great vision known as the “Covenant between the Parts” ( Genesis 15). This covenant singled out him and his family for a special existence in humanity. It is really the beginning of the Jewish story.
Of course, at the time Abraham is offered to enter into the covenant there is one technical problem: he has no children and his wife is incapable of having children. She is infertile.
God doesn’t mince words. God knew just how precious Isaac was to Abraham, having had to wait until he was 100 years old to have him. It would be far less of a test of Abraham’s faith if the sacrifice didn’t mean much.
Notice that Abraham says “we” will come back to you after worshipping, meaning he and Isaac. Abraham believed the Lord would salvage the situation.
At least with those events, you knew the reason behind them. Abraham was given no explanation. He was just told to do it, plain and simple.
Abraham is best known for the depth of his faith . In the book of Genesis he obeys unquestioningly the commands of God and is ready to follow God’s order to sacrifice Isaac, a test of his faith, though in the end God substitutes a ram for his son.
Abraham was the first of the Hebrew patriarchs and a figure revered by the three great monotheistic religions— Judaism , Christianity , and Islam. According to the biblical account, Abraham was called by God to leave his country and his people and journey to an undesignated land, where he became the founder of a new nation.
According to the biblical book of Genesis, Abraham left Ur, in Mesopotamia, because God called him to found a new nation in an undesignated land that he later learned was Canaan. He obeyed unquestioningly the commands of God, from whom he received repeated promises and a covenant that his “seed” would inherit the land.
According to the biblical account, Abram (“The Father [or God] Is Exalted”), who is later named Abraham (“The Father of Many Nations”), a native of Ur in Mesopotamia, is called by God (Yahweh) to leave his own country and people and journey to an undesignated land, where he will become the founder of a new nation. He obeys the call unquestioningly and (at 75 years of age) proceeds with his barren wife, Sarai, later named Sarah (“Princess”), his nephew Lot, and other companions to the land of Canaan (between Syria and Egypt ).
Most scholars agree that Ur Kasdim was the Sumerian city Ur, today Tall al-Muqayyar (or Tall al-Mughair), about 200 miles (300 km) southeast of Baghdad in lower Mesopotamia. He lived for a while in Harran, before settling near Hebron in Canaan.
Abraham dies at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sarah in the cave of Machpelah. Abraham Driving Out Hagar and Ishmael, oil on canvas by Il Guercino, 1657–58; in the Brera Picture Gallery, Milan.
In Islam it is Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn son, born of Hagar, who is viewed as the fulfillment of God’s promise, and the Prophet Muhammad is his descendant.