Abraham From The Bible Essay Research

Abraham : From The Bible Essay, Research Paper

The following is a narrative description on the life and times of one ofthe most powerful characters in the Old Testament. Abraham was indeed aman of God in a time where few men believed in the One true God. Throughmany triumphs and errors, he always returned to God to lead him back to his calling. His dedication resultedin great promises from God that were eventually fulfilled and affect eachof our lives today. His story is our story. Abraham was a native of Chaldea, and a ninth generation descendant ofShem, the son of Noah. He was born on the southern tip of the Tigris andUuphrates rivers in the city of Ur around 2161BC.1 Before his name waschanged to Abraham, his name was Abram. When Abram was about seventy years of age he moved with his family tolive in Haran. The reason he moved was because “The God of glory appearedto our father Abram when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,and said to him, “Depart from your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.”2 While in Haran, Abram’s father died and God spoke to him again saying, “Goforth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’shouse, to the land which I will show you.” 3 He obeyed and left Haran withhis brother Nahor’s family and his Nephew Lot without really knowing wherehe was going. At this time, God did not reveal to him he was going toCanaan. God only told him “the land which I will show you.” 4 When he didarrive in Canaan, he camped in the plains of Moreh, between the mountainsof Ebal and Cerizim. It was here he was given the second promise from Godthat his seed would possess this land. Abram built “an altar there to theLord who had appeared to him” 5 He then moved to the mountainous districtbetween Bethel and Ai. Here, he built another altar to Jehovah. Throughout the story of Abram, he consistently went back to Bethel to makeamends with God. All of God’s children should have a similar alter theyshould go to when praising God. This could be the front of your church,but should be in public. 6 Archeology has since proved that Bethel is themodern village of Baytin. 7 When in this area, a famine struck forcingAbram to move southward toward Egypt. God talked to Abram on the mountainEast of Bethel where he built an alter unto the Lord. Each person shouldhave their own personal alter to go before God, this should also be donein public. When he did get to Egypt, Abram told his first recorded lie. Because hiswife Sarah was beautiful, he feared she would lusted by after theEgyptians and endanger his life. He also knew the Pharaoh was alsoconcerned of Abram’s presence along with other Hyksos in the region. 8Abram persuaded Sarah to pass herself off as his sister. This lie couldprobably be considered a lighter shade of gray considering Sarah was hishalf sister, having the same father but a different mother. 9 When theEgyptians saw how beautiful she was, they took her to Pharaoh’s harem. Asa consequence, God plagued Pharaoh & his house. When the Pharaoh foundout Sarah was Abram’s wife, he sent him and his clan out of Egypt to fendfor themselves in the famished land. Because Abram told this lie, God allowed this to happen. Abram went out of Egyptand returned to Bethel the second time to call on the name of the Lord. While in Bethel, both Lot’s and Abram’s livestock could not be supportedby the land, and strife began between their herdsmen. Abram gave Lot hisfirst choice of where he wanted to settle. Instead of choosing theunknown territory toward Canaan, Lot chose the easy way out and went Eastto Jordan near the populated city of Sodom. The motif of scripture forthis story is simple. Abram gave more than he took. He let Lot take whathe wanted and left it to God to bless him with what was left. Lot’smistake was he stopped growing in God’s faith and stagnated. He soonfound out that everything is not as it seems. If one only takes, but doesnot give, it soon gets them into trouble. On the other hand, Abram wasrewarded with a third blessing for his faith. God reiterated His promiseto give him the land of Canaan and a posterity as numerous as the dust ofthe earth. So Abram moved his clan and camped near Hebron where he builtanother altar to Jehovah. In the mean time, Lot got himself in the middle of a war between rivalingBabylonian kings in the area. As a result, the kings of Sodom andGomorrah fell and their cities were spoiled. Lot and his goods were alsocarried off. When Abram heard of this, he immediately armed hisdependents, 318 men, and some of his neighbors. They overtook anddefeated the kings at Dan, near the springs of Jordan. To accomplishthis, Abram must have been a military genius. After Abram freed Lot, youwould think he would have learnt his lesson, but he returned with hisfamily to live in Sodom. When Abram was returning, the king of Sodom came out to meet him at theKing’s Valley along with Melchizedek, king of Salem and “priest of themost high God.” 10 Melchizedek brought him bread and wine, and blessed himby saying, “Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven andearth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thineenemies into thy hand.” 11 Hebrew tradition says that Melchizedek wasShem, son of Noah and survivor of the flood This tradition believes he wasstill alive at the time and the earth’s oldest living man. Others thinkthat Melchizedek was an Angel or the Messiah himself. 12 In ret