A character study
One important thing to note (and something that I like and appreciate very much) is that people in the Bible are depicted as real people. They are not lionised and made impossibly good and righteous. On the contrary we are told of each person’s weaknesses as well as their strengths, of their sins, as well as of their good deeds! We read of their mistakes, their sins and even of their downright disobedience to God and yet God is faithful to them and always fulfills His purpose in and through these cracked and broken vessels.
Abraham is no exception to this. Abraham appears in the Old testament. First God spoke to Adam, then He spoke to Noah and at this point God begins the work of Salvation and speaks to Abram. Abram (later God gives him the name Abraham) is the founding father of the Jewish people. He is also the first person after Noah and Enoch to be mentioned as hearing from God! When we study people from the Bible, we not only learn about the characters of the humans but we can also learn much about the character and nature of God. In fact the interaction between God and man reveals God Himself. We just have to look a little more carefully and deeper into these stories.
Who was Abram?
He was the son of a wealthy and influential man. Living in a city which was a hub and crossroads for both business and culture. There were a mixture of religions practiced in the city and every home had it’s gods.
God calls Abram
God spoke to Abram and told him to leave his house and home and go to a place that God would show him. At the time Abram had no idea who God was and neither did anyone else! Moreover Abram had no idea where God was sending him. Because of these things it must have been difficult for Abram to turn to anyone for advice. He probably felt very lonely and isolated almost as if he was in a country where people spoke a different language. In fact, spiritually, that is precisely how it was. I suspect no one could understand what he was talking about or what he was going through.
Amazingly Abram obeys!
Try to picture yourself in a similar situation. You have a good position in society in an influential family. You are married but have no children, in a society where children are your insurance for provision and care in your old age. Suddenly a God who is completely unknown in your society and to you, tells you to pack up and leave to an unknown destination. And you’ll have to walk there carrying everything you need. You will have to exchange a fine permanent dwelling for a home in a tent. And you are already old!! Be honest would you leave in those circumstances? That is what Abram did. Some would call it foolishness; some would call it bravery; but I would call it an amazing demonstration of belief, faith and trust.
He packed everything up and with his wife, servants and a cousin or two and herds of sheep and goats he sets off along a relatively narrow strip of fertile land (nowadays this is known as the “Fertile Crescent”.) I feel sure few who saw him go thought they would ever see him again and that the whole venture was a big mistake. On his journey he and his entourage were to suffer many hardships and setbacks. The vicissitudes of his life must; I believe, have caused him to doubt his sanity and the wisdom of his decision to obey God in this way. It is often difficult for modern Christians to obey and follow the call of God even though we have the evidence and witness of the Bible to help us and we know of the salvation bought by Jesus’ death on the cross. And still we find it difficult, even impossible sometimes. Abram had none of these things to bolster his sense of purpose and determination. Nor did he have the example of others who had followed God before him. He was the first!!! Of course we have no idea whether or not God had called anyone else before him and they had not responded. We do not know if Abram knew of Adam, Noah, or anything else that we read today in the book of Genesis. There was only oral tradition and we do not know exactly what Abram knew.
To be the first to do something always takes a special kind of courage, and strength of character. To take others with you requires an ability to inspire others to come with you.
Abram had to go into the unknown not just physically but also spiritually. And he had to keep on doing it for many, many years on a long, hard journey. A journey that was both physical and spiritual. Physical in that he and his entourage moved through the land from one place to another. Spiritual in that he learned to know and trust God more and more. Even though at times his doubts were so great that at times he took matters into his own hands and tried to “help” God fulfill his promises. Some people have been critical of Abram for his lapses of faith, forgetting that his was a truly unique experience and situation.
So obedient to God’s call to him to leave his comfortable life and journey into the unknown and because he is obedient God makes amazing promises to Abram. It is these promises (covenants actually) which give Abram the strength to carry on. He himself never sees the fulfillment of all of these promises.
It is at the point that God makes these promises that He also gives Abram a new name.
Abraham
There are times when fear overcomes his belief in the promises of God. His wife is so beautiful (even though she is an old lady) that he is afraid that the King of Egypt will kill him so that he can have her for himself. So ruled by this fear Abraham tells everyone that she is his sister. But the truth comes out before anything happens.
Abraham and Sarah also took matters into their own hands concerning the birth of a son. The result was Ishmael and thousands of years of enmity between Jews and Arabs.
On the other hand Abraham is prepared to bargain with God about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
He also allows Lot to choose where he will live and then takes the poorer land for himself to live in. Such generosity and humility. Here Abraham is trusting in God to lead and provide for him and his family. We should never forget that Abraham was trusting God to provide for all his family and servants, not just for himself.
Abraham even rises to the dreadful challenge of sacrificing His only and beloved son Isaac. It is interesting to note that Isaac was in fact in his thirties at the time of this sacrifice. Isaac submitted to being bound on the altar even though he could easily have overpowered his father. The hill/mountain was possibly the place where Jesus was to be crucified to fulfill the promise of salvation.
Above all of this is God’s faithfulness to the man He chose to begin the process of salvation for mankind. God leads Abraham, provides for him, protects him but He also tests Abraham in a way that He will not test anyone else. Because God Himself provided the ultimate sacrifice which is not needed ever again.