Abraham – a remarkable man long ago

Abraham is an Old Testament figure.

Shrouded by the mists of time. He must have had some remarkable qualities. How can I say this? A key to me is the very fact that when God introduced himself to Moses, God said that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Quite remarkable, to have God introduce himself by attaching his identification to that of a mortal man.

What made this mortal man so different from the rest of us? Surely we are all born under the same manner? He too was a babe, a blank imprint upon which his life was to be written? He must have grown up just like all of us, learning from parents and interactions in his family and community? Yet to me he became more than nearly all of us today.

He is a man from whom three major religions descended. Jew, Muslim and Christian. Arabs, Muslims and Jews take all take great pride in acknowledging Abraham as their progenitor.

In Genesis 12 God speaks to Abraham and tells him to leave the land of his fathers and his father’s family and go to an unknown land. See verses 1 to 4. Remember that his wife was barren which was a great trial in those days.

1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Another conversation between God and Abraham was recorded in the 15th chapter of Genesis in verses 1 to 6.

1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy chield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD [came] unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

We can see that this man had a simple but profound faith, almost gullible as many of us in today’s society may say. Don’t forget that Abraham’s age was about 75 years old when these seemingly improbable promises were made to him.

There are various writers in the New Testament who were several thousand years closer to Abraham than we were, and they must have had better source materials that we do. Some examples are:

James the half brother of Jesus recorded:

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God

Isn’t that marvellous? To be called the Friend of God? Certainly something to aspire to.
Another example is found in the last words of the martyr Stephen as found in the Book of Acts.

• Acts 7:2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
  3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
  4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
  5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not [so much as] to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when [as yet] he had no child.*

The testimony of Stephen reminded his hostile audience in the most profound way that the promises made to Abraham by God were never fulfilled in the lifetime of Abraham but with powerful faith Abraham believed God, that the blessing of the land of Canaan would be given to his posterity.

What little is recorded about the life of Abraham is mostly found in his more advanced years, actually more is recorded in the Book of Genesis from the age of 75 years as I mentioned earlier. Not too much is found in the Book of Genesis about his preceding life.

I would presume that his life must have been a life of devoted service to God. Signs of this devotion can be found in the promptness of Abraham’s obedience to difficult commandments that God gave him; to leave his father’s family and lands and to go into new lands; to circumcise himself, his son Ishmael, and all his household when God placed him under covenant when Abraham was the “tender” age of 99 years. (See Genesis 17:23)

23 ¶ And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

The greatest trial that Abraham faced, probably greater than any mortal man had to face, was the abhorrent instruction from God to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, miraculously conceived by his wife Sarah at such an advanced age.

After being instructed by the Lord, Abraham arose early in the morning to fulfil the dreadful commandment. (Genesis 23: 1-3)

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 ¶ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

Is it possible for us to imagine the anguish and torment of his soul? Paul stated that Abraham believed that God would raise his son from the dead. (look in Hebrews 11 verses 17 to 19)

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

There is symbolism in poor Abraham’s thinking of hoping for his son to be raised from the dead when we look forward to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. The journey took three dreadful days and nights, Abraham bore this burden alone in the little company, I imagine he did not tell his wife as Isaac had no idea.
Also very important to realise that Isaac was not a child as depicted by many artists, but he was a grown man, I chose this artist as I like his ideas of the ages of both men. I know that Abraham was about 101 years old when Isaac was born. As Isaac was a symbol of Jesus Christ, I presume his age was about 30 years, so his father would have been about 130 years old. Further symbolism is found by some scholars who believe that Moriah is the same place where Christ was crucified.
I don’t believe that aged Abraham did overpower his unwilling son but I believe this noble son accepted what his grieving father told him that was the will of God and submitted himself. We read further in Genesis chapter 22, verses 6 to 13
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

There is so much here, Isaac carrying the wood (symbol of Christ carrying his cross), the suffering father saying that God would provide a lamb (symbol of Christ too).
In conclusion, we can reflect that if anyone could know the mind of God the Father when facing the sacrifice of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, it should be Abraham. Only in the case of the crucifixion, the “knife was not stayed” but the Saviour had to suffer and die for us all.

I have merely touched on a few key elements in the life of this remarkable man, certainly he was a man of great courage and faith, a Friend of God!