I am excited about re-reading the Bible and as I go through Genesis, I am learning even more than I had the last few times I’ve read the Bible. I have found that the faith that Abraham had was so deep and I want that same faith. In the world we live in today, it seems challenging to accomplish this until you read Abraham’s story.
Abram, whom The Lord changed his name to Abraham later in Genesis, was faced with so many obstacles, but he found favor with The Lord in all he did! He was never a selfish person. When his nephew Lot and he traveled as God had guided them, they each gained possessions and servants to the point that one area was too small for both groups.
Abram told Lot, in Genesis 13, that the land they were presently in was too small for the both of them and he said that Lot had the right to choose which area he wanted to go to first. He could go one direction or he could go the other and whichever one Lot chose, Abram said that he would go to the other. Abram allowed his nephew to choose first instead of Abram choosing first. He was not selfish at all! Lot, on the other hand, looked and saw the lush ground toward the east near the Jordan and chose to go east. Abram didn’t complain he just went the opposite direction.
Lot and his family eventually ended up in Sodom, which was a horrible place near Gomorrah, where sin was abounding! The Lord heard the cries from people about the cities, yet they lived there. In a conversation with Abram the Lord told Abram he was going down to destroy the city. Abram knew where Lot and his family were and his concern grew. He loved his nephew!
Not only was Abraham unselfish, but he was also courageous. The Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham and his wife Sarai to Sarah in Genesis 17. So now in Genesis 18, Abraham asked the Lord’s patience in his questioning about anyone righteous living in the city and if God would so destroy them along with the evil doers? Abraham pleaded with the Lord and asked him, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were 50 righteous in the city, would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked; far be it from you! Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? So the Lord said, “If I find in Saddam 50 righteous within the city then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” God is a reasonable God. I can’t imagine questioning The Lord as Abraham did!
Abraham continued by asking not just about 50 righteous, but about 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, then 10. And each time the Lord answered that he would spare if he found that many righteous in that city. Two angels then went into Sodom in that evening and Lot convinced them to stay with him knowing how bad the place was. Those angels were going to stay in the square of that town after he asked them the first time, but Lot was insistent because was concerned for their safety. They decided to stay with Lot.
The men, young to old, in that city came to Lot’s home and asked them to send the men out so that they could have sexual relationships with them. Eventually, Lot went out himself to reason with the men but they had no care and so much as pushed Lot back against his door to get in. The two angels grabbed him from the door and pulled him back into the home. Very early the next morning the angels woke Lot and told him to warn his sons in-laws and his family and to leave that city immediately. The sons in- laws thought he was joking and they were left behind. And God did exactly what He said He would do and destroyed not only that city with brimstone, basically that is sulfur, and fire, but also the city next to it called Gomorrah. Abraham could see from a distance the smoke coming up from those cities.
Abraham was 99 years old during this time frame of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord had made a covenant with Abraham and told him that he would be the father of all nations. With this promise, the Lord instructed Abraham that every male eight days old should be circumcised and this would be the sign that they belong to the Lord. So imagine being 99 years old and being circumcised. Abraham circumcised all of his family and servants as The Lord instructed!
The Lord promised Abraham at age 99 that he and Sarah would have a baby. Abraham fell to his face and laughed at the idea of having a baby at the age of 100. But he believed this promise from The Lord that through this son, whom he was to name Isaac, that he would have descendants and be a great nation galore!
I simply cannot leave out Sarah here because I just love this! The Lord in another verse had come back again with an angel after telling Abraham that he was going to have a son. Abraham was in the tent door when he saw them and he went out to them. He came in and had Sarah make them a meal. When they were finished, He spoke again of Abraham and Sarah having a son. Sarah heard from within the tent and laughed within herself and thought, “how can I have a child at my age?” Both Abraham and Sarah had humor!
And to the Lord’s promise and timing, Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old. He also took his son at eight days old and circumcised him as well. And a few years to follow when his son was a little older the Lord decided to test Abraham. He had listened and blessed Abraham abundantly and to ensure just how faithful he was, He asked Abraham to offer up his own son as a burnt offering!
He instructed Abraham to take the child to a particular mountain and sacrifice him. Abrahams faith was so strong that he didn’t even hesitate. Can you imagine? The next morning he took the logs and everything he needed from two servants, a donkey, the wood for the offering, and his only son and left. They traveled about three days until Abraham saw a head and a distance where the Lord had instructed him to go.
At that point of seeing the spot ahead, he had his two servants stop at that point while Abraham took his son and things necessary and went onward. Along the way Isaac asked his dad where the sacrificial lamb was that would be used for the offering. Abraham told him that the Lord will provide. They got to the spot and Abraham built an altar for the burnt offering, placed the wood, bound his son, put his only son on the arranged wood, and reached for the knife to slay Isaac.
But the angel of the Lord from heaven above stopped him. The Lord told Abraham that now he knows just how faithful he is to him if he was going to obey and sacrifice his ONLY son. Abraham took his son down and as he looked up he saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket and so used that ram as a burnt offering to The Lord.
A couple of things to ponder on would be the fact that the Lord has promised Abraham a son and that Abraham would be the father of all nations. He knew that God made a promise to him and God doesn’t back down on His promises.
When Abraham got to the area with his two servants and as he looked up to see the area where in the distance he was to sacrifice his son, he told those two servants that “we” would be back. Abraham’s faith and trust in what God had told him was strong. But I can’t help to wonder how in the world Isaac felt when they got there and his dad bound him to be that burnt offering! And, how Isaac felt when the Lord called on Abraham and praised and bless him for his faith! What a blessing Isaac witnessed and what a lesson for Isaac and his future life.
There is so much more in these chapters of Abraham, but I found these stories just magnificent. Is our faith today as strong as Abraham’s? Do we have strength in our hearts to believe without a doubt that our Lord and God loves us so much and that all we have to do is to live out His word and do what He says! Compared to what Abraham lived through and the experiences he had, our lives seem simple now that we know His Word!