Abraham Was A Man That Had A Vast

Abraham was a man that had a vast amount of faith and showed obedience towards God though his daily actions. Throughout his life, he had to make decisions that required him to show that he certainly had faith in God. His motivation to constantly be obedient towards God was due to how God was constantly there to guide him on the right path.

There is really not an actual history about Abraham. Instead, every judgement is based on interpretations of the biblical accounts. In order to make an assumption about Abraham’s life or any other character, it is important to view patterns and events though out the bible to put together a timeline of the history. (Parrot) However, it is clear that Abraham followed God with his teachings and engaged in a relationship with him in order to communicate. “Abraham declared his faith in God Almighty (17:1), the righteous judge of nations (15:14) and all humankind (18:25)” (Mills). Faith played a main role between them as Abraham never hesitated to obey God’s words.

Abraham is first mentioned in Genesis 11:26 until his death, which occurs in Genesis 25:8. He lived with his father, Tereh, in Ur.

Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you, and make you rname great, so that you will be blessing. I will bless those who bless you, the ones who curse you I will curse…’ (Genesis 12:1-3).

God tells Abraham to leave his home in Haran to move to Canaan. When God speaks to Abraham, he promises Abraham his own land which will be turned into a great nation as well as his blessing towards him. As these promises are made, Abraham begins to have faith in God which becomes evident when Abraham obeys God without any questions.

During this era, no one would automatically do that and leave their life behind and start fresh. It is very unlikely for it to happen. For someone to act in Abraham’s footsteps, it would take a vast amount of faith and trust in God. Not only this is unlikely during this era, it might also be extremely uncommon for it to happen back then as most people become attached to their surroundings and liked to stay away from change.

Abraham placed his faith in God multiple times throughout his lifetime. One significant event that took place that tested his faith was the sacrifice of Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah. God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall how you” (Genesis 22:2). As a result, Abraham obeys God and puts all his faith. Abraham is able to do this because when he obeyed the last time, God had fulfilled his promise. He now has no doubts in God. Abraham is eager to complete his task given by God that he even wakes up early in the morning. As Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, God holds him back. (Genesis 22). This event shows that Abraham’s faith is above all love, even towards his own son. Somewhere along the way, Abraham had faith that God would never take away the child that he wanted for so many years.

Abraham exemplifies multiple characteristics and “appears as both a man of great spiritual depth and strength and a person with common human weaknesses and needs” (Parrot).

Abraham is a righteous being where he is in a committed relationship with God. He became a compassionate person as he persuaded God to not destroy the righteous people along with the sinners. Abraham did not just ask God to do this; instead, he had to prove that his argument was valid. God would only agree if fifty righteous men were brought forward. However, Abraham brought this number down to ten and unfortunately, they only found one righteous man, Lot. After this, the cities were destroyed since they were actually filled with sinners just as God said. This interaction between God and Abraham describes God’s plan and his way of working things out for the best. (Parrot).

Abraham expressed his great qualities through saving his nephew, Lot, from Sodom as he was taken away. He acted as a warrior as he was able to quickly save Lot. Furthermore, Abraham was an obedient human where he was able to get respect from foreigners that he met throughout his life as he gave them respect and hospitality (Mills). This is shown in Genesis 18 where “the LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.” During this, Abraham was encountered by three men. He was extremely hospitable towards them and offered them with necessities. (Genesis 18). As a result, he lived a peaceful life along with the Palestine people. Abraham’s exemplary character had the Hittites describe him as “a mighty prince.” (Mills)

Abraham is portrayed as an unselfish person in Genesis 13:9. Abraham says, “Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left” (Genesis 13:9) He gives his nephew, Lot, a first choice of land even though he was younger than Abraham. He was selfless enough to separate from Lot and move to Canaan. If thought is really put into this action, Abraham’s selflessness makes sense. It is the act of human decency to put other family members before yourself.

Abraham was not always perfect and kept his faith towards God, even thought he expresses good qualities. This is exemplified in Genesis 12 and 20 when he was deceptive towards the Pharoah. Abraham is described as an “unscrupulous liar” as he tells the Pharaoh that Sarah is his sister. Even though Abraham had lied, God was still by his side and punished the Pharaoh for his wrong doing. (Parrot).

The second instance where Abraham loses his faith in God is when Sarah is unable to conceive. Sarah gives Abraham to have a child with Hagar, their servant. This shows that Abraham is inpatient for not having a child. However, God still blesses them with Ishmael. Because of the impatience that Abraham and Sarah went through, they had to face multiple consequences. Sarah and Hagar had disputes over Abraham while later on Ishmael and Isaac also had disagreements later on. In Genesis 17, God states:

“And I will make my covenant between me and you and you will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous…As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer your name shall be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham” (Genesis 17:2,4-5).

As Ishmael turned thirteen, Abram was given the name of Abraham. During this time, the covenant was established and where the circumcision took place. The new name and the covenant that was established was a result of Abraham’s faith in God which now gave him great responsibility.

One aspect that is clear about Abraham’s faith is that it was built on assurance from God. He did not just wake up one day and decide to have faith in God; instead, God constantly made things better for Abraham in which he was able to earn is trust. Along with faith, Abraham portrayed obedience since he obeyed God without any hesitation.

Abraham’s interaction with god is a constant occurrence of a “call to attention and response” (Coats 158). Through all of the interactions that take place, Abraham’s faith towards God is tested. However, the act of obedience takes place where Abraham does not hesitate to obey god even though tension is surrounded around the situation. Coats explains, “…the verses simply spin out the details of obedience already made clear by the exposition” (Coats 158). Thought this, it is evident and expected to the reader that Abraham will certainly act in the path of obedience towards God. The two characteristics of Abraham are intertwined which result in him to benefit always.

Abraham’s way of living life by showing exemplary traits makes him unique from everyone else. His faith guided him all through out his life where it came useful during his good times as well as the hard times. With all of his traits and actions, he is able to convey to the message of the benefits of being a decent human being. Abraham’s actions teach the lesson that God will always guide everyone to the right path and would not want anything wrong to happen to those he guides.