Abraham in the Old Testament and Early Judaism

Introduction

Abraham was born in Ur, Mesopotamia, at the start of the second millennium. His father, Terah, raised Abraham when Mesopotamia was a highly developed ancient world. Before his calling, Abraham was known as Abram, and he was an idol worshipper. God appeared to Abraham and commanded him to move to a new promised land. He received Abrahamic covenant from God at the age of 75 when his wife Sarah was 65 years. After the famine strike in Canaan, Abraham left for Egypt where he asked Sarah to pretend to be his sister, an act that made God punish Pharaoh after he took her as his concubine. Abraham is called the friend of God and Father of the Hebrew nation.

Scriptural Description of Abraham

According to Bickel & Jantz (1998), Abraham is the first patriarch of Hebrew. He obeyed Gods calling to move from Mesopotamia to a chosen land where God wanted to make a new nation. In the Christianity view of Abrahams story, the genealogy of Jesus is traced to Abrahams son, Isaac. Christians perceive Abrahams willingness to sacrifice Isaac as the revelation of the sacrifice of the son of God on the cross. Abraham is seen as the Old Testament figure, but he is also mentioned several times in the New Testament to signify faith and that God justifies based on trust and not work (Bickel & Jantz, 1998). Through faith, Abraham accepted the calling of God to move to the unknown land.

What we can Glean About Abrahams Character From the Text

From the biblical story of Abraham, we can glean a lot from his character. Abraham is considered the father of faith because he trusted God to move to a place he never knew about. He was wholeheartedly committed to God, therefore known to be a righteous man. Additionally, Abraham was selfless and a man of peace. He peacefully settled the land dispute with his nephew lot, giving him the priority to choose land. By acting selfless, Abraham fulfilled Gods will by choosing the second option, Canaan, the Promised Land. Abraham is seen to be compassionate when he argued with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrahs people. He was generous and hospitable because he welcomed three strangers believed to be angels, as told in the book of Genesis chapter 18 (Bickel & Jantz, 1998). Abrahams character was primarily positive and depicts what Christians should follow to obtain favor from God.

The Reason, Abrahams Story, is included in the Scripture

Abrahams story is included in the Bible because of its significance in Gods plan to reconcile with the humans. In the past, people had jointly sinned to God and opted to idol worshipping. God was annoyed, and instead of destroying humanity, He decided to start the reconciliation process through Abraham, who he made the father of all nations. According to the Bible, Jesus the savior of the world and the link between the people and God was a descendant of Abraham through his son Isaac. Abraham is credited as the first person to believe in one God as he challenged his peoples idol worshiping. Abraham marks Gods blessings to Israelites as God promised him that He would redeem and bless his descendants. Abrahams story is significant because it explains Gods first act to make a covenant with a man to save the world. According to Bickel & Jantz (1998), a covenant between God and humans is so important that it could not be omitted in the Bible. Therefore, Abrahams story is vital in the Bible, and its omission could have a lot of negative impacts.

What I Think we are Supposed to Learn from Abrahams Story

There are several lessons we are supposed to learn from Abrahams story. First, we learn to be uniquely obedient to God. Abraham always obeyed and listened to God, although sometimes the reasoning behind Gods instructions was not physically visible. Second, we learn to live a life of faith. There are several occasions in the Bible that Abraham lived a life of faith. Abrahams faith ranged from asking a child from God at old age and almost sacrificing the miraculous child. We also learn that sacrifice is not supposed to be an easy task. Abraham realized that the bigger the task he was given by God, the bigger the sacrifice he had to undertake (Morgan-Wynne, 2020). Sacrificing to leave his land and go to the unknown land, including the scenario he almost offered his son for a sacrifice, was not an easy task. The lessons we learn from Abraham are significant for strengthening our relationship with God.

How I see God using Abraham in His Grand Story of the Redemption of Israel

God started redeeming Israelites from the moment he called Abraham and told him to move to a new land. God promised Abraham that He would save his descendants and bless them. It is through the promises that God gave Abraham that He saved Israelites from Egyptians. The redemption of Israelites symbolizes the deliverance of humanity from sin through Jesus Christ. Jesus, who happens to be a descendant of Abraham through Isaac, saved people from the captivity of sin (Morgan-Wynne, 2020). Therefore, Abraham played a significant role in the redemption that God brought to Israelites.

Abraham faithfully obeyed God and left his region, Ur, in Mesopotamia and moved to an unknown land. He received several promises from God, which made him the father of all nations. Abraham is believed to be the first person to believe in one God after he challenged the idol worshipping. Abrahams story teaches us several lessons including being faithful to God, obeying him, and practicing generosity.