The story of Abraham is told in the book of Genesis and describes as history the establishment of the covenant between God and Abraham and how he became the founding father of the Israelites. Prompted by God he migrated from Ur of the Chaldees at the age of seventy five with a barren wife aged sixty five, leaving behind land, a household and family to take residence in Canaan where he would gain a new family, an inheritance, and a promised land. He hardly seemed the ideal candidate to father a family let alone a nation but Abraham is entrusted by God to unfold his plan for the world and he responds.
Abraham’s home city of Ur was highly developed and cultured and known for worshiping the Sumerian moon God. Abraham’s main characteristic was his faith and he was tested many times along the way and was certainly taken out of his comfort zone. He took on the nomadic life travelling with sheep and goats seeking out pastures and living in tents. During the journey his father Terah died and it really was a leap of faith to leave his home because he had no idea what the tiny land of Canaan was like. Whilst being promised a nation and descendants through whom everyone on earth shall be blessed there was of course a vital component missing, Abraham and Sarah first needed a son. Sarah growing impatient encouraged Abraham to take the servant girl Hagar in order to have a child by her. Abraham agreed but it inevitably led to jealousy within the home resulting in Hagar and her son Ishmael being sent away. God also promised that Ishmael would become the father of a great nation and is indeed believed to be the father of the Arab Muslim world.
Abraham continued his nomadic life when he got to the land of Canaan seeking to respond to Gods calling, putting him at the centre of his life and worship. At Shechem he built an alter to the living God. At a time of great famine Abraham moved to Egypt which had an abundance of food and in fear of being killed Abraham asked Sarah to tell Pharaoh that she was his sister but this deception landed him in trouble with Pharoah and they had to leave quickly and moved on to Hebron where he and his nephew Lot separated. It is here that God probably gave him the binding covenant to give him a son and a nation and where the rite of circumcision was introduced as the outward sign of that covenant. At Mamre three angels visited Abraham and Sarah promising them a son within a year, a statement that Sarah met with laughter.
Abraham then had to rescue his nephew lot from Gods judgement in the wicked immoral city of Sodom. At Gerar Abraham once again pretended that Sarah was his sister and in doing so almost brought judgement on King Abimalech. At around this time and after twenty five years of waiting God blessed them with a son Issac whom Sarah bore at the ripe old age of ninety. The name Issac means "he laughs" which was to remind Sarah of her laugh of disbelief and the laughter of joy at his birth. Abraham and Sarah had learned to wait on God, he had rewarded their faithfulness and the family of Israel had begun.
On Mount Moriah God tested Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice Issac and his obedience was rewarded as God stepped in at the last minute providing a ram substitute instead. This is the first account of how God was to deal with human sin by providing a substitute through animals in the first instance but which was later to culminate in the sacrifice of Gods own Son Jesus.
At Machpelah Abraham bought a cave as a burial place for his family and was to be the only part of the Promised land he ever owned. Abraham aged 175 and Sarah aged 127 were both buried there as were Issac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. Later Herod the great built a shrine at the site. The central themes of Abraham’s life were Faith, Covenant and Fatherhood. Faith is the idea that there is more to life than what can be discerned by our human senses. A conviction that there is a God who can guide us despite the mistakes we often make. This may mean taking risks and moving outside our comfort zone in order to follow him. We are not expected to be perfect but rather have faith in his promises. Covenant is a binding contract between two parties which was very common in the ancient world. The covenant between God and Abraham is unique in that God initiates and Abraham accepts without negotiation.
This is a feature of all Gods promises and shows his grace upon our imperfection which cannot be earned by our own effort alone but rather our faith and trust in him. Abraham was known as a Patriarch, a father ruler which meant that they ruled their families and their clans. God had changed his name from Abram which meant "exalted father" to Abraham which means "father of many" Today a Patriarchal society may seem outdated but his story shows that God is looking to build a family where everybody looks to the father, rather than an organisation, nation, or religion. God is sometimes referred to as Abba father which means "daddy" which suggests a close and loving relationship. It is in the life of prayer that Christians find this relationship.