Our Spiritual Father
Gen. 12--21; with Gal. 3:6-9
Abram was perhaps a privileged man living in the greatest city of his time. From some reason, though, his father Terah left Ur to live with relatives upriver in Haran , bringing his surviving sons, and his grandson, with him. The house of Terah proved to do quite well, as is evident with the descriptions of the extended family of Nahor , Abram's brother.
Then, Abram heard a voice[1]. Perhaps he had been hearing this voice since the time his father had brought him up to Haran, for the form of the Hebrew verb may indicate a continuing occurrence not yet completed. Finally, after Terah died, Abram heeded to the voice. It is not known how he knew that it was the God his ancestors had worshipped, but he trusted Him, taking Him at His word.
Abram's faith, however, was not perfect! Called on to leave behind the wealth he had inherited from his father, he was also to leave all his kinfolk behind. Instead, he left with many servants and his nephew Lot, who also had many servants. In effect, the houses of Abram and Haran left with half the wealth of the house of Terah, leaving behind the house of Nahor. It was a large caravan indeed that left the fruitful Euphrates valley behind[2].
Even as the LORD was blessing Abram in his travels, he showed little of the faith for which he would become known. He was not at all patient with God. God had promised to make his children into a huge nation, only to see Sarai, his aging wife, remain barren[3]. This probably led to their agreeing to the partial truth to present her as his sister, to keep other men from killing him to get to her[4]. Perhaps he thought that no other man could have children from her either.
Whatever the case, the ruse didn't work because God Himself intervened to protect Sarai. God was faithful even while the weak faith of Abram put her in danger[5]. The result of running to the fertile Nile valley in Egypt (closer than the Euphrates!), was another test of his faith: the slave girl Hagar. She was to become the mother of his firstborn son Ishmael, by consent of her mistress Sarai! When Hagar was smug in the knowledge that she "carried the heir" within her womb, she received cruelty rather than mercy from her earthly masters. God would communicate with her as "the angel of Yahweh" -- the first of two visits -- promising great things to her and her son[6].
Abram had more faith in his own household -- which included a trained army of over three hundred men -- than he did with the omniscient Lord of the Universe. When his nephew Lot, with his wealth and family, had been taken prisoner, Abram was able to grab him and the rest of the captives from Sodom from the enemy and bring the safely home. When he was offered an reward, he refused it, not wanting to be enriched by anyone else[7].
When God revealed his plan to destroy Sodom, now in Abram's debt, Abram questioned the wisdom of this. He put Lot ahead of the will of God! God mercifully listened to his cries before sending word to his angels to destroy the town that had only ONE righteous man -- Lot himself[8]. At about that same time, he and Sarai laughed at God when told they would finally have a child in their old age[9]. A quarter century of testing and they still didn't get it!
When the son promised by God -- a miracle child to suddenly fertile Sarah at age 90 -- was born, insecurity again showed itself with the harsh treatment given to Hagar and her son Ishmael. This time, though, Abraham showed mercy, only agreeing to send the two away with provisions after hearing from the LORD. For the first time in twenty-five years, he trusted God fully[10].
Abraham settled down in the town of Beer-Sheba after making a peace treaty with the Philistines. For about two decades things went well. As things were to develop afterwards, things may have been going too well.
Conclusion[]
I will post the rest of this story later. However, I will not leave you hanging as to what I make of this amazing journey of faith. We are all spiritual children of Abraham through the faith which God has sovereignly placed in our hearts[11]. But as Jesus said to through his parables, we do not have to show great faith to prove ourselves worthy of his gift[12]. However, we must show a little bit of it!
Abraham is known for the great faith he showed very late in his life, but here, as he settled down to family life in a peaceful southern town[13], he had finally demonstrated that his journey of 60 years had brought him to a point where he would not question God's wisdom anymore.
Must we live so long in a state of doubt?