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Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, President
Obeying God
A
braham (who was first known
as Abram) grew up in an area
known for worshiping other gods.
Jewish teachers believe that Abraham’s
father not only worshiped other gods
but that he also created and sold stone
idols for people to worship! But
Abraham believed in the one true God.
One day when Abraham was
seventy-five years old, God commanded
him to leave the place where he had
grown up and settle in an area that
God would show him. Along with this
command, God also promised Abraham
three things:
• I will make you a great nation;
• I will make your name great;
• I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you.
All of
his life Abraham had heard
about many gods, and he had lived in
the big city of Ur. So it was not going
to be easy for him to leave the life he
knew, the family he loved, and the
faith he had been raised on to move to
a whole new place. This was a tough
choice for Abraham!
Not only that, but Abraham and
his wife, Sarah (first known as Sarai),
didn’t have any children.
At that time Sarah was sixty-five,
considered even at that time as too old
to become a mother. But Abraham
didn’t let any of these things keep him
from following God’s call.
Think about something difficult
you had to do. How did God help
you through this tough time?
Special Promises
Along with his wife Sarah and his
nephew Lot, Abraham set out for an
area called Canaan. As God led him,
Abraham stopped often to thank God
and worship Him. Abraham was
blessed with so many livestock that he
had to find a different area to live in
than his nephew Lot so they could
Christians believe he started the family
of faith that eventually led to the birth
of Jesus. (You can read about Jesus’
family line in Matthew 1:1–17.) People
of both faiths respect Abraham as a
man who knew God personally and
obeyed him even when it was hard. He
wasn’t perfect, but he was a faithful
man who left an incredible faith story.
Even though he had no home, no
children, and was not sure how God
was going to keep His promises to
him, Abraham chose to believe God.
And because of that one decision,
God accepted Abraham’s faith and gave
him the gift of righteousness: “Abram
believed the L
ord
, and he [God]
credited it to him as righteousness”
(Genesis 15:6).
And that is one important belief that
Christians and Jews share—that we can
have a relationship with God based on
our faith in Him.
Why do you think Abraham is
considered a great man of faith?
How can you be known as a person
of faith?
ILLUSTRATIONS: Masaru Horie/iStockphotos.com
Abraham was a very important man. He lived in Israel
thousands of years ago, and he had a special relationship
with God. Both Christians and Jewish people consider
Abraham one of the main people in their faith history.
In fact, Abraham is known as the Father of our Faith.
His special relationship with God and the promises they
made to each other still are important to us today.
Abraham—
Our
Father of Faith
(Continued inside)
Abraham—Our Father of Faith
each find enough land to feed their
animals. Abraham and Sarah then
moved to Hebron and settled in an area
called Mamre.
When they were deciding who would
move where, Abraham allowed Lot to
choose first. Lot picked the best land,
but Abraham wasn’t upset. He trusted
that God would keep his promise to give
him all the
land in that
area—the
land that
was later to
become the
nation of
Israel.
Once settled in their God-appointed
land, God spoke to Abraham, reassuring
him that God was his “shield” and
“reward.” When Abraham told God that
he was worried that he still didn’t have
any children, God
told him to look up
at the night sky—
Abraham would have
as many children,
grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren
as there are stars in
the sky. That’s a lot
of family members!
God and
Abraham made a
special promise with
each other, and God
told him that the
Israelites would one
day be slaves in a
foreign land for 400
years. He also told Abraham that one
day He would rescue them. Then God
promised the land to Abraham’s family.
Many people consider this the beginning
of the nation of Israel.
When Abraham was worried about
still not having any children, he
talked to God about it. How did God respond?
When have you talked to God about your
worries? How did He answer you?
The Promised Son
Ten years had passed since Abraham and
Sarah arrived in Canaan and since God
had promised they would have a child.
But they still had no sons or daughters.
So Sarah decided to find another way to
have a child. She asked her servant Hagar
to have a baby with Abraham. But when
Hagar became pregnant, she was mean to
Sarah and mocked her. So Sarah treated
Hagar badly, and Hagar ran away. But
the Lord cared for
Hagar, and told
her that she would
give birth to a son,
Ishmael, and that his
family would also
be too big to count.
When Abraham
was ninety-nine
years old, the
Lord came to him
and made another
promise. During this
conversation, God
changed their names
to Abraham and
Sarah. This was the
first of many times
in the Bible when God would give His
people new names. God also reassured
Abraham and Sarah that even though they
were old, Sarah would still have a child, a
son they would call Isaac.
Abraham learned that God planned to
destroy the nearby towns of Sodom and
Gomorrah because the people living there
were very sinful. But Abraham asked
God to spare the town if fifty good people
were found living there.
In one of the longest conversations
we read in the Bible between God and a
man, Abraham kept lowering the number
of good people that might allow the town
to be spared. (See Genesis 18: 16–33.)
When not even ten good men could
be found, God destroyed the towns by
raining fire on them. Only Lot and his
family were able to escape.
In their old age, Sarah and Abraham
finally had the child God had promised—
a son named Isaac. Abraham was 100
years old when his son was born!
When the boy was still young, God
tested Abraham’s love and loyalty by
asking him to sacrifice Isaac on an altar.
Faithfully, Abraham set out for Mount
Moriah with his son. Can you imagine
how Abraham must have felt?
When God saw that Abraham was
willing to obey this command, He
provided a ram instead for the sacrifice
at the last minute. God blessed Abraham
again for being willing to obey Him—
even when it was very, very difficult.
Again, God promised Abraham that
because of his faith and his obedience,
God would bless him greatly.
Did God keep His promise to
give Abraham and Sarah a son?
How long did it take for God to keep this
promise? When have you had to wait a
long time for something to happen? How
did it feel like while you were waiting?
What do you think helped Abraham while
he was waiting?
A Man of Faith
Sarah lived to be 127, and when she died,
Abraham buried her in a cave he had
bought. Abraham lived to be 175, and
when he died his sons Isaac and Ishmael
buried him in
the cave with
Sarah.
Later on,
Abraham and
Sarah’s son
Isaac and his
wife Rebekah, as well as the couple’s son
Jacob and his wife Leah were buried in
that cave too. This place is now known
as the Cave of the Patriarchs and is one of
the most special and holy places in Israel.
Today Jews and Christians remember
this great man. Jews consider Abraham
the father of the nation of Israel, and
(Continued on back page)
Abraham—Our Father of Faith