Abraham

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

Abraham (Hebrew: אברהם, ʾAḇrāhām; Arabic: ابراهيم, Ibrāhīm, "father of a multitude") or Abram ("exalted father") (1948 AM 2211 BC
1550 H
1948 AM–2123 AM 2036 BC
1725 H
2123 AM) was the father of the Israelites, the Arabs, and several other races. He is considered a prophet, and the details of his life are recorded in Genesis.

Jews, Christians, and Muslims respect Abraham for his outstanding faith in God.^[1]

Contents 1 Abraham’s life 1.1 Visit to Egypt 1.2 Family Strife 1.3 The Covenant 1.4 The Expulsion of Ishmael 2 Abraham’s faith 3 Abraham’s character 4 Final years 5 Legacy 6 References 7 See Also

Abraham’s life

Abraham, originally called Abram until God changed his name in a covenant when Abraham was 99 years old,^[2] was born in Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia. His father was Terah, his wife was Sarah, and his sons were Isaac and Ishmael.

God told him to leave his country and journey to a new land, where he would become the founder of a new nation. Abraham obeyed God, and when he was 75 years old (2023 AM) he journeyed with his wife Sarah (Sarai), his nephew Lot, and others to the land of Canaan between Syria and Egypt. At each stop along the way he set up an altar and tent-shrine.

In Canaan, God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land from the Nile to the river Euphrates and have it for ever. Although Sarah was childless, and apart from God's promise there seemed no reason to think she would ever have children, Abraham trusted God that He would fulfill His promise to give them children.^[3]

Visit to Egypt

Early in Abraham's journey, famine struck the land of Canaan. Abraham went to Egypt to escape its effects. There, Abraham instructed Sarah to say that she was his sister—which was technically true, in that Abraham and Sarah were half-brother and half-sister. The then-reigning Pharaoh took Sarah, who was quite attractive despite her advanced age, into the palace. God, however, directly warned Pharaoh against being intimate with Sarah, who was another man's wife. Pharaoh returned Sarah to Abraham and politely asked Abraham to leave Egypt, which he did. However, Abraham left Egypt with many gifts and presents. Among these was a handmaid named Hagar.^[4]

Family Strife

At first, Abraham was accompanied by his nephew, Lot, who had a household comparable in size to that of Abraham, with livestock to match. Inevitably, their wranglers fought over the scarce resources of the region. So Abraham and Lot agreed to separate. Lot decided to live in the plains of the Valley of Siddim (the Dead Sea), while Abraham stayed in the hill country. This happened in the spring of 2024 AM.^[5]

Eight years after that, Lot fell prisoner to Chedorlaomer in the War of the Ten Kings. Abraham heard about Lot's capture from an escapee from Sodom, where Lot had gone to live. Abraham armed 318 men of his household, called on three local Amorite confederates to help him, and gave chase. He successfully rescued Lot and recaptured all the plunder that Chedorlaomer had taken. Abraham took no spoil beyond his own troops' rations.^[6] Scripture does not record that Abraham would ever see Lot again.

Abraham then made what some have considered a mistake. Not willing to believe that a seventy-five-year-old woman (Sarah's age at the time) could conceive, Abraham allowed Sarah to prevail upon him to accept Hagar as her surrogate. By her he had a son, Ishmael ("God hears"). Ishmael was not, however, the son that God had promised that Abraham and Sarah would have.

The Covenant

God established his covenant with Abraham on 2047 AM 2112 BC
1649 H
2047 AM. On that occasion God told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son, and that the descendants of that son would be too numerous to count.^[6] And not only was Abraham to be the father of multitudes of physical descendants, he would also be the spiritual father of all who believe in the true God.

God also warned, however, that the Hebrews would sojourn in a land that was not theirs, and that the people of that land would "afflict" them for four hundred years. At the end of that time, God would see that the Hebrew people would despoil those who had ill used them.

In this same year came the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham interceded for Sodom, for Lot's sake. Instead of forbearing to destroy the city, God sent two angels to make sure that Lot and his household would leave Sodom. (They barely escaped in time, and Lot's wife, because she looked back, did not survive.)

Abraham did have his son, Isaac ("he shall laugh"), by his wife Sarah when he was 100 years old and Sarah 90 years old.

The Expulsion of Ishmael

When Isaac was five years old, Abraham held a feast in his honor. Ishmael, who was nineteen, mocked Isaac. This prompted Sarah to demand that Abraham send Hagar and Isaac away, and he did.

Many commentators, among them James Ussher and his editor Larry Pierce, date the four hundred years' persecution of the Hebrew people from this incident. But other commentators point out that the Ishmaelites were not the Egyptians, nor did any systematic persecution begin until after the Israelites had all entered Egypt.

Abraham’s faith

As proof of Abraham’s faith, God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac at Moriah.^[7] Abraham showed his willingness to comply, even though Isaac seemed to be the only means through which God could fulfill His promises.

Abraham did not have to complete Isaac’s sacrifice, because God substituted a ram at the last minute and Isaac’s life was spared. Although God knew what Abraham would do, God evidently wanted to prove to all, even to Abraham, that Abraham loved God supremely and that his faith in God’s Word was unwavering. This affirmed God’s choice of Abraham as the father of the chosen nation.

Abraham’s character

Abraham was a man with many admirable characteristics. He was a righteous man, wholeheartedly committed to God. He was a man of peace, compassionate when working to persuade God to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, hospitable in welcoming three visiting angels, and quick to act when rescuing Lot and his family from attackers.

Although he was a man of great spiritual depth, he also had common human weaknesses. To save his life, he twice passed off Sarah as his sister to foreign kings, allowing them to choose her for their harems.

Final years

Sarah died at the age of 127, and Abraham bought a cave at Machpelah in which to bury her. As his own death drew near he made his servant Eliezer swear that he would find a wife for Isaac from his kinfolk near Haran. He did, and Isaac married Rebekah.

Also in Abraham’s advancing years he married Keturah, whose sons became the ancestors of the tribes of Dedan and Midian. After he gave all he had to Isaac, and gifts to his other sons, Abraham died, having lived for 175 years2,164.447 mon
63,917.385 da. Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave at Machpelah in which Sarah lay.

Legacy

Main Article: Abrahamic religion

Jews trace their lineage to Abraham through his son Isaac. One of the core tenets of the Jewish faith is that the Hebrews are the "chosen people of God" following God's covenants with Abraham.

Christians also trace their faith back to Abraham through Isaac, via Jesus and his original followers, who were Jewish.

Abraham's descendant Midian is also tied to the Jewish faith through Moses, whose wife, Zipporah, was a Midianite.

Arab Muslims trace their lineage back to Abraham (known as Ibrahim) through his son Ishmael.

References

1. ↑ Hebrews 11:8-12
2. ↑ Genesis 17:5
3. ↑ James Ussher, The Annals of the World, Larry Pierce, ed., Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003 (ISBN 0890513600), pghh. 72-75, 77-80, 82-83
4. ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 74
5. ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 75
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 77
7. ↑ Genesis 22

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See Also

• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam
• Bible characters