Difference between revisions of "Abram"

<p> The great father of the faithful, whose history is so dear to the church in all ages, and whose faith so illustrious, as to have procured for him this most honourable title. The memoirs of this friend of God, as he is called, ( 2 [[Chronicles]] 20:7 and [[James]] 2:23.) begin at [[Genesis]] 11:26, and run through the whole of Scripture, like a golden thread, from end to end. The distinguishing honour put upon this man, in depositing the covenant in his seed; and the change of name thereupon both in him and his wife, are most striking events, and on every account meriting the most particular attention. [[Concerning]] the cause of the former, we can form no certain conclusions upon it. There are indeed no grounds to form any data upon. [[All]] must be referred unto the eternal purposes of JEHOVAH, "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will and pleasure." Concerning the latter, we can trace somewhat very sweet and interesting, of the Lord's approbation of his servants, both in the man and his wife, by the change of name. I shall beg to offer a short observation upon it. </p> <p> The original name of [[Abram]] was truly honourable, meaning, in the compound of the word Ab, father, and Ram, exalted; a father of eminency or exaltation. But when the [[Lord]] added the [[Ha]] to it, and made it Abraham, this became still more honourable; for his name now, in the literal sense of it, was, a father of many nations. And all this became greatly increased in point of honour, on account of the covenant entailed on Abraham's seed, even Christ, (See [[Galatians]] 3:16.) from whom, and in whom, all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. </p> <p> But there is yet. another purpose which the Lord accomplished in the display of the riches of his grace, by this change of name: and which, if I mistake not, (the Lord pardon me if I err) seems to have been the Lord's great design, in this act of mercy and favour shewn both to the patriarch and his wife; namely, by this alteration, or rather addition given to each; by one of the letters which form the incommunicable name of JEHOVAH. [[By]] this express act of divine grace, [[Abraham]] and Sarah, both possessed in their name an everlasting symbol, or token of JEHOVAH'S glorious favour. And I am the more inclined to this belief, because, in the instance of Jeconiah, in an after age of the church, the Lord manifested his displeasure to this man, by taking from his name one of those distinguishing letters of JEHOVAH, and calling him Coniah, a "despised broken idol." (Compare [[Jeremiah]] 23:24-30, with 1 Chronicles 3:16.) I beg the reader to observe, that I do not presume to speak decidedly on a point of so high a nature; I only propose the thought, and that with the most profound reverence. </p> <p> [[May]] I not venture to suggest, that perhaps it was on this account, of the honour done to their father Abraham's name, by taking into it a part of JEHOVAH'S, that the children of Abraham, in every age of the church, have been so anxious to call their descendants by names, which either took in some of the letters of JEHOVAH'S name, or had an allusion to the Lord. This is so visible a feature, in almost all the [[Jewish]] names of the [[Old]] Testament, that we meet with very few among the pious [[Israelites]] where this respect is not had, in the choice of their children's names, through the whole Bible. </p> <p> I cannot dismiss these observations on Abraham's name until that I have requested the reader to connect with the review, the sweet consideration, that all true believers in [[Jesus]] take part in the same. They have a new name given them, as well as Abraham their father, when, like him, they are by regeneration made "new creatures in [[Christ]] Jesus." They are interested in all the rich promises of [[God]] in Christ; and being Christ's children, by adoption and by grace: then are they "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." I pray the reader to turn to the following [[Scriptures]] by way of confirmation. [[Revelation]] 2:17; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:7-29; [[Romans]] 4:16. </p> <p> I know not how to turn away from this subject, concerning our great father Abraham, who in any, and in every view, opens a constant source for improvement, without offering a short observation more, in respect to that circumstance in his life, when compelled by famine to go down into Egypt, he begged [[Sarah]] to call herself his sister, and not his wife. We have the account of it in its own beautiful simplicity related to us, Genesis 12:9-20. I beg the reader to turn to the [[Scripture]] and peruse it over. And when he hath so done I request him to attend to a short observation which I would offer upon Abraham's conduct, in this particular. </p> <p> It certainly doth, in the first view of things, appear strange, that the great father of the faithful should have had upon this occasion his faith so slender, that he became alarmed for the safety of his wife's chastity, when he had before this, at the call of God, come out from his father's house, "not knowing whither he went." ( Hebrews 11:8.) [[He]] had strength of faith to trust God for every thing respecting himself; yea afterwards, even to the offering up his only son: and yet he could not, when driven by famine into Egypt, trust to God's watchful care over Sarah. But we shall discover, that in this instance of danger respecting his beloved Sarah, humanly speaking, there was no possibility of her escaping with her chastity, unless the Lord accomplished her deliverance by a miracle. Sarah was exceedingly fair, we are told, and her beauty would soon be known (as we find it was) to the prince of the country, on their arrival at Egypt. [[Instantly]] she would be seized upon for Pharaoh's haram. And this was literally the case. [[In]] vain would be Abraham's remonstrances, or the humblest petitions. [[If]] he had said, She is my wife, his death would have immediately followed. But if he said, She is my sister, his life would be spared. And in this case, even then nothing short of the Lord's interposition could restore to him his beloved Sarah again. This therefore he hoped. And here Abraham's faith became as illustrious as before. The patriarch had grounds to hope it. Necessity, and not choice, had driven him down into Egypt, that he might not perish by the famine. And being in the path of duty, and no doubt, constantly in the path of faith and prayer; the whole terminated at length to the divine glory, and to his faithful servant's happiness. And when Sarah was taken, and separated from him: when no possibility of communication between Sarah and her husband was found: locked up in the haram of Pharaoh, from whence there could be no escape, (according to the custom of those [[Eastern]] courts, during the life of the prince, the women of the haram being confined there never to get out,) here was a season for the exercise of faith, and for the display of the Lord's favour to his servants. And the way the Lord wrought on the occasion, is as remarkable, in proof of his interposition, as the patriarch's faith in exercise. "The Lord plagued [[Pharaoh]] and his house with great plagues, because of Sarah Abraham's wife." ( Genesis 12:17.) And so the Lord overruled the visitation, as to give a voice to the rod, and cause the prince very gladly to give up Sarah, unviolated, to her husband. [[So]] that when the whole subject is properly considered and taken into one complete view, so far was the faith of the patriarch from being lessened by the exercise, as in the first blush of the history it seemed to appear, that by the means Abraham adopted, he still threw himself with confidence on the Lord, to save his beloved Sarah from ruin, and his life from danger; and without this trust in the Lord, and dependence on the Lord's interposition, Abraham could not but well know, that whether he had called Sarah, sister, or wife, the peril was the same. </p> <p> If it be said, (as it has been said) but wherefore did the great father of the faithful make use of a falsehood in this instance? might he not have told the truth, and with more confidence still looked up to God for the issue? To which I answer. Certainly, truth at all times, and upon all occasions, is most closely and faithfully to be followed up, leaving it with the Lord to make all things minister to his own glory, and to his people's welfare. But it should be observed, that though upon this occasion, the patriarch did not tell the whole truth, he told no falsehood. Sarah was his sister, as well as his wife. If the reader will turn to the twentieth chapter of Genesis, and peruse a similar situation, into which Abraham and Sarah were afterwards brought at Gerar, he will there behold the patriarch's modest apology for calling his beloved Sarah his sister, rather than his wife. When Abimelech, the king of Gerar, remonstrated with Abraham for calling Sarah sister, and not wife, and said, "What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?" Abraham answered, "Because I thought, [[Surely]] the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother: and she became my wife." ( Genesis 20:10-12.) </p> <p> But what I am more particularly earnest to impress upon the reader's mind, respecting this history of Abraham, (and indeed the sole purpose for which I have introduced the subject in this place) is, that the act itself was founded in faith and reliance upon the Lord. The patriarch had not recourse to mere human policy, without first throwing himself on divine aid. Abraham was well aware of his critical situation. He knew the danger to which both himself and Sarah would be exposed. He therefore used what he thought the best human means: but he certainly was all the while relying by ardent faith on the Lord. And let it be remembered, that in those journies the patriarch was prosecuting, they were by the Lord's command, and not Abraham's pleasure. So that the same faith which first prompted him, at the call of God, to leave his own country, and his father's house, and, as the [[Holy]] [[Ghost]] testifies of him, "by faith he went out, not knowing whither he went;" ( Hebrews 11:8.) the same perfect reliance upon the Lord went with him all the way. [[How]] beautifully the patriarch accounts for this, as well as his whole conduct in calling Sarah his sister, and she calling him brother, in the close of his apology to Abimelech! "It came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is the kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; At every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother." ( Genesis 20:13.) What a sweet and interesting tale the whole forms! I beg the reader's pardon, for the length I have made of it; and shall now leave it to his own judgment, under the hope of divine teaching concerning it, from the Lord. </p>

<p> [[Abram]] ( â'bram), high father, afterwards named [[Abraham]] ( â'bra-ham), father of a multitude, [[Genesis]] 17:4-5, the great founder of the [[Jewish]] nation, as well as of the [[Ishmaelites]] and other [[Arabian]] tribes. Genesis 25:1-34. [[He]] was a son of Terah, a descendant of Shem, and a brother of [[Nahor]] and Haran, and was born in Ur, a city of Chaldea. Genesis 11:27-28. [[Here]] he lived 70 years, when at the call of [[God]] he left his idolatrous kindred, [[Joshua]] 24:2; Joshua 24:14, and removed to Haran, in Mesopotamia, Acts 7:2-4, accompanied by his father, his wife Sarai, his brother Nahor, and his nephew Lot. Here, a few years after, [[Terah]] died. Abram's proper history now begins. He was commanded to go into Canaan, receiving at the time a two-fold promise, that his seed should become a vast multitude, and that through them all the families of the earth should be blessed. Abram was become a wealthy chief, and, with the servants and the substance that belonged to him, accompanied by his wife [[Sarai]] and his nephew Lot, he entered Canaan. 12:1-5. The country was already occupied by descendants of Ham. He passed through the heart of the country by the great highway to Shechem, and pitched his tent by the oak of Moreh. Genesis 12:6. Here he received in vision from [[Jehovah]] the further revelation that this was the land which his descendants should inherit. [[Removing]] from [[Moreh]] he pitched on a mount to the east of Bethel, and journeying south he went down into [[Egypt]] (famine then afflicting Canaan), establishing there the first link of that mysterious chain which so long, through almost all their history, bound the chosen people for discipline and for warning to the Egyptians. But here, alas! Abram's faith wavered. [[Fearing]] that the great beauty of Sarai might tempt the powerful monarch of Egypt and expose his own life to peril, he arranged that Sarai should represent herself as his sister, which her actual relationship to him, as probably the daughter of his brother Haran, allowed her to do with some semblance of truth. But her beauty was reported to the king, and she was taken into the royal harem. He was rescued by God's providence from the false position in which he had placed himself, and enriched by [[Pharaoh]] he returned to Canaan. Genesis 12:10-20. Abram was wealthy; and [[Lot]] was wealthy too. Had the land been empty, they might very well have extended their encampments in it. But the [[Canaanites]] and [[Perizzites]] were there too; and therefore uncle and nephew must separate. From a hill near Bethel, which it is said may still be identified, Abram and Lot surveyed the country; and Lot, having his choice allowed him, selected the rich valley of the [[Jordan]] for his abode, careless what kind of associates he would thus meet with; while Abram, with the renewed assurance that [[Canaan]] should be given to his seed, went southward to [[Mamre]] and dwelt there. Lot was soon involved in the disasters of the neighborhood he had chosen. He was made prisoner in the irruption of an eastern monarch, of whom something, it is said, is yet to be dimly traced [[In]] the deciphered [[Assyrian]] inscriptions (see [[Assyria]] and Lot). Abram resolved to attempt his nephew's rescue. [[On]] his victorious return he received the blessing of Melchizedek. But Abram's faith began to be sorely tried. The promise was to him in his seed; and as yet he had no child. Years rolled on; and the likelihood of his having offspring grew less and less. The promise was therefore repeated: Abram believed it. And now, because his faith held on, not only when accomplishment seemed easy, but when it was delayed and seemed most difficult, well-nigh impossible, now, when there was the word alone, the bare promise, with no outward confirmation, and Abram still believed, God "counted it to him for righteousness." The trial of his faith was very, very precious, "much more precious than of gold that perisheth." 1 [[Peter]] 1:7. And then there was a symbol vouchsafed him, and larger promise that his posterity should possess the whole extent of country between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates. Sarai's faith, however, faltered; and, as the promise was not yet announced that the holy seed should come from Sarai's womb; she gave her husband her [[Egyptian]] maid, intending to adopt her child. Abram then had a son, Ishmael; but he was not the heir of promise. [[Thirteen]] years passed on, perhaps spent at Mamre: and the purposes of God were ripening. The covenant was now made more definite: Sarai was included in the promise; the names of the pair were changed to Abraham and Sarah; and the sign of circumcision was added, to be a token throughout all generations that God had been with and was blessing Abraham his friend. But there must be delay and trial still. The [[Lord]] held again mysterious conference with Abraham, before [[Sodom]] was destroyed, and Abraham, perhaps in consequence of that catastrophe, journeyed south-west into the land of the [[Philistines]] at Gerar; and there the evil step in Egypt was repeated. At length God's time was come; and [[Sarah]] bare Abraham a son (probably at Gerar) in his old age. And then indeed there was joy; the promise long waited for being now fulfilled. The name given to the child, [[Isaac]] ( laughter or sporting), indicated this. Once Sarah had laughed incredulously at the idea of her having a son, and Abraham had laughed too, his faith, strong as it was, being then inclined to fix on [[Ishmael]] as the heir of his name and blessing. Gen. chaps. 13-20. But now the happy parents laughed with thankful joy; and all their friends that heard the tidings laughed and rejoiced with them. Genesis 21:1-7. There was a feast made when Isaac was weaned; yet the mirth of that feast was dashed with heaviness. The son of the bondwoman, jealous perhaps of Isaac's happier lot, was discovered mocking; and Sarah insisted that he and his mother [[Hagar]] should be banished from the encampment. It was very grievous to Abraham; but God commanded him to yield; and Hagar and Ishmael went forth, a sign of the call of the Gentiles, and proving the best means of fulfilling the promise that Ishmael should become a great nation. Genesis 21:8-21; [[Galatians]] 4:22-31. There were some petty troubles from [[Abimelech]] in the patriarch's life, but with this exception nothing is recorded of the space of perhaps 25 years. [[His]] residence was now at Beer-sheba. And then came a strange and crushing trial. To comprehend it, we must bear in mind that Abraham lived among idolaters, who ruthlessly made their children pass through the fire. [[Leviticus]] 18:21; Leviticus 18:24-25; [[Deuteronomy]] 18:9-10. [[Many]] a time must Abraham have seen from afar the smoke of sacrifices, and known that human victims were offered there. And his heart must have glowed when he remembered that his God required no such homage; and perhaps he had to stand the scoff of those around, that he had chosen a very easy religion, demanding not the self-denying obedience which theirs did. For, surely, though they practiced these cruel abominations, many hearts among them must have bled as their dearest were taken as victims; and though they yielded to the stern law it must have been with grief and bitter tears. Their obedience, then, they would say, was far deeper and more meritorious than Abraham's easy service. But then came the command, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest... and offer him for a burnt-offering." It was not merely the laceration of domestic ties, not only the apparent blight of the promise so long waited for and then fulfilled—the whole basis of his trust seemed overturned, the character of the God he worshipped changed, his religion no better than that of the surrounding tribes. [[Imagination]] cannot conceive a harder trial. But his faith, hitherto unshaken, supported him in this final trial, "accounting that God was able to raise up his son, even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure." Hebrews 11:19. The sacrifice was stayed by the angel of Jehovah, the promises were again confirmed to him, the spiritual blessings in them being prominently exhibited; and, with gratitude which even the sacred historian does not attempt to describe, Abraham returned to Beer-sheba. This great event was the most wonderful in the patriarch's life. Then it was, no doubt, that his eye was opened to perceive in the dim future another sacrifice, of a dearer [[Son]] yielded by a higher [[Father]] (and probably on or near that very spot), a sacrifice actually consummated, by the virtue of which a propitiation of world-wide virtue was effected. The rest of Abraham's history is comparatively scanty. He seems to have removed from Beer-sheba to Kirjath-arba or Hebron; and there Sarah died when he was 137. He purchased for her sepulchre the field and cave of Mach-pelah from the princes of the land, for the exorbitant price of 400 shekels of silver. The bargain with [[Ephron]] is very characteristic of eastern manners to the present day. Some, misled by Ephron's courteous speech, have fancied that he really intended to offer his field to Abraham for a gift. But this is from sheer ignorance of [[Oriental]] habits. Ephron was a shrewd man, who well knew how to drive a bargain; and a good one he made for himself. Genesis 23:1-20. Abraham then took care that his son Isaac should not marry into the idolatrous famines around. And next there is the strange record that he had another wife, and children by her; and even "concubines" are mentioned. [[Keturah]] was a secondary or inferior wife, not given to the patriarch by Sarah, as Hagar was. It may be, therefore, that, though the fact is noted so late, the children had been born much earlier. But we can hardly arrive at certainty on this matter. Be it as it may, Abraham sent away his other sons with gifts into the east, that they might not interfere with Isaac, to whom his great inheritance belonged. And then he died, 175 years old, having seen Isaac's sons, and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of Machpelah, where perchance his bones may still be lying. Such briefly is the story of this father of the faithful, from whom the precious seed descended, and into whose bosom the faithful dead are said to have been conveyed. [[Luke]] 16:22. His faith we are to follow: his good example we should diligently imitate. </p>

<ol> <li> <i> [[Birth]] </i> . [[He]] was born in [[Ur]] of the Chaldees, and was a direct [[Descendant]] of [[Shem]] ( [[Genesis]] 11:10-32 ). </li> <li> <i> [[Date]] </i> . There is a difficulty in the chronology at this point. [[Compare]] Genesis 11:26,32; Genesis 12:4,5; Acts 7:1-4 . My solution of this question is the only one that will harmonize with all the facts and dates presented [[In]] the book of Genesis. When you reflect that it was customary in Those ages, in the development of God's plan, to displace the elder [[With]] the younger, the matter becomes plainer. This was so with <ol> <li> [[Cain]] and [[Abel]] ( Genesis 4:1-7,25 ). </li> <li> [[Isaac]] and [[Ishmael]] ( Genesis 16:1,2,16; Genesis 17:18-21; Genesis 21:1-5 ). </li> <li> [[Jacob]] and [[Esau]] ( Genesis 25:19-26 ). </li> <li> [[Ephraim]] and [[Manasseh]] ( Genesis 48:14-19 ). </li> </ol> <p> [[Abram]] was the youngest, for he was only seventy-five years old when his [[Father]] died ( Genesis 11:32; Genesis 12:4; Acts 7:1-5 ). [[Therefore]] Genesis 11:26; that [[Terah]] was seventy years old when his first son was born; and from Other considerations enumerated above, he was about one hundred thirty Years when Abram was born. [[Sarah]] was Abram's half-sister ( Genesis 20:12 ), doubtless born of Terah's second marriage. There was only a difference [[Of]] ten years in their ages ( Genesis 17:17 ). [[If]] Abram has been Terah's firstborn, he would have been one hundred thirty-five when Terah died, And it would be necessary to to change the figures in reference to Sarah and make her one hundred twenty-five at this time! Further, it Is stated that Abram had been eleven years in [[Canaan]] when Ishmael was [[Born]] ( Genesis 16:1-16 ). This would have made Sarah (125 + 11 = 136) one hundred thirty-six at Ishmael's birth. Isaac was born fourteen years After Ishmael ( Genesis 16:16; Genesis 21:1-5 ), hence this would have given Isaac no chance to have been born, for Sarah only lived one hundred Twenty-seven years ( Genesis 23:1 )! We therefore conclude that Abram was born two thousand eight years after the creation of [[Adam]] ( Genesis 5:3-32; Genesis 7:6,11; Genesis 11:1-26 ). </p> </li> <li> <i> [[His]] [[Call]] </i> . The [[Lord]] first spoke to him in Ur of [[Chaldees]] ( Genesis 12:1; Acts 7:1-5 ). </li> <li> <i> The [[Promises]] </i> . [[God]] gave him two great promises, <ol> <li> that he would make of him a great nation, bless him, make his name great, make him a blessing, bless those who blessed him, and curse those who cursed him; </li> <li> that in him should all families of the earth be blessed ( Genesis 12:1-3 ). </li> </ol> <p> These promises were subsequently renewed on [[Mount]] [[Moriah]] ( Genesis 22:1-18 ). These promises were subsequently fulfilled in, </p> <ol> <li> the covenant dedicated at Mount [[Sinai]] ( [[Exodus]] 24:1-8 ), </li> <li> the new covenant ( [[Galatians]] 4:22-31 ). </li> </ol> </li> </ol>

<p> the original name ( [[Genesis]] 17:5) of ABRAHAM (See [[Abraham]]) </p> <p> (q.v.). </p>