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ABRAHAM Abraham ( /ˈeɪ.brə.hæm/) is a Biblical figure who appears in the Old Testment book of Genesis. He was the brother of Haran and Nahor and the son of Terah. God made an agreement with Abraham that is known as the Abrahamic Covenant in which Abraham was chosen to be the father of Israel. Abraham's name was originally Abram but God later changed it to Abraham, which means "the father of many nations". As part of the covenant, Abraham moved to Canaan, which became the home of the Jews. There, in Canaan, God blessed Abraham and his wife Sarah with their son Isaac, despite the fact that they could not have children due to old age. Abraham eventually died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five years and Isaac carried on his family name with the birth of Esau, Jacob, and so on.

Snapshot Summary Born: Unknown Died: in Canaan (age of 175) Resting Place: Machpelah Relations: Father: Terah Siblings: Nahor, Haran Spouses: Sarah, Keturah, Hagar Children: Isaac, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah, Ishmael Religion: belief in the Jewish/Christian God

Contents 1. Summary of Abraham’s Life (Chapter 11-19) 1.1 Genesis 11 1.1.1 Abraham’s Family 1.2 Genesis 12 1.2.1 The Call of Abraham 1.2.2 Abraham in Egypt 1.3 Genesis 13 1.3.1 Abraham and Lot Separate 1.4 Genesis 14 1.4.1 Abraham Rescues Lot 1.5 Genesis 15 1.5.1 The LORD’s Covenant with Abraham 1.6 Genesis 16 1.6.1 Hagar and Ishmael 1.7 Genesis 17 1.7.1 The Covenant of Circumcision 1.8 Genesis 18 1.8.1 The Three Visitors 1.8.2 Abraham Pleads for Sodom 1.9 Genesis 19 1.9.1 Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed 1.9.2 Lot and His Daughters 1.10 Genesis 20 1.10.1 Abraham and Abimelek 1.11 Genesis 21 1.11.1 The Birth of Isaac 1.11.2 Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away 1.12 Genesis 22 1.12.1 Abraham Tested 1.13 Genesis 23 1.13.1 The Death of Sarah 1.14 Genesis 24 1.14.1 Isaac and Rebekah 1.15 Genesis 25 1.15.1 The Death of Abraham 1.15.2 The Birth of Esau and Jacob 2. Themes in the Abraham’s narrative 2.1 Faith 2.2 Obedience 2.3 Covenant 2.4 Purpose 3. How Abraham’s Life Connects to the Wider Story of the Bible 3.1 The Promise

Summary of Abraham’s Life Chapter 11 (Abram's Family) Terah is the father of three children: Haran, Nahor, and Abram. They live in the city of Ur. After Abram marries Sarai, Abram, Sarai, Terah, and Haran's son Lot set out to move to Canaan, but they end up settling in Harran, where Terah dies at the age of two hundred and five.

Chapter 12 (The Call of Abram) God calls upon Abram and tells him to move to Canaan. In exchange, God tells Abram he will 'make him into a great nation.' So, Abram takes his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and move to Canaan. (Abram in Egypt) A famine comes upon Canaan, so Abram and Sarai decide to move to Egypt. However, because Sarai is very beautiful, Abram tells her to tell the Egyptians that she is his sister because if they discover he is her husband they would kill him and spare only her. So, Sarai does so, and she lives in Pharaoh's palace and Abram is treated with respect and many gifts. However, because of Sarai, God inflicts a disease on Pharaoh and his household. Pharaoh consults Abram, and is angry that he lied to him that Sarai was his sister. So, Pharaoh kicks him and his wife out of Egypt.

Chapter 13 (Abram and Lot Separate) Abram, his wife, and Lot (who comes along with them after they departed from Egypt) move to Negev. From Negev, they search from place to place until they come to Bethel. Lot and Abram are both wealthy and have many cattle. They cannot settle in the same place because of all their possessions, so they begin to quarrel. They then decide to divide the lands. Lot takes the more fertile half of the land that is Sodom and Abram takes the other half that is Canaan. The people of Sodom are wicked and sin greatly. God promises Abram that his land of Canaan would be the home of his descendents.

Chapter 14 (Abram Rescues Lot) Lot, Abram's brother, is robbed and kidnapped by four kings. After learning of his kin's captivity, Abraham pursues them with three hundred and eighteen trained servant men, successfully retrieving both his brother and the stolen goods. Abraham and Lot celebrate whilst praising God.

Chapter 15 God speaks to Abram through a vision, saying, "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." God also tells Abraham to count the stars, saying that his offspring would be as numerous. To this, Abram responds by questioning the Covenant since he is without offspring. He prepares an alter for God and God lights it, marking the Covenant he had made with Abraham

Chapter 16 Sarai, Abram's wife, is also desperate for children, so she forces Abram to make Hagar, her maid, conceive. After Hagar conceives, Sarah becomes enraged and treats Hagar harshly. As a result, Hagar flees, yet is stopped by an angel of the Lord, who totellsld her to return to her mistress and to call her son Ishmael. She obeys and gives birth to Ishmael. At this time, Abram is eighty six years of age.

Chapter 17 At the age of ninety nine, God shows himself to Abram in a vision again. God reminds Abram of the Covenant, saying that he will make Abram fruitful. As a mark of the Covenant, God speaks of circumcision. By God, Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah. God blesses Sarah and Abraham with a child, whom they named Issac.

Chapter 18 (The Three Visitors) The Lord and three messengers show themselves to Abraham. Abraham immediately serves with with food in his tent. The Lord tells Abraham that his wife, Sarah, will have a son, despite the fact that both Abraham and Sarah are both very old. Sarah, listening outside of the tent, laughs at the Lord’s unbelievable words. The Lord acknowledges Sarah’s reaction, yet Sarah lies, claiming that she did not laugh. The Lord, however, knew the doubt that Sarah had. (Abraham Pleads for Sodom) God talks to the three men, revealing that Abraham will be the father of powerful nations and he will carry on the way of the Lord. During this time, God also acknowledges the immense sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. After hearing this, Abraham tells God that it would be terrible of Him to destroy Sodom completely if some good people dwell there. After many questions from Abraham and replies from God, God makes it clear to Abraham that even if there were only ten good people there, He would not destroy Sodom in order to save those people.

Chapter 19 (Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed) Two angels enter Sodom and are greeted by Lot, who invites them into him home and prepares a feast for them. When night comes, Sodomite men come to Lot’s house and tell Lot to bring the two men out for them to have sex with. Lot, in order to protect the angels, offers his two daughters to the Sodomites. The Sodomites become furious and try to attack Lot, but the angels bring Lot back into the house, bolt the door, and blind the Sodomites so that they cannot find the door. The angels then tell Lot that they must destroy the sinful city of Sodom, but Lot, his wife, and his two daughters will be saved. Lot, his wife, and his daughters are led out of Sodom and the angels warm them to not look back at the city as they flee. God burns down Sodom and Gomorrah. During this time, Lot’s wife looks back at the cities and she is instantly turned into a pillar of salt. (Lot and His Daughters) Lot’s daughters know that they must continue the family line, so they give Lot wine to make him drunk and sleep with him. The child of the older daughter is the father of the Moabites and the child of the younger daughter is the father of the Ammonites.

Chapter 20 (Abraham and Abimelek) When Abraham arrives at the city of Gerar, he pretends that his wife, Sarah, is his sister. King Abimelek then brings Sarah to his palace. However, God appears in Abimelek’s dream, telling him not to sleep with Sarah because she is actually married and that he will die if he does not return her to Abraham. Abimelek is angry at Abraham for making his kingdom guilty of sin, but Abraham explains to Abimelek that he expected Gerar to be a godless place where he would have been killed in order for the king to take his wife. Abimelek then gives Abraham gifts (including an area of land in his kingdom) and also returns Sarah to Abraham. God had made all the women in Gerar barren due to Abimelek’s sin, but Abraham prays for God to make all the women of Gerar able to have children.

Chapter 21 (The Birth of Isaac) Just as God had promised, Sarah became pregnant. She gave birth to a son called Isaac. Sarah was overjoyed to give birth to a child. (Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away) During this time, Abraham also had a child called Ishmael with an Egyptian slave called Hagar. Sarah insists that Hagar and Ishmael leave, which upsets Abraham. God tells Abraham to obey Sarah because He will make nations of the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael. Because of this, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away the next day. Hagar and Ishmael wonder into the wilderness of Beersheba, but Hagar soon runs out of water and leaves her son in the shade of a bush because she does not want to watch him die. However, an angel appears to Hagar, telling her not to worry and that God will protect Ishmael and make great nations from his descendants. When Hagar opens her eyes, she sees a well, allowing her to save Ishmael from dying. Ishmael eventually grows up and marries an Egyptian. During this time, King Abimelek and his commander ask Abraham to promise to be on good terms with Abimelek’s country. Abraham seals their convenant by giving the king sheep and oxen as well as by sending off seven ewe lambs to confirm that a well in the king’s land is his. This well came to be called “Beer-Sheba” (Well of Oath) to represent the covenant Abraham made with Abimelek.

Chapter 22 (Abraham Tested) One day Abraham is called by the Lord and He commands him to offer Abraham’s son, Isaac as a burnt offering. So Abraham takes Isaac with him to the mountain which God has shown. When they reach the top of the mountain, Abraham builds an alter and puts Isaac on top of it and tries to kill him. But when he is about to slay him, angel of the Lord appears and stops Abraham. Then God rewards Abraham’s faith through a covenant and blesses and promises him to be the father of a great nation.

Chapter 23 (The Death of Sarah) Sarah, the wife of Abraham, dies at the age of hundred and twenty-seven. So Abraham goes to search for a burial site in Canaan. He ends up buying a cave from a man named Ephron and he buries his wife in the cave. Chapter 24 (Isaac and Rebekah) Abraham tells one of his servants to go to the land of Nahor to find a wife of Isaac. When the servant gets there, he prays to the Lord by the well to make his journey successful. Then when he is praying, a beautiful woman named Rebekah comes out to the well. So the servant asks the woman to give him a drink of water and she gladly accepts his request and she even provides water for his camels. Then the servant realizes that the woman is the one for Isaac so he explains the purpose of his journey to her and her family agrees her to be married. So the next day, they leave the town and heads back. When they get back home, Isaac accepts her as his wife and loves her.

Chapter 25 (Abraham’s Death) Abraham dies at the age of one hundred and seventy-five and he leaves everything that he owns to Isaac. He is buried in the same cave where his wife is buried. (The Birth of Esau and Jacob) Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, becomes pregnant and she gives birth to twins. The older brother is named Esau and the younger son is named Jacob. Esau proves himself to be a skillful hunter while Jacob stays at his home all the time. One day when Esau comes back from hunting, he asks Jacob to give him some food and drink. But Jacob demands him to sell his birthright before he can get his food and Esau ends up agreeing.

Themes Faith Faith is one of the greatest themes in the story of Abraham's life. Throughout the narrative, Abraham remains loyal to God. One example of that loyalty is how Abraham continues to have faith in God's promise that he will give him an offspring although he and his wife are very old. Abraham's faith can also be seen when he is willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, whom he waited for a long time. As a result of his faith, Abraham is blessed by God as he is made the father of great nations. Therefore, his narrative demonstrates how by keeping faith, one will be rewarded by God, whether it happens during the person's lifetime or after the person's death. Obedience A defining characteristic of Abraham is his obedience in situations God provided that required a lot. Although there are many examples of Abraham displaying his obedience, one of the most famous is his willingness to sacrifice his son on Mt. Moriah at God's command. Tying in closely with the theme of faith, Abraham demonstrates great obedience and faith when he is told by God to leave his hometown with his family and move to Canaan. From Abraham's demonstration of obedience, a message to take away is that obedience in any situation is an important trait. Covenant Another major theme in The Bible is the covenant. In Genesis 12, God brings upon Abraham a covenant. In this covenant, God tells Abraham to move to Canaan and in return he promises to bless him by making his descendants into a great nation. This covenant is carried out through Genesis chapters 11 to 25 by constructing Abraham a line of descendants, which includes Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. The covenant is of great importance because after hundreds of years Abraham's descendants ultimately lead to the birth of Jesus Christ. We can learn from this example that God always keeps his promises regardless of circumstances. Purpose Abraham does not stand out as an especially unique or an unusually powerful person. Rather, Abraham is seen by other people as an average, ordinary man. God, however, has great confidence in and high expectations for him. In fact, God's purpose for Abraham is to make him the father of Israel and of many nations. By studying the life of Abraham, it is clear that God has specific plans for each individual and that he knows our true potentials. Also, the story of Abraham's life shows us that God can make anything possible in order for him to allow us to carry out our purpose. Abraham and his wife are not able to have kids, but God not only allows them to have a child, but he also allows them to have a child in their old age. Because of this, Abraham is able to fulfill his purpose of being the father of many nations. The story of Abraham's life shows us how God has plans for the live us of all people, even though these purposes may seem completely unexpected to us or may be revealed to us at unexpected times.

How Abraham’s Life Connects to the Wider Story of the Bible The Promise Abraham's story fits in the part of the Bible where God promises that he will send a savior to redeem his people. God chose Abraham to be the father of great nations whose descendants will lead to Jesus who will be the savior.