The Father Of Abraham : The Founding Nation Of Israel

God promised Abram three promises which the narrator repeated several times. It is important to know to understand the rest of the bible. The first promise was that Arbam would have a great nation. The second promise to Abram was that the lad he was standing on would be for him and his people and family. The final promise was that God would bless the whole earth through one of his descendants. God created a covenant with Abram and renamed him Abraham. This was a patron covenant. It is a covenant that solely depends on God and does not rely on others.

The life of Abraham is one of varied geographical places as Abraham moves from place to place as well as an expedition through life's ups and downs with its challenges and disappointment. Abraham's spiritual life is also a journey, as he moves from periods of great faith to those moments of weakness and sin. Ultimately we find that Abraham, this man of faith, learned to trust in God as he traveled, not only from his home in Ur but as he journeyed towards faith.

There is much information regarding chapter twelve through fifty of Genesis. I am going to mention what most of the chapters is comprised of. I felt that a big portion of the chapters discussed the importance of Abraham. Abraham was a man married to a woman named Sarai, who both lived in Haran. Even though Abraham was a good person, he was still without a child. One day God spoke to him and told him to get ready to leave. The Lord was going to direct Abraham to the land promised to him. Later in time, Abraham was sitting outside on a dark night. The Lord appeared to him and promised him a reward. The reward would be that he would have a son. By having faith in God's greater plan, Abraham would have a great reward. In addition, God promised Abraham that he would be a father of many nations and have numerous descendants. Later, Abraham told his wife that she would have a child. Sarah wondered how a woman of her age could conceive a child. One today would probably think having a child at that age is impossible. Abraham tried relentlessly to tell Sarah that she would conceive a child. Sarah chose disbelief instead of trusting in God's plan. Eventually, Abraham chose to have a child with Hagar. Hagar was a servant who gave birth to a son named Ishmael. Through Ishmael, there would be a line of descendants. Later in time, God spoke to Sarah and specifically told her she would have a son. She began to laugh and not trust in the Lord. God told Sarah that she would name her son

Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality does not pass unnoticed. The LORD recognizes their zealous hospitality and rewards their act of piety with a miraculous gift: offspring. Remembering the barren state of Sarai, the LORD, through the travelers, questions Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” (18:9). The LORD’s working through the travelers to reward Abraham is symbolic of the fact that Abraham will have offspring because of the hospitality that he and his wife show the travelers. The LORD matches Abraham’s fervent dedication to hospitality with an incredible gift. Via the travelers, the LORD promises, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son” (18:10). The extent of this gift is too much for Sarah to believe, so she laughs it off (18:12). This laugh is significant in quantifying how immense the reward is. Sarah laughs because she is uncomfortable with the truth of her current situation; she does not believe that she will ever be relieved from her barren plight. Much like Abraham went out of his way to provide a haven for the travelers, the LORD similarly matches this action with a haven of His own—the baby.

Abraham had a vision, where God promised to protect him. Abraham had a hard time believing that him and his wife would ever have children. God told Abraham that the amount of descendants that he would have, is equivalent to the amount of stars in the sky.

God’s covenant with Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham, was to be the father of many nations. The covenant includes promises concerning a land covenant, a seed covenant, and a blessing covenant. The foundation will flow out of the “Seed Covenant” to his descendants Isaac and Jacob, through whom the twelve tribes of Israel were born.

Genesis 17:5 “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”

The primary patriarch of Judaism's history is Abraham. Abram was born with the name Abram; he often questioned the faith of his father and sought truth. Eventually, the one Creator and God that Abram sought called to him and told him to leave his home and family, and God would bless him with a great nation and a great number of descendants. Abram obeyed, and the forever-lasting covenant between God and the Jewish people was created. This covenant would be a start to Judaism. The covenant involves obligations and rights between God and the Jews. Over time the terms of the covenant became more stated. Abram's faith was tested to prove himself to God.

The Abrahamic Covenant was established in Genesis 12:2-3, this is the first time God spoke to Abraham and instituted this unconditional covenant. The importance is magnified for now we can understand the purpose that God has intended for Israel. The covenant required nothing of Abraham for God’s promise to give him land, descendants and above all nations would be blessed through him per Genesis 15:18-21.

According to traditional Old Testament historians, Abraham became the first human to establish a covenant with God and with his second son Isaac and grandson Jacob they became the first of three Patriarchs of Judaism and Christianity. Abraham, original name Abram or Avram, along with his wife Sarah, original name Sarai, became the "Father of the Multitudes and Father of the Israelites." Sarah's hand-maiden Hagar, gave birth to Abraham's first son Ishmael who later became a prominent prophet and patriarch of the Islamic faith.

Another obligation was to travel to the Promised Land. The Promise Land was a place that Abram traveled to because God promised that the land would be home to Abram’s descendents. The Promise Land was Canaan and was known as the land that flows with milk and honey. But, as time passed the Jews lost control of the land and other owners of the land made it impossible for Jews to live there. The Promise Land was still their home and some Rabbis believed it was against the Torah to leave Canaan. A few decades after the Jews took control of the land, the Promise Land returned to it’s (The Promise Land).The only problem with this promise was Abram and his wife Sarai was never able to have children. Abram tried to do so with her servant Hagar while he was in Egypt. Hagar gave birth to a son named Ishmael. Ishmael, according to Jewish and Muslim belief, became the ancestor of the Arabs. Unfortunately, this didn’t work very well. So, Abram and Sarai continued to try for another child. Finally when Abram was one hundred years old and Sarai was ninety years old, God promised that Sarai would bear a child, specifically a son. After their son was born, their names changed to Abraham which means “father of many,” and Sarah which means “princess.” Sarah bore a son, like God promised, and named the son Isaac. Isaac is Hebrew for laughter because of the amount of happiness his parents had when their son was born. Isaac became the

Abraham’s seriousness and dedication in regards to his covenant with God control tense actions and events between Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is compelled in his actions by his understanding and faith that his belief in God will reap benefits. Without hesitation, he considers doing everything that God tells him to do. Abraham’s willingness and sacrifice of Isaac show the great power that God has over Abraham. Abraham’s desire for God’s approval and blessings compel him toward grave actions without the concrete command from God. Abraham merely implies God’s intentions from the limited conversations held between Abraham, God, and the angel.

He is given no clear destination, and he lives out of a tent, moving frequently.” Abraham and Sarah has to leave their country and their people and follow the word of God, why would they do that? Why they have to trust his words? The answer is the God’s promise “I will make you a great nation…” how can that happen if Sarah is barren, God is promising Abraham and Sarah to give them children and not only that go they will be a great nation and that is a special blessing from God.

     Abraham stands as one of the most important figures in the Hebrew Bible, and is central to the understanding of God’s solution to the problem of mankind. Man, the mysterious creature that God wraught as a semi-experiment, is constantly prone to believe he is self-sufficient and capable of survival without God, the central problem God must deal with in the Hebrew Bible. To solve this problem, God decides to strike fear in the heart of man and to revolutionise his lifestyle by creating laws and empowering a chosen group of people, who will spread the word of God by example. These people are the Hebrews, and Abraham is the father of their race, the man from whom all

Jacob and his whole family get blessings from God while he has only a family tomb in the Holy Land. (Acts 7:16)