Abraham: The Man Of Faith

ABRAHAM THE MAN OF FAITH By Prudencio García Pérez

ABRAHAM THE MAN OF FAITH 0. INTRODUCTION •

The world created by God has been corrupted because of the rebellion of man against the Creator. These are the two main reason of the rebellion: - Mankind wants to be like God. - Mankind wants to occupy the place of God, owner of his life and world.

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Human pride and ambition was the cause of losing God’s friendship and living separated from Him. This separation provoked the corruption of mankind (hatred and death of the brother, vengeance, sexual sins, pride and the desire of fame) and consequently the punishment from God (nomad’s life, the flood and the destruction of the tower of Babel).

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Despite the present situation, God does not stop intervening in human history and announces a promise to Abraham: he will be a blessing for all the families of the world (Gn 12: 3). This is a new beginning between God and humankind. 1. WHO IS ABRAHAM?

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Abraham is the first person in the Bible we can locate in time and space. He is one of the most important characters in the religious history of mankind: Genesis dedicates 14 chapters to him and is named at least 72 times in the New Testament.

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The 14 chapters of Genesis are the result of 3 different traditions: YAHWIST: puts the accent on the promise to Abraham (Gn 12, 13, 16, 18, 24 and 25); ELOHIST: highlights his faith (Gn 15, 20 and 22); PRIESTLY: underlines the covenant between God and the Patriarch.

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According to Genesis, Abraham was born in Ur (capital of Summer) at around the year 1850 B. C. He lived in a nomad’s camp outside the city and the chief of the tribe was his father, Terah. They worshipped many gods (Jos 24: 2). Due to the frequent wars in the region, they migrated to Haran and settled there. 2

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In short, Abraham was the son of the tribe’s chief: rich in cattle, money, slaves and property. He worshipped the gods of the country and lived in Haran until the age of 75. 2. ABRAHAM’S VOCATION 2.1. A CALL FROM GOD

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While Abraham was in Haran, God called him: “Leave your land, your country, and your father’s home and go to the land that I am going to show you” (Gn 12: 1). An unknown and mysterious God invites him to abandon everything: - Land: properties, landscape… he becomes a migrant. - Country: birth’s place, culture… he becomes a citizen of the world. - Father’s home: leave family and its love… he becomes an orphan.

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This God asks him to leave everything to follow a vague dream: walk to a place without an exact location. God asks much and gives little. God demands a radical faith and trust in him; Abraham must abandon himself in God’s Word. This faith is active: he should move and look for that land. This faith is also a risk: he could lose everything and not find any land. 2.2. GOD’S PROMISE

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This is the promise of God to Abraham: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gn 12: 2-3). The writer repeats 5 times the root of the word “bless”; 6 are the promises and 7 are the phrases (symbol of totality). These promises of benediction are a paradox if we compare them with the present situation of Abraham. There is a deep conflict between the promises and the reality of Abraham: 1. Great nation: Abraham is old and his wife is barren (Gn 11: 30). 2. God will bless him -it means prosperity and wealth-: starting his journey he becomes very poor. 3. His name will be great: nobody knows him and is a lonely man.

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4. Abraham will be a blessing -it means that everybody will see how good God is with those who fulfil his will-: reality says that he has no land, no country nor family. 5. These blessings also reach Abraham’s friends: people’s blessing or curse depend on how they treat Abraham, God’s friend. 6. Abraham is the source of blessing for all the families of the earth: He does not have a family on his own, just a wife. At the beginning, God’s promise to Abraham underlined both human and temporal aspects: possession of land and numerous descendants. It was the best reward for a nomad of the desert. Later, this promise was thought to be fulfilled in the future and will be both universal and spiritual: in the New Testament, the Promised Land becomes the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 5: 4) and the descendants will be unified in the person of the Messiah (Mt 1: 1; Ac 3: 3), the one who will give birth to a new nation, the Church. 2.3. THE ANSWER: ABRAHAM BEGINS HIS JOURNEY

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God made a promise to Abraham and ordered him to leave, now is waiting for his free answer. Abraham accepts the challenge with faith and initiates the new divine plan of salvation: “So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him” (Gn 12: 4). The verb “depart or leave” describes it all: faith, trust, acceptance of the risk, journey to the unknown and obedience to the word of God.

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At the age of 75, Abraham begins a new journey without return: his luggage is just faith in the word of God and hope in His promise. It is easy to imagine the reaction of his family and friends: “Abraham is crazy” (for renouncing to his comfortable life) or “Abraham has become an atheist” (for leaving the gods of the family).

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Abraham was accompanied by his wife, Sarah, his nephew Lot and many servants. He also took his flocks of sheep and goats, and everything necessary to start a new life in a new place. After 700 kilometres, they arrived to a place called Shechem in the land of Canaan. There God appears to him and reveals the place of the promise: “To your descendants I will give this land” (Gn 12: 7). Abraham built an altar to Yahweh as a symbol of his possession of the land.

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What does this place of Canaan look like? It is a small place, about 250 kilometres long and 50 to 80 kilometres wide. The mountains are not very high, around 800 metres, and the river Jordan irrigates all the country and flows into the Death Sea. It was populated by the Canaanites, nomads that soon adapted themselves to the farmer’s life and built many small cities-states with walls around them. Every city had its own king. Their supreme god was El, but also had other gods like Baal (god of the rain and fertility of the land) Astarté (goddess of love and human fecundity). They built small temples on the mountains or near the shade of trees.

2.4. ABRAHAM’S TEMPTATION •

Abraham was nomad who moved all over the country looking for fresh pastures for his flocks. A huge drought forced him to go to Egypt. Famine is the first big temptation of Abraham and it shows his lack of faith in God: He looks for a solution to his problem (hunger) not in God, but in Egypt. He also lies to survive and causes suffering to Sarah, who is taken to the Pharaoh’s palace: “I know you are a beautiful woman. Therefore when the Egyptians see you, they’ll say “this is his wife”; they’ll kill me, but they’ll let you live. Please, say you are my sister, that It may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you” (Gn 12: 11-13). In this case, Abraham is not the prototype of faith in God and His promises, but a cunning and coward man that lies to keep his life and obtain material benefits: animals, servants… With his attitude, he puts in danger 3 of the promises of Yahweh: -

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He abandons the Promised Land to go to Egypt. Giving Sarah to the Pharaoh, He puts in danger the future descendants, because they will be born from her. Abraham is a curse for Egypt, when he should be a blessing.

In order to understand this account, we must remember the customs and traditions at that time: a woman was the property of the husband, he was her owner, and he paid to her family. The important thing was to save the husband, even using lies. A man was considered intelligent if he was able to get out of a complicated situation.

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What is the message of this story? God will fulfil his promises despite the weakness and fragility of those people chosen by him. If we study in detail the stories of the patriarchs, we can see many more defects than virtues. Therefore the writer wants to stress more the grace of God than the cooperation of man. In fact, the Pharaoh will be punish with plagues for taking Sarah to his palace, even though he thought he was not doing anything wrong. On the other hand, Abraham, the liar and the selfish man, is sent back to Canaan with riches and wealth as a payment for taking Sarah, his wife. Abraham prefers to put God’s plan in danger and refuses to risk his own life for it and Sarah. Our God always defends his project of salvation, especially when it is in danger and even though this danger is caused by the one chosen to keep this promises alive.

2.5. THE SEPARATION OF ABRAHAM AND LOT •

After leaving Egypt, when Abraham and Lot arrived to Betel, their shepherds started quarrelling about the use of water wells and pastures. Abraham said to Lot: “Please let there be no strife between you and me and between my herdsmen and yours; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left” (Gn 13: 8-9). As we know, Lot is Abraham’s nephew, the son of his brother Haran. Their relationship is getting worse, so Abraham proposes a solution to the problem in order to save their familiar and friendly relation. -

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Those who associate with Abraham enjoy God’s blessing: Lot is rich in property and cattle, and that is the reason of the quarrel. Abraham is also a model of generosity: Lot chooses the fertile plains of the Jordan River, an oasis in the middle of the desert. Separating from Abraham, Lot will fall into disgrace and misfortune: the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 13: 10).

In chapter 14, Abraham becomes a brave warrior in order to save Lot and his family from those kings who took them as prisoners

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of war. Although Lot separated from him, Abraham still puts his life at risk to rescue his family in danger. Furthermore, he does not accept any reward for his good action for a reason: his prosperity and wealth come only from God. •

In Gn 18: 16-19: 29, the writer tells the story of Abraham interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah, and the destruction of both cities for their sins. -

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Introduction: First, God praises Abraham, his trusted friend and the master of the future Israel. Later, God makes sure of the sins of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah before the punishment. Central body: this beautiful scene underlines two points in relation with God: 1) God’s justice and the power of prayer; 2) the mission of Abraham and the capability of changing God’s decision. This scene is a dialogue, between God and Abraham, about God’s justice: are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? (Gn 18: 23). Abraham asks for forgiveness and God is willing to forgive provided that a small number (10) of just people is found in the city. Conclusion: Lot and his family live also in Sodom. His hospitality towards his guests is going to save his and his daughter’s life, even though it was not easy to leave all his wealth behind. The rest of the people were punished because of their sins: violation of the right of hospitality and sexual abuse. 3. ABRAHAM’S PROJECTS

3.1. ELIEZER OF DAMASCUS, THE FIRST PROJECT (GN 15) A) Conflict between faith and reality •

God’s promise: “Abraham, look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that” (Gn 15: 5). Reality said: Abraham and Sarah are old; Sarah is barren, cannot have children. Be realistic! Do not dream about an impossible future. This nation will never be born.

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The conflict between faith and reality is clear: faith promised him a future; reality denied it. What to do then? To believe in the future promised by God, Abraham had to put his trust in God, in himself and in Sarah. Abraham, tired of waiting for this promise, look for another solution.

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B) Abraham’s formula: The adoption of his servant •

According to the customs and laws of that time, a man without any children could adopt another person to be his heir and administrate his property and wealth. Abraham adopted Eliezer, his servant, and protested against God: “Lord, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? Look, you have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” (Gn 15: 2-3). This solution seems to be good, but it has a defect: Abraham trusted more in a custom of that time than in God and Sarah. He wanted to help God to fulfil his promise in the wrong way, but his intention was good. C) God’s answer

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God did not accept Abraham’s proposal and said: “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir” (Gn 15: 4). God is not against the customs of the people. But He does not want Abraham to put these traditions above his faith in God and his promises. That is his mistake: put his security in them. He must learn to trust God and his projects: his heir will come from his own body. At this point, God renews his promise and makes it even bigger. D) Abraham’s options

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Abraham has two options: follow a custom or place his faith in God. Following a tradition, he has an heir already; following God, he will walk in darkness and sail against the wind. Abraham chose God above everything else: put his trust in the son of the promise, in the possession of the land and in having as many descendants as the stars in the sky. The Bible says that at this point Abraham began to be just (Gn 15: 6). When will this promise be fulfilled? This is God’s decision; the only thing Abraham can do is keep trusting the Lord and be patient until the dream comes true. God tests Abraham to the limit and he must show his faith to God. 3.2. ISHMAEL, THE SECOND PROJECT (GN 16-17) A) Sarah’s problem and Sarah’s solution

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According to the promise, the nation should be born from a natural son of Abraham, his flesh and his blood (Gn 15: 4). How

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can it happen if Sarah is old and cannot have children? Sarah did not believe in God and in herself, that is why she looked for a solution within the limits of the human logic. •

Sarah said to Abraham: “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my slave; perhaps I shall obtain children by her” (Gn 16: 2). At that time, Sarah’s proposal sounded very reasonable: according to their law, a barren wife could give her servant to be her husband’s wife and accept the children from that union like their own ones (Code of Hammurabi, n. 145; XVII century B.C.).

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Abraham accepted his wife’s request and had a son with her servant, Hagar. Now it seems that God’s promise has been finally realized. They named the child “Ishmael”, which means: “God has listened” (Gn 16: 15). B) God’s answer to this project

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God did not like Sarah’s human project and said to Abraham: “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her” (Gn 17: 15-16). First, Abraham laughed loudly, which means he doubted the Word of God; secondly, he became sad and pleaded with tears for the life of his son. In fact, what can expect a man from an old and barren wife? Common sense offered no other solution; that is why Abraham wants God to fulfil his promise through Ishmael, the son of the servant: “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? Why not let Ishmael be my heir?” (Gn 17: 17-18). Abraham wants to keep the security that Ishmael offers, but God answer is clear: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac” (Gn 17: 19).

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God is not against common sense or human projects. But he refuses to accept the lack of faith of Abraham and also refuses to change the terms for realizing His promise. C) Abraham’s options

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Abraham has to make a decision again: trust in God’s promise or follow the human logic (old and barren wife) and put his trust in Ishmael. Once more, Abraham put his faith in God’s project and

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forgot about his own project: Ishmael. And this, at the age of one hundred!! 3.3. ISAAC, THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE (GN 18. 21) A) Sarah’s laughter •

Despite all those crisis and difficulties, life goes on. One day, sitting at the door of the tent, Abraham was visited by three messengers of God. He offered them great hospitality. During a meal, one of the asked: “Where is Sarah your wife? There, in the tent. The messenger said: I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son. Sarah was listening at the door of the tent and laughed within herself, saying: after I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” (Gn 18: 9-12). When Ishmael was rejected by God, Sarah probably lost her hope in the fulfilment of the promise. That is why she laughed. She was old and barren, her husband also old. It was very hard for Abraham to convince her to believe again in God’s Word. B) God’s intervention

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God did not like Sarah’s laughter and said to Abraham: “Why did Sarah laugh, saying: shall I surely bear a child, since I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (Gn 18: 13-14). Sarah tried to deny her laughter, but God discovers immediately her lack of faith. C) Abraham and Sarah’s options

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Once again these old couple heard a beautiful promise and they had two choices: believe in God’s Word or follow their own project. They believed in God and the promise was fulfilled: Isaac was born, a happy end for such a long and dramatic waiting. Abraham has finally a heir, son of his wife too; even though she was barren and old, God made a miracle for them. The scene is surrounded by laughter and joy. Isaac’s name also means “God made me laugh”. This laughter will remind them of their lack of faith and the victory of God’s plan over the human logic.

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Thanks to Abraham and Sarah’s faith, they have a son now. His birth is according to God’s promise, not his parent’s expectations. The crisis, difficulties and doubts are gone; their

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hope for the future is like an opened road: the descendants and the nation are possible now. Abraham holds in his hands realistic project, Isaac, the son who will fulfil all the promises of God. 4. ISAAC’S SACRIFICE (GN 22) THE LAST TEST FOR ABRAHAM’S FAITH A) Isaac’s sacrifice •

This is one of the most chilling stories in the Bible. When the divine promise started to make sense with the birth of Isaac, God is not satisfied yet and asks Abraham for more: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gn 22: 2).

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Isaac is the son an old man and a barren woman have been waiting for their whole life. He is their only hope for a future with many descendants. Now God orders Abraham to sacrifice his only son. When Abraham answered God’s calling long time ago, he buried his past life; now he must give up his future. The son was the living testimony that God really existed, kept his promises and loved Abraham. Without Isaac, the numerous descendants disappear, the Promised Land has no owner, Abraham’s fame and good name are impossible. If Isaac dies, all the promises die with him. No nation! No land! No blessing! Total darkness!

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Once more, Abraham finds himself in the middle of a big problem; he has to make a choice: obey God or keep the son of the promise. If he sacrifices Isaac, he will destroy the proof that keeps his faith alive. He will walk in darkness again. B) Why did God want to test Abraham? Did not test him enough?

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God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled in Isaac, but Abraham’s faith and trust in God needed a final test to be perfect. Abraham could think: “Isaac, my only son, comply with God’s requirements, now I can start rebuilding my future through him”. If Abraham had thought that way, he would have never sacrificed his son, the source of a promising future. Therefore, his faith would not be in God, but in the son of the promise. Then, this final test was necessary in order to purify Abraham’s faith in the

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almighty God; his faith had to be perfect so that the divine blessing could reach all mankind. C) Abraham’s obedience •

Abraham answered the way God was expecting: he did not keep his son for himself, but trusted the Word of God that was asking for the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham obeyed and trusted God above his son! Thanks to his obedience, Abraham saved the life of his son, the future of the nation and the blessing for all. In fact, when Abraham took his knife for sacrificing Isaac, God made his voice heard: “Do not lay your hand on the boy, do not do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me… By myself I have sworn that because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will bless you and multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gn 22: 12. 15-18). 5. THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM AND SARAH

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When Sarah died (Gn 23: 1), Abraham wanted to buy a piece of land where to bury her. Later, Abraham will be buried in the same tomb, situated in Hebron, the land of Canaan (Gn 25: 710).

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The tomb of Abraham and Sarah was bought with his own money; he had the title of property. Ephron, the owner of the land, wanted to give to him for free, as a present, but Abraham did not accept it and paid for it. A piece of land with a tomb in it was all that Abraham possessed in his life. He spent his life dreaming of having many descendants and only had a son; lived also dreaming of a land and only had a tomb.

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Did Abraham spend his life uselessly or in vain? Of course not! All his waiting, suffering, darkness led to a new beginning for him. His son is the starting point of a new nation. The tomb was the beginning of the possession of the land of Canaan. The title of property is the proof that his descendants have the right to live and possess that land. Abraham died without seeing the result of his work, but he left the seed of a bright future for his descendants.

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6. LIFE GOES ON… •

After Abraham’s death, the Bible keeps telling us stories about his son, his grandsons and so on… until the death of Joseph in Egypt (Gn 50: 15-26). These stories are familiar stories: discussions and intrigues, weddings and births, buying and selling, sickness and deaths, joys and sorrows; more or less things that happen in life. It is like a photo album of Abraham’s family. So is the Bible, the photo album of the people of God. 7. ARE THE PATRIARCHS HISTORIC CHARACTERS?

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At the beginning of the XX century, some commentators of the Bible denied the historical value of the patriarchal stories: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not true characters, but a legend.

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The discovery of many archaeological sites in Mari, Hattusa, Nuzi and Ebla is a great contribution in order to know the time of the patriarchs (1900-1600 B. C.). None of the items discovered mention the patriarchs because they are just small tribal leaders without importance for human history. Nevertheless, their lives and customs fit very well in this period of time: 1. The names of the patriarchs were very common in Mesopotamia in this period: Terah, Abram, Sarai, Nahor, Jacob, Benjamin. Centuries later will not be used to name the people of Israel. 2. The geographical places found in the Bible already existed during the time of the patriarchs: Ur, Haran, Shechem, Bethel, Mamre, Hebron… 3. The customs of the patriarchs respond to the law of the second millennium before Christ: -

Adoption: Abraham adopted his servant Eliezer with the right to inherit his property (Gn 15: 2-3). Sarah adopted Ishmael, son of her servant (Gn 16: 2). But the Law of Moses, centuries later, does not know anything about adoption.

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Blood relationship (consanguinity): Nahor married his nephew Milcah (Gn 11: 29); Abraham married his fostersister Sarah (Gn 20: 12); Isaac and Jacob married their cousins (Gn 24: 15; 29: 23. 28). This kind of marriages were forbidden in the Law of Moses (Lv 18), but were legal in the Code of Hammurabi, n. 154-158.

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Fratriarchy: Eliezer arranges the marriage of Isaac and Rebecca in Haran, not with her father, but with the eldest son, Laban, and the consent of Rebecca (Gn 24: 55-58). Unbelievable custom! One of the discoveries in Nuzi is an act of marriage, where the bride declares in front of witnesses this: “with my consent, my brother gave me as wife to … (name of the husband)”.

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Birthright: It sound strange to hear that Esau gave up his birthright for a plate of bean soup (Gn 24: 29-34). In the findings of Nuzi there are a few cases in which the eldest brother gives up his birthrights to another brother. There is also a case similar to the one found in the Bible: a man who needed food sells part of his birthright to his brother in exchange for three sheep.

In conclusion, the biblical science normally put its trust in the biblical traditions. Since the last archaeological discoveries it is considered that the patriarchal traditions not only are not legends, but historical facts. Therefore, can be said, even though we have no direct proof, that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were real people, they really existed.

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