Series: Biblical Lives to Live By
Genesis-II Samuel

Noah Abraham & Sarah Rebekah Jacob Joseph Moses Joshua Deborah & Jael Gideon Samson Hannah Samuel Naomi & Ruth David

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Our first passage, Genesis 12:1-7, tells us about God's call and promise to Abraham. At that time, his name was Abram, and his wife's name was Sarai. They had already been living as nomads (see the end of chapter 11) and had migrated with Abram's father to Haran. God promised Abram that He would make of him a great nation and that He would bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him. After hearing the promise, Abram and Sarai, along with Abram's nephew Lot, pulled up stakes and traveled south until they arrived in Canaan, the promised land.

One remarkable thing about God and His promises to Abraham is that He told Abram the same thing several time (See 13:14-15, 15:5), but Abram and Sarai weren't quite sure how God was going to fulfill His promise. You see, they couldn't have children (11:30), and it seemed obvious that this problem was a major obstacle in the way of the promise that they would become a great nation. At one point, Abram seems to think he'll never have any children and that a servant will be his heir (15:2), and then Sarai comes up with the idea that maybe God wants Abram to have children through Sarai's servant, Hagar (16:1). So, between having severe doubts and trying to solve the problem themselves, Abram and Sarai ended up going through a lot of turmoil as they waited to see God's promise come into being.

It seemed like God was delaying, and in the mean time, trouble would come their way. A famine came into the land (12:10ff), and they went to Egypt, but because Abram was afraid, he and Sarai agreed to deceive the Egyptians and conceal their marriage, claiming that they were only brother and sister. The same sort of thing happened again later when they deceived another king about their marriage (see chapter 20). Because of this deception, Sarai was taken into the household of other men, first of Paraoh and then of Abimelech. Imagine how you would feel if you were Abram--imagine how you would feel if you were Sarai!

Finally, however, Sarah (her name and Abraham's were changed in 17:5 and 15) became pregnant long after she was of child-bearing age, and she gave birth to Isaac. A squabble broke out between Sarah and Hagar, because Hagar thought she was better than Sarah--she had been able to bear a son for Abraham and had named him Ishmael. Sarah got tired of Hagar acting superior and of Ishmael making fun of Isaac, so she demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away (chapter 21). Abraham didn't feel very good about that--after all Ishmael was his son--but God told him to listen to Sarah.

You would think that finally God would be satisfied that they had waited in faith and that He had now fulfilled his promise of giving them an heir. However, in chater 22, we read about one last test. This time God tells Abraham to take his only true heir, Isaac, to a mountain and to sacrifice him to God. It turns out that just as Abraham was ready to plunge the knife into Isaac's chest on the altar, God stopped him, satisfied that Abraham really believed that God could overcome even the death of Isaac and still fulfill His promise. God provided a ram for the sacrifice instead.

In the New Testament passages, we find out that Abraham is held up as a man who believed God's promises despite the apparent impossibility of their being fulfilled. He is also shown to be one who put feet to his faith by obeying God when God told him to do something. Sarah is held up as a model for women, showing them how to be influential with their husbands. We know, having read Genesis, that Abraham and Sarah were not always confident in their faith and that there were several times when their marriage went through difficult periods. But in the New Testament, we learn that they triumphed. It's good to know that God doesn't demand perfection, but He does want us to hold tight to our faith and to the ones we love as we travel the path He has prepared for us.