In the Old Testament, Abraham was known as the "father of many nations” and a “friend of God.” He had a deep relationship with the Lord and followed His guidance even when he didn’t understand it! Let’s learn a bit more about this remarkable man.
Name
Abraham’s original name was Abram, probably meaning, “the father is exalted.” Later after making a covenant with him (Genesis 17:5) God changed his name to Abraham, explaining it as, “you will be the father of many nations.”
Outstanding Characteristics
Faith and surrender.
Summary
Abram was born in Ur, in what is now modern-day Iraq, but moved toward an unknown land at God’s promise to give him a son and make him into a great nation. The land of Canaan was promised to his descendants. A famine caused him to move to Egypt where, out of fear, he lied saying his wife was his sister. When he was 85 years old and Sarai was 75, Abraham, still childless and doubting God, married his slave girl Hagar and had a son with her named Ishmael. At age 99, God gave him the covenant of circumcision. Abram became Abraham and Sarai became Sarah. One year later, Isaac was born. God later tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice Isaac. When Abraham prepared to obey, God stopped him and provided a ram to sacrifice instead.
Below you’ll find the key Scripture from Abraham’s life, but for a deeper Bible-reading prompt, read Genesis 11:27–25:11.
Key Scripture
“At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Yes,’ Abraham replied. ‘Here I am!’ ‘Don’t lay a hand on the boy!’ the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.’” (Genesis 22:11–12)
Lessons Learned
1. Sacrifice
God the Father showed us how to live when He sacrificed His dear Son to us that night in Bethlehem. Christ willingly left His seat of absolute power in heaven, set aside the voluntary use of His divine authority and became a helpless infant. As a human, subject to all the pains and sorrows and limitations that affect us all, He would mature, learn, minister, suffer…and die. If the Father was willing to sacrifice His own Son for us, what could be so much more precious to us that we would withhold it from Him?
2. Obedience
God the Son showed us how to obey when He surrendered Himself to the Father. Isaac’s quiet obedience to his father illustrates this beautifully. He gave himself over to the will of his father and allowed himself to be placed on an altar without a fight. That’s exactly what the Son of God did at Calvary. When our faith is mature, we will obey and not fear death.
3. Surrender
God the Holy Spirit will show us how to live and die as we learn how to surrender whatever has us in its grip. As long as we’re owned by what we’re clutching, we’ll never be given over completely to the Holy Spirit. We need to surrender whatever or whomever we are clinging to.
4. Faith
God promised Abraham that He would bless and multiply him. But for that to happen he had to be stripped of all that he knew and clung to—homeland and family—and live as a stranger in Canaan. He had to be brought to the end of his and his wife’s natural ability to conceive. And even then, when God gave them Isaac, He asked Abraham to sacrifice him. Even in the face of performing that great terrible sacrifice, Abraham still had faith in God’s promise to do what He said He would do.
5. Provision
For God to accomplish His purposes in and through us we may have to be brought to the end of our own resources. When we are utterly broken and crushed may not the Lord’s strength be made perfect in our weakness? Let’s not question God’s providence, wisdom, or love for us because of our personal inability but believe God’s Word without wavering. He says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Regardless of appearances and circumstances believe God will provide what we need.
Abraham, the father of many nations and father of the faithful, teaches us through his life story how to sacrifice, obey, surrender, walk in faith, and trust the Lord to provide.
