Character Study #2: Abraham

Abraham, the father of many nations, wasn't always the man of unwavering faith we hear about. Yes, Abraham did almost sacrifice his son Isaac for God, because that is what God told him to do:

Genesis 22:

1 After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, "Abraham!" "Yes?" answered Abraham. "I'm listening."

2 He said, "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you."

 

We know the story, Abraham takes his son and is ready to sacrifice him to God, when God provides a ram for sacrifice instead. This is one of the scariest tests of faith offered to us in the Bible! I heard a quote once that went something like this, "I will never understand Abraham's true act of obedience until I am 100 years old when I have a son and then God asks me to sacrifice that son." How true is that? I, being a childless 21 year old, cannot fully imagine the pain and sorrow that Abraham must have felt when God asked him to do this. But he follows the command, and God provides.

This is not the side of Abraham I planned to share though. We're going to backtrack a bit, heading to Genesis 12. At this point of the story, Abraham is called Abram and his wife Sarah is called Sarai. God has promised many nations and blessings to Abram. God even promises to "Bless those who bless Abram and to curse those who curse him."

Genesis 12:13 Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they're going to say, 'Aha! That's his wife!' and kill me. But they'll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live."

Okay, here we see Abram showing little faith. God promised to take care of Abram, yet he still feels threatened and takes matters into his own hands. He lies to the Egyptians about Sarai, not because God tells him to, but out of fear. And guess what? He does it again eight chapters later!

Genesis 20: 1-2 Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister."

This man, who later shows more faith than most Bible characters, actually ends up lying to protect himself! He fears that God will not protect as He promised, so he devises his own plan of protection. This is just another example of how God uses people who make mistakes. God does protect both Abraham and Sarah, but He would have if Abraham hadn't lied. Because of Abraham's lie, God intervenes. He reveals the truth to Abimelech through a dream in Genesis 20.

Genesis 20: 

3But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!”

4But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?5Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.”

6In the dream God responded, “Yes, I know you are innocent. That’s why I kept you from sinning against me, and why I did not let you touch her. 

Just two chapters later, we read Abraham is going to sacrifice his own son for God? Can you see the radical change of faith? Abraham was a human. He made mistakes and like us, his faith faltered at times. I don't want to say that we should be encouraged by Abraham's mistakes, but to be honest, I am. This character of such legendary faith, only two chapters earlier, showed none.

 Do you always trust in God and know that He will take care of you? It's easy to give up on God and try to take control of the situation, but I believe that God blesses those who are willing to trust wholly and completely in Him. This story shows us how God provides, even when we are faithless. And just like when we studied Adam and Eve, we see how God uses a sinner to do amazing things. Abraham becomes the father of many nations.