So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house . . . swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites . . . go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.
Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac . . . concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead . . .
So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’
And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech . . .
Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.
. . . behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “my Lord” . . .
God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.”
When we take time to pore over the Scriptures, we no longer see Abram as a flat dusty character, but a real human being who was a bold and passionate man of faith.
[T]he Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I AM your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” And he [Abram] believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram.
Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Abram trusted God; and his choices not only exhibited a character that pursued peace, but also faith in the ability of God to fulfill His promises.
So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.
So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley; and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other.
So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you?
And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
[W]hen the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram . . .
Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
“So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
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