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.’
Before Abraham left Haran, God promised him a land and innumerable descendants. Several times over a period of 25 years, God reaffirmed His promise. Now, Sarah had given birth to a son!
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.
The announcement was no surprise to Abraham. He had heard it only a few days earlier. The message was for Sarah.
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.
