Abraham's Beginnings

Book excerpt: Abraham is the father of the three religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism. Our understanding of Abraham and his stories differs depending on which religion we believe. However, let us begin with our belief and examine his story while he was Avram. He was born as a descendant of Shem in 2166 B.C.; at a place where idols were worshiped by a group known as the Chaldeans. We know those practices influenced Terah: his father, when we look at the Book of Joshua 24:2-3, which states, “2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith YAHUAH ELOHIM of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac." Avram stood out as a man who sought and listened to YAHUAH when He spoke. Avram was eventually referred to as a friend of YAHUAH. When exploring Abraham’s life, we will show the three main events that stand out and examine why YAHUAH chose him to start a new chapter in redemptive history. Avram made one huge mistake with Hagar, but YAHUAH used him anyway. YAHUAH called Avram, but did you know He had to do so twice? There are two instances where Avram had to leave his hometown; first, he left Ur of the Chaldeans along with his father, Terah. Read Genesis 11:31, which says, “31 And Terah took Avram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Avram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.” Read carefully what Genesis 12:1 states, “1 Now YAHUAH had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.” Notice his “kindred” was with him. We are told he departed his father's house, and he left Haran at the age of 75; this can be found in Genesis 12:4. It states, “4 So Avram departed, as YAHUAH had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Avram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.” Remember what we are told in Acts 7:2, which states, “2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The ELOHIM of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,” Here we see ELOHIM appearing to Avram in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran (Charran). This event happened before Genesis 11:31. We will discover that Avram lived as a stranger in a foreign land, a land promised to him but was never given a foot of; the author of Hebrew 11:9 records this as an act of faith. It states, “9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.” Abraham believed in YAHUAH's promise and placed his hope in that promise. Wherever he went, he built an altar for YAHUAH; and lived according to His commands. Follow us on his journey from Avram to Abraham; the truth is just one click away.