The story of a great man, Abraham, a man of faith is a tremendous one

One of the great men of the Book is Abraham. His story is the story of a man of faith and obedience, for whom it is written "The father of us all." The story of an ordinary man and a extra-ordinary God who made him father of multitudes. In this bible study we will see the man who is important to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

The founder of the Jewish race, thus in the lineage of Jesus Christ, and father of some of the Mid-Eastern Arabic races.

His faith was so great that it is written of him in the Holy Bible: "The father of all them that believe" and "The father of us all"

Let us read that together:

Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which [he had yet] being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which [he had] being [yet] uncircumcised.

16 Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

We will try to see the man as seen by his faith in the pages of the Holy Writ. In his early days he was called Abram, which means "without seed."

His father was Terah and all the family lived in Ur of the Chaldees  (Today's Iraq). At some point they all journeyed to Haran (a village in Turkey today).

At this place the Eternal God contacted him and the first time this character ever appears we see a glimpse of his giantic faith. Now God asks something very difficult for anyone: To leave all and journey to the unknown.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD 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:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Pause for a moment as you read the passage and ask yourself a question. What would YOU do?

I know the promise is nice, but look at the prerequisites and try to answer honestly. We know the end of the story and what happened but Abram at that point had no idea.

Our reactions show our true character. How did Abram reacted? He obeyed!

Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram [was] seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

He departed at once and he was not a young one when he did. He was in his mid-70s. Other people think life is over at that age but he believed God for a new begining and took His Word at face value, a Word to be honoured, trusted and obeyed.

The testimony of the scriptures for that are many:

Hbr 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Almost 25 years after God showed up again. He promises thay Abram, the seedless one, will become Abraham (The father of many nations.)