Bible Stories The Call of Abraham Stories of Jesus

Long ago, before most of the other stories we have heard from the Bible, came the call of Abraham. The story of Abraham's life and the messages God sent him are some of the most important tales in the whole Bible. Abraham was an old and godly man, who lived in a land called Ur, a land surrounded by desert. He had lived a long and happy life with his wife, whose name was Sarai. Throughout his life, Abraham stayed faithful to God and only did good. He had also accumulated a lot of wealth throughout his life. He had a fine house in the land of Ur, and many cattle and sheep. The only thing he did not have, however, was a child. Although they were happy with all they had, both Abraham and Sarai longed to have a child to continue their family. Oh, how I wish I could have just one child. But as Abraham was already an old man, he knew that this was not possible. Abraham lived what seemed to be a normal, God-worshiping life, until well into his life, and he could never have predicted how his life was soon to change forever. Abraham was a man of worship, and would regularly go out to pray to God. One day, God changed the course of Abraham's life, and the whole world, by calling out to Abraham. Abraham. God? Is that you? Yes, Abraham. I have come to call you with a very important message. Abraham was shocked that God would call out to him, but listened intently to what God had to say. Yes, my lord, I am at your service. I want you to leave this land, Abraham. Leave? Leave-er? Yes, leave-er. Leave your country, leave your people, and leave your father's household. Leave all of this behind, and go to the land that I will show you. Abraham couldn't believe what he was hearing. He could not imagine leaving everything he knew behind in order to go to a mysterious land he did not even know the name of. But God made great promises to Abraham about what would happen to him if he did leave. If you follow my words, Abraham, many great things will happen. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and yourself will be a blessing to others. I will bless all who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. You will possess a great name and will be known to throughout the land. If you follow my words and leave this land, all of the people on earth will be blessed through you. This was an incredible promise that God was making to Abraham. To have the whole world and all those who followed the path of Abraham to share in the Lord's blessing was something that Abraham simply could not refuse. So we accepted God's call and rushed back to tell his family. Yes, my Lord, I shall do as you have asked. Thank you for this blessing. When Abraham returned home, he gathered his whole family to tell them of how God had called upon him. What is it, Abraham? I've never seen you look so excited. God just spoke to me with a message. What? Yes, it's true, and He has a task for me. What is it? God has willed that I leave this country, leave behind earth, leave behind this home, and leave behind our people. What an incredible task! Where has He told you that you must go if you are not to stay here? The Lord did not tell me where to go. He only promised that He would show me the way. How incredible! And so I must go. We will all go together. You should pack everything you can, even the animals as well. We leave tomorrow. Sarai and Terah, Abraham's father, agreed happily to go on this journey that God had asked for. They gathered up everything that they had and set off on their journey. Abraham's nephew, Lot, also joined them. On they went towards this promised land that God had spoke of. Abraham and his family made their way towards the mysterious land that God was leading them towards, their faith in His word strong. Eventually they arrived at the land that God had spoken of, Canaan, which lay between Egypt and Syria. God had promised to Abraham that this land was to be his and to become a great nation owned by those who came from his seed, or in other words, his descendants. Along their journey, Abraham's devotion to God was strong. He stopped in many places and would build shrines to the Lord. One of the places that they stopped was a town called Haran. It was in Haran that Abraham's father, Terah, died at the ripe old age of 205 years old. Rest in peace, dear father. It is now that we must continue our journey through Canaan to fulfill God's promise. And so they continued onwards, this time crossing from east to west, as far as the famous Euphrates River. Eventually they came to a holy plain named Shechem, where people had long come to worship. Abraham and his family also made a stop at a holy city named Bethel. The people of Bethel worshipped a Canaanite god named El. But when Abraham arrived in the city, he took over the sanctuary of worship that the Canaanites used and instead converted it into a temple for the worship of the Lord. As Abraham traveled, he left his mark upon the land. He finally neared the end of his journey across Canaan. Here is where we shall build our home. From this day onwards, this land shall be ours, just as the Lord promised. We will hold on to this land in order to keep our promise to the Lord. And as a reward, we will be blessed, and the people of the world will be blessed. And so, at the place in Canaan that was known as Mamre, Abraham decided to build his shelter. His family settled with him in Canaan, and over time more people from his homeland joined him. It was just as the Lord had promised. The land was truly becoming that of Abraham and his people. But promising the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants was just the beginning of the promises and miracles that God would shower upon Abraham throughout his life. Abraham had everything in his life he wished for, except for one thing. He yearned for a child of his own. Even though he was very old, he was 75 by now, he never lost hope and kept praying to God for a child. When Sarai realized that she would never be able to give birth to a child anymore, she offered her maid Hagar to her husband, hoping she could give them an offspring. It was then that Abraham's first son, Ishmael, was born. Even more incredible than the miraculous birth of Ishmael, however, was what happened 14 years after Ishmael was born. God had promised Abraham an heir, and just as God promised, Sarai indeed managed to bear Abraham a child. Indeed, Sarai fell pregnant despite her incredibly old age, and gave birth to a boy who they named Isaac. Finally, a true-born son of my own. And after all these years, I never believed it would be so. But finally, I have an heir. God's promise has come true. This boy Isaac shall be my heir and inherit the lands as promised to our people by the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for bringing me this miracle. Our people will remain blessed thanks to you. And so, just as God had promised, Abraham founded a new land in Canaan. As God had said, this nation was to be strong, and its people would be blessed for following the word of God. Abraham, the holy man who caused all of this to happen, lived on to be incredibly old. Throughout his life, he fathered even more children, and these children would go on to play an important role in the history of the Bible and of God's people. Abraham is one of the most important prophets in the Bible, and thanks to his devotion to the Lord and willingness to trust God's promises, he founded a nation that would forevermore belong to God's chosen people. The End you