Abraham, the Father of Nations

Marilyn here! Today I spent a few hours with some dear friends. During that time, I heard a remarkable story about faith. It reminded me of Abraham, so I thought I'd post a bio of Abraham that I wrote for my book It's All About Dad & Me. How much do you know about the Father of Nations?
His name means: Exalted father/Father of a multitude
Born: About 4,000 years ago in Ur of the Chaldeans (a city in Babylon)
Husband of: Sarai/Sarah
Father of: Ishmael and Isaac, father-in-law of Rebekah
Occupation: Farmer, herder, and father of a nation

God promised Abraham (who was born as Abram) the Promised Land. When he was seventy-five years old, Abram moved his entire family (which included a lot of people—brothers, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins) to Canaan, the land that God promised he would inherit.

God also promised Abram that he would become the father of a new nation, Israel, which included all God’s chosen people. Even though Abram and his wife, Sarai, were both very old, God continued to promise these things to Abram. Despite how unrealistic and ridiculous they must have sounded to Abram, he responded with faith, trusting God’s words and obeying Him.

God said to Abram, “Number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:5)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God changed his name to Abraham and changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. Their first son, Isaac, was born a year later. When Isaac was still a boy, God told Abraham to take his son to a place in the mountains of Moriah and offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God.

Although Abraham must have been in complete shock at this command, he obeyed God and took Isaac to the spot that God had chosen. While Abraham and Isaac built an altar for the sacrifice, Isaac asked, “Where’s the animal we’re gonna sacrifice?”

Abraham said, “God will provide the lamb to sacrifice,” as he prepared his son on the altar.
Convinced of Abraham’s complete faith, trust, and obedience, God told him to stop preparing Isaac for the sacrifice. Just then, Abraham noticed a ram (male sheep) caught in the woods nearby. Realizing that God had placed the ram there for them, he and Isaac sacrificed it to God. God then repeated His promise that Abraham would be the father of the nation of Israel.

* Read all about Abraham in the book of Genesis.

And God bless you!