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The Beginning of the End
He has spoken to him.” It was a high honor to which Abraham
was called—to be father of the people who were the guardians of
the truth of God for the world, through whom all nations would be
blessed in the coming of the Messiah. Abraham would keep the law
and deal justly and righteously. In addition, he would not only fear
the Lord himself but would teach his family in doing right.
Abraham’s household numbered more than a thousand people.
Here, as in a school, they received instruction that would prepare
them to represent the true faith. He was training heads of families,
and they would follow his methods of government in their own
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households.
It was necessary to unite the members of the household together,
to build up a barrier against the widespread idolatry. Abraham
worked to guard all those who were with him against mingling with
the heathen and seeing their idol worship. He took care to impress
the mind with the majesty and glory of the living God as the true
object of worship.
God himself had separated Abraham from his idolatrous relatives
so that he might educate his family apart from the evil influences
in Mesopotamia and preserve the true faith in its purity through his
descendants.
The Influence of Daily Living
Abraham’s children and household were taught that they were
under the rule of the God of heaven. There was to be no oppression
by the parents and no disobedience by the children. The silent influ-
ence of his daily life was a constant lesson. There was a fragrance
about Abraham’s life, a nobility of character, which revealed to ev-
eryone that he was connected with Heaven. He did not neglect the
humblest servant. His household did not have one law for the master
and another for the servant. He treated everyone with justice and
compassion as heirs with him of the grace of life.
How few in our day follow this example! Too many parents
are influenced more by emotion than reason, mistakenly calling it
love when leaving children to the control of their own will. This is
cruelty to the youth and a great wrong to the world. Their parents’
laxness strengthens the desire of young people to follow their own