Abraham, the Father of All Believers
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to ask concerning the land of promise—whether the soil was fertile,
the climate healthful. The happiest place on earth was the place where
God would have him to be.
Many are still tested as was Abraham. They do not hear the voice of
God speaking directly from heaven, but He calls them by the teachings
of His Word and the events of providence. They may be required to
abandon a career that promises wealth and honor, and separate from
kindred to enter upon what appears to be a path of self-denial and
sacrifice. God has a work for them to do; the influence of friends and
kindred would hinder it.
Who is ready at the call of Providence to renounce cherished plans,
accept new duties, and enter untried fields? He who will do this has
the faith of Abraham and will share with him that “far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory.”
2 Corinthians 4:17
. See also
Romans
8:18
.
The call from heaven first came to Abraham in “Ur of the
Chaldees,” and in obedience he moved to Haran. Thus far his fa-
ther’s family accompanied him. Here Abraham remained till the death
of Terah.
Into the Unknown
But from his father’s grave the divine voice bade him go forward.
Besides Sarah, the wife of Abraham, only Lot chose to share the
patriarch’s pilgrim life. Abraham possessed extensive flocks and
numerous servants. He was never to return, and he took with him all
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that he had, “their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that
they had gotten in Haran.” In Haran both Abraham and Sarah had led
others to the worship of the true God. These accompanied him to the
land of promise, “the land of Canaan.”
The place where they first tarried was Shechem. In a wide, grassy
valley, with its olive groves and gushing springs, Abraham made his
encampment. It was a fair and goodly country, “a land of brooks of wa-
ter, ... of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates;
a land of oil olive, and honey.”
Deuteronomy 8:7, 8
. But a heavy
shadow rested upon wooded hill and fruitful plain. In the groves were
set up the altars of false gods, and human sacrifices were offered upon
the neighboring heights.