Abraham in Canaan
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instruction as would prepare them to be representatives of the true
faith. Thus a great responsibility rested upon him. He was training
heads of families, and his methods of government would be carried
out in the households over which they should preside.
In early times the father was the ruler and priest of his own fam-
ily, and he exercised authority over his children, even after they had
families of their own. His descendants were taught to look up to
him as their head, in both religious and secular matters. This patriar-
chal system of government Abraham endeavored to perpetuate, as it
tended to preserve the knowledge of God. It was necessary to bind
the members of the household together, in order to build up a barrier
against the idolatry that had become so widespread and so deep-seated.
Abraham sought by every means in his power to guard the inmates
of his encampment against mingling with the heathen and witnessing
their idolatrous practices, for he knew that familiarity with evil would
insensibly corrupt the principles. The greatest care was exercised to
shut out every form of false religion and to impress the mind with the
majesty and glory of the living God as the true object of worship.
It was a wise arrangement, which God Himself had made, to cut
off His people, so far as possible, from connection with the heathen,
making them a people dwelling alone, and not reckoned among the na-
tions. He had separated Abraham from his idolatrous kindred, that the
patriarch might train and educate his family apart from the seductive
influences which would have surrounded them in Mesopotamia, and
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that the true faith might be preserved in its purity by his descendants
from generation to generation.
Abraham’s affection for his children and his household led him
to guard their religious faith, to impart to them a knowledge of the
divine statutes, as the most precious legacy he could transmit to them,
and through them to the world. All were taught that they were under
the rule of the God of heaven. There was to be no oppression on the
part of parents and no disobedience on the part of children. God’s law
had appointed to each his duties, and only in obedience to it could any
secure happiness or prosperity.
His own example, the silent influence of his daily life, was a con-
stant lesson. The unswerving integrity, the benevolence and unselfish
courtesy, which had won the admiration of kings, were displayed in the
home. There was a fragrance about the life, a nobility and loveliness