The Sound of the Trumpet:  To preserve, publish, proclaim, plant, protect, and propagate the Abrahamic
Faith.  A publication of the Carolina and Georgia Conferences of the Churches of God of the Abrahamic Faith.
Abraham:  The Man and His Faith
By Delbert A. Jones

ONE of the most important men of the Bible is Abraham. We read about him in both the Old and New Testaments. Paul said
that "he should be the heir of the world" (Rom. 4:13). He also told the Romans, who were Gentiles, that Abraham is the
"father of us all" (4:16).

In Abraham's early life he lived with his father Terah and his brethren in Ur of the Chaldees. He married Sarai, his half sister.
After the death of his brother Haran, they all migrated from Ur towards the land of Canaan. Moses recorded, "And Terah took
Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went
forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came into Haran, and dwelt there"(Gen.
11:31). In Stephen's answer to the high priest as recorded in Acts 7:2, 3, he said, "The God of glory appeared unto our father
Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee."

It was not mere chance that Abraham headed towards Canaan. God was guiding and directing this man of faith. When they
reached Haran, they decided to establish temporary residence there.

Abraham was seventy-five years of age when he departed from Haran to go to Canaan. "Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will
make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shall be a blessing: and I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram
departed as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he
departed out of Haran" (Gen. 12:1 -4).

At the most, Abraham lived in Canaan for only ten years, and those years were unsettled. "Abram passed through the land
unto the place ofSichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land" (Gen. 12:6), "and Abram
journeyed, going on still toward the south" (v. 9). One reason why Abraham left Canaan so quickly was that "there was a
famine in the land"(v. 10); therefore, Abraham continued his southern route until he reached Egypt. Because Abraham feared
the Egyptians and thought they would kill him to obtain Sarah, he told her to tell the Egyptians that she was his sister (Gen.
12:10-20). The Pharaoh heard about the very attractive woman and sent for her, but "the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his
house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife"(v. 17). The Pharaoh called Abraham and asked him why he had not
told him that she was his wife, whereupon the command was given that Abraham be sent out of Egypt.

Abraham returned to the south country; he passed Bethel, and came to the place where they had built an altar. The flocks of
Abraham and Lot were becoming so large that there was strife among their herdsmen. Lot was given first choice in land
selection and chose the fertile, well-watered plains of the Jordan. Abraham gradually moved his tent to the oaks of Mamre at
Hebron (Gen. 13:5-18).

Abraham, upon arrival in the land, had made a treaty with the Amorite chieftains of the vicinity. "Mel-chizedek king of Salem...
was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of
heaven and earth" (Gen. 14:18, 19). While Abraham lived at the oaks of Mamre, God gave him the promise of an heir, and
Abraham had the faith to believe it.

The God-given promise of Canaan as an everlasting possession was confirmed by covenant (Gen. 15). Genesis 16 records
the birth of Ishmael, but he was not to be the heir. How often man attempts to fulfill God's promises! But man's attempt does
not alter God's intention. It was not the bondwoman's child, but the free woman's child who was to be the heir. It was on this
occasion that the covenant sign of circumcision was appointed, and Abram's name was changed to Abraham.

When Abraham was one hundred years old, Isaac was born, and shortly after, Ishmael was expelled from Abraham's home
(Gen. 21:1-21). Abraham's faith was put to an open test. God commanded Abraham to take his son and offer him as a
sacrifice. Complete obedience was displayed by Abraham, for he took Isaac to the spot which God had designated. The altar
was built and Isaac placed upon it. God graciously permitted a ram to be substituted. Thereafter, they returned to Beersheba
(22:1-19).

Sarah, at the age of one hundred twenty-seven years, died in Hebron. Abraham was one hundred forty-six years of age when
he sent to obtain a wife from his own people for Isaac. Rebekah was brought back to become Isaac's wife.

Abraham then wed Keturah. He died at the age of one hundred seventy-five years and was buried in the cave of Machpelah.
This chronologically completes the life of Abraham. Now let us turn our attention to his religious beliefs.

The close relatives of Abraham as well as his ancestors had served other gods. "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your
fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they
served other gods" (Josh. 24:2). Their worship was corrupted by animism. Animism was a Babylonish worship which believed
that there was a spirit in every object of nature.

But Abraham believed in God. There was no doubt in his mind: God's Word was the true Word. If God stated that he would
have an everlasting possession on the earth, he believed it would be granted to him. "The Lord said unto Abram, after that
Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and
eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy
seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise,
walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee" (Gen. 13:14-17). This indeed is an
important covenant. Paul discussed it in Galatians 3. We read, "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith . . . Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ" (w. 14, 16).

Where was Abraham's inheritance going to be? It was an earthly inheritance which he could see to the north, south, east, and
west of him. He could walk through it. According to Galatians 3:16 the seed of Abraham was Christ. Christ's inheritance will
also be an earthly possession.

Abraham "believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). Abraham had faith that God would
perform the statements which had been made to him. That faith was counted unto him for righteousness. We, too, must
believe the Lord and have faith if we are to be accounted righteous.

Because Abraham looked out from the mountain and saw the land, does that mean that Abraham and his seed lived in the
land of Canaan in their day? NO! Hebrews 11: "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of
promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he
looked fora city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God"(w. 8-10).

Verse 13 states: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Then verses, 39
and 40 continue: "These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."

Abraham was looking into the future to the time when "the holy city, new Jerusalem" would be "coming down from God out of
heaven" (Rev. 21:2). That was the city for which he looked! Through faith he saw it afar off. He knew that God was true to His
promises.

All the men of faith died. Death separated them from the promised inheritance. Death was not an entry way into a greater
reward, but death is a sleep until Christ returns to give us our reward. Rewards will be given simultaneously to the righteous
of all ages, "that they without us should not be made perfect" (Heb. 11:40).

We pray that you will have faith in God and in the promises which are made to us through Abraham. We, too, are looking for
the new Jerusalem and our eternal home on earth.