Abram started his life as a member of a family of idolaters, and ended his life leading a family of believers. He had forsaken the comfortable and settled life of a house and a city, and had lived the rest of his life in a tent, eventually with Isaac and Jacob, his co-heirs of the same promise, because ‘he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God’, Heb. 11. 10. His life-style matched his faith, just as ours should. He started life as Abram – 'exalted father', no doubt a distinguished name given to him by his parents, but he ended his life as Abraham, 'father of a multitude', as given to him by God, Gen. 17. 5. This was a name of faith and promise, best suited to his life.
One of Abraham’s last acts was to make arrangements for a bride for his son. Being old, he entrusted the task to his servant, Gen. 24. 2. He was insistent that he was not to take Isaac back to Chaldea, which is in favourable contrast to the careless way he took Lot to Egypt, to see things he should not have seen.
Abraham ended his life by giving ‘all that he had to Isaac’, 25. 5, and died at 175 years of age. He went to heaven, as we know later from the Lord Jesus Christ, Luke 16. 22. After he had died, God regularly acknowledged that He was the God of Abraham (17 times in all), and that He was not ashamed to be called his God, Heb. 11. 16. Furthermore, Abraham was subsequently called ‘the friend of God’ on a number of occasions in Scripture, 2 Chr. 20. 7; Isa. 41. 8; Jas. 2. 23.
There are aspects of Abraham’s life that we only learn of in the New Testament, for instance the Lord Jesus told the Jews that ‘your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad’, John 8. 56. Then also we learn that the reason why he was prepared to offer Isaac was that he was ‘accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead’, Heb. 11. 19 – such faith!
Abraham had every encouragement from God, but so little help and encouragement from others, even his own family. Let us seek to follow his life of faith in spite of all.
