Abrahams Journey to the Promised Land

Origins and calling Abraham and his family were originally from the city of Ur, which was an ancient city in Chaldea. Abrahams father, Terah, came from Ur of the Chaldees, identified by the archeologist Sir Charles Woolley (in 1927) with an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia which was under the rule of the Chaldeans. Abram as he was known before he took the name Abraham migrated north to Harran. After a short stay, he, his wife Sarai (later Sarah), Lot (the son of Abram's brother), and all their followers, departed for Canaan. [1]God called Abram to go to "the land I will show you", and promised to bless him and make him (though at that point old and childless) the father of a great nation. Trusting this promise, Abram journeyed down to Shechem, and at the sacred tree received a new promise that the land would be given to his seed (descendant or descendants). Having built an altar to commemorate the encounter with God, he moved to a spot between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and then worshipped God there. As such he is one of the first recorded believers in the One God he was a monotheist at a time when people were polytheists (worshippers of many gods).

Sarah and Pharaoh Driven by a famine to take refuge in Egypt, Abram feared that his wife's beauty would bring unwanted attention from Egyptian men and thus endanger his own safety, so he referred to Sarai as his sister. This, however, did not save her from the Pharaoh, who took her into the royal harem (pleasure palace) for which Abram was paid with herds and servants! But when God then "plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues" as punishment, Abram and Sarai quickly left Egypt. When Abram with Sarai left Egypt they returned to Ai. Here he lived for some time, until trouble broke out between his herdsmen and those of his nephew, Lot. Abram then suggested to Lot that they should separate, and allowed Lot the first choice. Lot preferred the fertile land lying east of the Jordan River, while Abram moved down to the oaks of Mamre in Hebron. After receiving reaffirmation and clarification of the promise from Yahweh, he built an altar there.

Chedorlaomer and Melchisedek Some years after this, Lot was taken prisoner by the king Chedorlaomer and his allies, then warring against the kings of Sodom. Abram, with his household, pursued the conquerors, overtook them and defeated them at Dan, near the springs of the River Jordan. Lot was rescued. At his return, passing near Salem (supposed to be the city afterwards called Jerusalem), Melchisedek, king of that city, and priest of the Most High God, came out and blessed him, and presented him with bread and wine for his own refreshment and that of his army; or as some have thought, offered bread and wine to God, as a sacrifice of thanksgiving on Abram's behalf. Birth of Ishmael After this, God renewed his promises to Abram, with fresh assurances that he would possess the land of Canaan and that his descendents would be as numerous as the stars of heaven. As Sarai continued to be infertile, God's promise that Abram's seed would inherit the land seemed impossible. His only heir was his servant, who was over his household, a man called Eliezer of Damascus. Abram was then promised as an heir a son of his own. Sarai, because she thought she could not give Abram a son, gave him her Egyptian handmaid Hagar as a wife. [2]Hagar then became pregnant, but Sarai was unable to stand Hagars teasing and boasting. Sarai dealt harshly with Hagar and forced her to leave. God heard Hagar's sorrow and promised her that her descendants would be too numerous to count, and she returned. Her son, Ishmael, was Abram's firstborn, but was not the promised child. Hagar and Ishmael were eventually driven away permanently from Abram by Sarai.

Covenant [3]The name Abraham was given to Abram (and the name Sarah to Sarai) at the same time as the covenant of circumcision, which is practiced in Judaism and Islam to this day. At this time Abraham was promised not only many descendants, but descendants through Sarah specifically, as well as the land where he was living, which was to belong to his descendants. The covenant was to be fulfilled through Isaac, though God promised that Ishmael would become a great nation as well. The covenant of circumcision (unlike the earlier promise) was two-sided and conditional (required give and take): if Abraham and his descendants fulfilled their part of the covenant, Yahweh (God) would be their God and give them the land. [4]The promise of a son to Abraham made Sarah "laugh", which became the name of the son of promise, Isaac which means laughter. Sarah, because of her age, "laughs" at the idea of a child when Yahweh appears to Abraham as three mysterious messengers at Mamre and, when the child is born, cries "Yahweh has made me laugh; every one that hears will laugh at me". Sodom and Gomorrah The enormous sins of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the neighboring cities, brought upon them the wrath of the three angels that Yahweh had appeared as. After visiting Abraham, these angels were ready to depart and Abraham went with them towards Sodom. Abraham felt pity for the Sodomites and prayed that if fifty good people were found in the city then it should be spared; he reduced the numbers gradually to ten; but this number of good people could not be found (or God, in answer to his prayers, would have backed off). Lot, being the only righteous person to be found in Sodom was preserved (with his family) from the disaster.

Sarah and Abimelech Sarah became pregnant according to Gods promise and Abraham left the plain of Mamre and went south, to Gerar, where Abimelech reigned as king; and again fearing that Sarah might be taken from him, and himself be put to death, he called her here, as he had done in Egypt, his 'sister'. Abimelech took Sarah into his house and wanted to marry her, but God having in a dream informed him that she was Abraham's wife, he gave her back with many presents. Binding of Isaac [5]Some time after the birth of Isaac, Abraham was commanded by God to offer his son up as a sacrifice in the land of Moriah. Abraham traveled three days until he came to the mountain that God showed him. Abraham commanded his servant to remain while he and Isaac proceeded alone to the mountain, Isaac carrying the wood upon his back which he would be sacrificed on as a burnt offering.

Along the way, Isaac repeatedly asked Abraham where the animal for the burnt offering was. Abraham then replied that God would provide one. Just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, he was prevented by an angel, and given on that spot a ram which he sacrificed in place of his son. As a reward for his obedience he received another promise of a numerous seed and many riches. The near sacrifice of Isaac is one of the most dramatic, and perhaps morally troublesome, parts of the Bible. According to Josephus, Isaac was 25 years old at the time of the sacrifice or Akedah, while other Jewish scholars have suggested that Isaac was 37. In either case,

Isaac was a fully grown man, old enough to prevent the elderly Abraham (who was 125 or 137 years old!) from tying him up had he wanted to resist. The story now turns to Isaac. To his "only son" Abraham gave all he had, and dismissed his other sons, as Abraham himself had been dismissed by Terah after Terah had given his territory to Nahor.

Death of Sarah [6]Sarah died at an old age, and was buried in the Cave of Machpelah near Hebron, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field next door. Here Abraham himself was buried when he died much later. Centuries after the tomb became a place of pilgrimage and Muslims later built an Islamic mosque inside the site (see picture below on next page). Abraham is considered the father of the Jewish nation, as their Patriarch, and having a son (Isaac), who in turn begat Jacob, from there the Twelve Tribes of Israel. To prove that Abraham worthy to father the nation, God "tested" him with ten tests, greatest being his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. first and was the

Last years of Abraham The life of Abraham was prolonged for many years after Sarah. After the death of Sarah, he slept with a concubine named Keturah and had children with her. He died at the age of 175 years. He was buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael, in the cave of Machpelah, where he had deposited the remains of his beloved Sarah. Jewish legend says that he was meant to live to 180 years, but God purposely took his life because He felt that Abraham did not need to go through the pain of seeing one of his sons (Esau's) wicked deeds.

Activity: In blue writing, numbered 1-6 are the key events in Abrahams Journey to the Promised Land. His journey was not only the journey from Haran to Canaan, it was also the journey towards a new understanding of and relationship with God. Your task is to draw a cartoon storyboard of these 6 main events. Make sure you include a brief written description of whats going on in each diagram.