Ask Mr Bible

The patriarch Abraham who lived and died some 2000 years ago continues to serve our generation as a glorious example of God’s faithfulness.

How Abraham could have reflected on his life:

I still miss Sarah.  Let’s see, how long has she been gone?  I was 137 when she died at age 127.  On my next birthday I’ll be 175.  Nearly 40 years.  That’s a long time to be separated from someone you love.  I can still vividly remember when she and I packed up and left Ur a century ago!  What a handsome couple we were back then.  Of course all our friends and relatives thought we were crazy!  They told us it was bad enough to leave the comfort and safety of city life, but to head out for an unknown land at the command of some invisible God, well, that was sheer insanity!  I wonder how Ishmael is doing these days?  As I remember, he’ll be 88 on his next birthday.  The last report I heard was that he had married an Egyptian girl and had fathered 12 sons.  That’s good!  I hope the best for him.  My heart still grieves when I think back on those events which made it necessary for us to go our separate ways.  Keturah has been a good wife to me, certainly a fruitful one, giving birth to six healthy sons.  But it is Isaac of course, the heir of the covenant, the miracle son, who is the source of my joy and comfort.  Again my thoughts turn to Sarah.  So much has happened since leaving Ur.  God’s righteousness has been imputed to the both of us.  Her barren womb bore us our beloved Isaac.  Each of our names has been changed for the good.  From our seed the Messiah Himself will someday come.  No, old girl, our friends—not us—were were wrong.  You probably did on occasion miss the comfort and safety of big city life.  I know I still do at times.  But not to worry, beloved daughter of the covenant, for we both look for “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

1.      The believer’s relationship to the world is never the same after his conversion (Gen. 12:1-3).

2.       I am never to depend upon Egypt (a type of the world) in time of trouble (Gen. 12:10).

3.       Lying always increases, but never decreases, our problems (Gen. 12:13).

4.       My sin can affect unsaved people (Gen. 12:17; 20:18).

5.       Righteousness is only imputed by faith (Gen. 15:6).

6.       Never substitute God’s revealed plan for one of your own (Gen. 12:2; 16:2-3).

7.       The purest kind of faith is accepting from God those terrible things you cannot possibly understand (Gen. 22:1-2, 15-18; Heb. 11:17-19).

8.       Make every attempt to see that your children marry believers (Gen. 24:1-4).

9.       Anticipate the “sweet by and by” while living in the “nasty now and now!”

          (Heb. 11:10).

Father:  Terah (Gen. 11:26)

Spouses:  Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah (Gen. 11:29; 16:3; 25:1)

Sons:  From Hagar: Ishmael (Gen. 16:15-16).  From Sarah: Isaac (Gen. 21:2-3).

           From Keturah: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah

           (Gen. 25:2)

Brothers:  Nahor and Haran (Gen. 11:26)

Sisters:  Half sister was Sarah (Gen. 20:12)

First mention:  Gen. 11:26

Final mention:  1 Peter 3:6

Meaning of his name:  “Father of a multitude”

Frequency of his name:  Referred to 307 times

Biblical books mentioning him:  27 books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Nehemiah, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter)

Occupation:  Patriarch

Place of birth:  Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 11:31)

Place of death:  Near Hebron in Canaan (Gen. 23:19; 25:9)

Age at death:  175 (Gen. 25:7)

Important fact about his life:  He was the father of the Hebrew nation and the ultimate role model for faith (Gen. 12:1-3; 1 Chron. 1:34; 2:1-2; Heb. 11:8-10).

This is illustrated by the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:17-44).

Standing outside the tomb that contained the body of Lazarus, Jesus gives some specific and pointed instructions:

Here we see an example of that desired cooperation God seeks between the Savior and the soul winner in raising dead sinners to newness of life.  Jesus issued three commands in accomplishing this miracle.  The first and third were directed toward the friends of the corpse, while the second was given to the corpse itself.  Note:

1. ”Take ye away the stone” (John 11:39).  The job of the soul winner is to first remove all human barriers so that Christ can come in direct contact with a lost person.

2. ”Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43).  Only Christ, of course, can do this.

3. ”Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44).  In a word, this speaks of discipleship, that is, ministering to the new convert.

Hallowed Be Thy Name

A pastor friend of mine once had the joy of leading one of the most wicked men in his entire community to the Lord.  The former drunkard, thief and street fighter now glowed with the love of Christ.  Shortly following his amazing conversion he asked the pastor if he could give his testimony, which request was quickly granted.  Thus, this uneducated and crude convert stood before the congregation and, with many tears, related what Christ had done for him.  He ended his testimony by quoting what had become his life’s verse, Matt. 6:9, “Hallowed be thy name.”

“Folks,” he cried out, “this is what it’s all about!  The name of the Lord should be ‘hollered.’  We ought to ‘holler’ it from the housetops!”

After he was finished the pastor observed to his smiling congregation that, if the truth were known, this new convert had captured the true spirit of Matt. 6:9, if not the letter.