When we think of Abraham, the Father of our Faith, we most likely revere him. He is the man God chose to bless with being the father of His children here on earth. He’s the man who trusted and obeyed God to the point of being willing to sacrifice his own son if that’s what Almighty God wanted him to do. What a strong man of faith!
Perhaps a glance at Abraham’s life (originally known as Abram) will help us have the proper perspective when we think of our own fathers.
Leadership for the Family
“The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.’ Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, …” (Genesis 12:1-4
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
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They arrived in Canaan where God appeared to Abram and told him He was giving this land to his descendants. Abram built an altar there to honor the Lord.
What a godly man.
Time passed and a famine drove them to Egypt. Abram feared the Egyptians would kill him and take his beautiful wife; so he lied and said Sarai was his sister. Sarai was taken into Pharaoh's harem and Abram got tons of gifts from Pharaoh because of her. So, Sarai is basically given over to be a sex slave and Abram profits from it. His plan worked since he’s still alive, but look what happened to his wife! (Genesis 12:10-20
At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, "Look, you are a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his wife. Let's kill him; then we can have her!' So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you." And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai's beauty. When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. But the LORD sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram's wife. So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. "What have you done to me?" he demanded. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, `She is my sister,' and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!" Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions.
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What an ungodly man.
However, because God is faithful and true, He did not allow this to be the end of their story. The Lord had promised Abram that he would make him into a great nation. He brought a plague on Pharaoh and his household and revealed the truth about Sarai to Pharaoh. So, Pharaoh took back the gifts and sent them both out of Egypt. They traveled (for months, maybe years) back to where Abram had built the altar in Canaan and he "worshipped the Lord again" (Genesis 13:4
This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the LORD again.
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Questioning God
Sometime later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and told him not to be afraid, “I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” (Genesis 15:1
Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great."
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) But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?”
Somehow, this doesn’t sound like a strong man of faith.
Abram and Sarai knew the LORD had promised Abram a son and since Sarai was past child-bearing age, she told Abram to take her servant, Hagar, as an additional wife to bear him a son. Hagar gets pregnant. She and Sarai become bitter enemies. Hagar has a son, Ishmael, when Abram is 86-years-old. (Genesis 16:1-16
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, "The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her." And Abram agreed with Sarai's proposal. So Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, "This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she's pregnant she treats me with contempt. The LORD will show who's wrong—you or me!" Abram replied, "Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit." Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away. The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, "Hagar, Sarai's servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress, Sarai," she replied. The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority." Then he added, "I will give you more descendants than you can count." And the angel also said, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means `God hears'), for the LORD has heard your cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives." Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, "You are the God who sees me."* She also said, "Have I truly seen the One who sees me?" So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means "well of the Living One who sees me"). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born.
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What a mess.
A New Name and a New Covenant
When Abram is 99-years-old, the LORD tells him, “I am El-Shaddai - ‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life” and makes a covenant with him guaranteeing He will give Abram countless descendants. The LORD changes Abram’s name to Abraham because he will be the father of many nations. He also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah, and says he will bless her and give Abraham a son by her.
God blesses him anyhow.
Abraham bows down to the ground, laughs to himself in disbelief about he and Sarah having a child when he’s 100 and she’s 90 years old. So, he assumes he knows it must be Ishmael who will be blessed to begin the great line of descendants. God corrects him and says, “No, Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.”
God blesses him anyhow.
Because of Faith
Abraham loved the LORD and still made plenty of mistakes.
Galatians 3:6-7
In the same way, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith."* The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
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says, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
God looks at a person’s heart. He looked at Abraham’s heart and saw faith. He didn’t make a checklist of things Abraham had done right and wrong. He overlooked the mistakes. In a nutshell, Abraham loved God and God loved Abraham. That’s the father of our faith. Not a perfect man. But nevertheless, a man we revere.
God loves our earthly fathers too and commands us to honor them (Exodus 20:12
"Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
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). If God can overlook Abraham’s mistakes (selling his wife out for immoral purposes, purposely impregnating a woman who was not his wife, and laughing at God’s message while he’s bowed down to God, etc.), then who are we to do anything less than honor our fathers? Our fathers are a lot like Abraham – not perfect, but God loves them.
Beth Patch is a writer and senior internet producer/editor for CBN.com. She's been writing and producing web content for CBN since 2008. Her empty nest now homes a German shepherd named Princess Leia and a hound dog named Rufus.
