Terah, the son of Shem, had three sons, Abram the firstborn, Nahor the second and Haran the third. Harlan died young and left it to his son Lot. Abram married a wife named Sarai (later renamed Sarah); Nahe married a wife named Micah. Tara intends to move to Canaan with her family, which is in line with the will of the Lord. I walked from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran and settled down temporarily. He died there at the age of 205.
God loves Abram, trusts him, and kindly advises him to move south: "Go where I have indicated, and I will bless you, making you the master of a great country and famous all over the world. Those who bless you will be rewarded; Anyone who curses you will be punished. All people on earth will be blessed by you. "
Abram, led by the Lord, took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and more than 300 slaves and soldiers, and marched like an army to Canaan (later called Palestine) on the western front. Soon after they arrived in Canaan, they suffered a great famine and had to move south to Egypt.
Abram temporarily lived in Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur, and deliberately called his wife Sarai his sister for safety reasons. When the ministers of Abimelech king of Gerar saw Sarai as beautiful as a fairy, they took her into the palace. Abimelech loved Sarai and treated Abram well, and gave him many handmaids and countless livestock and possessions.
The night Sarai entered the palace, the Lord God appeared in Abimelech's dream and warned him, "You and your whole family are in great trouble, because you are going to take over the married women!"
Abimelech cried out to God, "Lord, the man claimed that this beautiful woman was his sister, and this beautiful woman admitted that the man was his brother. I want to be a good thing without knowing it. Besides, I haven't been close to her. How can you punish my whole family? "
God acknowledged Abimelech's "clean heart and clean hands" and advised him to return Sarai. Abimelech called Abram and said to him, "Why do you lie and hurt others? I almost let my family and I suffer from extinction! "
Abram wisely argued, "I mistakenly thought that people here don't fear God and might kill me, because the beautiful Sarai is my wife. In fact, before marriage, we were half brothers and sisters. It stands to reason that Sarai is a sister. " Abimelech stopped blaming Abram and let him take Sarai and the servants, slaves, livestock and goods he had given before and after. They returned to Canaan, worked hard to expand their pastures and create brilliant careers.
In Bethel, Abram's shepherds and Lot's shepherds were their own masters, fighting for pasture. Abram persuaded his nephew that "the closest relatives should live in peace with each other, and our men should not be allowed to start a civil war." Lot was reasonable and readily agreed to the "separation" proposal put forward by his elders. The two men successfully reached an agreement: Lot chose the great plains in the Jordan River valley, moved eastward, and the rest belonged to Abram. Inspired by God, Abram moved his tent and lived under the oak tree in Mamre, Hebron. As usual, he built an altar and offered sacrifices, thanking God for giving him a happy new home. He also wishes his nephew Lot a happy life in his new house, and all his wishes have come true, so that human beings and animals will prosper.
Accidents will happen. Lot's quiet and happy life in his new house won't last long. Lot and his family were taken away as "prisoners of war" by red-eyed soldiers in the war when the powerful king Elam attacked Sodom and Gomorrah.
When the bad news came, Abram was very concerned about the captured Lot family, and immediately gathered more than 300 able-bodied men to attack King Elam's camp and recapture the Lot family and all their belongings.
When Abram won the victory, Melchizedek (Jerusalem), king of Salem, came out to meet him with wine and bread, and blessed those who won the victory: "May the God in charge of the king's land bless Abram. It is commendable that the supreme God delivered the enemy into your hands. " Abram's face lit up at this kind word, and he was happy to give Melchizedek one-tenth of the victory.
Abram lived in Canaan for ten years, but Sarai still had no children. Under Sarai's arrangement, Hagar, an Egyptian slave from Abraham, became his concubine. Hagar is pregnant, which leads to arrogance and prejudice and discriminates against Sarai who has no children. Sarai was jealous, and with Abram's consent, she abused Hagar in every way, but Hagar had no choice but to escape.
God instructed the angel to comfort Hagar and persuade her to obey Sarai. Hagar returned to Abram and Sarai and gave birth to a son named Ishmael. From then on, Abram lived in harmony with his wife and his whole family.
When Abram was 99, Sarai was 90. The Lord God appeared before Abram and said that he would continue to bless his family and make a covenant with him: first, Abram changed his name to Abraham (meaning "the father of many nations") and Sarai changed his name to Sarah (meaning "princess" or "queen"); Second, their men should be circumcised, and their children and grandchildren should be circumcised; Sarah will give birth to a son at the age of 90, who can be named Isaac (meaning "laugh"). Abraham fell to the ground and thanked him with a smile.
One evening, the bright sun set behind the light blue ridge. Abraham sat in front of the tent and meditated, smiling and remembering God's gift to Sarah so that she could have children in her old age. I looked up and saw three people walking on the road very tired, so I warmly invited them into the tent to rest and let them eat and wash their feet in the tent. It's getting late. The three of them are going to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham realized that three strangers were three angels, and one of them was a god. Because after investigation, God confirmed that Sodom and Gomorrah were sinful and sinful and should be destroyed. Sodom and Gomorrah are at stake.
Abraham kindly interceded for the people in the two cities and prayed that God would not destroy a large number of innocent people because of a few sinners. After many requests, God promised Abraham: "Even if there are only ten righteous people, Sodom and Gomorrah will not be destroyed."
These two cities are facing the final "trial". Two angels came to Sodom disguised as "guests", and Lot, Abraham's nephew, gave them a warm reception. Sodom flooded into Lot's house from all directions and surrounded the guests' homes. These men, old and young, were aggressive and shouted, "where are the guests who came to your house tonight?" Give them up quickly, let them sleep with us and let everyone play! " Lot came out to persuade him that he was willing to give it to his two daughters instead of "two guests" and let their "wishes" be fulfilled. They didn't listen to Lot's advice, deliberately pushed Cairo open, trying to break into houses and seize the "guests". The two angels stopped attacking, urged and dragged Lot, his wife and daughter to escape that night.
God was furious and sent sulfur and fire down from heaven, burning Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying the residents of these two cities and all living things on the earth. At first light, Abraham got up early in the morning and stood on a high place, overlooking the two cities and the whole plain. Like a kiln, smoke rises and scorches the earth. He thanked God for saving his nephew Lot, fearing God more and believing in God more.
God fulfilled his promise to Abraham and made Sarah pregnant. When Abraham/Kloc-0 was 0/00 years old, Sarah gave birth to a son for her long-awaited husband. They obeyed God's will and named their child Isaac. God gave them a laugh, and everyone who knew about it laughed with them.
Isaac was smart, lively and lovely, and became the apple of Abraham's eye. In order to test Abraham more severely, when God called him, he clearly said, "Take your only son Isaac to the region of Moriah, build an altar on the mountain I appointed, and offer your beloved son as a burnt offering."
Abraham followed God's instructions and got up the next morning. He took two servants and Isaac, as well as firewood chopping and a strong donkey ready for a burnt offering, and went to the place designated by God. On the third day, Abraham saw the place from a distance, so he ordered his servant and donkey to stay until he and Isaac went up the mountain to worship. He tied the firewood for the burnt offering to Isaac and brought a kindling knife. Father and son went together and talked while walking.
The son asked his father, "Father, we have a fire and a knife in our hands, but we don't know where the lamb for the burnt offering is?"
The father replied, "Son, God has prepared a lamb for a burnt offering!" " "When he arrived at his destination, Abraham built an altar, covered it with firewood, and put the bound Isaac on the altar firewood. He reached for the knife, ready to kill the child.
Just then, the angel of God shouted from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham, stop acting immediately and don't hurt the child!" " Now, your actions have proved that you fear God. You are not unwilling to give Isaac to God because he is your only son. "
Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the horn of a ram locked in a dense small tree. He immediately took the ram and offered a burnt offering instead of Isaac. Because the goat was prepared by God, Abraham named the place "Jehovah's Elk".
God was very satisfied with Abraham's pious behavior and said to him: I will give you great blessings to make your children as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the beach; Your descendants will fight the enemy and win every battle. All the nations of the earth asked me to bless them and their descendants, just as I blessed you and your descendants, because you listened attentively to my words. "