I, Abraham
First-person Transcriptions from the Old Testament Patriarch
by Edwin Walhout
Published by Edwin Walhout
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 Edwin Walhout
Cover design by Amy Cole (amy.cole@comcast.com)
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Table of Contents
Introduction
1 Father Terah
2 Monotheism
3 Egypt
4 El Shaddai
5 Lot
6 Melchizedek
7 Covenant
8 Hagar
9 Circumcision
10 Visitors
11 Sodom
12 Lot’s Wife
13 Isaac and Ishmael
14 Beersheba
15 Isaac Sacrificed
16 Machpelah
17 Rebekah
18 Keturah
Time Travel Plans
My very first trip back into time was a visit to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, which I recorded elsewhere. Now I am reporting on my second visit, this time to another important Biblical person who lived more than a millennium before Jeremiah: Abraham.
It was difficult to find Abraham at the right time in his life when he could tell about his earlier life. After several wrong tries, we found him living in a comfortable tent near the city of Hebron. Abraham was well over one hundred years old by then.
1 Father Terah
Abraham thinks that I am an angel come to visit him from El-Shaddai in heaven. I ask him to tell me about his life as far back as he can remember. He seemed pleased to talk about his childhood in the city of Ur.
You ask me about my childhood. When I was a boy, I lived on a farm just outside a large city far away from here to the east, with my mother, father Terah, and two brothers Haran and Nahor. The city was called Ur (in modern Iraq).
I remember it fairly well, since I lived there for twenty years. The city had walls around it and the Euphrates River flowed around it on two sides. Each of these two sides had a harbor inside the wall. A canal ran all the way around the city to protect us during times of war. Inside the city near the river was a great temple. We called a ziggurat. It was made of large clay bricks and had a great wide stairway with hundreds of steps that led up to the top. On the top was a large platform on which the temple itself was built.
The priests of Marduk did their work in the temple. Once a year they let people climb to the top to worship the gods. I remember the first time my father Terah took me up those steps. I was twelve years old. What an exciting time that was, climbing those great stairs, moving up onto the platform so close to heaven! I remember watching the priests go about their work, listening to them chant their songs, watching their faces. I was enthralled wondering what it all meant.
I remember those celebrations very well. I grew up believing there are gods in everything, all around us, gods who control everything that happens. I took my responsibility to the gods very seriously. As I look back, I think it was then that I became truly religious, believing in the gods.
There is something else I remember very vividly. Every year foreigners from the east came and demanded room to live on the fertile lands near the river. Our family had a terrible disagreement with them and as a result, my brother Haran was killed. My father Terah could take no more, and the next spring we packed up our belongings and began our journey along the Euphrates River.
My father had intended to travel to a country we had heard about, where the pastures were green and the farm lands rich and plentiful. The land was called Canaan, but we never got there.
When it was time to turn south away from the Euphrates River, we decided not to leave the river area. There was room for us to settle down just a bit north of the river, so we pitched our tents and dug wells. My father named the place Haran, after my brother who was killed. Our family lived there for a long time. It was there that I married my wife Sarah, where I acquired large herds and flocks, as well as many servants, and caravans. I became a prosperous man.
Everything seemed to move along quite well during those years, but I myself grew restless and uncertain about some things – religious things I suppose one would say – but that is another story which I will talk about tomorrow if you care to come back.
2 Monotheism
I record the conversations I have with Abraham, and then translate them as best I can into English. I do this after each morning’s visit. Today’s topic is monotheism, belief in only one God. Abraham is reflecting on how his life changed when he came to recognize there is only one God.
(Based on Joshua 24:1-4 and Genesis 12:1-9)
In many ways the gods were good to me in Haran. I became quite rich. I had huge flocks of sheep and herds of goats. I dug and controlled several wells nearby. I had caravans coming and going.
But I was becoming restless and dissatisfied. I was upset that bandits infested the trade routes. I was upset that armies passed nearby almost every year, killing and destroying everything that stood in their way. I was upset that people were not honest, that they could not live together in friendship. There seemed to be so much confusion and hatred and violence. Things should not be this way, I kept thinking.
It became clear to me that much of the evil in life is connected to the idea that there are many different gods. The gods fight with one another, even killing each other if they can. We were following that pattern down here on earth. We were imitating the gods.
I began to wonder if there might be only one God, not all these many different gods competing with each other. If there is only one God and we follow that example, then we would no longer fight and hate and kill. God does not fight himself; so we would not fight each other either.
The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced it is true. I believe there really is only one God, and if we all live according to his example we will get along with each other much better. Peace and happiness will come if we serve only one God.
I tried to explain it, but nobody thought it made any sense. They argued, We would have a hard time choosing which of the gods is the only one. Each country has its own god, and the people of that country think their god is supreme. How could you get the Hittites, for example, to acknowledge the Babylonian god Marduk as supreme? Or vice-versa? It just won’t work, my friends objected. Someone even suggested that maybe we had to invent a new god, supreme above all the other gods, one which every nation would recognize.
Eventually I decided to get away from this polytheistic community in which I was living and start a new community, one with faith in one God only, not many gods. I decided to go south, to the land of Canaan where my father had originally intended to go. There seemed to be enough open space there. I had to be sure that there was water and food not only for my people but for my animals also.
Then, to complicate matters, my nephew Lot decided to come along with me. He was also a rich man with large herds and a large establishment of servants and tents. And so we began the journey together, going first to a place called Shechem.
We didn’t stay there, however, because there were other people nearby who let us know we were not welcome. The last thing I wanted to do was to make enemies. I wanted to organize my life and household on a pattern of peace and unity.
So the next season we moved on to another place, called Bethel. Again, we stayed for a while, but we weren’t welcome there either, so we kept moving on in a southerly direction, looking for a good place to settle down permanently.
My servants wondered whether I had made a good move because we did not find a satisfactory area to settle down. Lot’s people were not so happy either. We passed up some very good land because other people were there before us and I simply would not fight with them.
But let me tell you more about that next time.
3 Egypt
An obscure passage in Deuteronomy describes Abraham's grandson Jacob as a wandering Aramean. The title would fit Abraham as well, as today's conversation shows. They were known as Hebrews among the other people, a term that meant much the same as the term gypsy does in Europe.
(Based on Genesis 12:10 – 13:1 and Deuteronomy 26:5)
My scouts saw vast acres of land that seemed to be empty. But when we went there we discovered they were controlled by some nearby city or some powerful tribe. My people said it would be easy to force our way in and take whatever land we wanted. But I would not do that. That is precisely the kind of life I was leaving behind: violence and war.
So we kept moving south, hoping to find a suitable place to settle down. On the whole we did well enough, but it seemed as if we could not find the ideal spot to set up our new monotheistic community.
Then a great drought came. When it rained the land was fertile enough, but now it was hard to find enough water. During famine times great struggles occurred over wells in the desert, and that was happening now all around us. Lot and I had to pack up once again and move on. This time we went to Egypt, hoping the king would let us find some land where Lot and I could settle until this devastating drought was over.
I was fearful about what the Egyptians would think. They might not like to see such a huge establishment coming in to their territory. We were migrant sheiks of the desert, nomads. City people regarded us as outlaws. Actually there were other nomads who were unruly and vicious. So we were all treated with suspicion. They called us Hebrews, which meant that we were dangerous migrants among the more established people of the country. I understood how others felt about us.
Did I mention that my good wife Sarah was a very attractive woman? More than once she had attracted the attention of kings in the lands we had passed through. I feared this might happen again when we entered Egypt and asked for lands to settle on. I feared that the king of Egypt might want to make a trade with us nomads: a place to live in exchange for my beautiful wife, Sarah.
So Sarah and I agreed to a scheme. We would say she was my sister instead of my wife.
Perhaps you do not know that Sarah was first my brother Haran's wife. In our culture when a husband dies, the widow becomes the responsibility of his brother. So that is how it worked with us. When my brother Haran died, his wife became my responsibility. She was my sister-in-law and, after my brother died, I married her and she became my wife.
Well, it happened just as we feared. Pharaoh assigned us a place to live, but Sarah had to join his harem. We did not like the arrangement at all, but it seemed the best thing to do under the circumstances.
Then, after a couple of years, somebody discovered that Sarah was my wife. It was a scary time. Would they kill Sarah? Would they kill me? Fortunately, we had proved we were not troublemakers, and had in fact enriched Pharaoh’s coffers in many ways, paying our taxes and giving expensive gifts besides.
So the message came back: Get out of Egypt. Take your wife and get out. How could you practice such deceit upon us? How could you make us do such a wicked thing as to take a foreigner’s wife unknowingly? They blamed Sarah and me for the deception, and I am afraid that accusation is at least half-true.
God, forgive me if I have sinned in this matter. For the last thing I want to do in my new monotheistic stance is to practice deception and lure others into evil. But regardless of the morality involved, we did survive and we did go back to the country we regarded as home. Back to Canaan.
4 El Shaddai
In retirement, Abraham is living in a spacious tent with his young wife Keturah. I shared in that relaxed and comfortable way of life as an honored guest. Today Abraham tells what happened after he returned to the land of Canaan.
(Based on Genesis 13:1-18 and Exodus 6:3)
Even though it was still very difficult to find a place where we could stay for more than a few years, we did prosper, Lot and I. We became very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold. Our caravans were busy and profitable.
However, Lot’s servants and mine began to quarrel about who had the rights to this or that pasture land. And they quarreled over who would service their flocks first at the wells. Lot and I remained on good terms with one another, as did our managers, but the people out in the field were quarrelsome. They had to deal with the day to day problems of sheep and goats and camels.
One day there was a small skirmish at one of the disputed wells. There were injuries on both sides. It became clear that the two groups could not get along. As you may imagine, this made me very unhappy. I had left my father’s land in order to get away from the hatred and violence between people. Now I was seeing it happen in my own household as well, where we all acknowledge one God only.
Lot and I talked it over and decided to separate. I gave my nephew Lot first choice of where to live. He decided on the lush pasture lands in the Dead Sea basin. There was plenty of water there and good pasture.
That was a spot we had never considered because of the reputation of the people who lived there, the cities of Gomorrah, Sodom, and others. We knew something of the bad morality of the men who lived there. But the land was lush and that is where Lot chose to go.
I took my people and herds to an oasis near the town of Hebron. The area was not all that desirable, but we could make it serve well enough, especially since we would no longer be competing with Lot for water.
The first thing I did when I came to this new oasis, with the great trees of Mamre, was to erect an altar to God. I killed a lamb and burned it whole on the altar. That lamb represented my complete devotion to God. It was as if I burned up my entire life in obedience to the Lord. I hoped that my community would be the beginning of a great nation under God.
But I had another problem. I was now convinced that there is only one God, but what name should I use for him? I was comfortable enough with the common Canaanite name for the high god, El. But if there is a high god then there are lower gods as well. So from time to time I considered whether there might be a more unique name not used elsewhere, but conveying the idea of one only God.
What I decided to do was to add a word to the name El to make sure we know what we mean. We began to speak of El Shaddai instead of just El. This name reminds us that God is all-powerful, that he is almighty, that he is in control of everything that happens, not just some things.
So the altar at Mamre became a symbol of our faith in the one almighty God, who from now on is known as El Shaddai; God the All-powerful. But next I have to tell you about my nephew Lot and the trouble he was getting into down there next to Sodom.
5 Lot
I have a copy of Genesis in Hebrew with me, and I check how closely Abraham's stories match what is in the Bible. Usually they match quite well, but today I found an interesting mistake in Genesis 14:14. That passage mentions the town of Dan. Well, of course there was no town of Dan at the time Abraham lived. It's like saying the Pilgrims settled in Boston. I think it means only the area that was called Dan later.
(Based on Genesis 14:1-16)
News about Lot came back to me from time to time. I learned that Lot moved his family into the city of Sodom. He decided that living in permanent houses made of stone or bricks offered more comfort than living in tents.
I was surprised and disappointed that Lot should bring his wife and children into such moral and religious temptations. I sent my trusted servant Eliezer to warn Lot that the danger of falling into wicked ways was very great in that wicked city. Lot assured Eliezer that he and his family were well aware of the situation, and would not let it endanger their faith or their lives.
Well, that was one thing that troubled me. I was also bothered by the constant coming and going of armies through our lands. I seldom had trouble with local kings, but when foreign armies came marching through, everyone in the territory became upset and fearful.
I wanted to be a man of peace, yet I had learned through the years that we still had to protect ourselves from marauding bandits or even small armies. So I had one of my servants assigned full-time to look after our safety.
I tell you this because one spring a great army came down from the north on the other side of the Jordan River. They were led by a king named Kederlaomer. Kederlaomer intended to gain control of the copper mines by the Red Sea. As he advanced toward the Red Sea, he attacked all the cities in his path.
His army would soon get to the area where my nephew Lot lived, the cities of the plain. There were five cities, Sodom, Gomorrah, and three others, and they joined their separate armies into one, hoping that they would be able to withstand the invaders.
It was a disaster. They picked a bad place to fight. It was an area with dangerous tar pits. They hoped the enemy would get trapped in those tar pits, but the opposite happened. The army of the five cities was defeated badly and the soldiers had no place to retreat. When they fled from the victors they were forced to leave the main roads and try to get through the dangerous tar pits. Hundreds of defenders lost their way and perished.
The worst news, however, was that Lot and his family were captured. They would become slaves. It took two or three days for this news to reach me. I quickly ordered my security chief to gather our men, a little army of 300.
We knew the main army of invaders would be moving on farther south. Only a small platoon of soldiers would be taking the prisoners back north toward their home cities. So we chased them and caught up with them at a spot near Mount Hermon (Dan). My military commander split our army into two groups, and in the middle of the night we attacked from two sides.
The enemy guards panicked and fled as fast as they could. We chased them north all the next day, rescuing prisoners and reclaiming stolen loot. We found Lot and his family among the prisoners, and we recaptured all the livestock and booty taken by the enemy.
I understood this sorry spectacle as a clear warning from God to Lot that he had better stay away from those cursed cities of the plain. Nonetheless Lot went right back into Sodom. That’s where my home is, he said. And there was nothing I could do to change his mind. He and his wife had tasted the good life of the city and now simply refused to return to the more rigorous life of tent living.
There was an interesting incident that happened on the way back home that I would like to tell you about. About a friend of mine named Melchizedek. Tomorrow.
6 Melchizedek
Abraham tells me today about Melchizedek. It is interesting what the Bible says about this man in other places. Jesus is called a priest after the order of Melchizedek, for example.
(Based on Genesis 14:17-24, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 5:1-10)
Today I want to tell you about two incidents that happened on the way back from rescuing Lot. Both involve kings, one the king of Salem and the other the king of Sodom.
What a contrast between those two men! They symbolize for me the basic contrast between what is right with people and what is wrong with them. But let me tell you the stories.
Salem is a little city not too far from here, twenty-five miles more or less. North. Sodom, as you know, is more to the east. So on our way back from rescuing Lot we first came to Salem, and later to Sodom.
It so happened that I knew the king of Salem fairly well, and I respected him highly. Years earlier we had come to an understanding that we would respect each other’s territory. The king’s name was Melchizedek, a name that means, The king is just. That is what he wanted to be: a good and righteous king.
So, on our way back home, I made arrangements with my friend Melchizedek to let our small army stop for refreshment and sleep overnight. He was most courteous and cooperative because he respected me and approved of what I had been doing in rescuing the captives. When I left next day I wanted to thank him for his cooperation, and so I gave him a share of the booty we recovered.
King Melchizedek had been a priest before he became king, and he was trying to integrate his sense of responsibility to the gods with his responsibility to the city. I was trying to do much the same in my own desert camp, trying to demonstrate how it works out in everyday life to have one only God.
So, that was the king of Salem. Then there was the king of Sodom.
Lot told me the king was a ruthless tyrant who imposed his will on the city. After we rescued Lot and his family we wanted to bring back the booty that came from Sodom and the other cities. My intent was to return it all, even if privately I thought they did not deserve it.
The king of Sodom was full of flattery when we arrived, but I sensed it was all deceit. He insisted that I should keep all the property for myself, so long as I returned the people, which included some of the women in his harem and several of his children.
I think he would really have preferred the opposite: to have the goods returned even if the people were not. That at least is the kind of person he seemed to me.
I rejected his offer. No, sir, I told him, there is no way that anyone will be able to say the King of Sodom has made Abraham rich. I do not need these things that were taken from you.
If I kept the booty, they would say, Look at Abraham, when it comes right down to it he is just the same as we. Once he gets his hands on property he doesn’t let go, even if he knows it belongs to someone else. If I had kept that property of Gomorrah and Sodom I would have brought discredit upon the God, El-Shaddai, whom I serve with all my heart. And that I simply would not do.
So there you have it. Two kings. One representing justice and truth and honor; the other representing selfishness, greed, deceit, falsity. I suppose those are the two basic choices everyone must make, probably people in your land as well as in mine.
Which brings to mind something else about God and me. I call it a covenant. But let's wait until tomorrow to talk about it.
7 Covenant
Abraham’s tent became rather hot when the sun shone directly on it. Consequently, as often as not, our conversations were held in the shade of a leafy tree with a skin of wine at hand.
(Based on Genesis 15:1-21)
The most important turning-point in my life was when I left my father’s household and moved to the land of Canaan, starting a new community living in faith in the one only God.
But there was also another important crisis in my life that I will tell you about today; Sarah and I had no children.
Sarah thought God was punishing her by not giving her children. And I did not want to leave all my possessions to someone who was not my own son when I died.
As it was, the person who would inherit all of my property was my chief servant Eliezer. I loved Eliezer and trusted him entirely, but I wanted a son of my own to be my heir, not my servant.
The years passed, and one day Sarah informed me she was now too old to have children. It was the end of our hopes. There would be no baby boy, no heir; it was impossible.
It must have bothered me more than I realized at first because I became deeply depressed. I had so many unanswered questions: How can we carry on this great experiment in monotheism if there are no children, and no possibility of there ever being any? What will happen after I die? Who will carry on in my stead? I was really downhearted. I felt sorry for myself and was very close to blaming God for it. God, why don't you give us children?
But then, all of a sudden, it seemed as if God started talking to me. I would say something, and then, almost as in a dream, God would reply; then I would make some objection, and God would answer. This is how it went.
I complained to God that I had no heir, that Eliezer would inherit all my property. God replied, No he won’t, you will have a son to inherit. Go outside your tent, look at the stars -- you will have descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven.
I continued my complaint, I own no land, I am still only a stranger in the land. God replied, But the day will come when your descendants will own this whole land, all the way from the Euphrates River to Egypt.
That’s easy for you to say, Lord, but what if this is only wishful thinking for me?
Then God replied, Well, you want visible proof? All right, let’s do this. Take a young calf, divide it into two pieces and lay them out on the ground opposite each other. Then walk between them. You do that tonight and then wait to see what I will do to confirm my pledge to you.
I did what the Lord suggested. Then I went to bed and tried to sleep. A sudden thunderstorm woke me up.
A bolt of lightning flashed between the two sides of the calf, burning them. The Lord had passed between them! The Lord made a covenant with me!
I knew then for certain God would keep his promises -- children, descendants, land to live in. It was a covenant he made with me and with my children. All the rest of my life I lived in that faith, and as you know by now, God did keep that promise to Sarah and me. As we have kept our promise to him.
But I do have to tell you of a bad mistake we made, Sarah and I, trying to make sure we had children. Next time.
8 Hagar
I soon noticed that Abraham was sad today. He was telling me a story that did not turn out happily for him and his wife Sarah. It was about children.
(Based on Genesis 16:1-16)
Sarah came up with a second-best solution to our wanting to have children. She reminded me of one of the customs of our people, substitute marriage.
The custom of substitute marriage said that if a husband and wife had children, the husband could not take another wife. But if they had no children, then the wife must find another woman for her husband, hoping that they would get a child that way.
This second woman would not legally be a wife but a concubine, not on equal standing with the first wife. If they do have a child, this child belongs to the first wife, not to the birth mother.
So that is what Sarah did after she knew she would never have a baby. She had a servant girl named Hagar, and she brought this girl to me. Hagar soon became pregnant.
Hagar became excited that she was going to have a baby. She was about to become the mother of Abraham’s child! What prestige! It went to her head.
As the months passed this young girl became sassy toward Sarah. She would say to Sarah, How does it feel that I am carrying Abraham’s child and you could not do it?
Finally Sarah complained to me. I did call Hagar in and told her sternly that she was must show no disrespect to her mistress. But when the disrespect continued, Sarah kept complaining to me that Hagar was getting more impudent all the time.
Finally I told Sarah that she was free to discipline the girl in any way she saw fit. I understand that Hagar was whipped once or twice. But nothing that Sarah tried worked. Hagar kept mocking Sarah.
And when Sarah reminded her that the baby would be hers, she said, Well, that is what you think. You had better see to it that I get equal treatment around here, or you won’t get my baby at all.
Sarah reported all this to me. Neither of us understood what Hagar’s implied threat meant -- that we would not get the baby after all. And then one day we discovered what Hagar meant. She ran away.
Many days later she came back, accompanied by a stranger. The stranger explained that he had found her by a well almost at the border of Egypt. The stranger believed the story that Hagar told him about being abused. He said, I implore you to stop the abuse.
I explained to the stranger what the true situation was. She was disciplined, I agreed, but only because she was scorning my wife. After that Sarah and Hagar learned to tolerate each other somewhat better and got along without further trouble.
The baby was born in due time, with both mother and son in good health. All of us were very happy. Hagar named the baby Ishmael. In my language the name Ishmael means God hears. It was really my prerogative to name the child, but her choice seemed to be good enough, and I did not want to upset her any more than necessary. So Ishmael it was, and I had a son! Sarah had a substitute son!
God had kept his promise that I would have an heir! But you probably will not meet him. He seldom visits me. I will tell you more about my son Ishmael later, but there are some other things to talk about first.
9 Circumcision
Abraham tells about how he began the custom of circumcision and what it means to him and his people. It is a sacrament in his community, like the sacrament of baptism in our churches today.
(Based on Genesis 17:1-27)
I was reasonably content with what had happened. Having a substitute son like Ishmael was the second best solution. He would inherit, not my servant Eliezer. Ishmael would continue the monotheist community I had begun.
So I thought.
But as Ishmael grew up I began to have some doubts about it. Ishmael seemed to follow the polytheism of his Egyptian mother more than the monotheism of his father.
Sadly, I recognized that Ishmael showed little interest in God or in the community of faith into which he had been born. He simply was not likely to maintain God's covenant. Still, I hoped that he might grow out of it, out of his indifference.
I began to realize I must find a symbol, a way to express the difference between our monotheistic community and the polytheism all around us. God showed it to me: circumcision. This practice could be made into a truly significant symbol of the monotheist covenant.
So I called a huge meeting of all the men in my household. Men were summoned from miles away where they were caring for the flocks. Men who were running caravans were brought into camp. Every male must be circumcised, including myself.
The day came, I was first. It was terribly painful. Ishmael was second. He didn’t like it at all; he resisted and we had to force him. Over the next several days all the men of my establishment were circumcised.
I made sure everyone knew exactly why it was being done. I told them, This is a sign of the covenant God has made with us. We are pledged now to serve one God only. I said, If you have images of other gods in your possession you must destroy them. You must not pray to other gods. There are no other gods. There is only one God; his name is El-Shaddai. Serve him only.
The rite of circumcision symbolized all of that. We were pledging ourselves to serve Yahweh, and him only. In time, however, it became clear that even circumcision did not change people’s minds.
Ishmael rebelled against me. He never forgave me for forcing him through that painful surgery of circumcision. I had to write him off as my heir and as a spiritual leader for my people.
Again I began to worry about the future. Nothing seemed to work. Not a substitute mother, not Ishmael, not circumcision.
Then one day I was deep in thought, and it seemed as if God himself came to sit next to me, as if God and I were talking back and forth. This is what I heard God saying.
Abram, he said, What you have been hoping for is exactly correct. Sarah will indeed bear a son in her old age. You will have a son to carry on your work. You have been cleansed by circumcision, and I will cleanse Sarah your wife by opening her womb. Try again.