Lesson 5: God's Covenant With Abraham

Before you do this lesson, read the following verses from the Taurat:

Genesis 12:1-20 -- Now the Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you. ²I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great. You will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed."

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. ⁵Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother's son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the people they had acquired in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

 ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land.

⁷The Lord appeared to Abram, and said, "I will give this land to your seed."

He built an altar there to the Lord, who appeared to him. ⁸He left from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord, and called on the name of the Lord. ⁹Abram traveled, going on still toward the South.

¹⁰There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹It happened, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look on. ¹²It will happen, when the Egyptians will see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife.' They will kill me, but they will save you alive. ¹³Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you."

¹⁴It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, and oxen, and male donkeys, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷The Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸Pharaoh called Abram, and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way."

²⁰Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him: and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had.

Now read the lesson and do the test at the end. The lesson explains what you have read in the Taurat.

Abraham (or Abram) lived many years after the flood and the Prophet Noah. He lived with his father in Mesopotamia in the city of Haran. Mesopotamia is only 1,500 kilometres north of Mecca in the country called Iraq today.

Mesopotamia is a good land for camels and farming. It has two big rivers, which bring plenty of water from the mountains.

Abraham had a beautiful wife called Sarah. But she had no children. However, Abraham had a very good life indeed.

God Called Abraham

But something happened that changed Abraham's whole life. God said to Abraham: "Leave your native* land, your relatives*, and your father's home, and go to a country that I am going to show you" (Genesis 12:1).

So Abraham went (Genesis 12:4).

Abraham Moved from Mesopotamia to Palestine with all his Camels

Abraham Obeyed God

Abraham respected and obeyed God's call. Because Abraham obeyed God's call, he left his father's home. He travelled for many months. Finally he came to a new and strange country. This strange land is called Palestine today. Abraham lived in Palestine for a long time. In fact, he died in Palestine, far from his father's people.

God's Promise to Abraham

God knew that Abraham had true faith. God was pleased with Abraham, because Abraham obeyed and trusted God. For this reason God promised to bless Abraham (Genesis 12:2). God promised that Abraham's children would be many, like the stars of the heavens. He promised to give the land of Palestine to Abraham and to his children forever. He promised to bless all mankind through a son of Abraham.

Abraham Experienced Trouble

It was difficult for Abraham to leave all his friends. It was difficult to become a nomad* in the strange land of Palestine. In fact, very soon Abraham came into great trouble. The rain stopped and the land became very dry. There was not enough grass for the cattle. There was not enough food to eat (Genesis 12:10).

People who follow God today often have great trouble too. Some people are chased from their homes. Sometimes their friends laugh at them. God allows trouble to test us and make us strong. Trouble shows whether we truly believe God and want to obey him.

God does not forget us when trouble comes. Never! He always wants to show us his great mercy. God wants to give us special strength in the time of trouble.

Although Abraham was hungry, he kept on obeying God. Abraham did not return to his father's home. He obeyed God. Trouble did not discourage Abraham. He kept on living in the strange land, just like God had said.

The Promise of God was Hard to Believe

Although Abraham obeyed God, it was difficult for him to trust God perfectly. This is because the promises God made to Abraham were hard to believe.

Abraham's wife, Sarah, was very old. She had no children. How could Abraham's descendants* become many, when he had no children of his own?

The Birth of Ishmael

Sarah thought she could never have a son. So Sarah asked Abraham to have a child by her servant Hagar. Abraham accepted Sarah's advice. Soon Hagar gave birth to a son called Ishmael.

God promised to bless the descendants of Ishmael. God said that Ishmael would become a mighty nation.

The blessing of God was upon the boy Ishmael. The Taurat says, "God was with the boy" (Genesis 21:20). Ishmael and his mother, Hagar, needed to travel in the desert. They had no water. But an angel saved them by showing Hagar a well of water (Genesis 21:14-21). This showed that God loved Ishmael and cared for him.

Abraham Believed the Promise of God

After the birth of Ishmael, God appeared to Abraham again. God promised that Abraham's wife, Sarah, would also have a son. That was a surprising promise. Sarah was very old. In fact, she was nearly 90 years old!

Yet Abraham believed God!

God loved Abraham because he believed God's promise. This is very important. The holy Injil says, "Abraham believed God and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous*" (Romans 4:3). Sometimes Abraham did not believe very strongly. But he tried to believe that his old wife Sarah could still have a boy.

Because Abraham believed, God said that he was a good man. Abraham was saved from sin by believing in God and his promise. We are saved in the same way.

God's Covenant with Abraham

God offered a covenant to Abraham. God chose Abraham and promised to bless him. Abraham agreed to obey and to believe God. Because Abraham believed God, God's special blessing rested on Abraham and his family.

This covenant between God and Abraham was very important. God wanted Abraham to remember the covenant always. So God told Abraham to become circumcised* (Genesis 17:10-11). This circumcision was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. After this the children of Abraham always circumcised their boys.

What God Promised Will Bless Everyone

The son whom God promised was born, when Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah 90 years old. Abraham was very happy. He called the son Isaac.

God made a wonderful promise about Abraham's children through Isaac. He said, "All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants ..." (Genesis 22:18).

This means that all the nations of the world are blessed through the son of Abraham and Sarah. Later you will learn that the Messiah came through the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. Truly God's covenant with Abraham was very important for the whole world!

Here is a list of difficult words in this lesson.

native                     -     of the place of one's birth
relatives                 -     family
nomad                    -     one who goes from place to place
descendants          -     my children or the children of my children
righteous                -     good
circumcision          -     to cut the skin from the end of the sex part of a boy

Test 5: The Beginning of People

Here is the test for lesson 5. Write the letter of the correct answer on the line provided.
1.            Abraham lived
            a)            before the Prophet Noah
            b)            many years after the Prophet Noah.
            c)            at the same time as the Prophet Noah.   
___
2.            God told Abraham
            a)            to get married.
            b)            to sell all of his camels.
            c)            to go to a land that he would show him.   
___
3.            God lets trouble come to us
            a)            because he wants to test us and make us strong.
            b)            because he does not care about us.
            c)            because trouble is very pleasant to us.   
___
4.            God said Abraham was good
            a)            because Abraham did notsin.
            b)            because Abraham helped many people.
            c)            because Abraham believed God.    
___
5.            The son that God promised to Abraham and Sarah was called
            a)            Adam.
            b)            Isaac.
            c)            Cain.       
___
Write "True" or "False" after each of the following sentences.
6.            Abraham left his father's country.    ______
7.            Ishmael was the son of Sarah.    ______
8.            God promised tobless Ishmael.    ______
9.            Sarah gave birth to a son when she was 90 years old.    ______
10.            Circumcision was a sign of God's covenant with Abraham.    ______