Renate weber biography of abraham

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Romanian politician. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Learn how and when to remove these messages. When we first met Abraham, God had permitted the nations to have their own governments.

He had blocked the rulers of Babel from grasping control of the whole earth, but how was God going to regain authority over the nations? His surprising plan was to create from Abraham a nation governed by God, so the nations could see what they were missing. He called Abraham to leave the region of Babel where the sons of men had attempted the global coup Genesis This nation would be ruled by God—a living expression of the kingdom of God as intended in the beginning.

The goal of this earth-shattering project was that the nations would see the blessing they were missing—the blessing of a divine ruler—so that eventually the blessing of divine rule would be restored to the nations. Even in the face of all these obstacles and tests, Abraham continued to trust God, believing that the heavenly ruler would re-establish his reign over the earth through his descendants.

Before he died, Abraham finally got a little piece of the Promised Land to bury Sarah Genesis 23 , and he organized a wife for Isaac so the promises could continue in the next generation Genesis He believed the heavenly sovereign would re-establish his kingdom. He pegged his life on it. Christopher J. God sees an elderly, childless couple in the land of Babel itself and decides to make them the launch pad of his whole mission of cosmic redemption.

One can almost hear the sharp intake of breath among the angels when the astonishing plan was revealed. What sort of an answer can be provided through Abram and Sarai? Yet that is precisely the scale of what now follows. Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. At Babel, people had sought to make a name for themselves , but God promises that he will make a great name for Abraham and his descendants through their involvement with him and dependence upon him.

Abraham does demonstrate remarkable faith in God by following his call to leave country and kindred and go to the land that God will show him Abraham passes this severe test and is told the entire world will be blessed through his descendants. Previous Lesson - Next Lesson. Adam - Noah - Moses - David. Daniel - Apostle Paul - Story Flow. Abraham is one of the most blessed people in the Bible.

Although Scripture is not a comprehensive history of humans it does, however, chronicle the relationship of one man and his descendants with the Creator of the Universe. Ultimately, it is a record of how God has and will bless mankind through the life of the next person in our timeline.

Renate weber biography of abraham

Abraham and the Three Angels. Where Was Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac? What Is Brimstone? Map of Where Abraham Lived. Who Was Abraham's Other Wife? What War Did Abraham Fight? Sweet indeed is this simplicity of obedience: the necessary requisite surely of a true walk with God. This matter, so important in itself, will be brought before us very vividly, when we come to compare the walk of Lot with that of Abraham.

There we shall find lessons of great importance, and which have a very vital bearing upon our comportment as we pass through a world in which we have no part or lot. With the light of that fair scene shining with imperishable splendour upon every step of the pilgrim pathway, we reach forward with ever-hastening steps to the inheritance that is before us; while, as having the Spirit, the divine Earnest, we taste its joys, its peace and its rest even now.

The manna and the springing well Suffice for every need; And Eshcol's grapes the story tell Of where Thy path doth lead. We have already remarked that it was only after the ties of nature were snapped by death that Abraham moved with unimpeded step on to the inheritance to which God had called him. How strong these natural ties can be, and their influences are invariably hostile to our attaining the full measure of what God desires for us.

The activities and energies of nature ever tend to militate against the full realisation and practical power of the "calling of God. The beloved Apostle, ever sensitive to the difficulties with which the assembly would have to contend, in seeking to know the hope of God's calling, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, prays that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full-knowledge of Him, being enlightened in the eyes of their heart.

With failure to apprehend the calling there would evidently be a lack of consistency in the practical life corresponding to the heavenly calling. Had Abraham more fully realised that the call of God was to Canaan, and that there lay his inheritance, the power of the truth regarding all involved in that call, would have been more than sufficient for him to meet and overcome the subtle influences and obstructions of nature.

And is it not so with us? If we are led by the Spirit of God into the understanding of this wonderful truth regarding His calling, could we be guilty of such treachery as would seek a place, a standing, a portion in the world that refused our blessed Lord? He gave Himself for our sins, to deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father Gal.

In Revelation John is told to write to the Angel of the assembly in Pergamos, "These things says He that has the sharp two-edged sword: and then comes these significant words, descriptive of a moral class, "I know where thou dwellest, where the throne of Satan is… Antipas my faithful witness who was slain among you, where Satan dwells. How strange indeed to view the church at her ease in the presence of the "throne" and "dwelling" of Satan, the god of this world, and its prince.

For the church to settle down, where Satan has both a throne and a dwelling, is to falsify her character as a witness for holiness and truth. As another has said of that day, "Christianity walked in golden slippers. What is true of the church is, of course, applicable to us as individuals. But it is blessed to see that there were those of whom it could he said, "Thou holdest fast My Name, and hast not denied My faith.

In Abraham's history, death came in and severed the bond which bound him so strongly in Haran; so in our case, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ proves an impassable barrier to those who realise that they have died with Christ. Our place in nature, and our standing in the world has been terminated before God. The cross is to us what the Red Sea was to the children of Israel — that which separates us forever from the land of death and judgment.

But let us now return to find Abraham in the land to which God had called him. In verse 6 of chapter 12 we read, "And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. Shechem means "shoulder," and Moreh, "Instructor;" and is it not when we bow the shoulder to bear that we find instruction?

This indeed is the "virtue" in which is knowledge 2 Peter Yes, dear friend, the oak of Moreh still grows at Shechem; and here too we find a dark shadow in the path of the man of faith — "The Canaanite was then in the land. How forcibly does this speak to us of the influences of evil, the powers of darkness mentioned in Ephesians !

The adversary seeks to hinder the saints of God from entering into spiritual possession of that which God has purposed for them in His love and grace. How blessed it is for us to see how God met this new difficulty for Abraham: Jehovah appeared to him and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land. And it is surely in the land that this divine confirmation regarding the possession of the inheritance is fully realised; and where power to possess ourselves of the inheritance is acquired.

It is as Canaan-dwellers that the secrets of God's heart are opened to us, and where those blessed manifestations of the Lord Jesus Christ are assured to us. Then we read of Abram building his altar to Jehovah, Who had appeared unto him. He worshipped God according to his apprehension of Him Who had appeared to him, and in consonance with the character of the communications made.

Today, there is on earth, a company indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who are partakers of the divine nature, to whom the Son has revealed the Father, revealing to them His Name. Such are able by the Spirit to enter into these wonderful divine revelations, and to gratify, by their response, the Father's heart. Such indeed is the character of our altar.

But to walk in practical conformity with this altar, we must pitch our tent, figurative of strangership here, between Bethel and Hai. The former means "God's House:" the latter a "Heap of ruins. And now Abraham is again tested; once again succumbing to the influences of nature. He finds a famine in the land, and goes down to Egypt, leaving the land of which God had said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land.

Elijah proved equal to such a test as he sat by the brook Cherith, and was fed by the fowls of the air. Paul showed his superiority to circumstances when called into Macedonia by the Lord, where a prison awaited him, but where, with his companion, he sang praises to God. Abraham seeks refuge in another land, of which God made no mention in His call.

But we must take account of this solemn fact: the secret failure had begun before the famine. Abraham, at the beginning, dwelt between Bethel and Hai; but it would seem that, when the famine came, he was moving towards the south — "And Abram moved onward going toward the south country. How significant and timely is the warning for us, never to leave the neighbourhood of Bethel.

In leaving Bethel, Abraham departed from the place of blessing. There is no famine in God's house: there is "bread enough and to spare. It is sad to have to say of a saint of God, Why art thou, being the King's son, so lean from day to day. This border land, in the south, is ever a dry land, and famine soon overtakes us if we are found there: and who, that has known what God's path is, but has not known the trial of a famine in this border land?

And when we have known such, how Egypt tempts! How the seduction of the world causes the giving up of the path of separation! Are there not many of us who have made this temporary incursion into Egypt in time of testing? But we all know the price to be paid for Egypt's succour. Abrams fall has been too often repeated, and it is the repetition of this on a large scale that has been a contributory factor in the sad failure of the whole dispensation.

Following upon our remarks regarding Abraham's capitulation to the seductions of Egypt, let us now consider some of the sad and inescapable consequences of such a retrograde step. One of the effects of going down to Egypt is that we become afraid to own our spiritual relationships: the very shadow of Egypt, before his arrival there, made Abraham afraid to own the relationship in which he and Sarai stood to each other; and this by a carefully prepared arrangement.

In all this, as so faithfully depicted for us by the Spirit in Genesis 12, we can surely discern how low the torch of faith was burning, and how the waves of a strong and exultant faith which would have carried him in triumph over every obstacle were now receding into the dark vortex of unbelief. Abraham, outstanding man of faith that he was, like us all, was affected by natural things.

Perfection, in all its lofty elevation and refinement of expression, is found in One, and in Him alone; in Him Who is "the originator and completer of faith. We see in all this that Abraham is thinking only of himself; he is not endeavouring to protect Sarai, but rather is prepared to sacrifice her to save himself. Where was the jealous care that Sarai should remain true to her relationship, and to the faithful confession of it?

Here is a saint of God seeking his own things because he has come under the shadow of Egypt. You will find that if you descend to the level of the world; if you get on terms with the men of the world; your lips will become soiled with the language of the world, and you will be ashamed to confess your true relationship to Christ. One sad result of this denial of relationship was that Sarai got into the house of Pharaoh.

What a difference from being in the house of God! The way to get the world's admiration is to deny your relationship to Christ. How different the desires of the beloved Apostle who, jealous over the Corinthians with a godly jealousy, declared "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ. It is said of Pharaoh that "he treated Abram well.

Deny your relationship to Christ, and you shall have the patronage of the world. But the lie practised by Abraham reaps a bitter harvest. His deception is great; his exposure is greater still, and Pharaoh's rebuke puts him to shame. As another has said, "He has to 'do his first works', to retrace his steps, and regain his standing — sorrowful works at all times.

He has to leave 'by-path meadow' for the King's highway again, betaking himself back from Egypt to the place between Ai and Bethel, where he had raised up his altar at the first. And now the history of Lot is made to yield admonition and instruction of a most salutory character to those desirous of living in practical conformity to their heavenly calling.

We do well to give earnest heed to the story of Lot as it unfolds for us in all its sad features in this precious book, where every word is used with divine precision and intent. The moral import of these happenings, which men regard as mere historical events, is exceedingly valuable and important in these days, when the truth of our heavenly calling having been revealed to us, manifests that there are many Lots.

The word Lot means "covering," and under a covering he is always found. Though with Abram outwardly, he is not at heart what Abram is, a pilgrim and stranger; nor with the men of Sodom is he a Sodomite. Though in Sodom, he is a saint of God, even as the Epistle of Peter states, that God "saved righteous Lot, distressed with the abandoned conversation of the godless for the righteous man through seeing and hearing, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul day after day with their lawless works.

Falling under deep personal reproach, his name and memory are forever stained with shame and infamy. Dear reader, listen for a moment to what the word of God has to say: "For as many things as have been written before have been written for our instruction, that through endurance, and through encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.

May all who read these words be preserved from treading this by-path, and being thus warned of the dangers which beset the feet of the unwary, seek to walk in "the path of the just, which is as the dawning light that shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. Can it not be seen in nature presuming to walk in a path which alone can be trodden in the power and energy of a living faith.

In Genesis 11 we read, "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son … to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. The heart of Lot had not been touched by the greatness of the One Who had called Abram, nor yet by the greatness and power of the call of the God of glory. The highways to that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, were not in the hearts of Terah and Lot, as were the highways to the dwelling-place of God in the hearts of those of whom the Psalmist speaks in Psalm 84, "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be constantly praising Thee.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee — in whose hearts are the highways. Are these not the moral elements amid which many a Lot is nurtured? Does not Terah's character shine out in him, when, having undertaken to walk with Abraham, he beholds "the well-watered plain of Jordan," and when "he lingered" in the doomed city from which, in mercy, the angels delivered him.

But there is another beginning after this, for " Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came. Abram walks with God: Lot only walks with Abram. Another has said, "How easy even for a believer to walk where another's bolder faith leads and makes the way practicable, without exercise of conscience or reality of faith as to the way itself!

How many such there are, practically but followers of the Lord's host, adherents of a cause for which they have no thought of being martyrs, nearly balanced between what they know as truth and a world which has never been seen by them in the light of it. For such, as with Lot, a time of sifting comes, and like dead leaves they drop off from the stem that holds them.

The fact that the coveted plain of Jordan seems to him as "the land of Egypt," shows how powerfully that land attracted him. It also seems that Abram's failure, in going down to Egypt, had loosened the moral hold he had hitherto retained upon his nephew. Still true to the weakness of his character, it is not Lot, but Abram who proposes separation, after it was made perfectly plain that they could no longer walk happily together.

In this connection, it is solemn to note that Scripture records "the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land," as though to draw attention to the seriousness of strife in the presence of such unfriendly eves and ears. There are enemies looking on, and noting with ill-concealed satisfaction the strife and contention which is all too prevalent among the saints of God.

Contention is generally connected with something that pertains to us in this world, something upon which the heart is set, but the possession of which will not contribute to spiritual advancement, but rather the reverse. How beautifully do we see this exemplified in the case of Abram now before us; he was entirely apart from the spirit of strife: "Let there be no strife … for we are brethren.

How he endears himself to our hearts as he rises in moral greatness by this act of renunciation and surrender! In all this Abram manifests his restoration of soul: but this is tinged with sorrow as we reflect that many a believer, who has gone down to Egypt, and has been recovered himself, has been the means of leading another there; and who has never known the joy of recovery.

Lot, regarding the plain of Jordan with the natural eye, fails to discern the true character of the inhabitants of the cities of the plain. There he dwells in his tent at first; soon to find a more permanent dwelling-place in Sodom itself, toward which from the first he gravitates. At a later date, the children of Israel were similarly affected when they said, "We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic, and now our soul is dried up; there is nothing at all but the manna before our eyes.

Now Abram dwells in the land of Canaan, and God bids him walk through it as his own; and so we find him dwelling in Mamre vigour , which is in Hebron companionship communion. And is it not as we are in the full enjoyment of our heavenly portion that we are maintained in spiritual vigour, and in the full spiritual gain of communion with each other?

May we only know and live in the portion of Abram here, without interruption or distraction. Rise my soul! Thy God directs thee; Stranger hands no more impede: Pass thou on; His hand protects thee — Strength that has the captive freed. Art thou wean'd from Egypt's pleasures? God in secret thee shall keep: There unfold His hidden treasures, There His love's exhaustless deep.

In Genesis 14, which is now before us for our prayerful and attentive consideration, we find the man of faith as the one who can overcome the world: a feature in which Abraham stands out in marked contrast to Lot. Following the movements of Abraham in this chapter, we are impressed with the complete restoration which had been effected in the experience of the man of faith; he was not only delivered out of Egypt, but brought back "unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning … unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first" Complete restoration can only be reached on the principle that "the point of departure is the place of recovery.

When the leper was brought back, it was to "the door of the tabernacle of the congregation;" when the prodigal returned, he was given a place at the table with his Father; and consequent upon Peter's restoration, he can press home upon Israel their terrible guilt, saying, " Ye denied the Holy One, and the Just. Is this the one to whom his Lord had said, "Before the cock crow twice, thou shall deny Me thrice?

We now turn to this most instructive and exercising chapter to see in Abraham one who not only overcomes the world in its hostile character, but also in its patronising character. How sharp and decisive is the contrast between Abraham, the overcomer, and Lot, who is always being overcome by one influence after another. I am not aware of one incident in his tragic history in which he appears as an overcomer.

Egypt had a large and prominent place in his heart; and then the "well-watered plain" because it was like Egypt; then Sodom, and then Zoar; he had always some influence in his heart which was not of God. Lot, ever true to his name, never showed his true colours as a saint; and the consequence of this is to drift into association with the world, and thereby lose the joy of the Lord's approval, and the power to be an overcomer.

In view of overcoming, much depends on where we live. We know where Abraham dwelt, and in verse 12 the Spirit very significantly says of Lot, "For he dwelt in Sodom. Lot, on the other hand, is already in Sodom, which results in his being carried captive in the captivity of Sodom. Hebron means "company," suggesting fellowship: Mature is "vigour;" Eschol is "cluster of grapes," and Aner means "waterfall.

Surely the fact that the Spirit has mentioned these names specifically is sufficient warrant for the child of God to interpret them, not according to human expediency, but in perfect suitability with the whole tenor of Scripture. Abraham had no sympathy with the king of Sodom; his whole reason for engaging in battle was the deliverance of one who had fallen under the power of the world.

So Abraham brings back Lot; the deliverance of the other captives being incidental. How good it is, beloved brethren, to have power to rescue one for whom Christ died; but this power is only with those who are on the line of Abraham. Do we not see this spirit greatly developed in the beloved Apostle Paul, not only in regard to individuals, but also in relation to whole assemblies?

He speaks to those in Colosse of the great conflict he had for them; he saw them in danger of coming under the rudiments of the world, and he marshals all his divinely given powers for their deliverance. There were many assemblies in the province of Galatia, and the Apostle saw them in grave danger of coming under the influence of another gospel.

It was a deliberate attempt on the part of troublers among them to pervert the glad tidings of the Christ, and to bring them into bondage to the law, and thus to prevent them standing in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. As has been noted, this mighty man of God with irresistible divine energy brings all his accoutrements of war to bear upon the assailants of the truth to their discomfiture, and the eventual deliverance of the saints.

But the moment of victory is a moment of specific danger to the saint, as Abraham is made to realise. Having returned victorious from the smiting of the kings, he is met by the king of Sodom with honours and gifts; but the one who had overcome the world in its hostile power is proof against all the seductive blandishments of a patronizing world.

We have all to beware of the seductive proposals of an alien world. The ministrations of Melchisedec, king of Salem, in the valley of Shaveh — the King's valley — had fortified Abraham, so that he was able to meet and over-come the alluring favours of the king of Sodom. And it is only as we remain in the King's valley, the low place, that we experience the priestly support of our true Melchisedec, the One Who says.

This Melchisedec, who meets Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, is a truly remarkable personage; spoken of as the priest of the Most High God — an unmistakable reference to that glorious day of Christ's manifested supremacy when, as true Melchisedec, He shall sit as Priest and King upon His throne. How wonderfully apposite in this connection, when Christ shall be manifested as King of righteousness and King of peace, are the words of Isaiah, "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever: and my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.

This stringently typical scene, in which we have the first presentation of the royalty and priesthood of Christ, is explained to us in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The words are remarkable for the way in which they bring out and insist on the perfection and accuracy of Scripture, in what it omits as well as in what it inserts. If we really taste the blessedness of these heavenly thing, the world has nothing by which it can attract us: no, not even to a shoe-latchet.

For us, This world is a wilderness wide, We have nothing to seek or to choose. May we crave to have hearts satisfied with Christ, to such an extent, that we may have "nothing to seek or to choose" save that which would deepen in our souls the sense of abiding satisfaction that is to be found in Him, and Him alone.