A PROFILE OF ABRAHAM
 
As I studied the life of Abram/Abraham I was just amazed. In my first article I took a look at just why this man stopped and pondered about God, the world and himself.  This man clearly stood out as a true thinker in a world that just went through the motions of their false religions and rejected God.
 
I would like to take a look at the actual man. Who was he? Abram later renamed Abraham was born in the 10th generation from Noah.His father was Terah and had two brothers Nahor and Haran. He married Sarai later renamed Sara.
 
I hope I have already established that Abram was a thinker not only with his conversion but in his walk of faith.I believe there was a honesty about Abram even though there were two known times that he lied. It was the way he came to know the Lord,it was the way he stepped out in faith before God.The two words that kept coming to my mind as I read about Abram/Abraham was faith and promise and sure enough when I studied the subject of dispensations Abram/Abraham was in the dispensation of Promise.
 
He was a man of worship because everywhere he made a tent he built an alter to the worship the Lord. On his journey of faith this was one of the very first things he did. As his family and friends witnessed this I'm sure they were encouraged to look at the truth. He had a primary phlegmatic personality type which in simple terms means he was easy going yet I do believe he was a natural leader. There was something about this man,something that I just cannot put my finger on,but people looked to him because God humanely speaking put him in the center. He seemed to be open with his faith. He seemed to look for opportunities to lead people away from the worship of false gods. If he did get the opportunity to share his faith I'm sure he would have shared the Lord to people with conviction being that he was a man that probably liked small talk on occasions. Another words he was not so high and holy.  He really was not in the habit of ignoring people.That is good because it seems to me that he threw a little humanity in his ministry.
 
I believe he was a very effective evangelist.One of the reasons why I believe he encouraged small talk at times was because he was so hospitable with the three men (angels) that visited him regarding his future child and Sodom and Gomorrah. He was hospitable by nature because he fed them willingly.Sounds small but some people would not do that.  Another example would be Lot. When Heran died  (Abram's brother) he willingly allowed Abram to raise him in his household. Also Isaac his son was 40 years old and was still living at home.There are other examples but you get the main idea. People felt at ease with Abram/Abraham.
 
Not only was he a good business man but he gave tithes to Melchizedek the high priest. He was a diplomat because he had the gift of peace so as a result he had respect with kings.He was a good warrior. At one point he had to go to war to rescue Lot and he pulled a successful coalition together and the mission was a victory. He did not have to do that for Lot but he had a sense of loyalty. His mind was on his family a lot. He saw his wife's emotional pain (Sarai) and usually gave her what she desired. In fact I get the impression he felt somewhat helpless even downright confused at times.
 
Abraham was a man of fairness and justice.He pleaded for the lives of the people who lived in Sodom. He prayed hard regarding this issue.If in his struggle to understand God's justice on planet Earth was hard for him he certainly learned in his afterlife. When Abraham died he was able to understand God's justice perfectly Every answer he gave to the rich man in Hell was exact and precise.When the rich man desired a drop of water Abraham responded "Son,remember that thou in thy lifetime received the good things,and likewise Lazarus evil things,but now he is comforted,and thou art tormented. Luke 16:25. When the rich man wanted testifiers from heaven for his family Abraham responded "...They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." Luke 16:29. Then the rich man suggested if somebody from the dead visit his family they would repent and Abraham responded .. "if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." Luke 16.31. Notice how Abraham acquired a keen insight on God's grace and human nature.He obviously understood that he was Saved by God's grace but he was not naive in comprehending what the heart responds to.He knew exactly what to say to the rich man because he had God's wisdom on grace and justice and he was able to balance the two into a proper prospective. A person will either choose God's grace or Law.This is why the heart of the Great Commission is to beckon people to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts as their Savior because if they don't they will experience God's justice rather than His mercy just like the rich man.To me it is amazing how much understanding Abraham had in his response to the rich man's plea.
 
Obviously this was a man that was truly converted to God in what I believe was the dispersion of promise. I think it is good that I went over his biography because God chose this man for a good reason.I will go over some of the bad things he did in future articles Lord willing but there were really good reasons why he sinned.I thank the Lord that we serve a God who is loving and forgiving to his children when we sin before Him. I thank God everyday that we were saved by his grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. God must have thought very highly of Abraham because not only does he seem to be the model of the Christian's walk of faith but he seemed to be ranked pretty high in the afterlife according to Luke 16. God must have rewarded this man because he walked by faith and obedience. God honored Abraham's decision to accept Him, reassured him with specific promises,and encouraged him to walk by faith.It is up to us to what we will do with our conversion to Jesus Christ but hopefully we will choose to walk by faith.As I looked real close at Abraham's life I could tell he started at the end of his journey to understand God's grace and justice more and more through his actions and words; however I do believe it took a lifetime of walking by faith to acquire this wisdom. I believe that is what we should strive to understand as we walk by faith in Jesus Christ throughout our lives in what little time remains before Jesus Christ returns.
 
Bob D.