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No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
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Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.
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God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.
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Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”
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And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
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When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
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On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.
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Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
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Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.
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And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
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The Three Visitors
The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
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Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
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So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
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Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
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Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
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Abraham Pleads for Sodom
When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.
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Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
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Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.
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For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
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The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
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Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
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Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
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Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
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When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
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Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
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So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
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Abraham and Abimelek
Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar,
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and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
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Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”
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And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”
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Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’
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Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him.
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Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,
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for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
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Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
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Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
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When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.
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Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
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And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
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Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.
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But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking,
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and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
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The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.
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Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
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The Treaty at Beersheba
At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.
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Abraham said, “I swear it.”
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Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.
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So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty.
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Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock,
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and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
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Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
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And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
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Abraham Tested
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
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Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
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On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
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Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
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Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
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Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
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When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
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But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
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Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
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So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
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The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time
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Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
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Nahor’s Sons
Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:
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Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
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She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
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Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said,
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The Hittites replied to Abraham,
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Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.
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Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city.
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Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land
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Ephron answered Abraham,
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Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.
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to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.
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Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
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So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
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Isaac and Rebekah
Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.
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“Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said.
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So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
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Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
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Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.
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saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
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So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.
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“When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come.
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and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.
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When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.
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So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.
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The Death of Abraham
Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah.
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Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.
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Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years.
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Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.
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the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.
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After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
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Ishmael’s Sons
This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
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Jacob and Esau
This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac,
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Isaac and Abimelek
Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.
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Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
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because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.”
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So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
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Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
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That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
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May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
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so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.
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There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
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If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
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May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.
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Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’
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The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
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Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
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Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
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the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”
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the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.
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There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.
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They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.
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Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
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God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
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Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
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God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
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“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
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“This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
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I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them.
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And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
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Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’”
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Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’
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I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
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‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—
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See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
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When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,
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It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.
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to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”
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Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.
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But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac,
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At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.
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But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.
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Historical Records From Adam to Abraham
To Noah’s Sons
Adam, Seth, Enosh,
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and Abram (that is, Abraham).
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The Family of Abraham
The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
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Descendants of Keturah
The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
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Descendants of Sarah
Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
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the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
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Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
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Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
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At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: “People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
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“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.
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The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.
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you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
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the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
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For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.
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Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale.
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“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,
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look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many.
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But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
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then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.’”
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“Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’
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You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
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The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
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Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
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Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
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And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
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I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
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‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
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Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
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to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
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the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
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Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
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the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
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Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
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“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
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“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
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In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
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So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
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“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
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“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
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“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
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Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
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But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
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They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
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I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
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“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did.
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As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.
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At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death.
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Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
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Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
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“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
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“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
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The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.
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And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’
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To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.
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He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.
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Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
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Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
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“As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.
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‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
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“Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
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Abraham Justified by Faith
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?
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If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
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What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
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Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
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And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
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It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
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Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
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Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
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Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
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In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
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The Remnant of Israel
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
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Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.
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So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
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Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.
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Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
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So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
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He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
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The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.
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For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
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If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
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For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
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For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.
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The Certainty of God’s Promise
When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,
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And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
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Melchizedek the Priest
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,
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and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”
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Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!
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Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham.
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This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
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One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham,
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because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
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By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
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By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,
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Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
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Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
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And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.
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like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
