Abraham

Abraham Patriarch

Abraham was the son of Terach and brother of Nacor and Aran, he lived in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, with his own family. He married his half-sister Sarai, daughter of the same father, but of a different mother.

God spoke to Abram one day, ordering him to leave his land and go to the place that he would indicate. Abram, who was 75 years old, gathered all his possessions and left, leaving Harran, with his wife and nephew Lot. When he arrived in the land of Canaan near Shechem, God appeared to him in a place called Bethel "House-of-God" and promised him that that land would belong to his offspring. There, Abram built an altar, then made his way to the Negev.

To escape the famine that struck Canaan, Abram fled to Egypt, begged Sarai to say that she was his sister, for fear that her handsome beauty might attract the violence of the Egyptians to him. Despite this precaution, rumors concerning this reached the pharaoh, who had the couple taken to the palace. Abram let Sarai lie with Pharaoh, and in exchange he was given cattle. But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. Then Pharaoh called Abram and said to him, "Why didn't you show me that she was your wife? Why did you say, She is my sister! So that I took her for my wife? Now here is your wife: take her and go!" (Genesis, 12.10-20).

From Egypt Abram went up to the Negev with his wife and all his possessions (Lot was with him), to Bethel in the same place where God had spoken to him long ago. As a result of a quarrel between one another's shepherds, Abram and Lot separated, and Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself. As Abram returned to reside again in the land of Canaan, he had another revelation from God: "All the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring, forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, if anyone can count the dust of the earth, your descendants can be counted too!".

In the military conflict between several kings, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were also involved and defeated, the two cities were subjected to sacking and Lot, son of Abram's brother, was taken prisoner. A fugitive who escaped the massacre warned Abram of his nephew's fate. Abram mobilized his mercenaries and set out in pursuit, reaching those kings in Dan and vanquishing them.

Sarai was barren and advanced in years, so Abram saw fit to accept Sarai's suggestion to have a child with the Egyptian slave Hagar, whom she named Ishmael.

But God again appeared to Abraham and said to him: "Here is my covenant with you: you will become the father of a multitude of nations, and you will no longer be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham". Then he said that Sarai would give him a legitimate child despite her advanced age: "You will no longer call your wife Sarai but Sarah" (Genesis, 17,5). On this occasion, God also dictated the precept of circumcision, as a sign of the covenant of Abraham and of his house to God.

Then the Lord appeared to him at the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance to the tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and, behold, three men were standing by him, inviting them to rest. He gave them water to wash their feet and Sarah made some cakes and calf to eat. They rested and ate. When it was time to leave, they assured them that Sara would have a child the following year.

Sara, hearing these words, laughed, because she was too old to have a baby. Then the travelers replied saying that nothing is impossible for God and, on the point of leaving, they revealed to Abraham that the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was too great: their sin was very serious, for this reason God arranged to destroy them. Abraham then interceded for the righteous who would die with the wicked and obtained from God the promise that if in all Sodom and Gomorrah he found only ten righteous people, because of those ten he would surely save the cities from destruction.

Then the Lord visited Sarah as he said, and did Sarah as he promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in her old age, at the time God had said. Abraham named the son Isaac who had Sara given birth to him.

In the midst of the joy of this unexpected birth, God tempted Abraham by telling him: "Abraham, Abraham!". He replied: "Here I am!". "Take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac, go to the territory of Moria and offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will show you". The very son he loves is asked of him, for whom Abraham gave all of himself. It seems to grasp the silent suffering of Abraham who feels his descendants, his hope, his promise being torn away! Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled the donkey, took two servants and his son Isaac with him, split wood for the burnt offering and set out on his way to the place God had indicated to him. Abraham did not say a word: he obeys and, by his Lord, agrees to renounce his future.

On the third day - mysterious and fascinating concept of the "third day" - Abraham raised his eyes and saw that place from afar. Then Abraham said to his servants: "Stop here with the donkey; the boy and I will go up there, we will bow down and then we will return to you." Abraham and his son find themselves alone. Loneliness always accompanies us in certain trials. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and loaded it on his son Isaac, took the fire and the knife in his hand, then they both went on together. Isaac turned to his father Abraham and said: "My father!". He replied: "Here I am, my son"; he said, "Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" and Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son!" Abraham himself deferred to God's will: he has limitless trust, he has totally abandoned himself, he knows that he can no longer count on anything that is human.

But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said: "Abraham Abraham!". He replied: "Here I am!". The angel said, "Do not reach out to the boy and do no harm to him! Now I know that you fear God and you have not refused me your son, your only son." At the very end God intervenes when Abraham has really renounced "his of his" son of him. "The fear of God" of which the text speaks is precisely the sense of the mystery of God: his ways are not ours, his times are not our times. This is the fundamental attitude.

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram entangled with its horns in a bush. Abraham went to fetch the ram and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called that place: "The Lord provides", therefore still today it is said: "on the mountain the Lord provides". In reality, Abraham's son was not taken away, but it was necessary for something to change in him: after the "trial", he is free to "his of him" of him Isaac and can have him back and live with him in a different way. Abraham had received him with a promise, but Isaac had become everything, the absolute, his reason for living, that is, the gift of God had taken the place of God himself.

To find himself "free", he needed to go through the apparent contradiction of having to renounce his plan, his future, to live only and entirely God's will and plan.

Each man relives the same experience in his own way. Everyone is asked to have "a son", but not to be masters, to close ourselves on him. And "son" can be everything that deeply engages us in our creativity: he can be a descendant in flesh and blood, but also a job, a service for which we give all of ourselves ... We will have to learn to "sacrifice" him, to become free. And we will all go through the contradiction that will make us doubt the word of God, it will seem to us that we have been deceived.

This story reveals God's action and how we should respond, accepting to "leave", because God wants us to grow. The covenant lies in knowing that God will be faithful and always present, and he calls us to respond with faith. It appears that every promise passes through contradiction and thus its fulfillment is prepared. Only in this way will we learn to become free and to seek God for himself. He trusts us despite our fragility to persevere over time: we are called to live in hope.

Abraham doesn't say a word. He obeys and agrees to renounce his future, he knows that it is God, the Almighty, who tests him: initially he did not imagine such a hard sacrifice, but then he realizes that no sacrifice is too hard when it is God who wills it. Abraham does not hesitate, he does not think about the consequences, he does not make calculations, he has no doubts of any kind: he places his total trust of him in God.