Abraham and his wife Sarah, lived in Ur in the land of the Chaldeans. Abraham was a faithful man of God. One day God told Abraham to take all his family and belongings and leave Ur.
God made a covenant with Abraham. He said to Abraham, "Trust me, leave everything that is familiar behind, and go to a land which I will show you. Do this and I will give you this land and make you a great nation. And you shall become a blessing to all the families of the earth."
So Abraham and Sarah traveled many months, till they came to the land of Canaan which God had promised them. When Abraham first saw the new land, he built an altar to glorify God.
Abraham and Sarah lived many years in the Promised Land but had no children, even though God had told them they would have many heirs. But they began to not trust God, and Sarah gave her maid Hagar to Abraham to be his wife.
Abraham and Hagar had a child named Ishmael.
Finally the Lord blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child, even though they were very old. They named him Isaac. God told them that He would build His people through the descendants of Isaac.
One day God tested Abraham's faith. He told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. Abraham took Isaac to a mountain and built an altar.
Isaac said, "Father, here is the fire and wood for the offering but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" Abraham said, "God will provide the lamb Himself."
And Abraham laid Isaac on the altar. But then an angel stopped Abraham. "Do not sacrifice your son," said God. "You have shown your devotion to Me by not witholding your only son from Me."
And just then Abraham saw a ram caught in the thicket. He took the ram and offered it in sacrifice in place of his son.
God said to Abraham, "Because you obeyed My voice and have not withheld your only son from me, I will greatly bless you, and your descendants will be as many as there are stars in the heavens!"
(Adapted from Genesis 11-22)
