Chapter 6 abraham was a pioneer

Under the leadership of Abraham, the Jews went westward along the Arabian desert in search of new pastures.At this time, the Egyptian pyramids had been built for many years. Abraham was a pioneer. Although he passed away thousands of years ago, his life story reminds us of the conquerors of our west, those heroes and heroines who bravely developed the west in the 19th century. Abraham's family was in the area of ​​Ur on the west bank of the Euphrates River. His ancestor was Noah's son Shem. They had been shepherds for generations and had a prosperous family business.Abraham himself was a wealthy farmer who owned several thousand sheep and employed more than three hundred young and middle-aged men.They are extremely loyal to their masters and are willing to serve them at any time.They formed a private army.This small army played a decisive role in Abraham's struggle for new pastures along the Mediterranean coast.

When Abraham was seventy-five years old, he was called by God to leave his former home and move to Canaan to rebuild his home (Canaan is now Palestine). Abraham obeyed gladly, for the peaceful old Jewish man loathed the Chaldeans around him, who feuded with their neighbors all year round. He ordered everyone to put up their tents, the men to round up the sheep, the women to tie up sleeping blankets and prepare food for the journey across the desert.Thus began the first great migration of the Jews. Abraham's wife, named Sarah, had never had any children, so Abraham made his nephew Lot the second-in-command.After getting ready, he gave the order to set off and head towards the sunset.

Instead of entering the vast Babylonian plains, the Jewish party walked along the edge of the Arabian desert, avoiding the mighty Assyrian army.They reached their pastures in western Asia safely. They stopped at a place called Moreh, near the village of Shechem, where Abraham built an altar to the Lord.Later, they went to Bethel and stayed for a while to make plans for the next step. He found that Canaan was not as rich as he imagined. The Jewish flocks soon ate up the green grass on the mountainside, and the shepherds of Abraham and Lot competed with each other for the pasture, and civil strife was about to break out.

This was not in Abraham's nature, and he called Lot to his tent.It is proposed to live in separate lands and live in peace like relatives should. Lot was a sensible young man. He reached an agreement with his uncle. Lot chose the Jordan River Valley, and Abraham got the rest (now Palestine).He has spent most of his life under the scorching desert sun, and now he has finally found a place with shade from a big tree. In a grove of oaks called Mamre near the old city of Hebron, Abraham pitched his tent and built an altar to thank the Lord for his happy new home. But the days of peace did not last long, his nephew was in trouble, and Abraham was forced to fight for the family.

The most powerful ruler in the area, King Elam, was powerful enough to rival the king of Assyria. He levied taxes on the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but was rejected, so he led his army to attack these two cities. city. But unfortunately, the battle broke out on the plain where Lot lived, and the soldiers of King Elam were beaten unconscious.When they took the captives from Sodom and Gomorrah, they took the people of Lot with them. Abraham heard the news from his neighbor who had fled back, and immediately led all his troops to rescue him. When he arrived at the residence of King Elam, it was midnight, and he immediately launched an attack.Before the bleary-eyed guard could figure out what was going on, Abraham pulled the man out.

In this way, Abraham became a great man known far and wide. The king of Sodom, who escaped the catastrophe, came to visit Abraham, along with Melchizedek, king of Salem, another name of Salem is Jerusalem.It is an ancient city in the Canaan region.By the time the Jews moved to Canaan, the city had existed for hundreds of years. Abraham and Melchizedek quickly became friends because they shared the belief in Yahweh as the ruler of the world, but the king of Sodom believed in paganism, and Abraham didn't like him.So when the king of Sodom presented him with the spoils, he and his starving troops only ate a few sheep, and returned the rest to the original owner of Sodom.

Sadly, these Sodomites did not learn the lesson of this incident.Sodom and Omorrah were notorious in West Asia.They are lazy, evil, and their crimes go unpunished. Despite constant admonitions from people, they don't take it seriously and go their own way.The local residents hated it to the extreme. One evening, as the sun was fading behind the dark mountains, Abraham sat in front of his tent, feeling blissful because the Lord's promise was about to be fulfilled—he and Sarah were about to have a child. He was lost in his own thoughts when he suddenly saw three strangers coming from the road. They looked exhausted. Abraham asked them to rest, and he immediately ordered Sarah to prepare food.After eating, they gathered under the tree to chat.

It was getting late, and the stranger said that they had to go on their way.Abraham knew that they were going to Sodom and Gomorrah, and suddenly he recognized Yahweh and his two angels. Knowing what the angel's mission was, Abraham asked forgiveness for Lot and his family because his relatives were there. The Lord agreed, and he also promised to pardon both cities if fifty, thirty, or even ten decent people could be found in them.However, he did not find it. Lot was warned that Sodom and Gomorrah would be burned before dawn, and he had to lead his family away quickly.And no matter what happened, there was no looking back.

Lot obeyed, he woke up his wife and daughter, and fled overnight.But before reaching safety, Lot lost his wife.At that time, the fire burned the sky red.Lot's wife knew that her neighbors were left in the flames, so she couldn't help but peeked back. The LORD saw it and immediately turned her into a pillar of salt.From then on, Lot lived alone with his two young daughters, and later one of the daughters became the mother of Moab, forming the Moab tribe.Another daughter's son was named Ami, who founded the famous Ammonite tribe. What happened to Lot made Abraham very sad, and he resolved to stay away from the loathsome burned cities and forget those terrible memories.

He left the forest and the plains of Mamre and went westward to a place not far from the Mediterranean Sea. The Philistines live along the Mediterranean coast.They came from far away Crete.More than a thousand years before Abraham was born, their capital Nossos was destroyed by the enemy. The escaped people wanted to gain a foothold in Egypt, but they were driven away by the Egyptian army, so they went east, relying on their force, in Egypt. The Canaanite region on the Mediterranean coast got a place.Their country was called Felestia, which today is called Palestine. The struggle between Felix and the locals and Jews did not stop until the arrival of the Romans.The ancestors of the Philistines were once the most civilized people in the Western world.When the Jews were still barbaric shepherds, and when Mesopotamian farmers were still using stones and sticks as weapons, the Philistines were already able to forge iron and make swords.Because of this, the handful of Philistines were able to hold off thousands of Canaanites and Jews.

In spite of this, Abraham and his followers bravely entered the country of the Philistines and settled near Beersheva.They built an altar to the Lord, dug a deep well, and planted a forest for children to play in. It was truly a paradise, where Abraham and Sarah's son was born and named Isaac, which means "laughter."His parents should have laughed when they had a child when they were old and hopeless. But in fact, after many years of infertility after marriage, Abraham married a second wife in accordance with local customs. The second wife was an Egyptian maid named Hagar.Sarah didn't like her, Hagar gave birth to a boy named Ishmael, Sarah hated her even more, and always wanted to drive them away. Ishmael played with his half-brother and sometimes quarreled and fought.Sarah was even more unhappy. She knew that she was old and not as beautiful as Hagar, so she wanted to get rid of this rival for favor. Sarah asked Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, but Abraham refused because he loved Ishmael, who was his child, and he could not send them away.Sarah, however, would not budge.Finally Jehovah intervened and told Abraham to obey his wife. One sad morning Abraham bids farewell to his faithful maid and son.He sent Hagar back to Egypt, but the journey from Felix to Egypt was very long and dangerous.Hagar and Ishmael had not been gone for a week when they got lost in the wilderness of Beersheva.If the LORD had not rescued them and shown them a place of water, they would have died of thirst. Hagar and her son finally reached the banks of the Nile and were welcomed by their relatives.When Ishmael grew up, he became a warrior.But Abraham never saw him again.Not long after Hagar left, Abraham nearly lost his other son.The thing is, Abraham was absolutely obedient to the will of Jehovah, and a man of integrity and godliness.Jehovah wanted to try him one last time, and he almost cost his life. Yahweh suddenly appeared and asked Abraham to take his son to Mount Moriah, kill him, and burn him as a sacrifice.The old gentleman was always loyal to the Lord, and he ordered his servants to prepare for the journey, to prepare firewood and water.The next day, Abraham took his son and his donkey and set off for the desert.He didn't tell his wife what to do.The LORD has said, and that is enough. Isaac was very happy as he walked and played.Three days later, we reached Mount Moriah.Abraham left two servants to wait while he took Isaac to the top of the mountain. At this time Isaac felt strange. He often went with his father to offer sacrifices, but this time was different. He saw the altar, the firewood, and the long knife in his father's hand, but where was the sheep? He asked his father. The father said, "The LORD will prepare the lamb when the time comes." Then Abraham took his only son and pressed him on the altar.He raised his long knife. Then he heard a voice, the Lord had spoken, and he now knew that Abraham was his most faithful believer, and he needed no more proof. Isaac stood up.At this time, a big black sheep happened to have its horns caught in a branch, so Abraham used it instead. Three days later, the father and son returned to Sarah. Abraham left Beersheva again, and everything here reminded him of Hagar and Ishmael and that terrible journey to Mount Moriah.He returned to the plains of Mamre. Sarah was too old to bear the hardships of the long journey, and she died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought for her.Abraham felt very lonely.All his life he worked, traveled, and fought.He is tired and wants to rest. But he still needs to worry about Isaac's marriage. The girls nearby are all Canaanite tribes, and he doesn't want to find a pagan woman to be the mother of his grandson.He heard that his younger brother Nahor's family in his hometown was prosperous, and he hoped that Isaac would marry his cousin, which would make the family more prosperous and save the trouble of marrying a foreign woman. So, he called the old housekeeper and told him what he wanted—to find a girl who likes to do housework, is capable of doing farm work, has a kind heart, and is tolerant. The old steward was ordered to go, and the twelve camels he brought were full of gifts, because his master was a great person in the Canaan area, and the people in his hometown must understand this. The steward went to Ur along the same road that Abraham walked eighty years ago, and slowly inquired about Nahor's house. One evening, when the cool desert night came, he reached the town of Harran, where the women were fetching water for supper. The old butler was tired and hot from his camel, and he asked a girl if she could give him water, and the girl said she would be very happy.When the old man was full, she asked the steward to wait a while, and let the poor camel drink its fill.The steward asked if there was room for the night, and the girl said that her father would welcome them until they continued on their way.The butler looked at the girl in front of him. Isn't this the image of a perfect woman described by the master.She was young, lively, and wonderfully beautiful, a gift from God. The next question is, whose daughter is she. Her name was Rebekah, and she was the daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor.She had heard of a relative named Abraham who had migrated to Canaan many years before she was born. The old butler was convinced that he had found the girl he was looking for, so he explained to Bethuli his purpose.He related the deeds of his masters, telling them that Abraham was one of the richest and most powerful men in the Mediterranean.He unfolded all the presents, fine rugs, silver earrings, and wine cups made of gold.He asked permission to take Rebekah and marry her to young Isaac. Impressed by Abraham's story and gifts, Rebekah's father and brother agreed to the marriage.At that time, the marriage was decided by the parents and there was no need to discuss it with the girl.But Bethuli, being a reasonable man, asked his daughter if she would marry a foreign cousin whom she had never met. Rebekah said, "I will," and wanted to leave right away. She is accompanied by the old nurse and numerous maidservants, who ride on camels and imagine the wonderful scene the steward paints. The first impression was very good. At sunset, the caravan of camels was walking slowly on a dusty road, when a young man was seen walking in a field. When he heard the sound of the camel bell, he stopped and saw that it was his own camel, so he galloped over and saw the veiled girl—his fiancée. The butler briefly described what had happened, saying that Rebekah was a beautiful and kind girl. Isaac considered himself so lucky that the wedding took place immediately.Soon after, Abraham died and was buried beside his wife in the cave of Machpelah.Isaac and Rebekah inherited all of Abraham's property, they were young and rich.Every evening, they sat outside their tent and played with their twin sons.The eldest son is Esau (meaning "hairy"), and the younger son is Jacob. Both of them have very legendary experiences. The brothers Esau and Jacob were very different. Esau was a rough, heroic young man.He was dark, strong and hairy, and he walked swiftly.Busy hunting all day, laying traps, living with birds and beasts. Jacob was different. He was mother's baby, he stayed at home all day, and he was spoiled by Rebekah's doting. Esau was a stout man who always smelled of camels and goats.He brought small animals into the house, much to Rebekah's displeasure.She felt that this fool was only interested in small things.Jacob, on the other hand, was well mannered, always smiling, and in his mother's eyes a young man with great promise.She felt sorry for Jacob, because he was not the eldest son and could not inherit his father's property.Now, a country bumpkin who doesn't like fine carpets and furniture, who is less intelligent than a shepherd, and a rough man who doesn't want to be a famous family, will be the heir to all the property of Isaac. But the fact cannot be changed. In that era, Jacob could only take the humble position of the second son.Esau, who had no interest in wealth, was the center of attention. The story of how Rebekah and her younger son Jacob conspired to seize the inheritance is tiresome to tell.But since this matter has a great influence on what follows, I have to talk about it roughly. We mentioned above that Esau was a hunter, farmer, and shepherd who spent most of his time in the field.He is carefree and free. For him, life is herding sheep and hunting, the wind and the sun, and he has no interest in anything else that bothers him.Eat when you are hungry, drink when you are thirsty, and sleep when you are sleepy. Jacob, on the contrary, was calculating at home all day. He was very greedy and always wanted to get his brother's property. One day, Esau came back from hunting, thirsty and hungry, and Jacob was cooking red bean soup for himself. Esau said, "Give me something to drink, for I am starving to death." Jacob said, "What will you give me in return?" "Anything is fine," Esau replied. At this moment, he just wanted to drink soup, and he couldn't think of anything else. "Will you cede the primogeniture to me?" "Of course, I'm starving to death. What's the use of primogeniture? Give me a bowl of soup and take the inheritance." "Dare you swear?" "You can send anything, just give me the soup." Others might have taken this passage among young men as a joke—famished lads traded their inheritance for a bowl of soup. But Jacob didn't think so. He thought an oath was an oath. He told his mother that Esau had relinquished his power.In this way, as long as there is a way for Isaac to officially approve it, the contract will come into force. The opportunity is here. At this time, Isaac was suffering from a common disease among desert dwellers-loss of vision, and he had just passed through a period of extreme difficulty.A severe drought in the plains of Mamre forced Esau to move his flock westward into the heart of the Philistines. Of course the Philistines did not welcome them, and they filled all the wells that Abraham had dug in the wilderness of Beersheva. The hardships and fatigue on the journey aggravated his condition, and he longed to return home.