One man stands astride the Old Testament like a Colossus. His name is Abraham. In fact, he is the only person since creation that has the title of ‘Friend of God”. Abraham equally holds the title of ‘father of faith’. His reputation extends beyond Christianity. Israelites claim him as their progenitor; as do Arabs through Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, Hagar. Today, we are immensely glad to have him with us for the interview series.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you for honouring our invitation father Abraham.
Abraham: I’m delighted to be here. It gives me great pleasure to share the story of my life with people of your generation.
Shepherd Heart: We are most grateful for the interest the crowd of witnesses in heaven is showing in this generation. We are certainly favoured to be the generation to witness the rapture of the church. That is our expectation anyway.
Abraham: It is good to expect the LORD to rescue His own from a world that has turned upside down in a negative sense. However, only He knows the time and the hour of the redemption of the body of Christ. That is not to say that the time is not near. Live everyday of your life as if it’s your last day on earth. That way, the enemy cannot entrap you with the cares of life, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you for the wonderful advice father Abraham. We would love to know how your relationship with God started, given the idolatrous background of your forebears.
Abraham: It was not a sudden realisation of the presence of the most High God. Growing up, I worshipped the same gods that were popular in Ur of the Chaldeans, my original community. There was always something missing in my heart even after my parents made the usual sacrifice to their gods. It drained my spirit and made me question the reasons for my existence. I was sure that life held more than I was getting from my parents and their deities. I wanted more. One day while seating under a tree in my neighbourhood, I heard a voice say, “I alone can satisfy the yearnings of your heart”. Startled, I whirled around to see who spoke to me but there was no one within close distance to where I sat. I did the only thing a seventeen year old boy with no experience of spiritual things would do. I ran to my parents and narrated my experience to them. Since they were not equally sensitized to the ways of God, they felt I had spent too much time in the sun. Thus, they promptly sent me to bed.
Shepherd Heart: Were you convinced that something extraordinary had happened to you?
Abraham: Of course, I was too sure of that. In our time and culture, you dare not argue with your parents. Dutifully, I went to bed but I was not able to sleep. I knew I had heard the ‘voice’ and I was enthralled. The following day, I went back to the same spot but no one spoke to me. I did that for three weeks and gave up.
Shepherd Heart: Some of us in our generation can relate with your experience. Sometimes, we want to hear God so desperately that we do everything in our power to ‘summon’ Him to speak to us. We fast, engage in charitable activities, read the Bible, worship and pray; all in an effort to make Him speak to our situations.
Abraham: That is man’s greatest mistake- trying to treat Almighty Jehovah as a deity that can be summoned or bribed with gifts or sacrifices. I learned early not to take Him for granted. In fact, He only appeared to me at His own discretion. I never tried to summon Him.
Shepherd Heart: So, when did you eventually know that you were being wooed by God Himself?
Abraham: A year after the initial encounter, He spoke to me again while I was tending my father’s flock. I was with some of my father’s servants but they were not aware of my encounter with God. This time, the ‘voice’ came from my heart. He said, ‘I have found in you, the channel through which I can bless the entire humanity. Walk before me perfect and I will make you the envy of all generations”. It was then I said to Him, “I want to know you. Honestly, I don’t know who is speaking to me. I would love to know you”. Without any hesitation he said, “I am the LORD God of Hosts, the creator of heaven and earth. Your parents and your entire community serve idols that have no power to save themselves or anyone. You are different. Your heart yearns for the truth that is why I have chosen you to bear my name”.
Shepherd Heart: If you encountered God as a teenager, did you have an unbroken relationship with him while living with your parents?
Abraham: Initially, it was difficult to let go of the gods of my parents. As I said earlier, our culture did not encourage insubordination to parents at all.
Shepherd Heart: How were you able to maintain both relationships?
Abraham: God understands our predicaments when we are faced with such situations. He knew that I wanted to serve Him alone. He also appreciated the fact that I had to respect my parents and not antagonise them. When my parents saw that my heart was not in what they were doing, they basically left me to myself. When I got married and moved into my own tent with Sarai (as she was called then), I had the liberty to serve God without any inhibition. As a matter of fact, my relationship with God deepened when I left my parents’ home.
Shepherd Heart: The first time your name was mentioned in the Old Testament was in regard to God’s directive that you should move from your father’s house to an unknown destination. Somehow, many of us assume that this was your first encounter with God. Of course, it would not have been possible for you to abandon everything and follow God if you did not have confidence in Him- confidence built over a long period of time. Did you have any problem convincing your wife to make the sacrifice with you?
Abraham: Sarah was a woman of faith too. I shared all experiences I had with God with her. She was also adventurous.
Shepherd Heart: What really compelled you to take your brother’s son, Lot with you?
Abraham: Strong family ties were features of our culture. It was not a big deal for people to move with their extended families to new frontiers.
Shepherd Heart: Was Lot also aware of your relationship with God?
Abraham: I’m sure that the question you actually want to ask is, “Why was Lot not following in my footsteps? There was the fight between his servants and mine. There was also his seemingly greedy disposition which manifested in his choosing the well-watered land when I asked him to separate from me. The truth is that no man can reveal God to another person. Almighty God reveals Himself to people at His own time. Lot chose his own destiny. I could not force mine on him.
Shepherd Heart: You still cared enough to intercede for him before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Was that motivated by filial consideration?
Abraham: I would still have interceded for the two cities if Lot was not living close to them. God is always looking for intercessors to save souls. Mercy is part of His nature. He desires that all men should come to repentance and be saved. That is why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for the entire humanity.
Shepherd Heart: One of the intriguing things about the Sodom and Gomorrah saga is Lot’s refusal to return to you after he was rescued along with his daughters. What could have informed his decision to hide in the cave where his daughters deceived him into committing incest with them?
Abraham: He probably must have been ashamed of the way he treated me before we separated. Shame can make before do things or make fatal decisions.
Shepherd Heart: That could not have been easy for you knowing how much you cared for him. We would love to move from the distressing story of Lot to your relationship with Isaac. Some of us believe that your love for the boy bordered on idolatry and that this prompted God to ask you to sacrifice him on the altar of obedience.
Abraham: You are not wrong in your conjecture. You should have expected that from an old man whose fortunes were wrapped up in his only son. You should also remember that I had sent Ishmael and his mother away. Isaac became my life. I was not complete without him. Knowing God the much I did then, I was not surprised when He asked me to surrender the boy to Him. I was convinced that He would raise him up from death because He (God) had assured me that Isaac would inherit me and continue my line forever.
Shepherd Heart: I’m sure all our readers would love to know what went through your mind on the eve of your departure for Mount Moriah. Were you able to sleep that night at all?
Abraham: At this time, God had made Himself so real to me that I could touch His heart. I was convinced that He would work out His purposes for my life and that of Isaac. I was therefore not unduly anxious about the journey and its outcome. As a matter of fact, I was glad that God initiated that surgical operation to remove idolatry from my heart. I became a free man the moment I surrendered Isaac to Him. The reason so many of you in this generation are not having productive relationships with God is because of lack of trust in His providence. Whatever you yield to God is safe in His hands- your career, family and even your lives are best kept in His custody. The enemy cannot steal from God. So, learn to trust Him completely and He will show Himself mighty on your behalf as He did with mine.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you very much father Abraham for your wise counsel. We truly appreciate everything we have heard and learned from you today.
Abraham: I enjoyed the chat too. Keep the flag of the Gospel of Jesus Christ flying higher and higher until He returns.
Shepherd Heart: We will Sir. Thank you once again.