The Story of the Bible

"Do not lay your hand upon your son. Do no harm to him. Now I know that you love God more than you love your only son, and that you are obedient to God, since you are ready to give up your son, your only son, to God." What a relief and a joy these words from heaven brought to the heart of Abraham! How glad he was to know that it was not God's will for him to kill his son! Then Abraham looked around, and there in the thicket was a ram caught by his horns. And Abraham took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in place of his son. So Abraham's words came true, when he said that God would provide for himself a lamb. The place where this altar was built Abraham named Jehovah-jireh, words meaning, in the language that Abraham spoke, "The Lord will provide."

ABRAHAM AND ISAAC ON MOUNT MORIAH

This offering, which seems so strange, did much good. It showed to Abraham, and to Isaac also, that Isaac belonged to God, for to God he had been offered; and in Isaac, all those who should come from him, his descendants, had been given to God. Then it showed to Abraham, and to all the people after him, that God did not wish children or men killed as offerings for worship; and while all the people around offered such sacrifices, the Israelites, who came from Abraham and from Isaac, never offered them, but offered oxen and sheep and goats instead. And it looked onward to a time when, just as Abraham gave his son as an offering, God should give his Son Jesus Christ to die for the world. All this was taught in this act of worship on Mount Moriah.

Some think that on the very place where this offering was given, the altar in the temple many years afterward stood on Mount Moriah. If that be true, the rock is still there, and over it is a building called "The Dome of the Rock." Many people now visit this rock under the dome, and think of what took place there so long ago. At this time Abraham was living at a place called Beersheba, on the border of the desert, south of the land of Canaan. From Beersheba he took his journey to Mount Moriah, and to Beersheba he came again after the offering on the mountain. Beersheba was the home of Abraham during most of his later years. After a time, Sarah, the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac, died, being one hundred and twenty years old. And Abraham bought of the people of Hebron a cave, called the cave of Machpelah; and there he buried Sarah his wife. This place is still known as the city of Hebron, but the people who live there will not allow any strangers to visit it.

The Story of a Journey after a Wife

Genesis xxiv: 1, to xxv: 18.

After the death of Sarah, Isaac, her son, was lonely; and as he was now old enough to marry, Abraham sought a wife for him; for in those countries the parents have always chosen the wives for their sons, and husbands for their daughters. Abraham did not wish Isaac to marry any woman of the people in the land where he was living, for they were all worshippers of idols, and would not teach their children the ways of the Lord. For the same reason, Abraham did not settle in one place, and build for himself and his people a city. By moving from place to place, Abraham kept his people apart.

You remember that when Abraham made his long journey to the land of Canaan (see Story Five), he stayed for a time at a place called Haran, in Mesopotamia, between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, far to the northeast of Canaan. When Abraham left Haran to go to Canaan, his brother Nahor and his family stayed in Haran. They worshipped the Lord, as Abraham and his family did; and Abraham thought that it would be well to find among them a wife for his son Isaac.

As Abraham could not leave his own land of Canaan and go to Haran in Mesopotamia to find a wife for his son Isaac, he called his chief servant, Eliezer, the man whom he trusted, who cared for all his flocks and cattle, and who ruled over his other servants, and sent him to Haran to find a wife for his son Isaac.

And the servant took ten camels, and many presents and went on a long journey, and at last came to the city of Haran, where the family of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, was living. And at the well, just outside of the city, at the time of evening, he made his camels kneel down. Then the servant prayed to the Lord that he would send to him just the right young woman to be the wife of his master's son Isaac.

And just as the servant was praying, a beautiful young woman came to the well, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. As she drew the water and filled her pitcher, the servant came up and bowed to her, and said, "Will you kindly give me a drink of water from your pitcher?"

ABRAHAM'S SERVANT MEETING REBEKAH AT THE WELL

And she said, "Drink, my lord," and she held her pitcher for him to drink. And then she said, "I will draw some water for your camels also to drink."