After God mixed languages ​​in Babylon, people, divided into many nations, forgot the true God and began to worship idols. Then the Lord commanded Abram, “Get out of your land. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great.” Having accepted the command of God with faith and humility, Abram left Ur of the Chaldees and settled in the land of Canaan with his wife Sarah and nephew Lot. Lot soon separated from Abram, but the city where he settled was captured by enemies, and Lot was captured. Abram armed his slaves, defeated the enemies and freed Lot. As Abram returned victorious, the kings came out to meet him. Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram. The Lord Himself was with Abram and made a covenant with him, saying: "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you can, so many descendants will you have." (By his descendants is meant the Church of the Lord.) When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said: “I am God Almighty; walk before my face and be blameless: and I will establish my covenant with you and give you a numerous offspring. Now you will not be called Abram, but let your name be Abraham; for I will make you a father of many nations. (The name Abraham means "father of the multitude"). Let your wife's name be Sarah. And she will bear you a son, and his name will be Isaac.

At the oak forest of Mamre, where Abraham settled, the Lord appeared to him under the guise of three wanderers (a type of the Holy Trinity). Having received with honors and generously treated the guests, Abraham found the favor of God. One of the guests said: "Next year, when I am with you again at this time, your wife will have a son." It was also revealed to Abraham about the intention of the Lord to destroy the inhabitants of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were mired in sin. Abraham asked for deliverance from the punishment of his nephew Lot, who lived a righteous life in Sodom. Two angels came to Lot's house in the form of strangers. The Sodomites began to demand their extradition. Then the angels struck the Sodomites with blindness, and Lot and his relatives were ordered to leave the city for the mountains. "Save your soul and don't look back," they said. After their departure, Sodom and Gomorrah were struck by fire and sulfur that fell from the sky, and the whole country turned into a salt lake (now the Dead Sea). Lot's wife disobeyed the angel's command. Turning back, she turned into a pillar of salt.

When Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah bore him a son, Isaac. Then Abraham ordered his servant Hagar, from whom he had a son, Ismail, to leave the house. Loving Abraham, the Lord produced numerous Arabian peoples from Ismail. And now, after many years of life, the Lord sends Abraham the last test, surpassing the strength of an ordinary person. Testing Abraham's faith, God called to him: "Take your only son, whom you love, Isaac, go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you." Despite great tribulation, Abraham obeyed the will of the Lord. Having come with his son to Mount Moriah (in the center of present-day Jerusalem), he built a fire. And Isaac said to Abraham: “My father! Here is the fire and the wood, where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, "God will provide for Himself a lamb, my son." Having bound Isaac, Abraham placed him on the altar and, taking a knife, stretched out his hand to slaughter him. But at that moment he heard the voice of God: “Abraham! Do not raise your hand against the lad, for now I know that you are afraid of God and have not spared your only son for Me. Abraham untied Isaac and, seeing a ram entangled in the bushes, offered it as a burnt offering. And the Lord said: “I swear by me that since you have done this work and have not spared your only son for Me, then I will bless you, and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you obeyed My voice.”

A few years later, Sarah died, and Abraham entered into a new marriage with Keturah, by whom he had six more sons. After living one hundred and seventy-five years, Abraham peacefully gave his spirit to the Lord God. From him, as the ancestor of the Jewish people, Christ Himself descended according to the flesh, and all those who truly believe in Christ are called the sons of Abraham.

Abram with faith and humility accepted the command of God, and left Ur of the Chaldees with his wife Sarah, his father Terah and nephew Lot. Stopping for a while in Haran, where his father died, he then continued on his way alone with his family and Lot. Arriving in the land of Canaan, he went through it to Shechem, to the oak forest of More. Here the Lord appeared to him and promised to give this land to his offspring. In memory of this Theophany and in gratitude to God for the promise, Abram built an altar in that place. After this, Abram traveled all the length of that land, towards the south, creating between Bethel and Ai another altar to the Lord.

Abram, along with his family and Lot, settled in the valley of Shechem. Both of them first lived together and were rich in cattle, silver and gold; but then, in order to avoid strife between their household and servants, Abram released Lot from himself, giving him the choice of land. Lot chose for himself a flourishing plain watered by the waters of the Jordan.

After Lot separated from Abram, God appeared to His chosen one and said:

“Lift up your eyes, and from this place where you are now, look to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and to the west: all the land that you see from the mountain, I will give you and your offspring forever. And I will give you offspring, like the sand of the earth. Arise, walk over this land in its length and breadth: for I will give it to you and to your offspring forever.

Obedient to the command of God, Abram moved south and settled near the oak forest of Mamre, creating an altar to the Lord there.

Meanwhile, on the Jordanian plain, which Lot chose for his home, there were five cities ruled by special kings, but for 12 years they had been enslaved by the king of Elam. In the thirteenth year they rebelled against the king, but were defeated by him, and many of the inhabitants of that country, including Lot, were taken prisoner. Upon learning of this, Abram armed his servants, defeated the enemies, freed Lot and all the captives, and took away all the booty carried away by the enemy, which he returned to the kings according to their property. As Abram returned victorious, the kings came out to meet him. Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram, saying:

- Blessed be Abram from the Most High God, Lord of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hands.

Abram offered Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils of war; he himself, when the king of Sodom offered him to keep the property returned from the enemies, refused to take anything.

After this, Abram became very famous in the land of Canaan. His successes aroused envy and fear in its inhabitants. Then the Lord said to Abram in a vision at night:

- Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; the greatest reward is in store for you.

Avram said:

- God! what will you reward me with? I have no children: You did not give them to me. Eliezer of Damascus looks after my house: he will be my heir.

“Not he,” said the Lord, “but your own son will be your heir.”

After this, the Lord brought Abram out into the courtyard and said:

“Look at the sky and count the stars, if you can, so many descendants you will have.”

Abram believed the promise, and this faith was reckoned to him as righteousness and served as the foundation of a righteous and God-pleasing life.

On the day that came after this, Abram, at the command of God, cut in half a three-year-old heifer, a goat and a ram, and put one part against the other; they were joined by a dove and a young pigeon. Abram guarded the corpses from birds of prey. At the setting of the sun, a dream fell on him and embraced his horror and thick darkness. Then the Lord approached him and said:

“Know that your descendants for four hundred years will be strangers in a foreign land and will be in enslavement and oppression. But I will execute judgment on the people to whom they will be in bondage, and after that they will come out here with great property. And you will go to your fathers in peace, and you will be buried in a good old age. And your descendants will not return here until four generations have passed among them, for the measure of the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet been filled.

When the sun went down and darkness set in, smoke passed between the dissected animals, as if from a furnace, and a flame of fire. And on that day the Lord thus made His covenant with Abram, saying:

To your offspring I give this land from the river of Egypt to the river of the Euphrates.

Many years have passed since Abram moved to the land of Canaan. After the revelation that was to him in Ur of the Chaldees, God repeated to him three more times the promise of a numerous offspring that was to come from him; but Sarah, his wife, did not give birth, and yet both of them were already advanced in years. Childlessness was a great test for Abram.

Then Sarah, thinking that the obstacle to the fulfillment of God's promise lies in her, suggested to Abram to take his maidservant, the Egyptian Hagar, in marriage, who bore him a son, Ishmael.

When Abram was already 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said:

– I am God Almighty; walk before my face, and be blameless: and I will establish my covenant with you, and I will give you a great offspring.

Abram, in a feeling of reverence and devotion, fell on his face. God told him:

- Now you will not be called Abram, but let your name be: Abraham; for I will make you a father of many nations. And peoples and kings will come from you; and I will establish my everlasting covenant with you and your offspring, in that I will be the God of yours and of your offspring after you, and will give you all the land of Canaan for an everlasting inheritance. The visible sign of the covenant between Me and you should be that all of your male sex be circumcised. Eight days from birth, every male baby must be circumcised, not only from your children, but also from slaves bought for silver from foreigners. The uncircumcised, as the breaker of my covenant, is deprived of fellowship with his people. Sarah your wife, do not call Sarah, but let her name be Sarah. I will bless her, and nations will come from her, and kings of nations will come from her.

Abraham rejoiced and laughed, but at the same time he asked himself in bewilderment:

- Will there be children from a hundred-year-old? and will Sarah give birth at ninety?

But the Lord repeated His promise and foretold the very name of their future son - Isaac.

Shortly after this, the Lord again appeared to Abraham at the oak forest of Mamre - as follows. One day at noon, Abraham was sitting outside his tent. Raising his eyes, he saw before him three strangers. He immediately hastened to meet them and, bowing to the ground, said to the first of them:

- My sovereign! If I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant. Let me bring some water and wash your feet; then rest under this tree. And I will bring bread to refresh you on the road.

Lot's wife did not fulfill the command of the angel: on the way from Sodom she looked back; but immediately turned into a pillar of salt. Lot himself, fearing to remain in Segor, went up the mountain with his two daughters and began to live there in a cave.

Meanwhile, God finally visited Sarah with His mercy. When Abraham was one hundred years old, she bore him a son, whom he, according to the foreshadowing of God Himself, called the name Isaac. On the eighth day, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. And ninety-year-old Sarah said:

Then Abraham, with complete devotion to the will of God, released Hagar with her son Ishmael. Wandering, they got lost in the desert and were already dying of thirst, but God miraculously saved them and comforted the grieving mother with the promise to produce a great nation from her son.

At that time, Abraham enjoyed great influence and respect among the neighboring kings and rulers of Canaan. The supreme patronage and special blessing of God on Abraham was so clear to everyone that Abimelech, king of Gerar, sought an alliance with him. But even after this, Abraham continued to live as a wanderer, having nowhere a permanent dwelling for himself.

The whole life of Abraham passed among many different trials, representing an example of patience, firm and unshakable faith and hope in God and the most perfect devotion to His will. But his faith should have been even stronger, after all the Lord's mercies to him. And now, after many years of his life, the Lord sends him the last test, surpassing the strength of an ordinary person. Testing Abraham's faith, God called to him and said:

“Take your only son, whom you love, Isaac, go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.

Despite the extraordinary nature of such a command and his great parental love for Isaac, Abraham did not doubt in the least that it was from God, and that it should be fulfilled without any contradiction. His devotion to God was so great that he did not regret sacrificing his only beloved son to Him. At the same time, he believed that Isaac, who was now to die childless, would, according to the promises previously made, be the father of the people and the ancestor of the promised Deliverer. He thought, as the apostle says, that God is strong and from the dead to raise his son of promise (). And so, without revealing his intention to anyone, Abraham early in the morning saddled a donkey, took Isaac and two servants with him, chopped wood for a burnt offering and went to the mountainous country of the Jebusites, to the place that the Lord told him about. On the third day, by a special sign from God, Abraham saw from afar the mountain appointed for the sacrifice. Then he ordered his servants to stay here with the donkey, and taking firewood for the burnt offering, he gave it to Isaac to carry, and he himself took fire and a knife in his hands, and both went up the mountain together.

And Isaac said to Abraham:

- My father! behold the fire and the wood; where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham replied:

“God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son. And they went on both together.

Having reached the place that God indicated to him, Abraham built an altar there, laid out the wood and, having tied his son Isaac, laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took a knife to kill his son.

But at that moment, a divine voice rang out from heaven:

– Abraham! Abraham!

Abraham stopped to listen to God's command.

“Do not raise your hand against the boy,” continued the Lord, “and do nothing with him; for now I know that you fear God, and have not spared your only son for Me.

Then Abraham, in a feeling of deep joy and gratitude to God, lifted up his eyes from the earth and saw behind him a ram, entangled in a thicket with horns. Then he untied Isaac, and taking a ram, offered it as a burnt offering in place of Isaac his son.

After this, the Lord again called to Abraham from heaven:

“I swear by me that since you have done this deed, and have not spared your only son for Me, then I will bless you, and by multiplying I will multiply your seed, like the stars of heaven and sand on the seashore, and your seed will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Having received this great, grace-filled promise, Abraham and Isaac, in fear and joy, descended from the mountain and returned to Beersavi, where Abraham then lived.

Twelve years later, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah against Mamre, later Hebron, the land of Canaan.

Three years later, when Isaac was forty years old and Abraham was one hundred and forty years old, the holy righteous forefather had the consolation of marrying his son to the virtuous Rebekah, the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham's brother. Subsequently, Abraham himself entered into a new marriage with Keturah, from whom he had six more sons. Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years, and then in peace gave his spirit to the Lord God, whom he so faithfully served and pleased in his life, being a vessel and model of faith in the true God, who preserved it for posterity from generation to generation. For the high qualities and dignity of Abraham, the Lord loved him, which is why he calls Himself his God par excellence (), and Holy Scripture calls him a friend of God (; ; ). His Old Testament descendants and even the saints before God, Moses and David, called Abraham to intercede with God. From this ancestor of the Jewish people, in whose offspring the true faith was preserved on earth, Christ Himself came according to the flesh, and all those who truly believe in Christ are called the sons of Abraham (;). And in our future fate beyond the grave - only with faithful Abraham can we hope to receive the inheritance of eternal life and salvation. The Lord Himself in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus points to Abraham as the inhabitant of a blessed dwelling in the Kingdom of Heaven (; ; ), whom Christ and all of us may vouchsafe with the prayers of the holy righteous Abraham, His forefather according to the flesh. Amen.

Harran - a city in the northwestern part of Mesopotamia, between Habor (a tributary of the Euphrates) and the Euphrates, on a wide plain surrounded by mountains, southeast of Edessa; in ancient times it was an important trading post on the great trade route between the Mediterranean and the east. Now it is an insignificant and small town in Mesopotamia.

Some teachers of the Church explain the death of Terah in Harran by the wise dispensation of God's Providence; for it was not pleasing to God that Terah, who was guilty of idolatry, should introduce the infection of superstition into the generation that was being separated from him. That is why Scripture records this event so accurately.

Under the land of Canaan in the narrowest and proper sense is meant the land on this side of the Jordan, Phoenicia (the northern part of Canaan) and the land of the Philistines; - in modern times, under the land of Canaan, they often mean all of Palestine, all the promised land, which the Israelites later occupied, on both sides of the Jordan. Shechem - the ancient city of the land of Canaan, in Samaria, on Mount Ephraim, 18 hours from Jerusalem; Abraham passed through the land of Canaan not to Shechem, which did not yet exist, but to the place where Shechem was later built. The sea is an oak grove near Shechem.

Bethel - the most ancient city of Canaan, under Abraham was called - Luz, north of Jerusalem in the mountainous area of ​​the tribe of Ephraim, at the mountain that received the name of Bethel from the city; this place is unusually wild and at present is nothing more than a shepherd's camp on piles of ruins. Ai is an ancient city of Canaan, in the northern part of the tribe of Benjamin, east of Bethel.

The valley of the Jordan, which Lot chose for himself to live in, and in which the channel of the Jordan was located, was quite wide; The Dead Sea, as most scholars assume, did not yet exist, and the Jordan overflowed with several branches and probably reached through the valley to the Gulf of Arabia, or the Red Sea.

The fulfillment of God's promise applies to the offspring of Abram not only according to the flesh, but also according to faith, and therefore this promise is called eternal. The fulfillment of all these promises is in Christ, Who with His blood made this land sacred and purchased it for all believers, making it the homeland of the soul of a Christian. That is why, regardless of the innumerable remnants of the people chosen and then scattered throughout the globe, Abram, by faith, has another offspring, for whom Palestine is the land of salvation, truly the land of promise.

Mamre is actually the name of the Ammorite, an ally of Abraham (). The oak forest of Mamre was located near Hebron, the ancient city of Canaan, located on the road to Jerusalem, in a fertile and beautiful area.

In the flourishing valley of the Jordan, where Lot settled, there were five following cities: Sodom, Gomorrah, Adama, Seboim and Bela (otherwise - Balak).

The Elamites are a people descended from Elam, the firstborn of Shem. Their country lay next to the land of Canaan, in Mesopotamia.

Melchizedek probably came from the Canaanite people - the Amorites, who then lived in Palestine, for they had both a king and a priest; at that time piety could still be preserved among the Canaanite tribes, and the measure of the sins of the Amorites was not yet fulfilled. By Salem they mean the same thing as then Jebus, and after Jerusalem (). By his name of the priest of God the Most High, Melchizedek differs not only from the worshipers of false gods, but also from other kings, and even from Abraham, and therefore it was impossible not to see in him a special servant of the true God, glorified throughout Palestine. Holy Scripture hid the details about him and his family, making it possible to see in him a prototype of Christ the Savior. Even in the Old Testament, the king and prophet David, in the extraordinary priesthood of Melchizedek, saw a prototype of the priesthood of the Messiah when he spoke of the Son of God: you are a priest forever according to the rank (i.e., likeness) of Melchizedek (); especially clearly and in detail the representative meaning of Melchizedek is revealed in St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews (). Melchizedek, according to the meaning of the name, is the king of truth; by title - the king of Salem, i.e. the king of the world, and together the priest of the Most High God; he appears without a father, without a mother, without a clan; his priesthood is eternal; for we see neither his predecessors nor his successors; his blessing is the highest, for on behalf of the Almighty he brings down a blessing on the father of believers, and Abraham himself highly appreciated and reverently accepted this blessing, as the lowest from the highest. All these lofty traits and privileges are united only in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

This promise of God to Moses cannot be limited to a literal understanding in the sense of the descent from Abraham of the numerous Jewish people. This promise has a Messianic significance and stands inextricably linked with other God's promises to Abraham.

“Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” says the Apostle () and proves that Abraham owes his justification to his faith alone (the word truth, RIGHTEOUSNESS here is also understood in the sense of justification). Abraham believed God, that is, he believed in His truth, holiness, wisdom, power and eternity, when with faith he accepted, despite his hundred years of age, the promises of God about the birth of a son from him - and this faith of Abraham was credited to him for that what it cannot be in its essence—precisely for righteousness. Righteousness signifies here perfect obedience to the will of God, which Abraham at that time had not yet attained; then God took his faith into account as having the same value as obedience. —Metropolitan Philaret remarks that the imputation of the righteousness of Abraham's faith took place after a slow gradual revelation. “Faith,” he says, “was the effect and the end of the mysterious leadership of God; it was also the beginning and foundation of God’s favor.”

This was the visible sign of God's covenant with Abraham, or the covenant that God would indeed fulfill His promise of Abraham's offspring and inheritance to all the land of Canaan. Among the ancients, faces entering into an alliance usually passed between the dissected halves of animals, as a sign that, just as these parts previously constituted one living being, so from now on they will constitute one soul, one life, will be guided by one spirit and form one society. . - The animals indicated here are those that have long been customarily used in sacrifices, for Abraham here makes a real sacrifice, and exactly the same that was used in the performance of solemn contracts.

Birds of prey are taken here by many as a prophetic image of the enemies of the offspring of Abram: they represent all the idolatrous tribes that tried either to exterminate the people of Israel, or to interfere with the fulfillment of the covenant, dragging them into idolatry.

Here, of course, the enslavement of the Jews in Egypt. The round number 400 years is put instead of 405, because so many years have passed from the birth of Isaac to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Isaac, as the first wanderer and stranger from the offspring of Abram, was born in 1901 BC, and the Jews left Egypt in 1496.

Amorites - the people of Canaan - from Amorites, the son of Canaan, the son of Hamov, - constant, stubborn enemies of the Jews; formerly lived on the western side of the Dead Sea, but then spread to other places - along the eastern side of the Dead Sea and the Jordan; they occupied mainly the middle of the land of Canaan and represented several strong kingdoms. – By filling the measure of iniquity in Scripture is meant the final spiritual decay and death of societies and peoples, their abandonment by God, judgment over them and their destruction.

Abram did not pass between the dissected animals; only the visible image of the Lord passed through, that is, it was a contract of mercy, a blessing promised and tangibly confirmed by the rite of the contract. Smoke and flame are two symbols depicting the offspring of Abraham, amid the temptations and hardships of slavery, and the Lord Himself, whose revelation and promise is light and comfort in the darkness of sorrow. Thus, the smoke meant the suffering of Israel, the flame, deliverance.

The Egyptian River, that is, the Nile. The Euphrates is a large Mesopotamian river flowing from the mountains of Armenia and flowing into the Persian Gulf. The country designated here would have been all the property of Israel, if he had remained faithful to the covenant with God. But despite the fact that the decline of the people prevented the fulfillment of what was destined, all the countries between the eastern mouths of the Nile and the Euphrates were temporarily in the possession of the offspring of Abram.

Barrenness has always been considered a reproach among the Jews, and fertility meant a special blessing from God. Therefore, Sarah offered her maid to her husband, so that the promise would soon be fulfilled. Abraham, however, according to the laws of the East, not having a direct indication from the Lord that it was from Sarah that he would have a son, could take a second wife, without even resorting to a divorce from the first, although divorce was not only allowed by custom, but even entered into the law Moiseev.

Ishmael - from Heb.: heard by God - is so named because the Lord looked down on the suffering of Hagar when she, pregnant, fled into the wilderness from the oppression of Sarah, ordered her to return and gave her a son.

The name Abram is an honorary title, meaning: "father of height", "high father". Abraham, on the other hand, is a name expressing the fulfillment of the promise, meaning: “father of a multitude,” or “father of many nations.” Metropolitan Filaret notes that the renaming was used in the East by kings when they exalted someone. In relation to this and here, God, exalting Abraham, renames him.

The eternal covenant is concluded in the person of Abraham not only with his fleshly offspring, with the people of Israel, but still more with the whole of mankind, meaning by this name those who received the promise by faith, and therefore it is called an eternal covenant in the Messianic sense.

Circumcision (of the foreskin, the innermost flesh) served as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and his offspring, and was the seal that separated the Old Testament believers from the Gentiles. In a higher, mysterious sense, circumcision served as a type of Christian baptism. The apostle Paul explains this meaning of circumcision when he calls Abraham's circumcision the seal of the truth of faith (), and calls our circumcision not made by hands the circumcision of Christ (). In the first, a promise, in the second, a fulfillment, and in the latter, the inner man who denies the devil and all his works; this is circumcision, which, according to the word of the apostle, is performed in the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter. As through circumcision a person entered into the society of believers, so through baptism a person enters into the society of those who believe in Christ (; ); And just as circumcision had its great significance, under the condition of fidelity to God and the exact fulfillment of His commandments, so baptism saves us not by washing away carnal uncleanness, but by putting off sins or, according to the apostle, by putting off the sinful body of the flesh, by the promise of a good conscience, by the resurrection of Christ (; ; ; ; ). And since the apostle puts circumcision (baptism) not made by hands in close connection with the resurrection of the Savior, then in the very appointment of God for the Old Testament circumcision of the eight-day period, the fathers of the Church see a prototype - an indication of the day of the resurrection of Christ, which occurred on the seventh Saturday on the eighth, Sunday foreshadowing our justification in Christ and the laying off of the filth of the flesh in baptism. Therefore, in the first centuries of Christianity, infant baptism was often performed on the eighth day after birth.

By the mountain is meant the mountains of Moab. Segor, in which Lot found refuge from perdition, according to the Hebrew text Zoar - formerly Bela - was one of the five allied cities located in the Jordan Valley and was the southernmost city of this country, halfway to the mountains of Moab.

The Salt or Dead Sea is at the southern end of the Jordan Valley, surrounded by sharp, bare rocks. It is called salty because it contains a lot of salt; in addition, there is a lot of asphalt or mountain tar, which, up to now, rising from the bottom of the lake, floats to the surface and produces evaporation in the air. This sea is called dead because no animal can exist in its waters. Even its shores, covered with salt crystals, present a spectacle of the complete absence of life; the very stumps, soaked in salt liquor, become petrified. Thus, the Dead Sea serves as a striking monument to God's curse and punishment on wicked cities. The Dead Sea has an elongated appearance and extends from north to south for a 20-hour journey; its depth in the northern part reaches 1,318 feet, or about 190 fathoms, while the southern part is very shallow.

). Hagar - a slave - the image of the Church of the Old Testament, under the law, which had a slavish character. Thus, Ishmael, the son of a servant and Abraham according to the flesh, foreshadowed the Jews, who before Christ were considered the only possessors of the Divine promises. Sarah pretended to be New Testament, as well as Isaac - Christians, free children of the New Testament, sons of promise, like Isaac, and not of carnal origin; for in the sacrament of baptism, entering into Christ's, we are born not according to nature, but according to God's promise. And just as Hagar and Ishmael were expelled by Abraham, so the Jewish synagogue, with the appearance of the New Testament, was rejected, and the slave yoke of the law was removed from the children of the free Church of Christ; the sons of Christian freedom will receive the inheritance of grace and all the promises of eternal life in Christ, and the Jews, the sons of slavery, who wanted to appropriate it exclusively for themselves, will be deprived. Just as Sarah was previously barren and then gave birth to a son of promise, so the New Testament, barren before Christ, will give birth, according to the words of the prophet (), more sons than those who have a husband, i.e. Jewish synagogue; for the promise of God extends to all nations and, by the power of grace, all are received into the New Testament Church of Christ.

Indeed, numerous offspring descended from Ishmael. His twelve sons were the founders of the twelve Arabian tribes, which to this day remain nomadic, preserving the independence and wild character of their ancestor. Living in Arabia, they later mingled with other nomadic peoples under the common name of Arabs or Arabians.

The Jebusites - the people of Canaan, originating from Jebusites, the son of Hamov - belonged to the most ancient inhabitants of the land of Canaan. Their country was in the same area where Jerusalem was later built, on the site of their city of Jebus on Mount Zion. Moriah - from Hebrew: the place indicated by God; this was the name of the land of the Jebusites and the mountain in it, on which, by the direction of God, Abraham wanted to sacrifice Isaac to God. conveys an ancient tradition according to which the sacrifice of Isaac took place on the top of the same mountain on which the most holy sacrifice of Christ, the Son of God, was made.

Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac to God, according to the teachings of the Church, mysteriously represented the Savior's sacrifice on the cross, His death and resurrection. Just as Abraham, having surrendered himself entirely to the will of God, did not spare his only begotten son to sacrifice to God, so God “He did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all”() to suffering on the cross and death. The Fathers and teachers of the Church see representative Messianic features in the very details of the sacrifice of Isaac. Isaac proceeds from his father's house to the place appointed for the sacrifice: Christ was to leave Jerusalem and suffer outside its gates (). When Isaac went to the slaughter, an ass and his servants followed him: so also Christ, when he had to go to suffering, sat on a donkey's lot, showing the calling of the Gentiles; His disciples followed him with the vaiyas. But Isaac was separated from his youths when he went to the mountain for slaughter: Christ was also cut off from His disciples when he went to Calvary to die for us (). In the fact that firewood for the sacrifice was laid on Isaac, and that he carried it on his shoulders to the place of sacrifice, the Fathers of the Church see an image of the crucifixion of Christ. In the whole story of Isaac's sacrifice, his perfect obedience to his father is visible; in the history of the sufferings of Jesus Christ, we see the boundless obedience of His Father to His Father, to whom He was “obedient even unto death, even death on the cross” (). Isaac is sacrificed without committing any guilt: Christ suffers, suffers reproach, is bound, crucified - Sinless. “Isaac,” says the saint, “went up the mountain, like a gentle lamb, and the Savior went up to Golgotha, to be slain for us, like a lamb. Seeing the knife there, understand the spear. Looking at the altar, understand the place of the skull. In a bunch of firewood - notice the cross. Seeing the fire, the mind embraced love and jealousy. – But Isaac is slain only by the intention of his father, as Chrysostom notes; instead, a ram is sacrificed. But here, having ceased to be the image of the suffering Christ, Isaac becomes the image of the risen Christ, and the lack of the image of suffering is filled by the ram, in which the Fathers of the Church unanimously recognize the image of the slaughtered Lamb - Christ, who suffered in the flesh (ram), but did not suffer according to the Godhead (represented by Isaac). And just as on the third day his mother Sarah saw Isaac alive, so the Church

Mahpelah, against Mamre in Hebron, Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for the burial of Sarah there. Later, besides Sarah, Abraham, and Isaac with Rebekah, and their son Jacob with his wife Leah were buried here. Subsequently, a monument was erected in this cave, which is the main attraction of Hebron and attracts the attention of all travelers.

CALLING OF ABRAHAM. When almost all people became idolaters, God chose one pious man named Abraham, the son of Terah, from the tribe of Shem, to preserve the true faith on earth. Abraham lived in the land of the Chaldeans, was rich, had many slaves and livestock, but was childless and grieved about it. One day God appeared to him and said: leave your father's house and go to the land that I will show you; I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will magnify your name. Abraham was seventy-five years old at the time. In obedience to God, he took with him his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, all his property and all his servants and went to the land that the Lord showed him. This land was called Canaan and was very fertile. Entering it, Abraham built an altar and offered God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

THE APPEARANCE OF THE HOLY TRINITY TO ABRAHAM IN THE FORM OF THREE WANDERERS. In the land of Canaan, Abraham settled near Hebron. One day, sitting at his tent, he saw three strangers not far off. He immediately went to meet them, bowed to the ground and began to ask them to rest.

Promise to Abraham about the birth of a son. J. von Karolfeld

under a tree and eat. The Strangers agreed. According to the custom of that time, Abraham washed their feet, served bread, milk and the best roast calf. While the strangers were eating, one of them said: in a year I will be with you again; Sarah your wife is going to have a son. Sarah, who was standing behind the entrance to the tent, heard these words. Surprised inwardly, she said to herself: should I have such consolation in my old age? But the stranger said: Is there anything difficult for God?

The Appearance of the Trinity to Abraham. G. Dore

SACRIFICE OF ISAAC. A year has passed since this event. Abraham was a hundred years old and his wife Sarah was ninety when their son Isaac was born. Abraham loved his son with all his heart; The Lord saw it. When Isaac grew up, God, wanting to test the Faith of Abraham, said to him: take your only son, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice him on one of the mountains that I will show you (the sacrifice of Isaac was a type of death and resurrection of Jesus Christ). Abraham obeyed. The next day, early in the morning, he prepared firewood, saddled a donkey, took two servants and his son, Isaac, and set off. On the third day of the journey, a place for sacrifice was pointed out to him from a distance. Leaving his slaves under the mountain, Abraham gave Isaac firewood, he himself took fire and a knife, and they went up the mountain. Dear Isaac asked Abraham: My father, here we have fire and wood, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered: The Lord will provide for Himself a lamb. Abraham built an altar on the mountain, laid out the wood, tied his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar. He had already raised the knife to stab Isaac. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: Abraham, Abraham! do not raise your hand against your child! now I know that you are afraid of God, for you have not spared your only son. Looking around, Abraham saw a ram entangled in a bush by its horns and sacrificed it.

One must have firm faith in God and perfect obedience: without this one cannot please God, be happy and be worthy of the promises of God. There is no need to be cowardly in trials. Everything the Lord does, he does for our well-being.

About why indications of the age of persons about whom the Bible narrates are so important, that little Abram answered Nimrod, what events are associated with the places where he stopped, about “good” and “evil” old age, “Chaldean fire” and “stolen saints” ” says Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev, continuing to analyze the Book of Genesis, chapter 12.

The meaning of age

“And Abram went, as the Lord told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran."(Gen. 12:4).

Some clarification for bible lovers. If the Bible says the age of a person, then, as a rule, the Bible praises him.

« Get out of your land, says the Lord. Our land, that is, our body, before baptism was the land of the dying, but after baptism it became the land of the living. This is what the psalmist says about her: But I believe I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living(Ps. 26:13). Through baptism, as I said, we have become a land of the living and not of the dead, a land of virtues and not of vices—unless by being baptized we return to the mire of vices; unless, having become the land of the living, we do not do the shameful and destructive deeds of death. [And go] to the land that I will show you, says the Lord. And it is true that we will then gladly enter the land that the Lord will show us when, with His help, we first expel sins and vices from our land, that is, our body, ”writes Caesar of Arles.

The words: “and Lot went with him” should be understood in such a way that Lot did not follow God, but his uncle, that is, “for the company.”

It says here that Abram is 75 years old. Usually people think that 50 years, 60 - and that's it, life is already ending. Avram's life is just beginning! He will live 175 years! All life ahead - a whole century!

Jews believe that he should have lived 180 years. Why do they insist on it? After all, the Scripture directly says that he died at 175! Because it is said that Abraham died in a “good old age” (Gen. 15:15). What is meant? His son Ishmael, the eldest son born of Hagar, led a life of crime. But towards the end of his life, he experienced repentance and conversion to God. And when it is said about the burial of Abraham, it is said: “And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar, the Hittite, which is against Mamre” (Gen. 25: 9). And the fact that the name of Isaac comes first, and Ishmael - the second, means that Ishmael recognized the spiritual primacy of Isaac, as he experienced repentance. Indeed, this is a good old age. But where does the five years, about which the Jews sometimes argue?

If after us there are bad grandchildren, ill-bred children, this means: an unkind old age

At this time, a boy named Esau was running in Abraham's family. He was young (15 years old). Esau and Jacob are the children of Isaac, the son of Abraham. The Jews say: “Esau – oh, he was a nice, kosher, pretty boy! Understanding what is permitted and what is not permitted. It hasn't gone bad yet! But if it had gone bad and grandfather Abraham saw it, it would have been bad old age!" That is, if we die and after us there are bad grandchildren, ill-bred children, this is what it means: an unkind old age. But if we die and our loved ones bury us with prayer, with reverence, with zeal, this is a good old age, which can be expected for every person.

As I said, if the Bible gives a person's age, it wants to praise him. For example, when the Bible speaks of the circumcision of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, it is said that he was 13 years old (see: Gen. 17:25). And the commentators asked the question: why did Moses specify that he was exactly 13 years old? what can this teach us?

At the age of 13, he could be frightened of what was happening, he could run away - they circumcised all men! But he, as an adult, stood in line, and Abraham circumcised him. And to praise him, this clarification is given: “He was thirteen years old when his foreskin was circumcised” (Genesis 17:25). So every digit of Scripture and every letter and word is of great importance to us, just as Christ said: “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled. » (Matthew 5:18).

“Not one iota or one tittle shall pass from the law until all– by comparison with this letter (י) it is shown that even that which seems to be the smallest in the law is full of spiritual mysteries and everything will be condensedly repeated in the Gospel,” writes Blessed Jerome.

What god do you believe in?

And Abram, who was a man to whom it was prophesied that in him all the tribes of the earth would be blessed, came out of Haran. In the Book of Genesis, Abram is the ancestor of the Jews, the first Jew, together with his father Terah, wife Sarah and nephew Lot went to Canaan (see: Gen. 11: 31).

Farrah ( Terah) died on the way to Harran. There, God commanded Abram to leave the country, promising to make his offspring a great nation.

Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran (see Gen. 12:4). A Farre ( Terahu) was 70 years old when Abram was born (see: 11:26). So Terah was 145 years old when Abram left Haran, and he still had many years to live. Why does Scripture speak of Terah's death before Abram's departure? So that everyone would not know about this, so that they would not say that Abram did not fulfill the duty of honoring his father, left him in his old age and left. Therefore Scripture speaks of him as dead. It must be understood that he was spiritually dead, that is, he remained a pagan. Therefore, Abram could leave him; cf.: “And immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him” (Matt. 4:22); and again: “And whoever leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for the sake of my name, will receive an hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19: 29).

Abraham, then a 75-year-old man, went to Canaan with Sarah and Lot. Near Shechem, God appeared to him again and promised the whole country as an inheritance to his descendants (see: Gen. 12:1-9). It was not just an exodus, but rather it looked like an escape, an exile.

How does this exile take place?

This is not described in the Bible, but legends have been preserved about this event, which are the same for different ethnic and religious groups. Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike tell about the flight of Abram, referring to the ancients. These are stories about Abram's childhood, very interesting stories. We find something similar in the Facial Vault of John IV the Terrible (XVI century), in Blessed Jerome and in the Tolkova Paley (XI-XII centuries), in St. Demetrius of Rostov in his wonderful “Kelein Chronicler”.

When Abram was a little boy, his father Terah (Terah) was engaged in selling idols: he made them and sold them. And so little Abram once sat, looked out the window and thought about God: “Which of the gods to choose, who to worship?” He saw the stars, the moon. What a beauty! And he thought: “Here is my god - the moon! The stars will help her!

But the moon and stars had set, and Abram said:

“I don’t like gods that come in!”

The sun appeared - the ancient Egyptians revered the sun as the god Ra, the Slavs, our ancestors, revered the sun as the god Yarilo. But the sun has set...

And then the little boy understood what many could not understand, how can we read it from; the inner voice of conscience suggested to this little boy the idea of ​​the unity of God. Young Abram realized that God is the One who created the sun, the stars, the moon, and the earth.

And he destroyed in his father's shop, while he was not at home, all the idols. There was also a large idol that Abram could not move. And when the father returned, looked at the mess he had made, and sternly asked little Abram: “Who did this?” Abram replied:

- This big one killed all the little ones!

The father then exclaimed:

- Are you laughing at me? He can't walk!

- To which Abram, this servant of God, reasonably remarked:

- And what, father, do you worship him, if he cannot even walk?

There was a scandal: the inhabitants of Ur of the Chaldees learned about what had happened. According to ancient tradition, the ruler of Ur of the Chaldees was then none other than Nimrod, the builder of the Tower of Babel. And so he called Abram for interrogation.

Little Abram stands before the tyrant, and he asks him:

- In which God do you believe? Answer child!

And Abram said:

“I believe in a God who gives life and takes it away.

Then Nimrod says:

- So it's me! I give life when I abolish execution, and I put to death when I pronounce the death sentence!

The boy looked at this pagan monster and said to him:

And then the boy said to the ruler: “The sun rises in the east. Command it to rise in the west!”

- The sun rises in the east. Command it to rise in the west!

And this ruler became terribly angry and ordered to kindle the hearth that he had, and threw Abram into this furnace.

The fact is that the word "ur" can mean "fire", and this name Ur Kazdim (Ur of the Chaldees) can mean "Chaldean fire". And when the Scripture says that he left Ur of the Chaldees, it can be translated so that he fled from there, fleeing the fire.

St. Demetrius of Rostov wrote in the “Secret Chronicler”: “... the Chaldeans were angry with Abram for the destruction of their idols and threw him into the fire, but he came out of there, preserved by the power of God unharmed from the fire.”

And now this tyrant looks at Abram, Abram, like those three youths in the oven in the days of the prophet Daniel (see: Dan. 3: 92), walks, prays, glorifies the one Lord ... Then Nimrod calls him from there and says:

- Get out with your family so that you are not here!

Blessed Jerome wrote: “Thus, the tradition of the Jews, about which I said above, is true, that Terah went out with his sons from the “Chaldean fire” and that Abram, being in the midst of the Babylonian fire, because he did not wish him (the fire - the deity of the Chaldeans. - prot. O.S.) to worship, was freed thanks to God's help; and from the time when he confessed the Lord ... the days of his life and age are calculated.

“And from the time when he confessed the Lord, the days of life and age are numbered”

That is, it does not matter how old you are - 15 or 70 - true life begins when ("the days of his life and age are numbered"), when a person turns from the darkness of unbelief to the Divine light ("from the time when he confessed the Lord").

I remember when I was a child my grandmother called me to the church gatehouse:

Let's go have tea with the girls.

I happily agreed. We go into the gatehouse, and there are only grandmothers of 70-80 years old. And I asked:

- Where are the girls?

Grandma said:

Everything is in front of you! - And pointed to the old women.

One of them says:

We are all girls here! I became a believer ten years ago, someone else is younger.

We cannot buy eternal life at the price of temporal life. We cannot buy imperishable life at the price of a perishable life, no matter how well we live here! We cannot buy life in Heaven at the cost of life on earth! These are incommensurable and incomparable things! Therefore, whether there were exploits of Abram, were there not these exploits - God chose this man! And this man followed Him.

A few words about the "stolen saints"

By the way, the Russian people most of all love those saints who have not been stolen from us. I will explain what I mean. I completely agree with Professor A.I. Osipov, who says that when the lives of the saints were compiled in the 17th century, many texts were copied from Catholic sources, where there were many incredible fantasies. And as a result, now we have stolen saints. What does "the stolen saint" mean? Here Simeon the New Theologian writes (I did not dare to quote his text without abbreviations):

I was a killer - listen to everyone! ...
I was, alas, an adulterer in my heart...
I was a fornicator, a magician ...
The user of oaths and the money-grubber,
Thief, liar, shameless, kidnapper - woe is me! -
Offender, brother-hater,
filled with envy
Money-lover and doer
Any other kind of evil.
Yes, believe me, I'm telling the truth about it.
Without pretense and without deceit!

I read it and think: I should read his biography - when did he manage to do it? I open his biography: “He attended a monastery from childhood, flourished with the greatest piety, reached the heights of spiritual life, was transferred to another monastery ... there he reached an even greater height and was returned to his monastery, where he labored in piety until death.”

Or, for example, I read Macarius the Great: “Everyone considers me holy and righteous, I am already many years old, and still lustful passions overcome me ...”

Saints have been stolen from us! This is a very serious problem. And the people feel it. Previously, in Rus', a book was read every day during the service, which was called the "Prologue". In this book, the life of a saint of one day or another was read. The Russian people now do not read anything from the Prologue, except for just one life! This life Reverend Mary Egyptian. Because nothing was stolen here, she is what she was. And such a life can inspire a sinful person to ask himself the question: “Why am I standing still? Why am I not doing anything to change my life?”

"And all the people they made"

And Abram took Sarah with him his wife, Lot , his brother's son (His brother is dead. - prot. O.S.), and all the property that they acquired, and all the people that they had in Haran"(Gen. 12:5).

Here, from Hebrew, you need to translate literally like this: "and all the people they made in Haran." And how to understand this: "made in Haran"?

If they say about a person: “He makes money”, this does not mean that he is a counterfeiter, right? He just knows how to earn them. And the words: “they took all the people whom they made in Haran” should be understood as follows: Abram preached Monotheism to men, faith in one God, and Sarah preached to women.

“This holy pair, coupled with flesh and spirit, Abraham and Sarah, was among the unfaithful generation like a creen in thorns, like a spark in ashes, and like gold between blat. While all the peoples turned into idolatry and lived godlessly, committing unspeakable evil and impious lawlessness, they both knew the one God and believed in Him and faithfully served Him, pleasing them with good deeds. They praised and preached holy name Him and others to whom they could, instructing them in the knowledge of God. For the sake of this, God led them from one place to another.

And they, Abram and Sarah, created a religious community. And the word "Jew", indeed, in its original meaning does not mean a nation, but a religious affiliation. And Christians have never taken the word "Jew" or "Jew" as a designation of nationality.

The Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans writes: “For it is not the Jew who is such in outward appearance, nor the circumcision which is outwardly in the flesh; but that Jew who is such inwardly, and that circumcision which is in the heart, according to the spirit, and not according to the letter: his praise is not from men, but from God” (Rom. 2:28-29). And the ancient prophets called on the so-called ethnic Jews (Jews): "Circumcise yourself for the Lord, and remove the foreskin from your heart" (Jer. 4: 4). Yes, they were circumcised—thus the outward form was kept—but their hearts were not circumcised for God.

In the land of Canaan

“And they went out to go into the land of Canaan; and came to the land of Canaan. And Abram went through this land [along its length] to the place of Shechem, to the oak forest of Sea. In this land then [lived] the Canaanites.(Gen. 12:5–6).

Abram seemed to be praying for places in which significant, and sometimes extremely dangerous events for his descendants then took place.

If we carefully write down all the sites of Abram, where he made altars, where he simply stopped for a while, and see where these places are found in the Bible, we will see that he, as it were, painted places in which some kind of very significant, and sometimes extremely dangerous events for his descendants.

Here is Seachem. In Shechem, nine-year-old Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, was raped when she went to see how the inhabitants of this area live. The prince of Shechem fell in love with this little Dinah, took her to him, abused her, but then he was frightened because of what he had done, and negotiations began.

Dinah's brothers Levi and Simeon, who were her brothers both by father and mother, found out what had been done to the nine-year-old Dina and decided to take revenge. They said to the inhabitants of Shechem: “We cannot do this, to marry our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for it is dishonorable for us” (Gen. 34:14).

And all the inhabitants of Shechem were circumcised. And when a person is circumcised, due to the peculiarities of physiology, he lies in a fever for three days, it is very difficult for him to move around. And when the circumcised inhabitants were in a fever, Levi and Simeon, the brothers of this girl, massacred all the men of Shechem. And then they gave the whole city to be plundered by their other brothers (see: Gen. 34:18-31).

Of course, they had the right to take revenge on the rapist for their sister, but without this extreme cruelty! Later, the patriarch Jacob will say about them: “Cursed is their anger, for it is cruel, and their fury, for it is fierce” (Gen. 49: 7).

Shechem is also the "Oak Forest of the Sea", a place between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Upon entering the Promised Land, the descendants of Abraham cursed sinners on Mount Ebal and blessed on Mount Gerizim (Deut. 11:29).

And Abram stops at Shechem, he's God's prophet.

“And Abram went through this land [along its length] to the place of Shechem, to the oak forest of Sea. In this land then [lived] the Canaanites.(Gen. 12:6).

And why does Moses use this phrase: "there were Canaanites [living] in this land"?

Now, if, for example, we go out into the street, and I say: “But Uzbeks and Chechens recently stood here,” what does this mean? This means they are gone! And when Moses writes that the Canaanites were still living on that land, it means that they still continued to live when Moses wrote these words.

By this, the writer of everyday life Moses shows that the Canaanites captured this land. Remember how the Book of Acts says: “From one blood (that is, from the blood of Adam. - prot. O.S.) He (that is, the Lord. - prot. O.S.) made the whole human race to dwell on all the face of the earth, appointing predetermined times and limits for their dwelling ”(Acts 17: 26)? And this land, the holy land, was intended for the descendants of Shem, Eber and Abraham. That is why it is said here: "The Canaanites then lived in this land" - that is, they lived illegally.

“And the Lord appeared to Abram and said [to him], I will give this land to your offspring. And [Abram] built there an altar to the Lord who appeared to him.”(Gen. 12:7).

An altar is being built in Shechem to the Lord, and the Lord says that He will take care of Abram's offspring: "I will give this land to your offspring." That is, later I will give it back when I drive strangers off it.

“From there he moved to the mountain, east of Bethel; and pitched his tent so that from it Bethel was to the west, and Ai to the east; and built there an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”(Gen. 12:8).

The words: "his tent" - must be understood in such a way that first he put up his wife's tent, then his own. In the spelling אָהֳלֹה, the letter ה " hat» at the end of a word instead of ו « wav" means: "her tent." First he pitched his wife's tent, and then his own. This is a lesson for husbands: take care of your wife first, then yourself. It is said: "Likewise, you husbands, treat your wives wisely, as with a weaker vessel, showing honor to them, as heirs together with the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered" (1 Pet. 3: 7). It turns out that if someone does not give way to a woman, for example, on a bus or subway, his prayers are imperfect.

Interesting lessons family life left for us these two righteous - Abraham and Sarah!

After God mixed languages ​​in Babylon, people, divided into many nations, forgot the true God and began to worship idols. Then the Lord commanded Abram, “Get out of your land. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great.” Having accepted the command of God with faith and humility, Abram left Ur of the Chaldees and settled in the land of Canaan with his wife Sarah and nephew Lot.

Lot soon separated from Abram, but the city where he settled was captured by enemies, and Lot was captured. Abram armed his slaves, defeated the enemies and freed Lot. As Abram returned victorious, the kings came out to meet him. Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram. The Lord Himself was with Abram and made a covenant with him, saying: "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you can, so many descendants will you have." When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said: “I am God Almighty; walk before my face and be blameless: and I will establish my covenant with you and give you a numerous offspring. Now you will not be called Abram, but let your name be Abraham; for I will make you a father of many nations. Let your wife's name be Sarah. And she will bear you a son, and his name will be Isaac.

At the oak forest of Mamre, where Abraham settled, the Lord appeared to him under the guise of three wanderers, a prototype of the Holy Trinity. Having received with honors and generously treated the guests, Abraham found the favor of God. One of the guests said: "Next year, when I am with you again at this time, your wife will have a son." It was also revealed to Abraham about the intention of the Lord to destroy the inhabitants of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were mired in sin. Abraham asked for deliverance from the punishment of his nephew Lot, who lived a righteous life in Sodom. Two angels came to Lot's house in the form of strangers. The Sodomites began to demand their extradition. Then the angels struck the Sodomites with blindness, and Lot and his relatives were ordered to leave the city for the mountains. "Save your soul and don't look back," they said. After their departure, Sodom and Gomorrah were struck by a fire with sulfur that descended from the sky, and the whole country turned into a salt lake, today the Dead Sea. Lot's wife disobeyed the angel's command. Turning back, she turned into a pillar of salt.

When Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah bore him a son, Isaac. Then Abraham ordered his servant Hagar, from whom he had a son, Ismail, to leave the house. Loving Abraham, the Lord produced numerous Arabian peoples from Ismail. And now, after many years of life, the Lord sends Abraham the last test, surpassing the strength of an ordinary person. Testing Abraham's faith, God told him: "Take your only son, whom you love, Isaac, go to the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you." Despite great sorrow, Abraham obeyed the will of the Lord and came with his son to Mount Moriah. He built a fire. And Isaac said to Abraham: “My father! Here is the fire and the wood, where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, "God will provide for Himself a lamb, my son." Having bound Isaac, Abraham placed him on the altar and, taking a knife, stretched out his hand to slaughter him. But at that moment he heard the voice of God: “Abraham! Do not raise your hand against the lad, for now I know that you are afraid of God and have not spared your only son for Me. Abraham untied Isaac and, seeing a ram entangled in the bushes, offered it as a burnt offering.

A few years later, Sarah died, and Abraham entered into a new marriage with Keturah, by whom he had six more sons. After living one hundred and seventy-five years, Abraham peacefully gave his spirit to the Lord God. From him, as the ancestor of the Jewish people, Christ Himself descended, and all those who truly believe in Christ are called the sons of Abraham.

October 22 (October 9 O.S.) Memory of rights. Abraham, forefather and nephew of his Lot (2000 BC).

Days of Remembrance: October 22 (new style) October 9 (old style) and the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (Celebrated on the penultimate week before Christmas (on Sunday between December 11 and 17)).

Righteous Abraham

For righteous Abraham the forefather and his nephew Lot, see the book of Genesis, 12-25.

The genealogy of Abraham goes back to Shem (Genesis 11:10-26), his father was Terah, who had sons: Abram, Nahor, Aran (Genesis 11:26). A new stage in the “sacred history” of the post-Flood time begins with Abraham: the previous course of God’s economy is contrasted with a new beginning of history with Abraham (cf. Gen. 11:4 and Gen. 12:2).

The book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles says that God appeared to Abraham back in Mesopotamia, before moving to Haran (Acts 7:2). Together with his father Terah, his nephew Lot and his wife Sarah, he left the then large Lower Mesopotamian city of Ur of the Chaldees to go to the land of Canaan (Genesis 11:31). Terah, who, like the fathers of Israel, served other gods (Josh 24:2), did not reach the land of Canaan and died in Haran (Genesis 11:32).

The Lord calls the 75-year-old Abraham to go further: "... get out of your land, from your kindred [and go] to the land that I will show you" - and gives him a promise of great offspring and blessing: "And I will produce from you great people, and I will bless you, and I will magnify your name; and you will be a blessing; I will bless those who bless you and curse you who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3).

After moving to Canaan, Abraham reached Shechem. There, the promise given to him was supplemented: the Lord promises to give this land to Abraham's offspring (Genesis 12:7). Abraham settled in a fairly densely populated part of Canaan at that time.

In the places where the Lord appeared, Abraham builds altars to Him, which later became shrines (Genesis 12:7 - in Shechem; Genesis 12:8 - in Bethel; Genesis 13:8 - in the oak forest of Mamre near Hebron).

Because of the famine that began in Palestine, Abraham and his people go to Egypt. Here he passed Sarah off as his sister, so that the Egyptians, seeing the beauty of Sarah, would not kill him. Sarah's chastity was preserved by God, who struck Pharaoh and his house; Abraham returned with his family to Canaan, having received great gifts from Pharaoh (Genesis 12:10-20).

Journey of Abraham

Between the shepherds of Abraham and Lot, who had large flocks, disputes arose that led to the division of their territories: Lot chose the land in the lower reaches of the Jordan, while Abraham left the land of Canaan. After that, the Lord repeated the promise to give Abraham and his offspring forever the whole land of Canaan and to multiply Abraham's offspring as "the sand of the earth" (Genesis 13:14-17). At the head of an armed detachment, Abraham defeated the Elamite king and his allies, who attacked the kings of the Siddimi valley and captured his nephew Lot (Genesis 14, 13-16).

In this account of Abraham, the word "Jew" appears for the first time in the Old Testament (Genesis 14:30). Upon returning from the war, there was a meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek, the king of Salem, the priest of the Most High God, who brought bread and wine to Abraham and blessed him, Abraham, in turn, gave Melchizedek a tithe from the booty (Genesis 14, 17-24).

To the childless, aged Abraham, who is already ready to appoint his steward Eliezer as heir, God promises an heir and an increase in offspring, which will be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15, 5). Abraham believed this promise, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

The Lord made a covenant with Abraham, which was accompanied by a sacrifice, predicted to him the fate of his descendants, up to their return to Canaan from Egyptian slavery, and determined the boundaries of the future Israeli state - "from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates ..." (Genesis 15, 7 -21).

In the meantime, the aged Sarah, according to the prevailing custom, invited Abraham to "come in" to her servant Hagar, so that Sarah could "have children by her"; so Abraham had a son, Ismail (Genesis 16). The Lord appeared again to Abraham and informed him of the demand that applies to his whole life: “Walk before me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). He made an “eternal covenant” with Abraham, promising that he would become the father of many nations, and the Lord would be the God of Abraham and his descendants, born of Sarah (Genesis 17:8).

Migration of Abraham, J. Molnar, 1850

The entry into the eternal covenant was accompanied by a change in the names of Abram (father is high) and Sarah to Abraham (i.e., the father of many nations - Genesis 17, 5) and Sarah. In addition, as a sign of the covenant, God established the circumcision of every male baby (vv. 9-14) and blessed Sarah, predicting that it was her son Isaac who would be the heir of the covenant, and not Hagar's son Ismael, who, however, also received a blessing (v. 16). -21).

God once again appeared to Abraham in the form of three strangers (Genesis 18), whom Abraham and Sarah hospitably met. The Lord again promises Abraham that Sarah will bear a son. From Abraham the travelers went to punish the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham, on the other hand, intercedes before the Lord for mercy on a city in which there are at least 10 righteous people (Genesis 18:22-33).

In fulfillment of the promise of a son, Isaac was born to ninety-year-old Sarah Sarah and hundred-year-old Abraham (Gen 21:5), followed by the removal of Ismail and Hagar (Gen 21:9-21).

The most difficult test of Abraham's faith was the Lord's command to sacrifice the promised heir Isaac: "Take your only son, whom you have loved, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:2). Abraham obeyed, but at the last moment the Angel of the Lord stops the sacrifice, and instead of Isaac, a ram is sacrificed. As a reward for the faith and obedience of Abraham, the Lord confirmed with an oath the promises made earlier: blessings, multiplication of offspring and blessings in the seed of Abraham of all the peoples of the earth (Genesis 22, 15-18).

After Sarah's death, Abraham married Keturah and had 6 more sons from her (Genesis 25:1-4). Abraham died at the age of 175 years, "in a good gray hair, aged and full [of life]" and was buried in the cave of Machpelah - the burial place of Sarah (Genesis 25, 7-10).

Later biblical authors and intertestamental literature, restoring faith in the Jews (Isaiah 51:2), recall God's love for Abraham (Abraham is "a friend of God": 2 Chronicles 20:7; cf. Isaiah 41:8) and the Lord's oath promise that He will give the offspring of Abraham the land (Ex 32:13; Ex 33:1; Deut 1:8; Deut 6:10; Deut. 7:2, etc.), about the election of Abraham (Neh. 9:7-8) . For the Hellenized Jews, Abraham remains an example of obedience to the Lord's commandments (Sir 44:20; 1 Mac 2:52; Jub 6:19; 4 Mac 16:20, etc.), the embodiment of the Hellenistic ideal of virtue (Wis 10:5; 20; Philo. De Abrahamo. 52-54).

The Significance of Abraham in the Light of the New Testament

In the New Testament, Abraham, along with Moses, are the most frequently mentioned righteous men of the Old Testament. The writers of the New Testament recognize the importance of Abraham in the history of the salvation of Israel (Mt 8:11; Mk 12:26; Lk 16:22-24; Lk 19:9]]; the father of John the Baptist Zacharias and the Mother of God praised in their hymns the promise and covenant of God with Abraham (Lk 1:55, 73) and that Israel is Abraham's seed (Lk 13:16; Lk 16:24; Lk 19:9, etc.), but this participation in Abraham's children is rejected as a condition sufficient for salvation, which the Jews hoped for (Jn 8:33; Mt 3:9; Lk 3:8), for the Lord Jesus is greater than Abraham (Jn 8:52-59). , Jn 8:33, 37), only those who believe in Christ, those who do the works of Abraham, are the true children of Abraham.

Abraham's blessing and covenant with him was fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Acts 3:25). Evangelist Matthew begins the genealogy of Jesus with Abraham (Mt 1, 2) to show that the Messiah Jesus is not only the son of King David, but also the true descendant of Abraham (Mt 1, 1), on whom the prophecies of the Old Testament came true. Evangelist Luke mentions Abraham not only as one of the figures in the genealogy going back to Adam (Lk 3:34), but also as an outstanding personality in the history of Israel (Acts 3:13; Acts 7:32; Acts 13:26; cf. Acts 7:2-8, 16-17). Ap. Paul emphasizes the historical privileges of Israel also with the help of the expression "Abraham's seed" (Rom. 9:7; Rom. 11:1; 2 Cor. 11:22); however, he recognizes true eschatological sonship only for the children of the promise (Rom. 9:7-9; Gal 4:22-31), that is, for those who accepted the faith.

It is the faith of Abraham that is of decisive importance in deciding the question of observance of the Old Testament Law. Abraham is the prototype of the believer, proof that not only Jews but also Gentiles can achieve salvation by believing in Christ (Rom 4). St. app. Paul emphasizes precisely the promise to Abraham and his faith: the still uncircumcised Abraham was justified because of his faith and because of the promise given by grace (Rom 4:13-15). According to Gal 3, Abraham's blessing to the nations is understood as the message of the justification of the Gentiles (Gal 3:7-9): only those who believe in Christ are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise (Gal 3:29).

The saving advantage of the promise of Abraham over the Law of Moses is emphasized (Gal 3.17-18), for the promise of Abraham is regarded as a "covenant about Christ", and under the "seed" ap. Paul understands Christ Himself (Gal 3:16), but thereby also all those who believe in Christ, who are members of the one Body of Christ (1 Cor 6:15; 12:27). James 2:21-24 calls Abraham, who was justified by his works, a model of obedience to the will of God

Abraham Sacrifices Isaac, E. Reiten, 1849

The Significance of Abraham in Christian Theology

Abraham Sacrifices Isaac, E. Reiten, 1849
In the subsequent Christian tradition, the ideas of New Testament theology found their development: the Old Testament patriarchs learned the mystery of the Law, which consists in the fact that the promise of Abraham was fulfilled in Christ, and Christians thus. right to call Abraham his father, and himself - the chosen people.

The Fathers of the Church and Christian writers used the story of Abraham for instruction in virtue, as an edifying lesson in piety, they see in it prototypes pointing to the New Testament truth of Christ, and even an allegorical depiction of the procession of a fallen soul under divine protection along the path of perfection. Belief that in the events of the life of the patriarchs a future was foretold. the sacrament of Christ, is also expressed in liturgical hymns: “In the Father, God foreshadowed you, mysteriously wanting to be on earth, God’s mysterious appearance, Your eternal Son from the Virgin, in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Judas and others, Jesse and David, and the prophets of all, by the Spirit foretelling in Bethlehem Christ appeared, all who are in the world are crying. According to church writers, God called Abraham thanks to his personal piety, which was previously testified in the fight against Chaldean idolatry, while Abraham was to become a guardian and teacher of faith and morality among the surrounding pagans.

The covenant with Abraham did not exclude the former covenants with the human race, and the pagans, therefore, were not deprived of participation in the covenant of God. The promise of the multiplication of offspring and the blessing of all the tribes of the earth (Genesis 12) refers to all mankind, on which, through the Descendant of the patriarchs, the blessing of God should descend.

The description of Abraham's path from Haran to the Promised Land (Genesis 12) provided material for its allegorical interpretation as an indication of the path that a person should follow in the knowledge of God, and as the ascent of the fallen soul of a person to the path of virtue, cf.: Troparion of the 3rd song The Great Canon of Andrew of Crete: "Thou hast heard Abraham, my soul, having left the land of the fatherland of old, and imitate the former stranger of this will"

In the 318 households of Abraham (Genesis 14:14), the holy fathers are the compilers of the liturgical rite Orthodox Church they saw a prototype of the number of participants in the First Ecumenical Council - the indicated passage is read on the commemoration day of the Council.

In the bread and wine offered by Melchizedek to Abraham (Gen 14), many saw a prototype of the Eucharist.

In accordance with the teachings of St. Paul, the holy fathers in their comments on the Epistle to the Romans understand the faith of Abraham as a prototype of the New Testament faith in the redemptive event of salvation in Christ (Rom 4:22-25). In the divine services, the Lord Jesus Christ, as a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh, is compared with Christians as descendants of Abraham according to faith.

The justification of (uncircumcised) Abraham by faith remains a constant argument in the controversy with the Jews in order to prove the superiority of the Christian faith over the ritual law of Moses.

In edifying preaching, Abraham's faith, his obedience to God, and his readiness to pass the test of faith remain a role model.

The prototype of the New Testament sacrament of Baptism was seen by some interpreters in the circumcision of Abraham.

In the appearance of three strangers to Abraham (Genesis 18), many saw the mystery of the revelation of the entire Holy Trinity in the Old Testament; "You see... Abraham meets three, but worships one? such an understanding of this event was also reflected in the Orthodox liturgical texts: "You saw, how powerful it is for a person to see the Trinity, and you treated Toya as a friend to the most blessed Abraham: the same bribe you received a strange hospitality, if you were countless tongues to the father by faith", " Anciently accepts the Deity as one trihypostatic sacred Abraham.

It should be noted, however, that many fathers and teachers of the Church believed that the Lord appeared to Abraham near the oak forest of Mamre, namely the Second Person of the Trinity, and two angels accompanying Him; about the appearance of the Son of God to Abraham, it is said in the Byzantine hymnography: "In the canopy, Abraham saw, in Thee, the Mother of God, the sacrament, for Thy incorporeal Son was welcome."

The Migration of Abraham, Gustave Dore, 1865
Mostly the Western Fathers saw in the three wanderers the appearance of angels, in whom God was present and known, as in their prophets, some liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church support this interpretation of "the oak of Mamre, having established the Patriarch Angels, inheriting the promise of catching in old age", "to the hospitable love of old Abraham God-seer, and glorious Lot, establishing the angels, and having found fellowship with the angels, calling: holy, holy, holy are the God of our fathers.

A representative meaning was seen in the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22). Already for St. Meliton Sardis ram represents Christ, freed from the chains of Isaac - the redeemed humanity. The tree symbolizes the Cross, the place of sacrifice is compared with Jerusalem. Isaac going to the sacrifice is also a type of Christ and his suffering. St. Irenaeus of Lyons compares Abraham, who is ready to sacrifice his son, with God the Father, who sends Christ for the redemption of mankind. This interpretation of Isaac as a type of Christ becomes the general opinion of the fathers.

According to the holy fathers, the Lord Himself testified to the figurative significance of the sacrifice of Isaac in relation to the Sacrifice of Golgotha ​​when He said: “Abraham, your father, was glad to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced” (Jn 8:5-6). The hymns of the Orthodox liturgy testify to the representative significance of this sacrifice: “Abraham sometimes eats his son, imagining the slaughter of all that contains him, and now in the den of the merciful being born”, “Thy slaughter, foreshadowing Abraham Christ, his son, on the mountain, obeying Thee, Lord, like a sheep, devour at least by faith: but return, I rejoice with him, and glorifying and exalting Thee, the deliverer of the world, "" The image of Christ's passion was Thou Isaac's presence, erect by the father's good obedience hedgehog."

The sacrifice of Abraham is often interpreted as a prototype of Hagar in the anaphoras of the Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Liturgies of the East and West - for example, the Liturgies of St. Mark, Roman Mass.

In Christian euchological and hymnographic texts, the image of the “bosom” or “bosom” of Abraham is found as a synonym for paradise (cf. Mt 8.11; Lk 16.22-26): “Remember, Lord ... Orthodox ... Thyself give them rest ... in the Kingdom Yours, in the delight of paradise, in the bowels of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…”, “Paradise is sweet: Abraham’s bowels of the patriarch warm you in eternal villages, martyrs forty” and others.

The name Abraham is often used in Jewish and Christian prayers as component appeals to God (“God of Abraham”, “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, “God of Abraham and Israel”, etc.) cf. the beginning of the prayer of Manasseh "Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and their righteous seed."