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Show j Short Stories ' From The Bible rtV V. V. HANSEN ' "Xltlt A1IAM T11K FATRIAISC'H 'Abraham, i father of multitude) ' First named Abram (elevation) He was the son of Ttrah ,and born jn Ur. of the "Chaldees." B. C. lii(i. The spiritual element in the life of Abraham is me chief topic in the Bible narrative, very few incidents of his natural life are ' . recorded. He was 60 years old when his father's family left Ui . 'ind went to Haram. S ' His was the very type of a true patriarchial life. His character free, simple and manly; full of ! hospitality and family affection; . truthful to all who were bound I to him by their ties .ready for war, but not a professed warnoi or plunderer; free and childlike in religion, and gradually educatec by God's hand, to a sense of its ill-absorbing claims. He was very Keen having a great knowlege ol ; things, and capable of persuading Ins hearers, and not mistaken ir mis opinions, which men at that t rue seemed to have concerning Cod. For he ventured to publish ' t is notion that there was but one L-od, the creator of the universe. i a' promise was made to him, v hich was two-fold temporal anc j ritual that his descendant: V ould be many and prosperous i . and that by him all the families I , . the earth be blessed. The promise has been fulfilled in both ways; his descendants, both Jews ! and Arabs, have been and are now ! "countless." j, ! He had two elder brothers, Har-; Har-; j an and Nahor, and a half sister L Sarai, who was his wife and moth-r moth-r of Isaac. Besides Sarai, he had 3 wife named Keturah, who bore 1i im several sons; and also a handmaid, hand-maid, Magar, whose son, Ishmael ', b '.came the head of a great na-i na-i ton. As time went on he accumulated accumu-lated much wealth and a large I family; he had at one time 318 ' t'ained servants. The Bedouini. o; Syria are an exact representation representa-tion of the ancient patriarch, by i keeping flocks and in habits and i religions, and in being ready on I short notice to make a raid for defense de-fense or reprisal. He died at the age of 175, and was burried in the case of Mach- pelah by his sons Isaac and Ish-I Ish-I mael. To this day he is called the I "friend of God" and is reverenced ! ! alike, as the father of the faithful ( '. by Jew, Mohameen and Christian, 'j : iNext, Abram enter Canaan.) |