The Character of Our Father Abraham, the Father of Fathers and Prophets

Pope Shenouda III speaks about the character of our father Abraham, the father of fathers and prophets, as the greatest example of faith and obedience. Abraham was born in a pagan environment in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, but God called him at the age of seventy-five to leave his land and kindred and walk by faith to a land he did not know. He went out not knowing where he was going, yet confident that God was leading him.
The Pope highlights Abraham’s qualities: he was rich, strong, and brave, yet humble, ascetic, generous, and obedient. He believed in God, followed Him without argument, built altars, prayed, and lived in tents as a sign of his alienation from the world.
God shows in Abraham’s story that He does not choose sinless people, but those who fall and repent. Abraham weakened when he went down to Egypt and relied on his own arm, lying out of fear for himself, but God defended him even in his weakness, distinguishing between the sin of weakness and the sin of betrayal.
The Pope explains that obedience is the essence of faith: “When he was called, he obeyed,” and that blessing does not come from wealth but from fellowship with God. When Lot chose the fertile land of Sodom, he chose material gain, but Abraham chose the blessing and the altar. Therefore, God gave him the great promises and made him the father of all believers.
The Pope concludes that Abraham’s life is a model for every believer called to leave his own “Ur of the Chaldeans” — meaning the environment of sin — to live as a stranger on earth, obedient to God’s will, trusting that the path of faith is the path of blessing and salvation.

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