Father Abraham had seven sons . . . and a lot of issues
“Big daddy.” “Exalted ancestor.” These are two meanings for the name “Abraham,” especially when applied to the Abraham that appears in the book of Genesis. (Carey) And he lives up to that name: Abraham is a spiritual ancestor for Muslim, Christian, and Jewish people. His story appears across several chapters of the book of Genesis, and he is mentioned over 100 times in the Bible’s other books.
There’s a song called “Father Abraham” that we used to sing at church camp. I’ll spare you the tune now, but the lyrics were “Father Abraham had seven sons, seven sons had Father Abraham. And they never laughed. And they never cried. All they did was go like this…” At that point, like with so many camp songs, body motions became involved. If you don’t believe me, check out Season 6, Episode 9 of Mad Men to see a performance.
So Abraham’s name lives on today, not only in scripture but even in pop culture. But before he was called “Abraham,” he was known as Abram. We learn in Genesis 11 that Abram is a descendent of Noah, and is married to Sarai, who we are told right away is unable to have children, and who we learn later is also Abram’s half-sister.
When Abram is 75, the Lord tells him to leave his country and kindred and travel to a new land. The Lord says Abram will father a great nation, and that his family will be blessed. Abram does as he is told, beginning life as a sojourner. He takes with him his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and a non-specific number of enslaved people.
During their journeys, they are driven toward Egypt by famine. Before they arrive, Abram becomes concerned that Sarai’s beauty is such that it will lead the Egyptians to kill him, and his fear leads him to concoct an eyebrow-raising plan. To hide the fact that she is Abram’s wife, Sarai is to say she is his sister. She does so, and we learn that she is then “taken into Pharaoh’s house.” In return, Abram is given sheep, oxen, donkeys, slaves, and camels.
Stories like this one offer a reason I don’t think we should try to find a takeaway from every passage of scripture we read. What we know of the culture of the time suggests that Sarai became part of Pharaoh’s harem, and I suspect that even in that time Abram’s arrangement was reprehensible. Apparently the Lord thought so, because Pharaoh and his house were struck with a plague. Abram and Sarai are sent away by Pharaoh, though with enough possessions that they are now reported to be “very rich” in livestock, silver, and gold.
Sarai continues to be frustrated at her inability to become pregnant, so she has Abram impregnate Hagar, one of her enslaved people. Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, Abram’s first son. Sadly, Hagar and Ishmael are eventually sent away by Abram and Sarai after Sarai eventually and miraculously gives birth herself, to a son named Isaac.
By that time, Abram and Sarai have been given new names by God: Abraham and Sarah. But a new name doesn’t keep Abraham from a reprise of a past failing. While residing in Gerar, he tells King Abimelech that Sarah is his sister. The king takes Sarah, but thankfully God intervenes in a dream and Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham, along with sheep, oxen, enslaved people, and silver.
Sarah dies when she is 127, and later on Abraham marries a woman named Keturah, who gives birth to six sons. Abraham himself dies when he is 175.
Looking at these events from his life — his deception of foreign rulers, treatment of Sarah, banishment of Hagar and Ishmael, and enslavement of people — you might not think much of Abraham. And I didn’t even mention the story about how he almost sacrificed Isaac.
But there’s more to Abraham’s story, and I’ll get to that a little later.
Abraham’s story is set in a very different time and place from ours, so I think we need to be careful about what lessons we take from it. For instance, we know now that slavery is a detestable practice, though it was common in the Ancient Near East. We also frown on customs like having multiple wives and harems. Lying about your relationship with your spouse out of fear, allowing her to be taken into another person’s house as his property, and then profiting financially as a result is obviously troubling. It calls into question many customs of the day, particularly since in the second instance Sarah is around ninety years old.
Yet Abraham’s name lives on despite his faults. He’s been recognized as a spiritual ancestor by billions of people. The Lord chose him as someone with whom to make a covenant.
A few days ago I was sitting by myself in a waiting room doing research to prepare for this reflection. It was unusually quiet. After a few minutes, a gentleman came in and sat in a chair adjacent to me, even though there were other more distant chairs available. Then he began watching videos on his phone. He flipped to a new one every few seconds, and it was distracting. Perhaps I should have said something, but I chose to stew silently to myself. This went on for quite some time, and I allowed myself to be annoyed by what I considered to be a lack of manners. Then his phone ringer went off loudly; he answered and began a conversation with someone who apparently works in health care. It turns out he’s been struggling with a medical condition that causes him pain. He’s been trying different treatments, but they have been ineffective thus far.
Hearing part of this man’s story softened my heart, put my annoyance with him in perspective, and reminded me of a quote attributed to John Watson, “Be kind; Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” (Quote Investigator) So often this proves true when you hear someone’s story. You might know a person who always seems to have it together, who always seems to be in a good mood, who appears to live an enviable life — you might even be such a person yourself — and yet there’s an unseen affliction underneath.
I don’t know if it’s the weather or the season or the news, but I’ve been approached by an unusually large number of people lately who are struggling. Some have experienced a loss. Some are unable to forgive themselves for something they did. Some worry about our collective future. Some fear for their safety. Some are wrestling with addiction. Some are unable to find a job. All are fighting a great battle, in their heads or in their hearts or both.
One friend was being hard on herself because, at a time when she feels activism is sorely needed, she is not doing as much as she once did. She has three good reasons for that, though: One is a toddler, one is a newborn, and the other is a new full-time job. I don’t think anyone would fault her for taking time off from activism, but she still wishes she could do more.
Guilt and shame can be powerful forces, and it can be hard to turn off the negative internal voice that speaks them. Thus I’d assert that we not only remember to be kind to others; we should be gentle with ourselves as well. Our work to do might not always be what we expect in size or nature, but we don’t need to be entirely put together or at our best to do it. We just need to recognize the opportunities that come our way.
Certainly that was true of Abraham, whose track record we’ve already reviewed in part. As Bible scholar Miguel De La Torre writes, “Abram did not need to first change his life or become more acceptable to God before being chosen. All he did to make himself worthy of God was obey. Abram’s obedience becomes the foundation of faith.” (De La Torre, 145)
God chooses us for different things, and those things might change as our lives unfold. When my daughter was young and I was working a corporate job and Jennifer was building her business, I had no time for activism. Some days it was all we could do to be sure everybody got fed and in bed by a reasonable hour. But as I look back, I can see that other opportunities were there, and if I’m gentle with myself I can recognize that I was following the right path for that chapter in my life.
Like Abraham, we’re all sojourners in this world. We might not move from place to place as often as him, but we know that we’re ultimately moving toward something better.
God often chooses flawed individuals to do great things. You see this throughout the Bible, and Abraham is no exception. And sometimes Abraham comes through. He demonstrated loyalty when he left his homeland to follow the Lord’s direction. He rescues his nephew Lot when he is kidnapped. And he demonstrates hospitality at a critical time, memorializing proper treatment of those in need of quarter.
While standing in front of his tent on a hot day, Abraham sees three men nearby. He rushes to greet them, bows, and offers them water to wash their feet. He encourages them to rest beneath a tree, and asks to bring them food. Sarah and one of Abraham’s servants prepare bread, milk, and meat for their visitors, and Abraham stands nearby to wait on them.
A custom of radical hospitality toward travelers exists to this day in the Middle East. People remember the sojourning of Abraham and his dependence on hospitality, as well as his demonstration of the same when he had the opportunity to host.
As so often is the case with stories in the Bible, the juxtaposition of this story with the one that follows is likely intentional. The extreme hospitality of Abraham stands in sharp contrast to what those same three travelers experience when they visit the city of Sodom. And we learn ahead of time that there are problems in Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord has heard an outcry about the sins of those who live in those cities. It turns out the men who visited Abraham are messengers from the Lord who are to learn what is going on; the fate of the cities depends on what they discover.
The Lord debates sharing that plan with Abraham, asking “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann writes that this “narrative takes pains to establish Abraham’s uncommon qualifications and authority so that he may daringly raise with Yahweh a question that must be raised.” (Brueggemann, 169–170)
God has plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham dares to question that plan, asking “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? Suppose thirty are found there? Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there?” The Lord answers, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”
The Lord’s messengers continue to Sodom and encounter Abraham’s nephew, Lot. Lot shows them hospitality by taking them in. In the night, though, men from the town surround Lot’s house. They demand that Lot’s guests be brought out so they can sexually violate them. Lot defends them, and the messengers afflict the aggressors with blindness to end the threat. The next day, Lot and his family escape Sodom before the Lord rains sulfur and fire there and on the city of Gomorrah.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is often used as what’s called a “clobber text” by those who wish to condemn those from the LGBTQ community. But that requires a non-contextual, non-detailed reading of this story. When the Lord shared the plan to destroy the cities with Abraham, it was because the people had cried out. The actions of the aggressive men had not yet taken place. And when you look at the mentions of Sodom and Gomorrah in other places in scripture, the sexual practices of its residents are not mentioned in a single one. So what caused the people to cry out against the cities? Ezekiel 16 makes it clear:
“This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease but did not aid the poor and needy.”
As De La Torre writes, “the goal of the townsfolk of Sodom was not to quench sexual appetites but to dominate and domesticate the strangers within their midst. . . . The sin of Sodom is not homosexuality, but unchecked heterosexuality in its attempt to dominate everything, even the things of God, to the male. (De La Torre, 195)
God confided in Abraham because of their covenant of “righteousness and justice.” Abraham recognized hospitality as a component of righteousness and justice. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah rejected such values, elevating their desires above the needs of the needy and the alien. It’s ironic that today this story is still used by some with privilege to oppress the marginalized.
Did God really rain sulfur and fire on those unjust cities? The violence inflicted by the God of Genesis who floods the world and destroys Sodom and Gomorrah is hard to digest, but I don’t think the historicity of those stories is what we’re to take away. I think it does serve as a cautionary tale to those who throttle justice and exploit those in need. I think it does remind us to cry out when we see injustice taking place. And I think it does remind us to reject the myth of scarcity and exercise hospitality, even when it’s not popular and even when those in power tell us not to.
Last week, a complaint was filed by people of faith in defense of Biblical hospitality. In Mennonite Church USA v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, multiple church denominations and communities condemn the reversal of course recently taken by federal authorities which will result in raids of houses of worship and violation of religious freedom. The co-signers are not a fringe group, but include representatives from Baptist, Brethren, Jewish, Episcopalian, Evangelical, Mennonite, Quaker, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Unitarian Universalist, United Methodist, and Zion Methodist bodies. God’s people are crying out for justice, for the marginalized, and for a right to follow the teachings of our spiritual ancestors.
My friends, I know a lot of us are struggling right now. It can be hard to summon the energy just to stay informed, let alone feel like we’re making a positive difference. But as the efforts of our siblings above indicate, we are not in this alone. Our opportunities might not all look the same, but they’re offered to us each day. Some of us work to feed unhoused people, and some try to change policy so fewer people are unhoused. Some offer protection to migrants, and some remind those in power to show mercy. Some care for the sick, and others promote health care reform. Some listen while those in pain tell their stories, and some exercise patience when slighted. Some spend most of their week engaged in activism, and some have little time for action but sponsor those who do. Some are challenged daily just to survive, but await the day when they’ll be able to lend a hand to someone in need. And perhaps most importantly, some teach a love of justice to children so God’s work will continue.
And we shouldn’t underestimate the impact of our cries to the Lord, whether they are enlisting God’s aid for the marginalized or for help in being gentler to ourselves and our neighbors. We trust our prayers are heard, especially when raised in concert.
We all have a part to play in the pursuit of righteousness and justice, and each passing day — no matter how dark it is — brings us closer to the reconciliation we seek.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Works Referenced
Brueggemann, Walter. Genesis. (Interpretation: a Bible commentary for teaching and preaching). Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1982.
Carey, Greg. BI100: Biblical Interpretation (class lecture, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA, October 27, 2018).
De La Torre, Miguel A. Genesis. BELIEF: A Theological Commentary on the Bible). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. Kindle edition.
Mennonite Church USA v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Complaint. Case 1:25-cv-00403, filed February 11, 2025.
Quote Investigator. “Quote Origin: Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle.” June 29, 2010. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/29/be-kind/
Uitti, Jacob. “Who Wrote the Traditional Campfire Song ‘Father Abraham’” American Songwriter. March 13, 2023. https://americansongwriter.com/who-wrote-the-traditional-campfire-song-father-abraham/
