ESL Lesson 4 - Abraham: Father of a Nation, Part 1

Lesson 4

Abraham: Father of a Nation, Part 1

Genesis 12:1-5 and 15:1-6 and 17:1-22 and 21:1-6

More than fourteen million (14,000,000) Jews live in the world today. Three million Jews live in their own homeland in Israel. The fact that all of those Jews are alive today and living in their own land is a miracle.

Over the years the Jews have been treated very badly by their enemies. Different enemy rulers took the Jew’s land by force and made the Jews leave their land. Jews scattered all over the world. It looked like the Jews would never have their own land again.

God knew what would happen to the nation of Israel. Twenty seven hundred (or two thousand seven hundred–2700) years ago God told the Jews that they would be forced to leave their land. He also promised them that one day they would come together from all over the earth and live in their land again.

God’s promise came true. About one hundred years ago, Jews began to move back to their land. In 1948 (nineteen forty-eight), after nearly nineteen hundred (or one thousand nine hundred–1900) years, Israel became a nation again.

The story of these fourteen million Jews and how they got their land all begins with a man named Abraham.

When Abraham was seventy-five years old, God gave him a wonderful promise. God told Abraham, “I want you to leave your country and all your relatives. I want you to go to a land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and make your name great. I will help you and make you successful. All the people who ever live on the earth will be blessed because of you.”

When Abraham got to the new land God told him, “I will give this land to you and your offspring.”

It was a wonderful promise. There was only one problem. Abraham was seventy-five years old. His wife was sixty-five. And they had no children.

One night about ten years later God asked Abraham to look up at the sky. “Do you see the stars?” God said. “Count them, if you can.”

Of course Abraham could not begin to count them. There were far too many.

God told Abraham, “Your offspring will be like the stars. You will have so many children that you can’t even count them all.”

“But how can that be?” Abraham said, “I don’t have any children.”

God said, “I will give you a son.”

Abraham believed God. God was pleased that Abraham trusted Him to carry out this difficult promise.

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God talked to him again. God reminded Abraham of His promise.

When Abraham heard God’s words, he laughed. “Will a son be born to a man who is one hundred years old?” he asked. “Will my wife Sarah have a baby when she is ninety?”

“Yes,” God said. “Sarah will have a baby about a year from now.”

And that is exactly what happened. A year later Abraham and Sarah had a little baby boy. They named him Isaac. Isaac was a miracle baby.

God had promised Abraham that he would have a son. God kept His promise, even though it looked impossible. Only God can do impossible things. We don’t understand many things about God. But we know one thing for sure.

God always keeps His promises.

Vocabulary

Names

Abraham	Sarah
Isaac	Israel

Other

jew (n)	homeland (n)
miracle (n)	ruler (n)
by force	scatter (v)
nation (n)	country (n)
relative (n)	make your name great
successful (adj)	bless (v)
problem (n)	remind (v)
born (v)	impossible (adj)

Note: A mother bears a child. A child is born.

Irregular Verbs

Present	Past	Past Participle	Future
Bear	Bore	Has borne	Will bear
Is born	Was born	Has been borne	Will be born

Questions

1. How many Jews are there in the world today?

2. What is the name of the Jews’ homeland?

3. God said that the Jews would be forced to leave their land. But he promised that one day they would come together again and live in their own country. How long ago did God make this promise?

4. When did Israel become a nation again?

5. When Abraham was 75 years old, what did God ask him to do?

6. What did God promise Abraham at this time?

7. How many offspring did God say Abraham would have?

8. How old was Abraham when Isaac was born? How old was his wife Sarah?

9. How often does God keep His promises?

To Think About

1. God promised Abraham that all people who ever live would be blessed (helped and made happy) through him. How is this true?

2. God knows everything that has happened or ever will happen. He has all power so that He can do anything that He wants to do. Because of this God can always keep His promises*. But people sometimes make promises that they cannot keep. Can you remember making a promise that you could not keep? Were people disappointed*?

3. Here are some of God’s promises.

To everyone: If you believe on Jesus and are sorry for your sins, God will forgive you for your sins. (Acts 16:31, John 3:16)

To Christians: God will give you everything you need. (Philippians 4:19).

*keep promises

*disappointed (adj)

Irregular Verbs