The Call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-9)

Abraham is one of the most important figures described in the Bible. Originally known as Abram, he was the physical ancestor of the Chosen People, the Jews, and the spiritual father of all true believers (Romans 4:1,16-17).

His story began when he was living in the city of Haran with his wife, Sarai. One day, God said to him: “Leave your country, your people, and the house of your father, and go to the land to which I will lead you. I will make of you a great people and I will bless you. I will make your name great and it will become a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And through you all the nations on the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

Preaching on this passage, Pope Francis observed: “There is a voice that suddenly resonates in Abraham’s life. A voice that invites him to undertake a journey that he knows is absurd: a voice that spurs him to uproot himself from his homeland, from his family roots, in order to move toward a new, different future. And it is all based on a promise, in which he needs only to have trust. And to have trust in a promise is not easy. It takes courage. And Abraham had trust.”

The pope went on: “He listens to the voice of God and trusts in His word. This is important: he trusts the Word of God. And with this departure of his, a new way of understanding the relationship with God arose. It is for this reason that the patriarch Abraham is present in the great Jewish, Christian and Islamic spiritual traditions as the perfect man of God, capable of being submissive to Him, even when His will proves arduous, if not completely incomprehensible.”

In obedience to God’s call, Abram moved to the land of Canaan with Sarai and his nephew, Lot. When he was living there, God made a covenant, or pact, with him and his descendants. This involved three promises related to the birth of a new nation.

The first promise was that Canaan would become the homeland of his descendants. The second promise was that his descendants would be very many. And the third was that this would all begin with a miraculous birth, when his wife would have a son in her old age, called Isaac. To symbolise these promises, God specified that all Jewish males were to be circumcised.

To underline the second promise, God changed Abram’s name to ‘Abraham’, which means ‘father of many nations’. This links with God’s original promise, that through him all of the nations would be blessed. St Paul later explained that this prophecy of worldwide blessings through Abraham was achieved through his descendant, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:6-16).

This stained glass window pictures Abraham as the ancestor of Christ, through whom the whole world has been blessed. Found within Holy Rood, Watford, it was designed by John Francis Bentley, sketched by George Daniels and painted by John Sears in 1894. The window is in keeping with the overall Gothic Revival style of the church.

The Latin banner reads ‘Abraham genuit Isaac’ (Abraham fathered Isaac), which are words taken both from the Book of Genesis (25:19) and the first verse of St Matthew’s gospel (1:1). Abraham is featured in the window alongside other Old Testament ancestors of Christ, such as King David and King Jeconiah.

Abraham, as is customary, is pictured clutching a knife. Since he went on to almost sacrifice his son Isaac, a knife became the most prominent symbol of the saint. In fact, since the Sacrifice of Isaac came to be viewed as such a strong symbol of the Mass, within the context of Church art, Abraham is rarely seen without a blade in his hand.

See the full image:

Where to find this work of art
Holy Rood, Watford

Read the relevant passage
Genesis 12:1-9

On a similar theme

• From the Old Testament: Abraham’s wife Sarai, who was renamed Sarah, became the mother of Isaac.
• From the New Testament: The gospels trace Christ’s ancestry back to Abraham, as proof that he is the deliverer of the promised global blessings.