Sneak Preview from "Let's Talk About The Book of Abraham"
Chapter 1
The Story of Abraham
“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.”
—Pope Francis
Abraham is one of the most pivotal figures in world history. His and Sarah’s personal stories are compelling. Yet they are much more than that. Three great religions look to Abraham as their father, and the interactions of these religious groups have had and continue to play an astonishingly influential role in world history. Yet what do we know about Abraham the person? What do we know about when and where he lived or about his family situation and his religious struggles? Why was his father willing to help kill him? How did he come to be so favored of the Lord?
Although we cannot date Abraham’s life precisely, we can roughly place his long life as taking place around 2000 BC. He was born and raised in Ur. We are not sure exactly where that was because there were many cities with that name during Abraham’s lifetime. While many scholars doubt someone named Abraham even existed, among the host of scholars who believe he did, most place him in southern Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq). Many Latter-day Saint scholars consider a northern site, somewhere in southern Turkey or northern Syria, to be more likely. This deduction is based largely on additional evidence available only in the Book of Abraham, which describes Egyptian and Canaanite cultures intermingling in the Ur area.
A northern Ur would have been positioned in a region that experienced cultural melting in its religious practices. The Egyptians asserted themselves strategically in areas that allowed them to control trade and military routes. In these areas, local customs and practices mixed with outside ideas, including the powerful and prestigious sway of Egyptian religion. Based on the story presented in the Book of Abraham, it is likely that Abraham was raised in a place that amalgamated several different religious traditions.
Abraham grew up in difficult conditions. His father worshipped a mix of Egyptian and local gods. Despite being raised by an ardent idolater, Abraham was aware of God’s interactions with His children, including the covenant God had made with Adam, which had been passed on throughout generations. Abraham’s heart yearned to be part of that religious heritage rather than the base religious beliefs bequeathed to him by his father. Abraham found and studied the records of these ancestors (see Abraham 1:28, 31) and sought the opportunity to make the same covenant and to administer it to others (see Abraham 1:1–4). He succeeded and was ordained by Melchizedek (see Doctrine and Covenants 84:14).
Abraham was a fervent believer in Jehovah, and despite the dangers he must have known it would bring, he preached against idolatry. This raised the ire of the idolaters around him. Ancient traditions hold that Abraham vociferously denounced false gods. One of these traditions tells us that in an effort to persuade others of their religious folly, Abraham went to a sacred place where there were many idols and broke all of them but one. When his act was discovered, Abraham told the idolaters that it was the surviving idol who had broken all the other idols. When his audience said that this couldn’t have happened, Abraham in turn asked them why they would worship an idol that did not have the power to do something like this. His question further infuriated his audience, and they decided to try and kill Abraham.
Whether this story is precisely true or not, it is clear that in trying to lead people away from idolatry, Abraham was deemed a threat. Apparently with the aid of Abraham’s father, one man, who was the priest of both a local god and Egypt, attempted to sacrifice Abraham (see Abraham 1:7). We can only imagine what that must have been like for Abraham, to watch others who refused idolatrous practices be sacrificed and then to have his own father assist the priest in attempting to kill him. Oh, how Abraham must have cried to the Lord for his life!
The Lord heard Abraham’s prayers. Abraham was rescued by an angel, who slew the Egyptian priest and broke the altar (see Abraham 1:12–20). A famine ensued as well (see Abraham 1:29). Something about all this convinced Abraham’s father to turn away from idolatry, at least for a time. Despite the atrocity that his father had helped commit against him, Abraham apparently forgave his father and traveled with him to a new home. Abraham, Sarah, his nephew Lot’s family, and his father moved to Haran, in modern southern Turkey, near the Syrian border. There the Lord entered into a covenant with Abraham, part of which included the promise that he and his seed would inhabit the land of Canaan (see Abraham 2:6–11; Genesis 12:1–3).
Accordingly, soon thereafter Abraham, Lot, and their families and followers left Haran and entered the land of Canaan. The Lord there reconfirmed the covenant and its promise that Abraham would inherit the land (see Abraham 2:18–19; Genesis 12:6–7). Unfortunately, Abraham’s father had returned to idolatry, refused to follow his son to Canaan, and remained in Haran instead. This must have been yet another heartbreak for Abraham, whose family life had always been difficult. Yet great blessings were also showered upon this faithful family. Sometime during this era of their lives, Abraham was favored with a vision of the heavens and was reassured by God that Abraham was among His most noble children (see Abraham 3).
Abraham and Sarah, who had been urban dwellers up until this point, became nomadic herdsmen in a country where they owned no land. As newcomers and nomads amid established and sometimes territorial groups, life could be dangerous. The loss of their homeland, the strife with Abraham’s father and their eventual separation, the starvation of some family members, and the dramatic change in lifestyle must have fostered a feeling of loneliness in this faithful couple. Yet they had the covenantal promise as a ray of light to which they could cling (see Abraham 2:16). They migrated to Bethel and then further south, where they spent most of the rest of their lives.
Sometime during their southward wanderings, the famine in the area became so great that Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt, presumably to obtain food. There the Egyptian king tried to marry Sarah. Though the king took her from Abraham for a time, eventually she was allowed to return to him. She had been protected by the Lord throughout the whole ordeal, but we should not underestimate the sacrifice Sarah and Abraham made during the time they were separated, when they must have felt they had lost each other. We can only assume they offered heartfelt and desperate prayers to the Lord, not knowing whether the kind of deliverance they were hoping for would be granted. Fortunately it was.
While in Egypt Abraham taught the Egyptians astronomy, using it as a tool to teach them about God (see Abraham 3). This story is corroborated by a host of ancient traditions, as will be discussed later. Abraham also became quite wealthy since the king gave him gifts due to his desire to marry Sarah (see Genesis 12:16).
Abraham and Sarah eventually returned to Canaan, bringing with them all that they originally had when they entered Egypt, plus their newly acquired wealth, provided by the Egyptian king. The couple also left Egypt with a handmaid for Sarah, named Hagar, who was presumably a royal gift given to Sarah (see Genesis 16:1). Abraham and his family and followers once again took up the nomadic life, one which they would now keep for the rest of their days. Most of their time was spent in the area between Hebron and Beersheba, but they also frequented areas further north such as Shechem (see Genesis 20:1; 21:32; 23:2; 24:62).
Abraham wrote about his life, covenant, visions, and other experiences with God. A number of questions arise about this record for which we do not have answers. When did he write it? How was it preserved? Did it disappear soon after his lifetime, only to be restored as a revelation to Joseph Smith? Or did his descendants preserve his record and hand it down for many generations? If his record was preserved and if it came into Egypt, we do not know when or how. That is the next question for us to explore. Because it is possible that the writings of Abraham were copied onto the papyri Joseph Smith later acquired, we must ask how they would have ended up in Egypt.