Abraham's Beliefs

A. In Abraham’s time, the Semitic people were practical monotheists. This meant that they believed and worshipped one god, but accepted other gods. To show reverence to their god, the Semitic people would worship them. Certain forms of worship included sacrifices of animals or holocausts to please the gods so that they would bless the people. The Semites would make sacrifices to to please their god specifically. However, even though Abraham was a Semite and was also a practical monoteist, his beliefs were slowly starting to change from the beliefs of the people around them. Because of Abraham’s covenant with God, he began changing from a practical monotheist to a universal monotheist. This also caused his beliefs in ways to worship to change.

While difficult to believe, God reveals His plan for salvation through the virtuous and unvirtuous acts of humanity. A few concrete examples come from the Old Testament during Abraham’s time. One example of God revealing Himself through a person’s virtuous acts is with Abraham and his wife Sarah. When visitors come to his tribe, Abraham greets them and shows them shepherd’s hospitality by giving them his home to rest in, food to eat, and water to drink. Because of Abraham’s kindness and hospitality, God promises to him that Sarah will bear a son and they will have “Descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky”. It is through Abraham’s virtuous acts that God reveals his saving plan. However, God also reveals His saving plan through the wrong doings of humans as well. One example of this is Joseph’s story. Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt where Joseph was treated poorly and also thrown in jail for something he didn’t do. While this situation may seem horrible and unfair, God uses it to save Egypt. Because of Joseph’s gift to interpret dreams, God reveals to him the future of Egypt through the dreams Pharaoh. Joseph warns Pharaoh that Egypt will have seven years of plentiful food followed by seven years of drought and famine. Joseph is then able to store enough food in Egypt to last the seven years of famine and Egypt is saved. However, it would not be like this if Joseph hadn’t been sold into slavery by his brothers in the first place. In