Abraham Towered -- Bible Study at Faith Temple

Sept. 1, 2000: 
 
Pastor Raymond D. Burrows enters and a recent 10 a.m. Tuesday Bible study at Faith Temple Church, Taylors, SC, and leads the group after he greets each person.
 
“Abraham was a towering figure in the Bible,” he says. “Chapters 12-25 of Genesis talk about Abraham.”
 
The Bible says that Abraham entered into a covenant with the LORD (Jehovah), after having obeyed LORD’s call to come out from his kinsmen in Mesopotamia and go to Canaan.
 
Abraham is the father of the Jews. He is the patriarch of the Israelite people through Isaac, the son born to him and Sarah in their old age.
 
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).
 
In the New Testament, Matthew calls Jesus “the son of David,” indicating his royal origin, and also “son of Abraham,” indicating that Jesus was an Israelite.
 
“Son of Abraham” is a “stock phrase” which means “descendant of Abraham,” sources say.
 
Pastor Burrows says that many Jewish people (especially during the time before Jesus was crucified) were proud descendants of Abraham, but as far as “doing the works of Abraham, they sometimes fell tremendously short.”
 
He reads Luke 16:19-31 (in this story, the rich man and Lazarus are both Jewish):
 
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
“And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”
 
Lazarus died and “was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom” (a place of comfort provided by God).
 
The rich man died too but ended up in hell, according to the Bible.
 
“Nothing really negative is said about the rich man,” Pastor Burrows says. “It somewhat implies he was selfish.”
 
The rich man, tormented in hell, saw Abraham “afar off” and Lazarus with Abraham.
 
“The rich man recognized Lazarus,” Pastor Burrows says. “In the afterlife, there is a reconization of those gone before us. … Individuality will transmit through eternity.”
 
The rich man cried, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”
 
Abraham called the rich man “son,” because he was a descendent of Abraham.
 
“But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.”
 
Abraham told the rich man that a “great gulf” separated him from Lazarus and there was no getting across that gulf.
 
The rich man begged Abraham to let Lazarus go the rich man’s father’s house and testify to his five brothers so they would not “come into this place of torment.”
 
Abraham said to him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”
 
The rich man said, “Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.”
 
Abraham said to him, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
 
Pastor Burrows says about “Father Abraham”:
 
“Some say Jonah was the first missionary. He was not. Abraham was God’s representative to the Kings of the East, the first person to represent God to the heathen nations.”
 
After more discussion, the meeting ends at a few minutes after 11:00. Pastor Burrows asks Ms. Nancy Few to lead in a dismissal prayer.
 
The 10 a.m. Tuesday Bible study is always good.
 
Who are the true sons of Abraham?
 
“So understand that it is the people who live by faith [with confidence in the power and goodness of God] who are [the true] sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7, AMP Bible).

 

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