FATHER ABRAHAM

 

I could write pages about Abraham. He is my favourite patriarch. And so he should be to everyone who receives the Gospel as by virtue of the Abrahamic covenant we are counted as his children (Abraham 2:10). He is the father of the faithful who obey the mandate to ‘do the works of Abraham’ (D&C 138:41; 132:32). In this respect it should be our quest to know him.

Right at the beginning of his record in the Pearl of Great Price, Abraham tells us who he is. A man is as good as his desires for desire is the catalyst of all good and bad works. These are the desires that Abraham had from the very beginning of his life:

To have the blessings of the priesthood; to possess great knowledge; to be a greater follower of righteousness; to be a father of many nations; to be a prince of peace; to receive instructions from on high; to keep the commandments of God. (Abraham 1:2)

The fact that he harboured these righteous desires in an apostate family that turned away from God through idolatry blows my mind. And here is one hint how these desires could have been born….Abraham was reading scriptures. Whilst still in the land of Ur he had somehow obtained the Book of Remembrance wherein wrote the earlier patriarchs and all inspired people called of God such as the people of Enoch (Moses 6:5; 46; Abraham 1:31). A good proof that we become what we invest ourselves in.

Another important factor in his quest for righteousness is the fact that he rubbed shoulders with the right crowd. Through modern revelation we learn that Abraham received his priesthood from Melchizedek. Most students of scripture assume that this ordination happened when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek in Palestine (Genesis 14:19-20).

Abraham however clarifies this by saying that he became a High Priest in the land of Chaldeans, at the residence of his father (Abraham 1:1-2). Nowhere else in scripture do we find details of that ordination but considering the apostate condition of the land of Chaldeans, it is easy to assume that Abraham had contact with Melchizedek during his early manhood and that Melchizedek had strong influence upon Abraham. One clue is the fact that one of his desires was to become a ‘prince of peace’, as we know Melchizedek was known to be (Alma 13:18).

All of Abraham’s righteous desires were granted by God. These desires took him to a life of such righteousness that he has already been granted his exaltation (D&C 132:28-37). And this is where we want to be. Whereas I appreciate the generations of my family that went before me, I give thanks for one exemplary progenitor, the true father of my heart, Father Abraham.

 

When in heaven we meet

Knit together under the covenant

Of your name

Will you consider us your children

Will we in your heart forever remain?

 

Will you gather us in your arms

And kiss us each as

Your long-awaited son?

Will your heart then rest

When at last we are one?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)