Once there was a man named Abram. One day the Lord came to talk to Abram, and Abram asked, "Who will have all my things when I die". God promised Abram and his wife Sarai that one day they would be parents, even though they were old and had no children.

God wasn't sure that Abram understood. So that night He took him outside, and said, " Do you see all the stars that are in the sky"? When Abram looked up, the whole night sky was full of stars, so many in fact that he would never be able to count them. Then God said, "That is how many children you will have".

Quite a few years later when Abram was ninety-nine years old (older than even your grandparents) the Lord decided to change Abram's name to Abraham, which means "father of many." He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah.

God told them again that they would be parents and that they would have a boy. This time Abraham laughed so hard he fell on his face! It was hard to believe that he and Sarah would have a child in their old age.

One day three visitors came to Abraham's house. He hurried to meet them. "May I get you something to eat and drink?" Abraham asked.

"Please come in and join us, and have a rest on the couch." The visitors agreed, so Abraham brought them some fresh bread, milk, and hamburgers.

While the visitors were eating, they asked Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?" Abraham thought

this was a little strange, but he replied, "She's in the other room".

Then one of the men spoke and said, "I will come back to see you at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

Now Sarah was listening behind the living room door. She started to laugh, but covered her mouth and laughed to herself because she didn't want to be heard. Then she said to herself, "How can I have a child, I'm almost one hundred years old?"

Abraham and Sarah Later when the visitors had left,

Abraham and Sarah realized that the man who had told them this was indeed God.

A year later Sarah did have a son. She and Abraham named him Isaac, which means "he laughs."

They were very excited, and remembered to thank God for Isaac.

Abraham and Sarah dearly loved their new baby boy. They cuddled him and fed him. They played with him and giggled when he wrapped his little hand around one of their fingers. They laughed when he smiled for the first time, and they were absolutely thrilled when he spoke his first word. Somehow, before they even knew what had happened, he was walking and talking and had grown to be a young man. Isaac was the joy of their lives.

Abraham spent a lot of time with Isaac, teaching him to love and obey God. He told Isaac the story about how God had talked with him and told him to count the stars. He made sure that Isaac knew he was a special child that had been promised by God. As Isaac grew, he learned to worship God just as his father Abraham did.

One day God spoke to Abraham: "A--bra-ham . . . ." "I am here," Abraham replied. "Take your son Isaac, whom you love so much, and go into the land of Moriah,

and offer him there as a burnt offering. I will tell you which mountain when you get there," God commanded. Abraham loved Isaac more than anything else in the whole world and would never do anything to hurt his son, but he knew he had to obey the voice of God.

They started on their journey toward the place God had told Abraham to goEarly in the morning, Abraham got up and put a saddle on his donkey.

He called for Isaac and two of his young servants. They all went together to chop wood for the sacrifice. Then they started on their journey toward the place God had told Abraham to go.

For three days they traveled, eating food they had taken with them and sleeping on the ground. On the third day, Abraham looked into the distance

and saw the place where God was leading him. "You stay here with the donkey while I take Isaac with me and go worship God and we will come," Abraham said to his servants.

Isaac asked where was the lamb for the sacrificeAbraham picked up the wood and gave it to Isaac to carry. Then he picked up his torch in one hand and his knife in the other, and they started toward the mountain together. While they were walking, Isaac began to wonder about some things. Finally, he just had to ask. "Hey, Dad. I have the wood, and you have the fire, but we didn't bring an animal. Don't we need a lamb for the sacrifice?"

Abraham, fully believing that God had everything under control, spoke quietly: "Yes, Isaac. God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering."

Abraham carefully he placed one rock on top of another until the job was doneWhen they finally arrived at the exact place God had told him of, Abraham started looking for large rocks to build the altar. Carefully he placed one rock on top of another until the job was done. After that, he placed the wood, which Isaac had carried, on top of the altar. Then, after looking around one last time, he had to do the very hardest thing he had ever done in his whole life.

He gave Isaac one last, long hug, and, with tears in his eyes, he tied up his son and placed him on the altar. Of course, Isaac didn't want to be sacrificed as a burnt offering, and Abraham, as a loving father, didn't want to do it, but they both knew they had to obey God, so there was no struggle between them.

Abraham picked up his knifeAbraham picked up his knife. . . . He raised it high in the air above his head. . . . Just as he was getting ready to kill his own son, he heard the voice of the angel of the Lord cry out from heaven: "ABRAHAM . . . ABRAHAM!"

"I am here," Abraham replied. Abraham looked up and there right in front of him was a ram caught in the thick bushes"DON'T KILL YOUR SON! DON'T HURT HIM! For now I know that you fear God. You love Him more than anything else, even more than your own son."

Abraham looked up, and there -- right in front of him -- was a ram caught in the thick bushes. Abraham quickly untied Isaac, then caught the ram and put it on the altar. Abraham used his knife to kill the sacrifice, then used the torch to light the fire.

There on the mountain, Abraham and Isaac worshipped the Lord together. They called the name of that place "Jehovah-jireh," which means, "God is my provider."

Abraham and Isaac walked down the mountain together, rejoicing that the Lord had provided the ram and made another great promise to themThe angel of the Lord called from heaven to Abraham a second time, saying:

"Because you have done this and have not withheld even your son from me, I will bless you, and you will have many descendants, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed because of you." Abraham and Isaac walked down the mountain together, rejoicing that the Lord had provided the ram and made another great promise to them. They met the servants at the bottom of the mountain, and they all started on their three-day journey back home.

Abraham was a great man of God. God had promised Abraham that someday he would have grandchildren and then they would have children and then they would have children. God promised Abraham that he would have many many descendants. God wanted Abraham’s descendants to love him just as much as Abraham did. But Abraham’s son, Isaac was not even married yet. Abraham knew it was time to find a wife for Isaac. But not just any woman would do. Abraham wanted Isaac to marry a woman who believed in God.

Then Isaac and his wife could have children and teach them to love God too. Abraham thought about all the women who lived nearby in Canaan. They did not love God. They worshiped false gods and bowed down to them. Abraham did not want Isaac to marry a woman from Canaan. He remembered when he used to live in Haran. Many of Abraham’s relatives still lived near Haran in a place called “Nahor”. His relatives believed in God. This would be the perfect place to find a wife for Isaac. So Abraham called in his most trusted servant and said, “Promise me that you will find a wife for Isaac. Make sure that she is not a Canaanite. Go to my home country, to my relatives, and find Isaac a wife there.”

the servant did as Abraham asked. He took along camels loaded with gifts to give to the father of whoever the bride would be. The servant traveled a long time before he came to Haran, the place where Abraham’s family lived. When the servant arrived he decided to go to a place where the young women of the city went every day. He took his camels and waited beside the spring of waters where the girls came to get water for their families.

He prayed, “O Lord God, be kind to me and to Abraham today. I’m going to stand here to watch the young women come to get water. I will say, ‘May I have a drink.’ May the one who answers, ‘Have a drink and I will water your camels too,’ be the one You have chosen for Isaac’s wife.”

that would stay united. Since they already spoke the same language, The servant had not even finished his prayer when a beautiful and kind girl named Rebekah came to the well to get water. The servant said, “Please, give me a drink.”

“Of course, take some of my water.” Then Rebekah saw his thirsty camels and said, “I’ll get water for your camels too.” It was hard work but Rebekah ran back and forth to the well to get water for the thirsty camels. Finally, all the camels had plenty of water to drink.

Abraham’s servant was so happy! God had answered his prayer. He knew Rebekah was the right wife for Isaac. The servant gave Rebekah two gold bracelets and a gold nose ring.

“Whose daughter are you? Is there room for my camels and me to stay overnight at your house?” he asked. “My father is Bethuel the son of Nahor. Yes, there is room at our house. I will go and tell my family.”

How thankful the servant was. Of all the people he could meet on his journey God had led him straight to Abraham’s relatives! The servant went to Rebekah’s home and explained who he was and why he was there. Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, and brother, Laban, listened carefully to the servant explain how God had led him to their house and to Rebekah. Everyone was amazed at this. And they were also happy when they heard how God had blessed their relative, Abraham.

He had left them long ago and they were so happy that he still loved God like they did. Then the servant asked an important question, “Will you let Rebekah travel with me back to Canaan to marry Isaac?” Bethuel agreed that this was what God would want so they said “yes”.

Abraham’s servant wanted to leave right away but Rebekah’s family did not want her to go yet. They finally said,

“We will let Rebekah decide.” Rebekah agreed on the marriage. later Isaac married Rebekah