Spiritual and Material Riches

After Abraham reached Canaan, God told him: "To your seed I am going to give this land." Abraham responded by building an altar to Jehovah and by calling "on the name of Jehovah." (Genesis 12:7, 8)  Jehovah made Abraham rich, and those in his encampment were great in number.  Since he once mustered 318 trained men, slaves born in his household, it has been suggested that "his total group must have numbered well over a thousand."  For whatever reason, people regarded him as "a chieftain of God." -Genesis 13:2; 14:14; 23:6. 

Abraham took the lead in worship, teaching those of his household to "keep Jehovah's way  to do righteousness and judgment." (Genesis 18:19) Present-day Christian family heads can draw encouragement from Abraham's example as a person who succeeded in teaching  members of his household to rely on Jehovah and act in a righteous way.  It is therefore not surprising that Sarah's Egyptian maidservant Hagar, the patriarch's eldest servant, and Abraham's son Isaac relied on Jehovah God. -Genesis 16:5, 13; 24:10-14; 25:21. 

Next time: Abraham Sought Peace

From the Watchtower magazine, 2004