ABRAHAM' s TESTS.

God tested Abraham 10 times and he withstood all of them.
Test #1.- God tells him to leave his homeland to be a stranger in the Land of Canaan.
The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a Land that I am going to show you. I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse those who curse you, and through you I will bless all the nations."
When Abram was 75 years old, he started out from Haran, as the Lord had told him to do; and Lot went with him. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the wealth and all the slaves they had acquired in Haran, and they started out for the Land of Canaan. (Genesis 12: 1-5)

Test #2.- Immediately after his arrival in the Promise Land, he encounters a famine.
When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the Land until he came to the Sacred Tree of Moreh, the holy place at Shechem (at that time the Canaanites were still leaving in the Land). The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him: "This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants." Then Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, he moved on South to the hill country East of the city of Beth'El and set up his camp between Beth'El on the West and Ai on the East. There also he built an altar and worshiped the Lord.Then he moved on from place to place,
going toward the Southern part of Canaan. But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went further South to Egypt, to live there for a while.  (Genesis 12: 6-11)

Test #3.- The Egyptians seize his beloved wife, Sarah, and bring her to Pharaoh.
When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,"You are a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live. Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well."When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful. Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace. Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels. But because the king had taken Sarai, the Lord sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace. Then the king sent for Abram and asked him, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!" The king gave orders to his men, so they took Abram and put him out of the country, together with his wife and everything he owned.(12:11-20)
Abram went North out of Egypt to the Southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned and Lot went with him. Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold.  (Genesis 13: 1-2)

Test #4.- Abraham faces incredible odds in the battle of the four and five kings.
Then Abram left the Southern part of Canaan and moved from place to place, going toward Beth'El. He reached the place between Beth'El and Ai where he had camped before and had built an altar. There he worshiped the Lord. Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants. And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals. So quarrels broke out between the men who took care of Abram's animals and those who took care of Lot's animals. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were still leaving in the land.) Then Abram said to Lot, "We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn't be quarreling. So let's separate. Choose any part of the Land you want. You go one way, and I will go the other."  Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the Lord or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away toward the East. (Genesis 13: 3-11) That is how the two men parted. Abram stayed in the Land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the Cities in the Valley and camped near Sodom, whose people were wicked and sinned against the Lord.
After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, "From where you are, look carefully in all directions. I am going to give you and your descendants all the Land that you see, and it will be yours forever. I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! Now, go and look over the whole Land, because I am going to give it all to you." So Abram moved his camp and settled near the Sacred Trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord. (Genesis 13: 12-18)
Four kings, Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim, went to war against five other kings, Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (or Zoar). These 5 kings had formed an alliance and joined forces in Siddim Valley, which is now the Dead Sea. They had been under control of Chedorlaomer for 12 years, but in the 13 year they rebelled against him.
In the 14th year Chedorlaomer and the other 3 kings came with their armies and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim, and the Horites in the mountains of Edom, pursuing them as far as El Paran on the edge of the desert. Then they turned around and came back to Kadesh (then known as Enmishpat). They conquered all the land of the Amalekites and defeated the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.
Then the 5 kings (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, Bela) drew up their armies for battle in Siddim Valley and fought against the 4 kings (Elam, Goiim, Babylonia, Ellasar). Five kings against four. The valley was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away from battle, they fell into the pits; but the other 3 kings escaped to the mountains. The 4 kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah including the food, and went away. Lot, Abram's nephew, was living in Sodom so they took him and all his possessions. But a man escaped and reported all this to Abram, the Hebrew who was living near the Sacred Trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's allies.
When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the 4 kings all the way to Dan. There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, North of Damascus, and got back all the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions together with the women and the other prisoners.
When Abram came back from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other 3 kings, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in Shaveh Valley (also called King's Valley). And Melcizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram, blessed him and said, "May the Most High God, Who made heaven and earth, bless Abram! May the Most High God, Who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!" And Abram gave Melchizedek a 10th of all the loot he had recovered. The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Keep the loot but give me back all my people."
Abram answered, "I solemnly swear before the Lord, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth, that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a sandal strap. Then you can never say, 'I am the one who made Abram rich.' I will take nothing for myself. I will accept only what my men have used. But let my allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, take their share. (Genesis 14: 1-24)

Test #5.- He marries Hagar after not being able to have children with Sarah.
Abram's wife Sarai had not borne him any children. But she had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar, and so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Why don't you sleep with my slave? Perhaps she can have a child for me." Abram agreed with what Sarah said. So she gave Hagar to him to be his concubine. (This happened after Abram had lived in Canaan for 10 years.)
Abram had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant, she became proud and despised Sarai.
Then Sarai said to Abram, "It is your fault that Hagar despises me. I myself gave her to you, and ever since she found out that she was pregnant, she has despised me. May the Lord judge which of us is right, you or me!" Abram answered, "Very well, she is your slave and under your control; do whatever you want with her." Then Sarai treated Hagar so cruelly that she ran away.
The angel of the Lord met Hagar at a Spring in the Desert on the Road to Shur and said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She answered, "I am running away from my mistress." He said, "Go back to her and be her slave." Then he said, "I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them. You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your cry of distress. But your son will live like a wild donkey; he will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives."
Hagar asked herself, "Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?" So she called the Lord, who had spoken to her, "A God Who Sees." That is why people call the Well between Kadesh and Bered
"The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me." Hagar bore Abram a son, and he named him Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old at the time. (Genesis 16: 1-15)

Test #6.- God tells him to circumcise himself at an advance age.
When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the Almighty God. Obey Me and always do what is right. I will make My Covenant with you and give you many descendants."
Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said,"I make this Covenant with you:
I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations. I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations.
I will keep My Promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant
I will be your God and the God of your descendants. I will give to you and to your descendants this Land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole Land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God." (Genesis 17: 1-8)
God said to Abraham, "You also must agree to keep the Covenant with Me, both you and your descendants in future generations. You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you. From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is 8 days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a Covenant between you and Me. Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that My Covenant with you is everlasting. Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of My people, because he has not kept the Covenant with me." (Genesis 17: 9-14)

Test #7.- The king of Gerar captures Sarah, intending to take her for himself.  (Genesis 20)
Test #8.- God tells him to send Hagar away after having a child with her. (Genesis 21: 9-21)
Test #9.- His son, Ishmael, becomes estranged. (Genesis 21: 17-21; 25: 12-18)
Test #10.- God tells him to sacrifice his dear son Isaac upon an altar. (Genesis 22)