Abraham: Our Patriarch of Loving-Kindnessਨਮੂਨਾ

A Servant of God and Man

In Genesis 17, God had initiated a covenant with Abraham: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you...’” (v.1-2). God established a partnership in which Abraham would bring God’s truth to the world.

Abraham’s loving-kindness toward other people—his attribute of chesed—made him the perfect person for God’s great mission. Only a person who cared deeply for all people could be suitable as a messenger of God.

Perhaps the greatest display of Abraham’s kindness toward others is in Genesis 18. Scripture tells us that Abraham “...was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men...he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.”

This occurred right after Abraham was circumcised. Yet Abraham wasn’t lying in bed recovering; he was sitting at the entrance of his tent actively looking for travelers to whom he could bestow kindness. When he spotted three men, he didn’t call out to them or even walk toward them; he ran toward them and bowed before the travelers, showing them great respect.

Next, Abraham asked for permission to serve the three men; “If I have found favor in your eyes… Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet… Let me get you something to eat…” (vv. 3-5). Once the men agreed to allow Abraham to bring them water and food, Abraham prepared a lavish and expensive feast. He instructed Sarah to quickly bake bread out of “the finest flour” (v.6) and Abraham “ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf” (v.7).

After the meal was prepared, Abraham personally served the meal although he had plenty of servants who could have done so for him. For most people, this kind of hospitality would have been reserved for a very important guest or beloved family member. But for Abraham, everyone—even a nomadic traveler—was important and like family.

Abraham’s kindness became the standard for hospitality that was widely practiced throughout the Jewish Bible and commended in the Christian Bible. Witness Laban’s kindness toward Eliezer (Genesis 24:29-31) and Jacob (Genesis 29:13) when they came to him as strangers. Rahab was greatly rewarded for the kindness and hospitality she showed to the spies Joshua sent to scout out Jericho (Joshua 6:25). In the Christian Bible, we find Rahab listed as part of Jesus’ genealogy (Matthew 1:5), and she is commended for her actions in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25. Hospitality and sharing meals with others was a hallmark of the early church, and hospitality was commanded as a hallmark of the faithful (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9; and 3 John 1:8).

By treating every human being with extreme kindness, Abraham demonstrated that all people are worthy of respect and that all people are connected through God. Abraham was a living example of God’s love and deep concern for the foreigner, the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:18-19). In a world of darkness, fear, competition, and strife, Abraham shined a light inspiring love, kindness, and human connection.