Abraham was born Abram, son of Terah, more than 2,000 years before Christ. (B.C.) Many Bible scholars believe he came from Ur, the capital of Mesopotamia at the height of its splendor as a highly developed ancient world. His family left Ur—in modern day Iraq—to travel northwest along the trade route and the Euphrates River to the city of Haran.
The Lord said to Abram: "Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you."
God promised Abraham a lot of descendants. And when it all seemed hopeless, Abraham still had faith in God and became the ancestor of many nations… Abraham was certain that God could do what he had promised. So God accepted him, just as we read in the Scriptures. But these words were not written only for Abraham. They were written for us, since we will also be accepted because of our faith in God, who raised our Lord Jesus to life. God gave Jesus to die for our sins, and he raised him to life, so that we would be made acceptable to God.