"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."--(Gen. 12:1-3.) Definition of "Hebrew."--Abraham, or, as he was then called, Abram, was a dweller in Ur of the Chaldees, a city of Mesopotamia, which means "between the rivers." One of these rivers was the Tigris, and the other the Euphrates. Abram had to cross the Euphrates in order to reach Canaan, the land that the Lord showed him. Because he came from beyond the Euphrates, he was called by the Canaanites a "Hebrew," which signifies "one from beyond the river." Some of the Jews, however, hold that the name Hebrew comes from Heber, or Eber, one of the ancestors of Abraham. God's Promise to Abraham.--Mesopotamia was the fountainhead of idolatry in Western Asia. On that account, and because the Lord wished to raise up a people who would worship him, and him only, Abram was required to separate himself from his idolatrous surroundings. After his removal from Chaldea to Canaan, and the trial of his faith in the offering of Isaac, the Lord gave to him this promise: "In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."--(Gen. 22:17, 18.) Why was Abraham Blessed?--It will be observed that the blessing formerly pronounced,--"In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,"--is here expanded to: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Before showing how this great promise was fulfiled, let us inquire into the cause or causes why it was made. Why was Abraham, with his seed, chosen for such a mission? What had he done to deserve it? For he must have done something: God rewards men according to their works, and not even an Abraham would have received from him an honor that was unmerited. Some may suppose that the sacrifice involved in the offering of Isaac was the sole and sufficient reason; and it is proverbially true that "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." But this promise was made to Abraham before he had offered Isaac, and was repeated and enlarged after the offering had been made. Others may hold that it was Abraham's fidelity to God among the idolatrous inhabitants of Chaldea, and his obedience to the divine behest to leave his country and kindred and migrate to another land, that caused him to be chosen. "Because thou hast obeyed my voice," is a reason assigned by the Almighty for his promise. Such acts were undoubtedly to Abraham's credit; but how could they be placed to the credit of his posterity?--not merely Isaac and Jacob, but the millions that were to "come of them." "In thee and in thy seed shall all the families or nations of the earth be blessed." His posterity, as well as himself, must have deserved well of the Lord in this connection.