Abraham

Origins of Abraham

 Abram or Abraham is widely regarded as the first Hebrew

 We find in the Bible that Abraham is a direct descendent of Noah through his son Shem
 It was through Abraham’s descendants:
 That the Jewish nation would arise,
 A people who would receive the covenant of the Lord
 One of those descendants would be the Savior, not only for the Jews but for the whole world

History of Abraham

 Abraham lived in the city of Ur (capital of the ancient kingdom of Sumer)

 He lived somewhere around 2,000 BC
 The Bible traces Abraham’s steps from Ur to Haran (north of Canaan), through the land of
Canaan, into Egypt, and back into Canaan (which later became Israel)
 The land of Canaan is the Promised Land that the Lord eventually gives the Israelites after
they leave Egypt under Moses

Era of the Patriarchs

 The histories of the pre-Egyptian Hebrews is generally called the age of the Patriarchs
(patriarch mean “father-ruler”)
 Abraham would be the first of 3 patriarchs for the Hebrew People
 Isaac and Jacob are the other two
 The patriarchs point to a period of tribal living for the Hebrew people which was made
up of extended family and servants or slaves
 We are able to deduce three things from the Age of the Patriarchs

1. Yahweh’s People
 First, the history of the patriarchs indicates that the special election of the Hebrews
 In Hebrew history, Abraham and his descendants are selected by Yahweh to be chosen
people over all other people
 It is God who asks Abraham to move from his home country to various places in the
ancient world
 It is also God who changes Abram’s name to Abraham as a sign that he is now one of
God’s people
  God has entered into a conventional relationship with the Hebrews and promises to
protect them as a Lord protects his servants. As servants, then

2. Everything Is Based Off Kinship

 We learn from the story of Abraham that the early Hebrews are nomads, wandering
tribal groups who are organized along classic tribal logic
 The Patriarchal society is principally organized around kinship with a rigid kinship
hierarchy
 Anybody outside the kinship structure (anybody who isn’t a descendant of Abraham) is
not included in the special relationship with God
 The Tribe would move according to God’s pleasing through the relationship he had with
Abraham

3. Nomadic People
 The third aspect that emerges is that these tribal groups of early Hebrews wandered far
and wide, that is, that they did not occupy the lands around the lands around Palestine,
this occupation would come considerably later
 They seem to freely move from Palestine, across the deserts, and as far as Egypt
 At several points during the time of the Patriarch’s. Hebrew tribes move to Egypt in
order to find a better life

Abraham

 In the story of Abraham:

 We find the introduction of mysterious figures
 The introduction of God and his angles
 An affair with a servant
 A sacrifice of a son
 A covenant with 3 promises
 A sign of the covenant that is interesting
 Abraham enters into a covenant with God
 3 promises of the covenant
 Abraham will have a great name
 Abraham will be father of a great nation
 Abraham will have descendants as numerous as the stars
 All 3 promises are fulfilled through Jesus
 All Abraham has to do is obey God
 The Sign of the Covenant Circumcision to all males
Abraham and Isaac

 Abraham is unable to have a child with Sarah

 Sarah gives Abraham Hagar (her servant) to have a son with
 They give birth to Ishmael
 Three visitors tell Abraham that he and Sarah will have a son
 Abraham laughs because of their old age
 Sarah also laughs about her old age and lies about it
 They are promised a son by the time the men visit again next year
 The son is to be named Isaac because it means “laughter” in Hebrew

Sarah and Isaac

 Over time, Sarah would become jealous of Isaac and Ishmael playing together
 Just as she got jealous of Hagar before she had Isaac, she also gets jealous when she actually has
a son
 This time she has power
 Hagar and her son are sent away with their own group of servants and slaves
 Isaac becomes the sole heir to Abraham

The Sacrifice

 God tells Abraham to take Isaac up the mountain and sacrifice him
 Abraham was saddened by this, but did as he was told
 Isaac asks, “Father where is the sacrifice.” Abraham answers, “God will provide the sacrifice.”
 Isaac carries the wood for his sacrifice up the mountain
 Once they reach the top, Abraham ties Isaac up
 An angel of the Lord stops Abraham and he is rewarded for his great faith
 God provides a sacrifice
 A ram caught in the thicket

Isaac’s Wife

 Abraham, who is old in age sends his servant to find a wife for his son
 The sign that God will give the servant is a specific answer to the question of, “May I have a
drink of water?”
 (Gen 24:14)
 Rebekah fulfills this prophesy and the servant gives her a gold ring and bracelets
  Rebekah agrees to marry Isaac, but does not stay the 10 days requested by her mother: She and
the servant leave immediately

Isaac’s Son

 Rebekah marries Isaac and they continue twins

 There is a great struggle within the womb
 When they were born, the first son was born with red hair. The second son emerged grabbing
the first on to his ankle
 The first son was called Esau
 The second son was called Jacob
 Esau became a great hunter while Jacob “lived in tents” and was the clever brother of the two
 Esau became the favorite of Isaac while Jacob became the favorite of Rebekah

Isaac’s Heir

 One day, Esau had not caught anything for a while and was close to death
 He asked Jacob for some stew, but Jacob would only give it to him if Esau would give up his
birthright
 Esau agrees and he no longer has the right to inherit Isaac’s lineage
 Isaac grows old in age and cannot see. He asks for Esau to hunt and prepare a savory meal
 Rebekah overhears and tells Jacob
 Jacob takes goats from their own livestock and gives them to his mother to prepare the meal
 Jacob points out that he is not a hairy man, so Rebekah takes Esau’s best robe and put it on
Jacob
 She also took goats skin and put it on his arms and neck
 Jacob presents the meal to Isaac pretending to be Esau
 Isaac is suspicious so he asks to feel his hands and is convinced because of the hair on them
 He also smelled the garments and tasted the food
 Jacob receives the blessing of his father
 Esau is outraged and plans to kill Jacob when Isaac dies

Implications

 The birthright in the Old Testament would be given to the first born son of the household
 They would receive twice as much inheritance as the other sons in the family
 The blessing would be to determine who would be the head of the extended family
 The blessing and the birthright could be given to separate sons if the father preferred
 The combination of both on the same first born was expected and normal
 Jacob receiving both indicates that the covenant of God and Abraham would be continued
through his line
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