ABRAHAM,
ISAAC & JACOB
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were
the patriarchs of the nation of Israel. We will see that God promised to make
Abraham’s descendants into a great nation. However, the Lord insisted that this
promise would come specifically through a son born to Abraham and his wife
Sarah, rather than through any other woman. That son was named Isaac. He was a
“type” or foreshadowing of Jesus as God demanded him as a sacrifice. Details on
that later. Isaac fathered twin boys, Esau and Jacob. The Lord chose to
continue His chosen people though Jacob whom He later renamed “Israel.” This family was the beginning of God’s chosen
people, the Israelites, aka the Jews, through whom God would bless all nations.
ABRAHAM
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
We’ll start with a little
background on Abraham to refresh our memories. Abram (who was later renamed
Abraham) lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. His father, Terah, packed up their
entire clan and headed toward Canaan. However, they parked in Haran. The Lord
spoke to Abram and told him to leave his father’s house and move to a land that
He would show him.
Genesis
12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy
name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 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.
Hebrews
11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing
whither he went.
When God told Abram to travel
to points unknown, he was seventy-five years old and childless. Yet, God
promised to make his descendants into a great nation! The Lord promised that
ALL families of the earth would be blessed because of Abraham. As we study, we
will see that Abraham was the patriarch of the Jewish nation, the ancestor of
the Lord Jesus who was the ultimate fulfillment of this promise!
Amazingly, Abram packed up his
wife and his entire household including his nephew and his wife and headed off
not even knowing where God was leading them! Many adventures happened along the
way, including a brief time in Egypt to avoid famine. While there, Abram lied
and said Sarai was his sister because he was afraid someone would kill him to
get his lovely wife (Genesis 12) Had God not intervened, Sarah would have
become a part of Pharaoh’s harem! Abram gave his nephew, Lot, first choice of
the land when they returned to Canaan because their herdsmen were getting into
disputes, and they needed to separate. Lot moved near Sodom where the men were
extremely evil. Abram was definitely not perfect, but the Lord chose to bless
him and make a covenant with him. Even though Abram was already an elderly man,
the Lord continued to promise him offspring. We’ll pick up the story shortly after
Lot left.
ABRAHAM
ABRAHAMIC
COVENANT
Genesis
13:16 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift
up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and
southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to
thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Susie: On a
clear day, a person can see for miles. The Lord promised Abram he would own
everything he could see in all four directions.
Susan: God
promised the land would belong to Abram’s descendants forever. Israel has been
conquered by hostile nations, and its people scattered, but a remnant always
remained.
Susie: After
the Babylonians took them captive for 70 years, they returned and rebuilt
Jerusalem. In time, Jerusalem was conquered by Rome, and Israel was a province
in the Roman empire, but God’s people remained. Jews have been scattered abroad
throughout the centuries, but in 1948, Israel was once again declared an
independent nation, and Abraham’s descendants returned home to possess the land
once more.
Genesis
13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can
number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Susan: When
God spoke these things to Abram, he was already fairly long in the tooth in
human economy. However, according to God’s time-table, Abram was just a young
whippersnapper.
Susie: And
Abram’s wife Sarai was just a spring chicken as far as the Lord was concerned.
Time continued, and Abram began to have doubts about how the Lord was going to
accomplish His promise of multitudinous descendants.
Genesis
15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision,
saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Susie: Genesis
14 is a brief interlude in the saga of Abram becoming a father. His nephew Lot
was captured, and Abram was empowered by the Lord to rescue him and his family.
“After these things” is referring to that episode which is why God reminded
Abram that He would be his shield, his protection, and was also his reward.
Genesis
15:2-3 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,
and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine
heir.
Susie: To
Abram, it seemed he had given the Lord enough time to give him offspring. He
had resigned himself to naming one of his loyal servants as his heir, but the
Lord was not through with Abram yet.
Susan: Abram
was very matter of fact with God. He explained to the Lord that for him to be
the father of many, he would need at least one child; but so far, nothing.
Genesis
15:4-5 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not
be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be
thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So
shall thy seed be.
Susie: God replies
to Abram and makes it clear, in no uncertain terms, that Eliezer would not be
his heir. God tells Abram that he will physically father children even at his
advanced age. Then God reiterated His promise of a tribe larger than Abram
could ever imagine.
Susan: God
has told Abram his descendants will be more than the dust and now more than the
stars. Neither of these things can be counted except by the Creator who laid
each grain of sand and scattered the stars throughout the heavens.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed
in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Susie: Abram’s
belief, his faith, is what made him right with God. This is recalled in the New
Testament:
Romans
4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto
him for righteousness.
Galatians
3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.
James
2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it
was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Genesis
15:7 And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the
Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
Susie: God
reminded Abram that He had brought Abram to Canaan with the intention of giving
him that land as an inheritance.
Genesis
15:8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
Susan: Abram
asks the Lord how he can be sure that what He says is true, that He will
deliver what He has promised.
Genesis
15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat
of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young
pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid
each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
Susie: When
God told Abram to collect certain animals, he understood that he was to divide
them in half and lay them out with the halves on each side of a path. This
method of “cutting covenant” was already a tradition among the people Abram
descended from. A landowner would make an agreement with a vassal, a serf. They
would each pass through the pieces symbolizing that if they broke the covenant,
they should be slaughtered like these animals. Usually, the underling had the
lion’s share of the promises to keep while the lord of the land only promised
protection. However, we will see that our Lord God put a twist on this
tradition.
Genesis
15:11-12 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an
horror of great darkness fell upon him.
Susan: Abram
guarded the animal pieces until God gave him more specific direction. God
caused Abram to go to sleep, and he had what we would term “night terrors.”
Genesis
15:13-16 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a
stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall
afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve,
will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Genesis And thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation
they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Susan: God
prophesies to Abram about the Egyptian captivity that His chosen people,
Abram’s seed, his grandchildren, would endure.
Susie: God
foretold that not only would He deliver them from Egypt but they would come out
with the spoils which you may remember is exactly what happened in the Exodus
account.
Genesis
15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark,
behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Susan: The
only action required of Abram (the vassal) was to believe. God alone walked
between the halves of the animals in the form of a smoking furnace and a
burning lamp. Unlike men’s covenants, this one placed full responsibility on
the Lord, the Master. In the New Covenant, rather than cutting sacrificial
animals in half, Jesus’ own flesh was torn and His own blood poured out. The
New Covenant put full responsibility on Jesus, and we are required only to
believe.
Luke
22:19-20 And when He had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it
to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in
remembrance of Me.” And in the same way
He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out
for you, is the new covenant [ratified] in My blood.
Susie: When
Abram’s descendants were brought out of Egypt, God’s presence led them with a
pillar of cloud (smoke) during the day, and a pillar of fire by night as their
lamp.
Genesis
15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy
seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the
river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the
Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the
Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Susie: God
reiterated through this covenant that Abram’s seed, his descendants, would take
over all the land described in these verses. By passing through the pieces, God
was making a solemn promise that He would die rather than not fulfill this vow.
Susie: In
Genesis chapter 16, Abram listens to his wife, Sarai, and tries to take matters
into his own hands since they still have no children. Sarai proposes they follow the custom of the
day which was that Abram would have a child by her servant. This resulted in
the birth of Ishmael when Abram was eighty-six years old.
Susan: Realizing
they were both getting older, and impatient for God’s promise to become
reality, Abram and Sarai decided to give God a little help, but God did not
want or need their assistance. God’s
plan was that the promised nation would come from a child born to Abram and
SARAI.
QUESTIONS
1.
What was God’s promise to Abram when He first
told him leave his father and his country?
2.
Did God tell Abram exactly where he was going?
3.
Do you think you would just pack up and leave,
not knowing where you would land?
4.
To what two things did God compare Abrams seed?
5.
What was the name of Abram’s wife?
6.
Who did Abram initially think would become his
heir? (ch. 15)
7.
Why did God give Abram credit for
righteousness?
8.
Why is it significant that God did not require
Abram to walk between the pieces of animals in their covenant ceremony?
9.
What future event for the nation of Israel did
God predict?
10. How
does the way God manifested His presence between the pieces compare to His presence
during the Exodus?
11. How
did Abram and Sarai try to hurry things along in Genesis chapter 16?
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