Origins of Abraham

 Abram or Abraham is widely regarded as the first Hebrew

 We find in the Bible that Abraham is a direct descendant 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,

History of Abraham
 Abraham lived in the city of Ur (capital of the ancient kingdom of Sumer)
 He lived sometime 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
means “father-ruler”)
 Abraham would be the first of 3 patriarchs for the Hebrew People
o 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

Abraham
 Abraham enters into a covenant with God:
 3 promises of the covenant
o Abraham will have a great name
o Abraham will be father of a great nation
o 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
 o Sarah gives Abraham Hagar (her servant) to have a son with
o They give birth to Ishmael
 Three visitors tell Abraham that he and Sarah will have a son
o Abraham Laughs because of their old age
o Sarah also laughs about her old age and lies about it
o 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
o This time she has power

Isaac’s Son
 Rebekah marries Isaac and they conceive twins
o 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
o The first son was called Esau
o The second son was called Jacob
 Esau became a great hunter while Jacob “lived in tents” and was the clever brother of the two

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
o 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
o Rebekah overhears and tells Jacob
 Jacob takes goats from their own livestock and gives them to his mother to prepare them meal
 Jacob points out that he is not a hairy man, so Rebekah takes Esau’s best robe and put it on
Jacob
o 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
o He also smelled the garments and tasted the food
 Jacob receives the blessing of his father
o Esau is out raged 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
o They would receive twice as much inheritance as the other sons in the family
 The blessing would be to determine would be the head of the extended family
 The blessing and the birthright could be given to separate sons if the father preferred
o The combination of both on the same first-born son was expected and normal
 Jacob receiving both indicates that the covenant of God and Abraham would be continued
through his line

Jacob’s Dream
 After Jacob gains both birthright and a blessing, he is sent away in search of a wife
 On his way to Haran Jacob has a dream:
 He lays on a rock and envisions a stairway to heaven with angels ascending and descending from
heaven to earth
 God is on the steps and promises Jacob the land that he is sleeping on and descendants that will
inhabit it. (reiteration of the promise to Abraham)

Jacob’s Wife
 Jacob travel’s to visit Laban, son of Nahor from which he will find his wife
 Laban has two daughters: Leah and Rachel
o Leah is the older daughter and needs to be married off first
o Jacob wants to marry Rachel (Leah has a Lazy Eye)
 Jacob agrees to work for Laban for seven years if he can marry Rachel
 After 7 years, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah first
o Jacob has to work another 7 years to Rachel
 Jacob loves Rachel more than Leah

Jacob’s Legacy
 Leah bears him 6 sons, handmaids bear him 4 sons, and Rachel bears him two sons
o Rachel’s sons are named joseph and Benjamin
 Jacob became very prosperous under Laban and asked to leave with his family and servants to
find his own land
 Jacob makes his living raising livestock, specifically sheep
 Jacob returns back to the land of Canaan (land of Abraham) whenever Laban is no longer
friendly towards him
 Jacob in Trouble
 Laban pursues Jacob because Rachel has stolen wealth from Laban
o Laban is also angry because the flocks the Jacob took all originally belonged to him
 Laban lets Jacob keep everything if he promises to take care of daughters until their death
 Jacob returns to his homeland scared that Esau would kill him so he prepares a gift for him
o 200 sheep and goats
 Instead of being enraged, Esau embraces his brother with a kiss and the brothers reunited