Patriarchs I- Genesis 12-22

Notes

  • Story of the Patriarch (Abraham, Ishmael & Issac)

The remainder of Genesis (chapters 12-50) tells the story of the "patriarchs," the founding fathers of the chosen people. In Genesis 12-25:18, we’ll read about Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. 




  • Promises to Abraham
God is going to make a covenant with Abraham, and by that covenant He is going to re-orient human history, give it a new possibility, a new goal.
The covenant with Abraham has three parts, and it begins with three promises: 
1. to make Abraham a great nation (see Genesis 12:1-2); 
2. to give him a great name (12:2); and 
3. to make him the source of blessing for all the world (12:3).



  • Covenant with Abraham
God later "upgrades" these three promises - turning them into divine covenants. God swears not only make Abraham a great nation, He makes a covenant in which He promises to deliver Abraham’s descendants from oppression in an alien land and give them a specific territory of land (see Genesis 15:7-21). Not only will his name be great, but God by a covenant oath swears to make Abraham "father of a host of nations," a royal dynasty - "kings shall stem from you" (see Genesis 17:1-21).
God elevates His third promise by swearing to make Abraham’s descendants "as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore." In Abraham’s descendants "All the nations of the earth shall find blessing" (see Genesis 22:16-18).
By these three covenant oaths, God points our eyes to the future of salvation history.
Abraham is made a great nation in the Exodus, when by the covenant He makes with Moses, God makes Abraham’s descendants into a nation possessing the land promised to Abraham (see Genesis 46:3-4). We will read about this in our next lesson, when we look at the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy.
God’s second oath is fulfilled when David is made King and promised with a great name (see 2 Samuel 7:9) and an everlasting throne (see Psalm 89:3-5; 132:11-12).
And finally, these covenants point us to Jesus. His New Covenant fulfills God’s promise to make the children of Abraham the source of blessing for all the nations. That’s why in the very first line of the New Testament we find the words "Jesus Christ…the son of Abraham" (see Matthew 1:1).

Summary


  • Story of the Patriarch (Abraham, Issac & Jacob)
  • Promises to Abrham
  • Covenant with Abraham




Questions

  1. What three promises did God give to Abram?
  2. What are the three parts of the covenant that God makes with Abraham?
  3. As in Genesis 12:1-3, how has God taken the initiative in your life?
  4. What response does God ask of you?
  5. To what was God referring in genesis 15:13-14 when He spoke to Abram?


Bibliography
Era of the Patriarch

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