Purpose: To understand Abraham from the perspective of the 2 nd generation Hebrew nation and what they were to learn about the Patriarch of the Nation of Israel. To understand the relationship God had with Abraham. To understand the Abrahamic Covenant. To understand the person and character of Abraham so that when Abraham is referenced in the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament we can understand what it means when he is called the father of faith. Abraham Initial Observation 1. 12:1-3 is not in chronological sequence with the surrounding verses a. Abraham was called while still in Ur b. Acts 7:1-4 2. The narrative picks up in verse 4 3. Abram is mentioned 61 times; Abraham is mentioned 175 times in the Hebrew Scriptures 4. Abraham is mentioned 73 times in the New Testament 5. Outside of Genesis, Abraham is mentioned 41 times in the Hebrew Scriptures a. Exodus 6:3 b. Nehemiah 9:6-8 6. Archeological evidence demonstrates that this account is true a. Clay Tablet of Mari b. Mention Terah, Nahor, and Haran c. Tomb of Abraham d. Hebron, Israel Abraham Introduction to the Abrahamic Covenant Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." The name YHWH in verse 1 was not known to Abraham. The text is written from perspective of Moses as he wrote to Israel. YHWH said but that does not mean that Abraham knew this name. The call initially did not include any details, Go to a land I will show you. Now the picture we normally have is 5 people get packed and start walking. The mental picture is not accurate. The implication in subsequent texts is that Abraham s family was very rich and they became richer in Haran (Genesis 12:5).
The call includes commands. The first one, go forth, states in Hebrew ל ך ל ך go to you, go for unto yourself. The call to Abraham was to go but the command included the idea of for your benefit. (Go to yourself from your land). The command also included three departures: from your land, from your relatives, and from your father s household. The implication is that Abraham was to leave everything. Remember that the family unit was the key to survival and wealth. The sons would take over the father s possessions at his death and continue in his footsteps. Upon the death of his father, Abraham moved on to follow the call that God made. Did Abraham inappropriately linger? Did Abraham do wrong in taking Lot with him? Were the possessions Abraham s own possessions or what he inherited? The text does not impugn Abraham. The text tells you what happened, and the inference is that in coming into the land Abraham fulfilled the call. The faithfulness of Abraham can be an example, but we cannot infer any instruction from this text as to what we are to do or what Israel is to do. Moses does not editorialize when he wrote that Abraham was to go, to move away, to inherit another land. This was a unique situation and the text informed the Israeli readers how they got to where they were. Then the promises ensued all promises are in the imperfect stem, meaning not yet completed action. The subject is in the 1 st person common singular, God will. 1. I will make you a great nation The word for nation is the same for Gentile. The promise is to make Abraham into a great nation. The word gādhôl is used in simple comparison and can also indicate the ultimate in comparison. This word is גּדוֹל used for eldest. This is not definitive, but the phrase could mean one of the great nations or the greatest nation. 2. I will bless you The word for bless is בּ ר ך bārakh. It is the common word for blessing. The stem indicates that God will speak well of, cause to be prosperous, or to cause or be a cause to be happy. 3. I will make your name great This is from the same stem as great nation and the same analysis remains as before; this may indicate that one of the great names or the greatest name (In his generation).
Normally, the last line in verse 2 is understood as promise. This verb is an imperative and should be translated So, you become a blessing. The command is followed by more promises (imperfect stem). He tells Abraham to be blessing to others and God will, in turn, handle those who bless Abraham favorably and curse those who do not respond to Abraham in like manner. The words for curse are not the same word. The first word curse is ק ל ל qālal and means to treat as nothing, to diminish, or to disgrace. The second word is אָר ר ʾārar, which means to cut off, create a barrier, to cause that which is normal or natural to no longer work (The curse of the ground, curse of the serpent). The translation then would be, Whoever treats you as insignificant (demeans you, diminishes you) to that one I will cut off (cause to be non-functional). The final promise is that All the families of the earth will be blessed by you. This applies not only to Israel but says that all the families are to be blessed by Abraham and the descendants (seed). This is the first record of the Abrahamic covenant. The questions that often ensue are: what if Abraham did not go, what if he was not a blessing, what if, what if, what if? The hypothetical is both unnecessary and frivolous. The implication is that God made a promise to one whom he knew would respond. The command followed by the promise is not structurally consistent with an if you do then I will conditional covenant (Exodus 19:5-7). The narrative shows the promise of God and the response of Abraham. As we move forward in Genesis, there will be other reiterations of this covenant with some expansions and details. But the three main components are these: 1. Land promise 2. A great, or greatest nation 3. The Seed of redemption The promise can be seen in this passage as well as others. In verse 1 we have the land promise. In verse 2 we can see the promise of descendants (remember that Sarah was barren 11:30). In verse 3 we have the promise of blessing to all nations. Now the first two are easy to see, but where do we get the idea of the Seed redemption from verse 3? The understanding of that concept comes later (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:6-9).
As we move forward and see the Abrahamic covenant fully revealed, we need to make sure that we understand which parts of the covenant apply to the biological descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob and what is the covenant promise made to all. We must not claim for ourselves that which is promised to another. Abraham Introduction to the Abrahamic Covenant Genesis 12:4-9 So Abram went forth Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev. Reviewing this text, we see first that Abraham did as was told to him. The text indicates that what he took with him was what he had accumulated in Haran. The question from before stands unanswered we do not know if this was what he inherited or what he himself accumulated. We do not know when he got to Haran but we do know when he left he was 75. Then we have in verse 7 the fulfilment of verse 1. God said, to the land I will show you. When he got to Shechem by a well-known landmark, the Oak of Moreh, God appeared to him and told him that this was the land that He gives to him and his descendants, the reiteration of the land promise to Abraham. In response, Abraham built an altar. The implication is that it was by the Oak of Moreh in Shechem. From there Abraham settles in between Bethel and Ai. We have no indication how long he was in Shechem. Nor do we have any indication as to how long he stayed between Bethel and Ai. What we do know is that Abraham built another altar to the Lord. In Joshua 8:9, we see Joshua sending a troop to wait in the same location; it does not state that there is an altar there. Either it is implied or it was no longer there. Abraham called upon the name of the Lord This is the same from Genesis 4:26. This is the first time that Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. The idea of calling is either calling for help, or worship (13:4; 16:13; 21:33). The implication may be that Abraham was sanctifying the land, how we do not know. From the area of Bethel he went toward the Negev. This word basically means south and refers to the largely uninhabited area of what is now southern Israel. Observations 1. Abraham effectively surveyed the land going from north to south 2. He did not sojourn in the cities and seemed to avoid the Canaanites 3. His stops became places of worship
The outline of the life of Abraham age 75-100 (Chapters 12-22): 1. Initial Abrahamic Covenant 12:1-12:9 2. Egyptian Trouble 12:10-13:1 3. Separation from Lot 13:2-18 4. Victory over Kings 14:1-16 5. Honoring and Honor of Abraham 14:17-24 6. Promise, Prophecy, and Sealing of the Covenant 15:1-21 7. Abraham s Presumption 16:1-16 8. Sign of the Covenant 17:1-27 9. Promise Restated, Timeline Set 18:1-15 10. Doom of Sodom, Intercession of Abraham 18:16-33 11. Judgement of Sodom, Lot Preserved 19:1-29 12. Lot Debased, Origin of Moab and Ammon 19:30-38 13. Philistine Trouble 20:1-18 14. Birth of Isaac 21:1-8 15. Rejection of Ishmael/Provision of Ishmael 21:9-21 16. Abraham s Covenant with Abimelech 21:22-34 17. Offering of Isaac 22:1-19