Why The Patriarchs? Series

The Journey of the Patriarchs: Abraham and Sarah.

So why focus on the Patriarchs, well these people are key to the Bible, and as a result our Christian journey. if you open your Bibles to the first book of the New Testament it starts with a genealogy of Jesus, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Our faith in God is very much linked with this man Abraham’s faith in God. So...

Genesis 12 is an introduction to Abram and Sarai and the start of the story of the Patriarchs. Long story short Abram had his name changed to Abraham and his wife Sarai had hers changed to Sarah.

A bit of family history here. Abram’s father was Terah, who was a direct descendant of Shem, the son of Noah and was an idol worshipper. Things had shifted a lot for mankind since they had left the garden of Eden. If I have counted correctly Abram was ten generations from Noah, and Noah was ten generations from Adam.

When Terah was seventy years old, he became father to Abram, Nahor and Haran. Verse 28 of chapter eleven tells us that Terah’s son Haran died at Ur of the Chaldeans, which is in present day Southern Iraq and the city was 6 kilometers south-west of the Euphrates River. In verse 31 we read that Terah took Abram and Haran’s son Lot along with Sarai and they left Ur and set out for Cannan but when they reached Haran they settled there. Terah lived to the ripe old age of 205 and died in Haran.

Then comes God’s call on the life of Abram. Chapter 12:1 “Leave your country, your people and your father’s house go to the land I will show you.” With the instructions to leave comes this promise from God;

“I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.

Quite some promise. So, they left, taking all their possessions, the people they had acquired, and they set out for Cannan, verse five tells us and they arrived there. Along the way God appeared to Abram and told him at the site of the great tree of Shechem that he would give the land that at the time was occupied by Canaanites, Noah’s grandson Cannan’s descendants, to Abram’s descendants. Abram built an alter to God in that place and he also built another a little further into his journey. It is recorded that He called upon the name of the Lord.

Now there was a famine in the land; famines play a big part in scripture, hunger and poverty are always drivers for change in human history. This is where the story takes a bit of a strange twist as the couple head into Egypt where the famine is not affecting people so much to ensure their survival. Abram was aware that Sarai was a beautiful woman and was afraid that he may be killed by someone wanting her. Things were not so civilised back in the day. It was a hard life if you were travelling somewhere as a foreigner, no one around to advocate on your behalf. So, he plotted with her saying, “Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life be spared because of you.” Sarai then gets taken to Pharaoh’s palace and as a result Abram scores sheep and cattle, donkeys, servants and camels. But the Pharaoh gets sick and confronts Abram saying “What have you done? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife, you said she was your sister and I married her.” (paraphrase) Take her and get out of here. So, Abram was sent away with all he had acquired. The first verse of chapter thirteen tells us that Abram who was already a man of means, was now wealthy, in livestock, gold and silver.

In chapter thirteen we see Abram and Lot separate as there was so much owned between them, tents flocks of sheep and herds of other animals that the land could not support them. The separation came as the herdsmen of each man Abram and Lot started to quarrel.

The way they decided directions in which they would go was quite random, Abram said to Lot, “If you go left, I’ll go right and vice versa.” Every time I read this; I am fascinated that the haphazard way that Lot chose the plain of the Jordan could have influenced history in a way that may have resulted in outcomes quite different for all of us. Or could it, God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts not our thoughts. Abram gave Lot a peaceful solution to their combined problem and showed himself a peace maker. Abram lived in the land of Cannan where he was meant to be. God then promises to bless Abram with all he can see east to west and north to south, and that it will be his descendants land forever. God commanded Abram to walk the breath of the land. Abram and his minions settled near Mamre at Hebron and built an alter to the Lord. The thing to remember here is that Abram’s journey was one of faith. Paul writing to the Romans said this about Abraham: “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:1-3). Romans four, would be a good place to start studying faith, and being saved by grace through faith. The writer of Hebrews reiterates the point of Abraham’s faithfulness.