(The History of Ancient Israel)
The beginning of Israel starts with one man that was chosen by God to be the start of his special bloodline that would give rise to this special nation and people; and this one man would change the course of history forever:
His name was Abram
Abram was a Shemitic (a descendant of Shem: a son of Noah) Hebrew (a descendant of Eber) who lived in northern Mesopotamia around 2000-1900 B.C.
While Abram was never really called a Shemite/Semite [a descendant of Shem] Abram was called a Hebrew (which assumes automatically a descendent of Shem because Eber was a descendant of Shem) this is also the first Biblically recorded mention of someone being called a Hebrew:
Genesis 14:13
“…Abram the Hebrew.”[1]
While The Bible does not tell much of his life before he was called, it tells that Abram and his family were not originally from Harran but from a place called “UR” they fled to Harran to go to Canaan (which was unsuccessful) this is where his father died:
Genesis 11:31-32
“Terah[The father] took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran[Abram's Brother], and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.”
This is where God called Abram:
Genesis 12:1
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’ ”
So God commanded Abram to leave Harran (his country) leave his Hebrew Kinspeople in Harran/Mesopotamia, and leave his father’s family in Harran (Nahor: Abram’s brother and his wife as well as his nephew Lot) to go to a new land where God would show him.
This is a massive command! He was told to leave everything he knew and loved for a foreign land: why?
He immediately tells him why:
Genesis 12:2-3
“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.”
So God immediately tells Abram he has special plans for him:
He would become a great nation
God would bless him
He would become famous
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong/hates him) or blessed him (treats him well/loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
God was making a promise (also called a Covenant: click here to find out more) with Abram and these were some pretty massive promises!
So Abram obeyed God and left Harran:
Genesis 12:4-5
“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out…”
Eventually the land that they were led to was identified as the Land of Canaan:
Genesis 12:5
“… the land of Canaan,…they arrived there.”
This land was already occupied by other nations though; this land of Canaan was the home of the Canaanite nations: These people descended from Canaan, the son of Ham, which was also a son of Noah. He went into this occupied land as a foreigner in the middle of all these Canaanites.
Genesis 12:6
“At that time the Canaanites were in the land.”
When he got there, God immediately told him why he led him there:
Genesis 12:6
“The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’…”
The land of Canaan was going to be his new home to his children and to him as a colonist!
Because Abram heard and believed it he built an alter to him in Canaan and worshiped him for all these great promises he gave him:
Genesis 12:8
“…he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord [worshiped him].”
Promise added:
The whole land of Canaan was given to his Children
He would become a great nation
God would bless him
He would become famous
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
Shortly after though, a severe famine threatened Canaan so bad that Abram and his family had to go live in Egypt for a while to live. But going there brought up very dangerous and surprising situations:
Genesis 12:10-20
“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.’
When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. ‘What have you done to me?’ he said. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!’ Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.”
In this threat to Abram and his wife, God fulfilled/confirmed 2 promises:
He blessed him through Pharaoh’s favor in the form of livestock and slaves.
He cursed Pharaoh and his family with serious sickness because he indirectly cursed Abram by unknowingly taking his wife:
Promises fulfilled:
The whole land of Canaan was given to his Children
He would become a great nation
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C.)
He would become famous
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C.)
When they got back to Canaan, Abram and Lot gained a lot of Property in Harran and Egypt and with the little space they had here this became a problem:
Genesis 13:5-7
“Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s.”
When Abram found out about this, he was upset because Lot was his nephew, so he had a conversation with him:
Genesis 13:8-9
“So Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.’”
So, Abram said he could have any part of Canaan he wanted to settle in so they would be spread out and not fight, Lot however looked a little past the mainland of Canaan towards the plain near the Jordan river:
Genesis 13:10-12
“Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan [The land God chose for him], while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.”
Now this was a very bad place for Lot and the people with him to live because right next to him was a Canaanite city-state called Sodom and the reason was that the citizens of Sodom: Sodomites, were very wicked people that sinned very badly against God!
Genesis 13:13
“Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.”
After Lot had left Abram God confirmed he wanted Abram and his future descendant to have Canaan, not Lot and his descendants: God confirmed and clarified his promise of this new land to Abram:
Genesis 13:15-17
“All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, …Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”
Promises added:
His Children would be a large uncountable number
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever
He would become a great nation
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C.)
He would become famous
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C.)
However, Abram’s Nephew Lot had eventually decided to actually move inside of Sodom, and he would soon pay for choosing this area as a home; because little did he know a major war was about to break out between the Canaanite city-states of the Jordan plain and many city-states of Mesopotamia:
Genesis 14:1-4
“At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar,[Mesopotamia] Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela... All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley). For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.”
The Jordan city-states eventually lost the battle and all their citizens and possessions that were not killed were taken back with them; including Lot and his possessions!
Genesis 14:11-12
“The four kings (most from Mesopotamia) seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.”
So, this was bad! Lot was a prisoner of war! Once Abram found out about it, he was about to do something very risky:
Genesis 14:13-14
“A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew… When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit…[of Lot]…”
Since Abram was very wealthy, he had a lot of servants and slaves with him and so there were 318 trained warriors and he decided to do something very risky to save his nephew: attack the Mesopotamian conquers. And despite the odds, Abram actually won and robbed all the citizens and possessions of the city-states and took them back to where they belonged:
Genesis 14:16
“He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.”
He had saved his nephew Lot and the king of Sodom wanted to congratulate and reward him:
Genesis 14:17
“After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh...”
Abram also had a strange man from the Canaanite city-state of Salem, that was a high priest of God called Melchizedek, come out and praise him as holy and chosen by God and that God had helped him fight and make them defeated for Abram:
Genesis 14:18-20
“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.’
So once again God had blessed Abram and allowed him to win against all those kings!
And Abram, in response did something very interesting:
Genesis 14:20
“Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”
For some reason not told, Abram saw something so amazing in Melchizedek that he felt compelled to give him a ten of everything he owned! He really honored and revered this man that he saw was special; after this the king of Sodom talked with Abram:
Genesis 14:21-24
“The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.’ But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.’ ”
So Even though the king of Sodom wanted to reward Abram for fighting for his people Abram denied; he wanted God to bless him and take full credit NOT anyone else! So he saved his Nephew and the rest of the people of the conquered city-states and most likely became a hero to them.
This also fulfilled a promise God had made: that Abram’s name would become famous and a praise to all other families on Earth:
And at least to some Canaanites in the Jordan, that was true; he was considered a great king and hero to them.
After this happened, a little later, God came again to Abram; but at this point in time he was met with confusion and doubt about God’s promise: How could many of these promises come true without an actual child of his own?
Genesis 15:1-5
“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
‘Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.’
But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ ”
So Despite Abram’s doubt on the situation, God confirmed that he would eventually have a child: a son that would fulfill these promises. And Abram choose to believe:
Genesis 15:6
“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
Promise added
He will have 1 genetic son from his own physical body to be the heir of all these promises [this would be his Birthright: click here to find out more]
His Children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever
He would become a great nation
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C.)
He would become famous
(Fulfilled first when he saved the Canaanite citizens from the conquering kings)
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C.)
Now this term “uncountable number”,“sand on the seashore”,”Dust of the Earth” or “stars of the sky” in Biblical terms simply means a very large/big uncountable number
This is what God is saying to Abram: his descendants were going to eventually become many MANY people that would over time form large groups of people! (This will be an important detail to remember later)
Despite Abram’s belief of God giving him offspring, he still had doubts that the land he was in truly would belong to his descendants:
Genesis 15:7-10
“He also said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.’ But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?’ So the Lord said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.”
He then gives Abram a vision for his obedience to confirm he will indeed possess the land from the Canaanites, and in more detail of when this and how this will happen:
Genesis 15:12-16
“As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here[To finally possess it],….’”
God in the vision tells the future [prophecy] of his descendants: they will at first go to a strange nation and live enslaved to these people for 400 years; After 400 years, God will punish this nation. They then after leaving with great possessions from this nation to go back to Canaan. In the 4th generation in being in captivity will finally claim the land that belongs to them. But by this time, God said Abram will long since be dead and never get to see all this.
God also makes a promise at this time that he would completely assure this land and specifies how much land he would give to his descendants:
Genesis 15:18-21
“On that day the Lord made a covenant[promise] with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi[Or river] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.’”
Though this land does include Canaan it includes much more than just Canaan: it includes much of the Middle East and even parts of Egypt and even the beginning of Mesopotamia!
Promise added
He will have 1 genetic son from his own physical body to be the heir of all these promises [his Birthright]
His Children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C.)
He would become famous
(Fulfilled first when he saved the Canaanite citizens from the conquering kings)
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C.)
However after a while Sarai grew impatient to have children and eventually gave up and did what every other woman at the time that could not have children to have a family does: give their female slave to their husband for them to have children for them instead:
Genesis 16:1-4
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep[have sex] with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’"
So Abram agreed to do what Sarai wanted, and perhaps he also was convinced this was how God was going to fulfill his promise for a son for him:
Genesis 16:2-4
“Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept [had sex] with Hagar, and she conceived[became pregnant].”
Once she found out Hagar was pregnant, she regretted the decision and blamed Abram for letting her do it: and because of this she abused Hagar and she ran away from them:
Genesis 16:6
“ Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.”
Genesis 16:6-9
“ The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ ‘I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ The angel added, ‘I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.’ The angel of the Lord also said to her: ‘You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael[Hebrew for "The Lord Hears"], for the Lord has heard of your misery.’"
So because Hagar was giving birth to Abram’s son she was blessed with a covenant of many descendants:
The promises:
The child you are pregnant with is a boy (son)
His name will be Ishmael (the lord hears) because God heard what happened to Hagar
And though him Hagar will have a multitude of children that cannot be counted
Could all these promises for Hagar and Abram’s son mean this child was the promised son to inherit the Birthright?
Along with the promises the Angel also gives a Prophecy of Ishmael and what he and his descendants would be like:
Genesis 16:12
“…He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
So the Angel is saying that Ishmael would become like a wild donkey (Very crazy and unstable) and He will be against everyone and fight them and would be hostile towards his brothers (all close relatives).
After the promises, Hagar was so glad God had seen her suffering and from that point on she personally called God “The God who sees me”
Genesis 16:13
“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’”
When she came back she gave birth to Abram’s child that they called Ishmael:
Genesis 16:15-16
“So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.”
God fulfilled his promise to Hagar and gave her and Abram a son.
Genesis 17:1-8
“ ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant[promise] between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ‘ As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram [ Hebrew for ‘exalted father’.]; your name will be Abraham,[ Hebrew for ‘father of many’ ] for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.’ ”
So God is confirming and expanding on his promise to Abram; he actually for the first time makes all these promises for his descendants in the form of a covenant. Abram’s name was forever changed to show the impact of what this man would become: Abraham would become the ancestor of many future nations! This is where he got the famous name “Father Abraham”, which literally means “father [ancestor] of many nations!”
For one thing this covenant (or promises) would be eternal (last forever) his children would no longer just become a great nation but would become MANY nations and some of them would even become great kings!
Then Sarai was given a new name and a share in the covenant as well and he also confirmed that the son he was talking about was definitely going to come form his wife and NOT from any other woman:
Genesis 17:15-16
“God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’”
Since the son would be Sarah’s as well she would also be the mother [Ancestor] of many nations and would have many descendants form into many nations and kings. So her name was changed as well.
Promise added
He will have 1 genetic son from his own physical body by his wife Sarah to be the heir of all these promises [his Birthright]
His Children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky and then possibly even more greatly multiplied than that.
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever to be their land and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation and then the father of many nations he and Sarah would be the ancestor of all of them
His children would become many kings
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C.)
He would become famous
(Fulfilled first when he saved the Canaanite citizens from the conquering kings)
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C.)
God would be Abraham’s personal God and his children’s personal God
All these promises to Abraham and his children would be eternal and permanent from every generation of his descendants if Abraham walked in faith towards God
All Abraham needed to do in this covenant agreement on his part is walk faithfully in obedience to God:
And primarily that obedience was a physical sign of the convent called circumcision:
Genesis 17:9-11
“Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for you(This is what Abraham was to do), you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.’ “
However, after hearing that God wanted Sarah and Abraham to have the chosen son instead of what he expected to be Ishmael, he feel down and began to laugh:
Genesis 17:17-22
Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael might live under your blessing (Be the birthright heir instead)!’ Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.[Hebrew for ‘he laughs’] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him;… But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.’ When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.”
Promise added
He will have 1 genetic son from his own physical body a year from this time by his wife Sarah to be the heir of all these promises [this child’s Birthright] his name would be Isaac.
His Children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky and then possibly even more greatly multiplied than that.
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever to be their land and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation and then the father of many nations he and Sarah would be the ancestor of all of them
His children would become many kings
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C.)
He would become famous
(Fulfilled first when he saved the Canaanite citizens from the conquering kings)
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C.)
God would be Abraham’s personal God and his children’s personal God
All these promises to Abraham and his children would be eternal and permanent from every generation of his descendants if Abraham walked in faith towards God and Isaac would inherit these same promises for eternity [His Birthright].
So God said though Ishmael was Abram’s son he was not the one he was talking about he would indeed have another son by his true wife Sarah! And his name would be Isaac.
So after God got through speaking with him, Abraham obeyed what God told him to do:
Genesis 17:23
“On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.”
So Abraham obeyed God’s command for the covenant
Sometime later God came down to earth in the form of a Human man to be served by and then talk with Abraham to confirm the promise that he would have a son with Sarah.
Genesis 18:1-8
“ The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, ‘If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.’ ‘Very well,’ they answered, ‘do as you say.’So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. ‘Quick,’ he said, ‘get three seahs[ 36 pounds or 16 kilograms] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.’ Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.”
As they ate, one of them began talking to Abraham and identified why they were there:
Genesis 18:10-14
“Then one of them said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’ Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?’ Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.’”
However after they got through eating they went and looked towards the two Canaanite city-states called Sodom and Gomorrah out on the plain where Lot was staying:
Genesis 18:16-33
“When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?’…Then the Lord said[To Abraham], ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’"
Abraham, being concerned for his nephew lot who was now living in those cities, asked God indirectly about reconsidering if there was any righteous there if he would spare the cities:
Genesis 18:23-33
Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you!’…The Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’… Abraham said, ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?’ He said, ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.’ Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.”
That afternoon, two Angel’s appeared in Sodom in the form of two human men(Most likely, the other two men with Abraham) and stood in front of the entrance to the city Lot took notice of them and saw that they were special(or possibly not even human) so he begged them to stay with him and be served him for the night:
Genesis 19: 1-3
“The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ‘My lords,’ he said, ‘please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.’ ‘No,’ they answered, ‘we will spend the night in the square.’ But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.”
However, there would soon be trouble because the Sodomite men took notice of the new men that had come and reveal what one of their sins were: that they were homosexuals because they formed a mob around Lot’s house to have sex with these new men:
Genesis 19:4-9
“Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.’ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, ‘No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing… don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.’ ‘Get out of our way,’ they replied. ‘This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.’”
So they wanted the men to have homosexual rape and they also seemed to have threated Lot with Homosexual rape as well: how sick!
They began to threaten and pressure Lot to break down the door:
Genesis 19:9
"They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door."
But the Angel’s in the form of men were going to rescue Lot from them and reveal what they were about to do:
Genesis 19:10-14
"But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. The two men said to Lot, ‘Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.’ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking."
So these Angels were God’s response to Sodom’s wickedness: he sent his Angel’s(once again, most likely the two other men with the Lord) to destroy it and he was sparing Lot from the destruction, but as he warned the people with him they didn’t take him seriously and thought it was a joke, so when the sun was rising it was too late:
Genesis 19:15
“With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.’"
But Lot could not stand to leave: he had a home here and everyone besides his main family would not listen to him but the Angel’s would not take no for an answer:
Genesis 19:16
“When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.”
Then the Angel’s commanded them to run as far away from Sodom and all the other Jordan Canaanite city-states as they could, because Sodom and the rest of them would be destroyed:
Genesis 19:17
“As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!’”
So as they ran away from Sodom they begin destroying it by raining pure fiery sulfur meteorites out of the sky:
Genesis 19:23-25
“By the time Lot reached Zoar[A town], the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.”
However the Angel’s told Lot to not look back, but his wife disobeyed and look back at the disaster and for that she was destroyed by being turned to a pile of salt (or possibly a pile of ash from one of the sulfur balls that might have hit her).
Genesis 19: 26
“But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt[or possibly ash].”
So Lot lost his wife, only his daughters escaped; Abraham saw the Burning of these cities from main Canaan:
Genesis 19:27-28
“Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.”
So God got Lot and his family (Abraham’s nephew) to safety before destroying the cities: by doing this God blessed Lot by sparing him from destruction mostly because Abraham was concerned for him and his safety. He was keeping his promise of blessing those who bless him (or who he cares for):
Genesis 19:29
“So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.”
After this Abraham never really saw Lot again
Shortly after the destruction of the Jordan cities Abraham and Sarah moved south temporarily to a city known as Gerar where history would repeat itself:
Genesis 20:1-2
“For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, ‘She is my sister.’ Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. “
Or course God would not tolerate this so in a dream he cursed all of Abimelek’s women and threatened to kill him in a dream as a curse:
Genesis 20:3-7
“But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, ‘You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.’ Now Abimelek …said, ‘Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.’ ” Then God said to him in the dream, ‘Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience,…Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live…’”
So after being tricked by both Abraham and Sarah and being threatened by God, when Abimelek woke up he called all his officials and told then they were cursed:
Genesis 20:8
“Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.”
Then he called Abraham in wondering why he tricked him:
Genesis 20: 9-12
“Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, ‘What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.’ And Abimelek asked Abraham, ‘What was your reason for doing this?’ Abraham replied, ‘I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.’ ”
So seeing Abraham did this out of fear, Abimelek blessed Abraham and gave him money as an apology:
Genesis 20: 14-16
“Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, ‘My land is before you; live wherever you like.’ To Sarah he said, ‘I am giving your brother a thousand shekels[ 25 pounds or 12 kilograms] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.’”
So this king gave so much wealth, cattle, and slaves to Abraham that he became even more blessed as God has promised. He also cursed those who cursed him by taking his wife he was keeping his promise to him. After this Abraham prayer for God to heal them from the curse.
Genesis 20:17-18
“Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.”
A year later, after the three men came and visited Abraham; Sarah finally got pregnant and gave birth to a son just as God promised, they named him Isaac:
Genesis 21:1-14
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac [Hebrew for “he laughs”] to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.’ And she added, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’"
So finally after over 20 years of waiting for the promised son they were told about: he was finally born! Abraham and Sarah finally had a child of their own!
Promise fulfilled:
He will have 1 genetic son from his own physical body a year from this time by his wife Sarah to be the heir of all these promises [this child’s Birthright] his name would be Isaac.
(Fulfilled in Genesis 21:2 around 1800 B.C.)
His Children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky and then possibly even more greatly multiplied than that.
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever to be their land and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation and then the father of many nations he and Sarah would be the ancestor of all of them
His children would become many kings
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C. and then constantly through his life)
He would become famous
(Fulfilled first with the fame he got for saving almost all the Jordan cities around 1900 B.C. and then continued for the rest of his life)
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C. and continued for the rest of his life)
God would be Abraham’s personal God and his children’s personal God
All these promises to Abraham and his children would be eternal and permanent from every generation of his descendants if Abraham walked in faith towards God and Isaac would inherit these same promises for eternity [His Birthright].
But not everyone was happy about this: Abraham’s now teenage son Ishmael, who was thought to be the promised son, was very jealous of Isaac for replacing him and began bullying him:
Genesis 21:8-14
“The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham [Ishmael] was mocking, and she said to Abraham, ‘Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.’ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.’ Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.”
So Hagar and her son Ishmael were sent off from Canaan, to never return again.
However many years later, after spending some time with his dear promised son God said something very unexpected and disturbing:
Genesis 22:1-2
“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’ "
“WHAT!? The promised son Abraham and Sarah had been waiting for over 20 years to fulfill God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants was now going to be KILLED AND BURNED to God to never have children and never form into a great nation! What are you doing God!?”
Is some of the thoughts that must have crossed Abraham’s mind and those who would hear this later would think about the situation. God had promised Isaac was the one that would be the chosen son and become a great nation and many nations but how could he do any of that now if he were to be killed?
However unknown to Abraham at the time and to those who don’t read closely to what this text is saying: This was all a test!
This suggest that God was not really going to kill and burn Isaac BUT was seeing if Abraham was really willing to murder his chosen son in obedience to him. However it’s important to know Abraham was not told this was all a test he might have really though he was going to have to kill his son, but despite the hardship of this command he was willing to do this anyway:
Genesis 22:3-19
“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord Will Provide’...”
So God confirmed to Abraham this is what he wanted: HE wanted to see if Abraham was willing to give up his chosen son and he showed through his actions that he was. his intention was not really to kill Isaac but as a test for Abraham, and because Abraham had proven he loved and obeyed God even when he did not fully understand the confusion, God was going to officially make the covenant everlasting because of his actions and even expand on the promises of the covalent:
Genesis 22:15-19
“The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, ‘I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.’ Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together…”
Promises added:
He will have 1 genetic son from his own physical body a year from this time by his wife Sarah to be the heir of all these promises [this child’s Birthright] his name would be Isaac.
(Fulfilled in Genesis 21:2 around 1800 B.C.)
His Children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky and then possibly even more greatly multiplied than that.
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever to be their land and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation and then the father of many nations he and Sarah would be the ancestor of all of them
His children would become many kings
God would bless him
(Fulfilled first with all the wealth Abram got in Egypt around 1900 B.C.)
He would become famous
(Fulfilled first with the fame he got for saving almost all the Jordan cities around 1900 B.C. and then continued for the rest of his life at the end of his life most of the people of Canaan knew him as a lord/king among them:
Genesis 23:6
“…You are a mighty prince among us.”
Around 1800 B.C.)
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(Fulfilled first when Pharaoh accidentally took his wife and him and his family were cursed with severe disease around 1900 B.C. and continued for the rest of his life)
God would be Abraham’s personal God and his children’s personal God
All these promises to Abraham and his children would be eternal and permanent from every generation of his descendants if Abraham walked in faith towards God and Isaac would inherit these same promises for eternity [His Birthright].
His descendants would control the cities of their enemies (would dominate their enemies)
So with this, Abraham finally got all that he could ever ask for: He got a son from his wife Sarah his descendants through Isaac were going to be blessed and become many many nations, he would be forever famous as father Abraham, and he himself was blessed with riches, fame, and a long life:
Genesis 12:7
“Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.”
Genesis 24:1
“Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.”
Even one of his servants said:
Genesis 24:35
“The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.”
So God fulfilled what he promised Abraham when he first called him:
He would bless him and he did!
Sadly one day Sarah died:
Genesis 23:1-19
“Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba… in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her… Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre…in the land of Canaan.”
After Sarah died, Abraham married another woman named Keturah of unknown ethnicity but it can be assumed that she was most likely also a Shemitic Hebrew like Abraham:
Genesis 25:1-2
“Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.”
These children of Keturah could not remain in Canaan with Abraham and his promised son, like Ishmael and Hagar, they were sent away from Canaan: though they were sent away to the east of Canaan.
After all this, Abraham at the old age of 175, this amazing man of God finally died:
Genesis 25:7-9
“Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre,…”
And because of this one man and his obedience and belief in what God had promised him and told him to do, the world would be forever changed and that change would begin with the promised son Isaac.
Sources:
[1]
[A] “Eber…gave his name to the Hebrew race.” From Creationism.org “After The Flood” Appendix 1 “The Nations of Shem” 12. Eber by Bill Cooper ©1995
Website:
http://www.creationism.org/books/CooperAfterFlood/CooperAFap01.htm
[B] Strong’s Hebrew 5680. “עִבְרִי” (Ibri)-- perhaps a descendant of Eber, also another name for an Israelite,Biblehub
Website: