AbrahamWanderer Kickoff

Restarting the blogging project on the life of Abraham. Created a Twitter account (twitter.com/AbrahamWanderer). Following people with names in the account ( Terah, Sarai, Abram ) also started following a few Rabbis to get the inside scoop. We will begin with his boyhood in Ur and a couple Midrashim that apply.

Noah brought three sons into the ark

Noah brought three sons, (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), into the ark along with their wives. Japheth is my favorite as from him come the mariners. Ham, AKA Canaan, is the bad boy. But Shem is the prize winner as Abram is descended from his line.

Abram's forefathers lived long lives compared to us today, Eber lived 430 years; can you imagine? Finally, in Genesis 11:26 we read "When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran." Haran lived long enough to father Lot, Abram's nephew and then he died. 

Terah, Abram's father decides to leave Ur and move to Haran, an inland city in modern day Turkey, taking Lot, his grandson, Abram and his wife Sarai with him. 

God speaks to Abram

 

Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. Genesis 12:1 BSB

Wait, hold the phone. The LORD spoke to Abram? How? When I'm in church and someone comes up to me and says, the LORD told me to tell you .... I get nervous. I understand there are prophets even in this day, (1 Corinthians 12:28), but I also understand there are false prophets, (2 Peter 2:1).

This is a different time and people and God talked and it sounded like conversational speech, (Genesis 3:8). And the instructions Abram receives come directly from God, no worries about false prophets in this case.

God makes a covenant with Abram

 What did God tell Abram?

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2,3 BSB

Jackpot! How Abram won the biggest lottery in the history of the world is way above my pay grade, but he did and it's a win all the way around, we are blessed through him.

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. Genesis 12:4,5 BSB

Jacob and Esau are born

And when the time came, the twins were born.

The first was very red at birth. He was covered with so much hair that one would think he was wearing a piece of clothing. So they called him Esau which means hair.

Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau's heel. So they called him Jacob which means he grasps at the heel, but it also mean deceive which will be important shortly in our story. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

Twins Jacob and Esau

Today, we tell the history of the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Did you enjoy your trip to Israel? What were some of the high points?

< = = = Ein Gedi and Masada were awesome. I liked celebrating Shabatt in Israel. The buffet breakfast at the hotels, I liked everything. We hired an armored bus and went to Rachel's tomb, Hebron, and the cave of the patriarch's that you have been telling me about. And we went to Ramat David, where my cousin flies an F16 and he let me climb into the cockpit, it was all great.

Excellent, well let's begin with our story. When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban. Isaac pleaded with the LORD to give Rebekah a child because she was childless. So the LORD answered Isaac's prayer, and his wife became pregnant with twins.

But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the LORD about it. "Why is this happening to me?" she asked. And the LORD told her, "The sons in your womb will become two rival nations. One nation will be stronger than the other; the descendants of your older son will serve the descendants of your younger son."

Abraham Marries Keturah

This picture was adapted from here.

Now Abraham married again with the chuppah tent, the veil ceremony and the traditional (as in the second time, but it will become a tradition) blessing. Keturah was his new wife, and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan's two sons were Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's descendants were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. Midian's sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all descendants of Abraham through Keturah.

< = = = And where are they today?

Well Abraham sent them away to the east, and they settled in the Trans Jordan region. They were not a major people, her sons did not possess the gates of their enemies and they were assimilated over time into other tribes.

Abraham left everything he owned to his son Isaac, the son of promise. But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from Isaac.

< = = = Why do the scriptures say concubine? We just saw him get married.

It simply denotes a lower status. And that is why it is so significant he left everything to Isaac. Sarah, his childhood sweetheart, was the love of his life and the line that the manifested the promise of God:

I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others.

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."